BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[BabyBoo36]

Thanks linzylinz. They provide lunch for her, and I'll be sending it breakfast for her to have there as it'll be too early for her to have it at home IYKWIM. They are a well known nursery chain so I'm hoping they'll be up to date on BLW. I'm also thinking she may be a bit more co-ordinated at using a spoon herself (she tried the other day with greek yoghurt and although she also fed her ear, she does get her mouth!). She's not eaten too much today (some toast at brekkie, refused lunch) but she does have a stinking cold, bless her, so I'm pleased she even ate the toast! x

 

[SammyJ]

I posted this in the main forum, but only got one response so trying here too just to see if anyone else has some more advice:

Hey ladies I'm hoping some of the other BLW mummies might be able to help me.

We've been doing BLW from day one of weaning and started 2 months ago. Everything has been going really well and LO loves his food. However in the last week he has started taking really big pieces of food and swallowing them without chewing. It started with mandarin segments, but he's started to do it with meat, bread, almost everything! You can see that he sometimes struggles to get it down and it's occassionally brought tears to his eyes! I'm usually really confident that he won't choke, but now I'm beginning to worry.

Has this happened to anyone else? Do you have any advice? How can I make sure he chews properly before swallowing?

Thanks ladies!

 

[Vee_Bee]

Hi,

Sorry, my LO hasn't really done this so I can't be of much help but didn't want to read and run.

Maybe talk to your GP or HV to see what they think?

I'm sure he'll be fine though, he's been ok so far xxx

 

[canadabear]

Hello eveyone.. :wave:

Matthew is now 4.5mn.. and we are starting to get SO very excited about BLW. Everyone recommends waiting until 6mns and I DO understand the reasons for waiting. BUT.. I was also reading about the signs to look for that your baby is ready to start tasting/trying/playing with food.
So far Matthew can:
Reach out and grab an object held out to him. He puts it directly into his mouth and BITES/CHEWS HARD.
He is always chewing everything.. not just tasting and gumming it. He moves large chewy items around in his mouth while holding onto them.
He can sit up almost completely unaided.

I was not intending on introducing BLW until he is 6mn.. but am now wondering about starting it when he is 5mn?
I don't want to give him anything too early as I know it will go right into his mouth. And with his very STRONG gums I am sure he would be able to break off a piece of something.
What are your opinions? Advice?

I plan on only introducing him to fruit and veggies for the first while. And staying away from any gluten products for quite a while due to family history of bowel problems etc.

 

[iwanababybump]

Hi ladies coming over from the TW section
My LO is 6 month an has been on puréed for a month now so we started introducing finger foods and since doin this apart from breakfast he is refusing purée food is it possible to start BLW from now??

If so what do you do with things like fruit pots yogurts or porridge do you just give them a spoon and hope for the best
I would really appreciate any advice you have as I'm really considering this option for Jamie

 

[Karlie06]

Hi all, I posted this in the main forum but didn't get a response yet. Well my lo is 7 months old and is eating well, but I feel like I'm running out of ideas to feed her for mealtimes. She can manage lumps really well but I need some inspiration to keep things varied. She usually has ready Brek or scrambled egg for breakfast followed by toast which she loves but need help with lunch and dinner. I think I still have baby brain and my decision making is affected, so any ideas truly would be appreciated xx

 

[linzylinz]

Hello eveyone.. :wave:

Matthew is now 4.5mn.. and we are starting to get SO very excited about BLW. Everyone recommends waiting until 6mns and I DO understand the reasons for waiting. BUT.. I was also reading about the signs to look for that your baby is ready to start tasting/trying/playing with food.
So far Matthew can:
Reach out and grab an object held out to him. He puts it directly into his mouth and BITES/CHEWS HARD.
He is always chewing everything.. not just tasting and gumming it. He moves large chewy items around in his mouth while holding onto them.
He can sit up almost completely unaided.

I was not intending on introducing BLW until he is 6mn.. but am now wondering about starting it when he is 5mn?
I don't want to give him anything too early as I know it will go right into his mouth. And with his very STRONG gums I am sure he would be able to break off a piece of something.
What are your opinions? Advice?

