BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Shiv]

Hiya Jenny - sorry you are finding it so hard at the moment, I don't blame you, it can be hard work for me and i don't work etc.

My advice would be to try and get a stockpile of finger type food in the freezer that youc an just shove in the oven.

I believe that you can freeze chunks of veggies and then just put them in the oven to roast. home made chicken nuggets are easy and just need cooking for 12 mins from frozen. Make sure you make enough when you do get the chance to make a full meal and freeze a portion for Lo. As long as you remember to get it out of the freezer the night before you can usually just blast in the microwave.

As for nursery, you are PAYING them! So i would have a word with the nursery manager about how your wished are not being adhered to with regards to how LO is being fed, they are not doing you a favour, you are paying them to take care of LO and they should be willing to do as you say.

Oh and don't beat yoruself up about spoon feeding him, lots of babies who are BLW have been spoon fed on occasion, it doesn't matter

 

[jenny82]

Thanks Shiv

Chicken nuggets are a good idea, and I didn't know you could do that with veggies? Do you have to cook them first, like steam them and then freeze? He has had 'convenience food' like baked beans (the low salt ones) and fish fingers once a week, on the day I'm in really late but I have tried so hard to try to maintain the level of healthiness we had before...

I get so annoyed with myself because when we get home, I want to spend time with LO and he wants to spend time with me, and cooking dinner is then really stressful as he gets so upset!

I will say to the nursery. I'm not one for confrontation or 'rocking the boat' but I have showed them what to do and I explained it a good few times at the start. I think its just that they're so busy - I know that one girl would feed two at a time, but I don't know if thats the norm everywhere?

 

[Shiv]

Thanks Shiv

Chicken nuggets are a good idea, and I didn't know you could do that with veggies? Do you have to cook them first, like steam them and then freeze? He has had 'convenience food' like baked beans (the low salt ones) and fish fingers once a week, on the day I'm in really late but I have tried so hard to try to maintain the level of healthiness we had before...

I get so annoyed with myself because when we get home, I want to spend time with LO and he wants to spend time with me, and cooking dinner is then really stressful as he gets so upset!

I will say to the nursery. I'm not one for confrontation or 'rocking the boat' but I have showed them what to do and I explained it a good few times at the start. I think its just that they're so busy - I know that one girl would feed two at a time, but I don't know if thats the norm everywhere?

To be honest I am not absolutely sure about the veggies, but i read it on this thread somewhere, i think if you par boiled them before freezing then they would obviously cook more quickly.

I know exactly what you mean about baby getting stressed while you cook dinner, Sophia scream at me to pick her up while I cook dinner, soi try to make dinners where I can just put them in theoven to cook and leave them. i do quite a lot of roast chocken, veg and potatoes, all in one roasting tin. Also the same with asalmon fillets. Or i make pasta baked up in the morning and then they just need popping the oven when needed.

I would talk to the nursery manager if you ahve already spoken to the "normal" staff.

Oh and nothing worng with beans and fish fingers - Sophia had them tonight!

 

[jenny82]

Ooh see I always wondered that with pasta bakes - can you cook the pasta and make up the bake in the morning and then just put it in the fridge until you come home? That would be sooo handy but I didn't know whether or not you could do it, whether it would go off or something?

I bought a slow cooker last week so might give it a whirl on Thursday with a beef stew thing and see how we get on with it. Was going to try tomorrow but we're going to pizza express to celebrate daddy's new job

 

[sun]

Ooh see I always wondered that with pasta bakes - can you cook the pasta and make up the bake in the morning and then just put it in the fridge until you come home? That would be sooo handy but I didn't know whether or not you could do it, whether it would go off or something?

I bought a slow cooker last week so might give it a whirl on Thursday with a beef stew thing and see how we get on with it. Was going to try tomorrow but we're going to pizza express to celebrate daddy's new job

You can totally do this, but undercook the pasta a bit or it might absorb too much liquid and get mushy! I also bought a slow cooker recently and it's been good so far! I made moroccan stew (like a tagine), a couple of soups, and beans - all have been delicious. Plus it makes the house smells sooooo good!

 

[Shiv]

Yep Jenny that is exactly how i do it! i do a tuna pasta bake and a mixed veg and docelatte pasta bake. You could also do a potato bake as well. Or you could pre-prepare a sheherds/cottage pie in the same way!

 

[Miss Preggie]

hi all

i have to firstly say thanks for this thread !! For a few months i have been feeling uneasy about the inevitable weaning. the idea of making my daughter eat what mush i shove in her mouth did not appeal to me...for several reasons based on prioritisng the mini madam of course. i was delighted and relieved to see that there is a way!

A couple of months on and my daughter is now 6months+ and i have just started putting a selection of friut n veg on her tray. So far its very touch and go and its not easy accessing face to face support as i dont know anyone in the area (now Chester) who is doing this. The main issue at the moment is timing...i think! If she's tired...there's no chance! ...so i have to catch her when shes on form.

Any tips??? And does anyone live in Chester/Cheshire??

Anyway....as much as i feel i could type more...its not so easy balancing lo and trying to keep her entertained AND quiet whilst i use a library pc! Best go b4 we cause a riot.

Thanks again....X

 

[sun]

hi all

i have to firstly say thanks for this thread !! For a few months i have been feeling uneasy about the inevitable weaning. the idea of making my daughter eat what mush i shove in her mouth did not appeal to me...for several reasons based on prioritisng the mini madam of course. i was delighted and relieved to see that there is a way!

A couple of months on and my daughter is now 6months+ and i have just started putting a selection of friut n veg on her tray. So far its very touch and go and its not easy accessing face to face support as i dont know anyone in the area (now Chester) who is doing this. The main issue at the moment is timing...i think! If she's tired...there's no chance! ...so i have to catch her when shes on form.

Any tips??? And does anyone live in Chester/Cheshire??

Anyway....as much as i feel i could type more...its not so easy balancing lo and trying to keep her entertained AND quiet whilst i use a library pc! Best go b4 we cause a riot.

Thanks again....X

Hi there! When we were starting out, I definitely had to catch my LO at the right time - he couldn't be too tired or too hungry. So I had to time it long enough after he ate so he was a little hungry (just enough to be interested) but not too close to his nap so he was tired and had no patience.

I don't know anyone who is doing BLW either, but I know lots of ladies who do a pseudo type of BLW - they just don't know it, because they have never heard of the term. They feed purees, but also what they are eating, also give a few finger foods, etc. You will see it more with 2nd and 3rd babies as they are usually more relaxed about the whole weaning thing! But this website is a great resource for BLW, in addition to the BLW book (by Gil Rapley) - it got us through, and Bun did not start BLW very easily. It seems like more people in the UK know about it, (but I could be totally wrong with that assumption) as I have yet to meet someone here who has heard of it.

Anyway - my tips for starting out would be to just offer your LO food (lots of babies start out with steamed veg, fruit, or toast) and let her play and explore. If she is not into it, put everything away and try again later. Don't worry about whether she is actually swallowing anything, and don't pay attention when other people suggest that she should be eating X amount. She is getting everything she needs from your milk! Also - know that they often will gag on the food a bit while they are learning - gagging and choking are different. Gagging is common when they are starting out, and even though it can be scary is totally normal!

Good luck -

 

[CountingDown]

Not been on this thread for a while so hello!

Madam is 18 months now and just recovering from an upset tummy and will only eat plain wholemeal bread, plain white pasta and peas

I am not sure if it is because her tummy is still delicate or the start of a phase

Olivia has always eaten so well and I never had to worry about what to prepare her for a meal before.

Just wondered if anyone else had been through the same experience or has any advice

 

[lynnikins]

just keep offering her what your eating hun when Nate was 18months he went through several phases of not eating anything but one particular meal even his old favorites wouldnt tempt him , mum told me that he would eat when he was hungry enough and just not to pander to him and to leave him to eat what we gave him, he eventually started eating properly again but it did take a couple of months to be normal eating again

 

[hivechild]

Does anyone make their own baked beans?

I can't find low sodium ones here and in fact they're all loaded with a disgusting amount of salt so I'd like to try my hand at making my own if someone has a tried and true good recipe!

 

[CocoaOne]

Hive - this is a Jamie Oliver recipe, and whilst I haven't tried it myself, I usually take his word as gospel...

Olive Oil
4 red or white onions peeled and finely sliced
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
2-3 dried chillis (ancho or chipotle if you can get them), stalks removed
25g butter
6 x 400g tins of pinto or cannellini beans
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
3 or 4 dried bay leaves
seasalt & freshly ground black pepper
White wine vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
8 Rashers of smoked straky bacon (the best quality you can afford)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
A large handful of freshly grated parmesan or cheddar cheese
125g good quality stale bread
Preheat oven 180 c/350 f/gas 4, put a few lugs of olive oil into a large casserole type pan on medium heat. Add your sliced onions and smoked paprika and fry for 10-15 minutes or until softened and lightly coloured, stirring often. While that's happening put your dried chillis into a bowl and cover them with 300 mls boiling water to rehydrate and release theor flavours. Add the butter to the pan of onions and once it's melted add the beans, along with any juices from their tins. Add the tinned tomatoes, bay leaves and a good pinch of salt and pepper, then take the dried chillis out of their soaking water, slice them finely, add them to the pan with the chilli water left behind in the bowl.
Give everything a good stir and bring to a simmer, and turn the heat down to low and cook the beans slowly for 1.5 hours - you want it just blipping away so the beans don't split and go mushy. Have a taste and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper, adding a little swig of vinegar and the molasses to bring out the flavour and give it a beautiful sheen.
Wile the beans are simmering, put the bacon, rosemary leaves and grated cheese into a food prosessor. Tear in the bread and pulse until you have fine flavoured breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mixture over the beans and put the pan into the oven for about 40 minutes to an hour, until topping is golden, crunchy and delicious. Frankly, it's a meal in itself, but it will also go really nicely next to meat or fish.