I plan on only introducing him to fruit and veggies for the first while. And staying away from any gluten products for quite a while due to family history of bowel problems etc.

the first couple of weeks they just suck things anyway i think alot of people (myself included) from what i have read, start around 5.5 months. you sound like your prepared and know what your doing. personally i waited untill 5.5 even tho she was ready earlier just to be on the safe side, i did have her at the table while we ate with her cutlery to play with to get her use to meal times hope this helps xxx

 

[canadabear]

yes..i think that sounds best too.. looking forward to introducing the first foods...

 

[chysantheMUM]

Hello eveyone.. :wave:

Matthew is now 4.5mn.. and we are starting to get SO very excited about BLW. Everyone recommends waiting until 6mns and I DO understand the reasons for waiting. BUT.. I was also reading about the signs to look for that your baby is ready to start tasting/trying/playing with food.
So far Matthew can:
Reach out and grab an object held out to him. He puts it directly into his mouth and BITES/CHEWS HARD.
He is always chewing everything.. not just tasting and gumming it. He moves large chewy items around in his mouth while holding onto them.
He can sit up almost completely unaided.

I was not intending on introducing BLW until he is 6mn.. but am now wondering about starting it when he is 5mn?
I don't want to give him anything too early as I know it will go right into his mouth. And with his very STRONG gums I am sure he would be able to break off a piece of something.
What are your opinions? Advice?

I plan on only introducing him to fruit and veggies for the first while. And staying away from any gluten products for quite a while due to family history of bowel problems etc.

The good thing about BLW is your baby will let you know when they are ready. My LO has just turned 5 month and I have been sooo eager to get started. So today I put a bib on her, put her in her highchair and put half a banana in front of her. She paid the banana no interest despite my trying to get her attention whilst I ate the other half. She was more interested in chewing her bib She picked up the banana on 2 occasions and instantly dropped it and after about 10 minutes seemed to be bored with the whole highchair experience. So, shes obviously not ready yet despite me being convinced that she was showing signs and thats fine, theres no rush. Having read the Gill Rapley book I understand its about giving babies the choice / opportunity, so I will probably try again with some other type of fruit or veg in a few days.

 

[canadabear]

Thanks so much.. makes me feel better for thinking he might be ready before the 6month mark.

He was getting SO upset yesterday at dinner time because we weren't sharing the food.. it was kinda crazy to watch. He loves his highchair and he used to be content to watch us and play with a toy, his sicky cloth, cutlery etc.. but now he is obviously upset because he wants to copy us.
I know it doesn't mean that he is actually hungry/wants to eat, just that he wants to do what we are doing.
Because I am worried about bowl problems, due to family history, I think I want to start with non-constipating foods.
I was told that the P group of fruits/veggies - prunes, pears, peas, papaya etc- are usually non-constipating. Is this true?

Next shopping day I am thinking of finding some really ripe pears and starting with that. Should I just put it on the highchair tray or hold it out for him to grab? He will take things that are handed to him and put them in his mouth right away.
Is there any advice for the first attempt?

 

[canadabear]

Ok.. so I might have made a mistake, but I was reading the ques from Matthew and decided to give it a shot.. worse case.. he wouldn't be interested and then we would just wait a couple weeks.

Gave him a carrot.. he sucked and chewed/gummed it SO MUCH.. I am sure he swallowed some very small pieces, crumbs really.. but he was SO EXCITED. Put it right in his mouth, his eyes got HUGE and he was just SO HAPPY. He only let go of it when it slipped out of his hand covered in drool.

So where do I go from here? I don't want to go too fast, as he isn't even 5 months yet. I know this early.. so I hope I haven't done him any harm. Does anyone think I should back off now and wait a bit longer? Or should I just keep it at carrot for now and introduce a fruit? Pear perhaps?

This is very exciting to see.. and I am SO happy his first experience with food was just fun and he enjoyed it so much... I see great things to come with this..