 

[hivechild]

Thanks, Cocoa. My big concern with any baked bean recipe is that bacon is loaded with sodium but I'm not sure how to get the flavor otherwise.

 

[Tacey]

How about using pork belly instead of bacon? It is less processed but still tasty. I've been experimenting with recipes lately and found it quite good. Sometimes I'm lazy and just blend a tin of tomatoes, then cook the beans through in the sauce. I then add some mustard and worcester sauce (a fair bit of salt in that I imagine though) and some chilli and a little brown sugar. It's a quick meal, and tastes pretty good too.

 

[craftymum]

I'm hoping some of you ladies can offer some advice - Jacob for a while now has been throwing his food on the floor at each meal time, I thought if I didn't make a fuss he would soon get bored, I have started just taking him out of the chair, cleaning up the mess and then just offering him something later but it's not working, he actually flings his food, tonight he had chicken casserole and he kept flinging it, then eating some, then flinging some more etc etc, my doors and everything were covered. I'm just getting a bit fed up with it now and starting to now question whether this is happening because we did BLW

 

[Shiv]

I'm hoping some of you ladies can offer some advice - Jacob for a while now has been throwing his food on the floor at each meal time, I thought if I didn't make a fuss he would soon get bored, I have started just taking him out of the chair, cleaning up the mess and then just offering him something later but it's not working, he actually flings his food, tonight he had chicken casserole and he kept flinging it, then eating some, then flinging some more etc etc, my doors and everything were covered. I'm just getting a bit fed up with it now and starting to now question whether this is happening because we did BLW

i think this might be an age thing - Sophia has recently learnt to throw, so she throws everything at any given opportunity including food at meal times. It is frustrating but i just try to not make too much of a fuss, I will say "no" once and then after that I ignore the throwing, if she continues just throwing and doesn't eat anymore, i gether down. I am assuming it is a phase!

 

[craftymum]

I'm hoping some of you ladies can offer some advice - Jacob for a while now has been throwing his food on the floor at each meal time, I thought if I didn't make a fuss he would soon get bored, I have started just taking him out of the chair, cleaning up the mess and then just offering him something later but it's not working, he actually flings his food, tonight he had chicken casserole and he kept flinging it, then eating some, then flinging some more etc etc, my doors and everything were covered. I'm just getting a bit fed up with it now and starting to now question whether this is happening because we did BLW

i think this might be an age thing - Sophia has recently learnt to throw, so she throws everything at any given opportunity including food at meal times. It is frustrating but i just try to not make too much of a fuss, I will say "no" once and then after that I ignore the throwing, if she continues just throwing and doesn't eat anymore, i gether down. I am assuming it is a phase!

Thank you, I hope you're right, it's so frustrating when you've spent ages preparing a meal for it to be thrown over the walls! Jacob gets a handful in each hand and just flings it with all his might!

 

[polaris]

I'm hoping some of you ladies can offer some advice - Jacob for a while now has been throwing his food on the floor at each meal time, I thought if I didn't make a fuss he would soon get bored, I have started just taking him out of the chair, cleaning up the mess and then just offering him something later but it's not working, he actually flings his food, tonight he had chicken casserole and he kept flinging it, then eating some, then flinging some more etc etc, my doors and everything were covered. I'm just getting a bit fed up with it now and starting to now question whether this is happening because we did BLW

I don't think it's a BLW issue, my SIL's twins went through the same at about the same age and they were traditionally weaned.

 

[chrissie33]

Hey girls, am looking for some advice... Katie has been BLW since 6 months and always done 'ok' - never eats much really but does have a good go. She seems to prefer italian food, risotto (favourite), pasta, tortelloni etc but she will not eat off a spoon at all - I have tried all sorts of things pre-loaded, but she just either pulls the stuff off and sticks the emptied spoon in her mouth, or she turns the spoon around and puts the handle in her mouth.... what am I doing wrong girls? It is making it hard to come up with new things for breakfast and means I am limited on deserts and stuff too. I have tried just putting things on her tray but she just rubs her hands in the food and wont eat any of it

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Ruby only really started eating mushy foods with her hands at about 13 months. She hated pre loaded spoons!