 

[sweetpea2]

Canadabear, I'll be keeping an eye on the responses you get. My LO seems so close to being ready. I've known for a while that we probably won't make it to the 6 month mark but I think i'll be lucky to hold out to my 5.5 month goal i'd set myself.
I'll be interested to know any other experiences of starting blw weaning early? If I was tw, I'd have no hesitations in starting him on solids in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Rmar]

We offered from 4 and a half months. She was sitting up and grabbing at the food but most of it didn't make it is the mouth. If it did, she would look disgusted and spit it out again.

They know when they want the food or not so I found no harm in trying.

We had a big breakthough in meal time, yesterday. She was taking mouthfuls and making effort to eat more than she ever has.

 

[iwanababybump]

Jamie is day two into BLW and yesterday for tea had sausage,mash,cabbage,green beans and yorkshire pudding although still not eating a lot he tried everything

Surprisingly he seemed to really like the cabbage

 

[canadabear]

Canadabear, I'll be keeping an eye on the responses you get. My LO seems so close to being ready. I've known for a while that we probably won't make it to the 6 month mark but I think i'll be lucky to hold out to my 5.5 month goal i'd set myself.
I'll be interested to know any other experiences of starting blw weaning early? If I was tw, I'd have no hesitations in starting him on solids in the next couple of weeks.

I know what you mean.. if I was TW I would have no hesitations at all. I really don't want to be causing him any problems.. but he is just showing all the signs of being ready. The only marker he doesn't have is being 6months.. but it does make me worried that his little gut doesn't have the ability to breakdown food properly yet... what to do, what to do..

OH thinks we should wait a week or two before we really start.. and I have decided to go along with it.. it is a compromise for both of us, as I would like to start now given the cues from Matty, and he wants to wait the full 6months.

I am interested if anyone started before 5.5months? what was your experience, reasonings etc?

 

[canadabear]

We offered from 4 and a half months. She was sitting up and grabbing at the food but most of it didn't make it is the mouth. If it did, she would look disgusted and spit it out again.

They know when they want the food or not so I found no harm in trying.

We had a big breakthough in meal time, yesterday. She was taking mouthfuls and making effort to eat more than she ever has.

Thanks for this.. makes me feel a bit better about possibly starting earlier than even 5.5months.
If you don't mind.. why did you decide to start earlier than 6month? Did your LO meet the other markers?

Did you start on just fruit and veggies until reaching the 6month mark?

 

[Rmar]

Mostly just fruit. She didn't even want to touch vegies.

She was sitting up and grabbing for it and if it wasn't close enough she was watching us eat. She didn't have the pincer grasp, just a full hand grasp. I decided that didn't matter because she was pretty much trying it out and hardly any was going in. She did gag a few times which made me second guess myself but it was for 1 meal a day and for the most part, she was having fun.

 

[BattyNora]

Hello ladies...we started our BLW this week - just exploring fruits and veggies at the moment. I didn't stick to the 6 months but B can sit well upright with minimal support and is pretty good at picking the bits up and getting them to her mouth. I'm quickly trying to finish reading the book so I don't do anything wrong! Waiitng this final 10 days or so then will have madam on everything I can think of!

So far cucumber and steamed apple has been faves...raspberries not so much! I love watching her face when she gets her first tastes of something and I CAN'T wait to introduce meals!

One quick q,...I do give porrisge in the morning as it's what I normally have, I pre-load a spoon and madam feeds herself...is that okay? X

 

[chysantheMUM]

Not sure, I thought porridge was a gluten food, so was on the after 6 month list I could be wrong though

We tried again with some foods this morning. I gave her a baby carrot, cauliflower and broccoli (all steamed). The only one that made it to her mouth was the cauliflower and she pulled a face on first taste but gave it another try. Don't think she actually swallowed any of it though and no gagging yet. Shes taking it quite slowly thankfully but I can see that shes still got much to learn about picking food up and successfully holding onto it, as the carrot hit the floor almost immediately and she kept picking up the broccoli the wrong way round, which meant that each time she tried to bring it to her mouth, all she got was her fist

 

[DarlingMe]

How do you ladies monitor for allergies? I know with TW u introduce one food every 3 days or so. I have not really come across any info with that. No family history but just curious!