BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Connah'sMommy]

thanks ill try that

I find myself holding him back sometimes and i know he will never learn if i do

Must stop being so worrisome! xx

 

[Lauki]

It just takes a lot of time. Sophie only just started to get a hang of eating more than a few crumbs and bits now !

 

[chocolala]

hello ladies.

my little girl is 25 weeks, 2 weeks ago she started taking food off my plate, but she doesn't put it near her mouth, she just holds it, looks at it and drops it, infact nothing goes near her mouth other than her hands!! she did go through a phase at around 4 months where everything went in her mouth, but she stopped that.

is it normal for a nearly 6 month old to put nothing in her mouth?

i'm aware she'll try food in her own time, it's just the fact that she doesn't put anything in her mouth

 

[BabyBoo36]

Well after a bad bout of teething, Freya's gone backwards. Didn't eat solids AT ALL for 3 days, and now is only getting bits in - eg lunch was half a mini pitta, 2 sticks of cheese and half a custard pot. I'm trying to hang in there and just offer her bits and hope her appetite returns, but I'm finding it stressful!

 

[pinkpolkadot]

Hello all

I hope you don't mind me popping in. We are TW but also adding some finger food but thought you guys might be able to help!

I have given LO finger foods for tea the last 3 days and when she can get them in her mouth she is loving them and chomping away happily but she is squealing in frustration trying to get them there when she can't quite grab them or drops them making for a bit if a stressful tea time

Is this normal (she does tend to be a bit stroppy at times anyway)? I know she will get better with practice but don't want her to hate meal times!

Thanks

 

[canadabear]

Hello all

I hope you don't mind me popping in. We are TW but also adding some finger food but thought you guys might be able to help!

I have given LO finger foods for tea the last 3 days and when she can get them in her mouth she is loving them and chomping away happily but she is squealing in frustration trying to get them there when she can't quite grab them or drops them making for a bit if a stressful tea time

Is this normal (she does tend to be a bit stroppy at times anyway)? I know she will get better with practice but don't want her to hate meal times!

Thanks

Hey there :wave:

we are BLW.. and YES this seems to be a MAJOR problem for our LO at times as well.. he just wants to get the food in NOW. Sometimes he has actually started full on crying in frustration , which does tend to make meal times stressful.

what helped with us, was to really make sure that LO was NOT hungry when feeding. I give a full or a half BF, and then we do food.. followed by the rest of BF or a bit of a top up BF for a drink.

LO is a lot less stressed about it when he has a full tummy.. then he just enjoys the food. Plus, we just got a bib with the 'tray/pouch' for if food falls down.. does that make sense? Anyways.. he finds it much easier to get the fallen food out of that then trying to get it off the highchair tray.

It is AMAZING though how fast his coordination is coming on since starting BLW.. I guess food is a MAJOR incentive for him..

Hope things get better soon

 

[pinkpolkadot]

Thanks canadabear Thinking about it last night maybe we left it too long after her milk and she was probably also starting to get a bit tired as we had tea late which didn't help. Maybe we will try sooner after a feed and the bib idea is great, will grab some of those when we go out

We are now switching totally to BLW as she was taking the puree at first but now she won't open her mouth for it, she seems much better with the finger food (frustration aside!!) This morning she refused her soggy weatabix and apple so I made a quick piece of toast as a test and she shovelled it in

 

[satine51]

Hello Ladies!

How quickly after BF do you give your LO solids? My HV said to wait an hour, but I find that she gets tired/bored/tetchy if I wait that long. Also, I have 2 problems:

-I am forever preparing food and I find it hard to coordinate between cooking and not leaving her alone (safely, in her cot) for too long. She gets bored and angry watching me cooking, so that trick doesn't work. Any suggestions?

-I thought we have made a massive progress and this week she is not only disinterested in food, but almost angry that I put her in the high chair! She had a bit of a cold at the beginning of the week. I worry that she is not interested in food at all again.

 

[canadabear]

I sometimes just give food right after BF.. I only wait the time it takes me to have the food prepared.. sometimes I already have it ready for LO before the BF.
We have never had any tummy problems.... but each LO is different.

I have been wondering if any of you monitor the amount of food your LO eats. It is BLW.. and we have been demand BF, so I think that LO should be able to know when and how much to eat. I ask because LO seems to just keep eating. He LOVES his food, and sometimes, after a meal, I get the feeling that LO would have just kept eating if I had continued to give him food.
Do I give him more until he decides he has had enough? I think he is eating quite well.. and he is eating.. not playing/ exploring his food.

 

[mistyscott]

We don't really monitor how much LO is eating - but it's still minimal after only getting back into solids after a week of teething pains and a new tooth!

Quite jealous canadabear that your LO is eating with such gusto! People always say its not possible to over feed when BLW? I guess like demand bf, only they know if they're going through a growth spurt and need more?

LO is definitely picking up everything and trying nearly everything - so we just have to be more organised and offer him food at least twice a day I think.... It's just so messy! I do find myself shying away from giving him squishy or messy foods....naughty mummy. Roast dinner this evening, and I will put gravy on things for him

 

[canadabear]

We don't really monitor how much LO is eating - but it's still minimal after only getting back into solids after a week of teething pains and a new tooth!

Quite jealous canadabear that your LO is eating with such gusto! People always say its not possible to over feed when BLW? I guess like demand bf, only they know if they're going through a growth spurt and need more?

LO is definitely picking up everything and trying nearly everything - so we just have to be more organised and offer him food at least twice a day I think.... It's just so messy! I do find myself shying away from giving him squishy or messy foods....naughty mummy. Roast dinner this evening, and I will put gravy on things for him

Thanks.. I think I will trust to the BLW and just let him eat as much or as little as he feels that day.

It has been like this since day one.. LO LOVES to eat.. I haven't had the experience of him exploring/tasting/playing with food.. he just wants to eat and eat..
I kinda feel bad mentioning it but BLW has hardly been messy at all for us because LO is DETERMINED to get the food into his mouth.. not all over himself or the table/floor etc.
I was actually looking forward to the messy face pictures, but he is surprisingly clean and eats well with a spoon already.
I said from the beginning that I thought our LO was well ready for food LONG before we gave it to him. He bypassed all the beginning stages and went straight to eating..

 

[hersweetleaf]

Looks like ill be leaving the BLW community. Our new doctor who I thought wouldn't have a problem with what we were doing, does in fact have a big problem with it. She advised us to stop and go back to mushy foods till atleast 9months or later. I'm devastated again. This is the second doc to tell us this. I now have to go through all the work of PUREEING everything he will eat and giving him cereal via spoon, THREE times a day. I don't know how I can do this. I'm so stressed at the thought of it I get anxious now. I'm gutted and feel like nothing is going to be good enough and I've been doing it wrong the whole time. I'm so incredibly sad and unsure of what to do or "what is right" now.

 

[chysantheMUM]

Looks like ill be leaving the BLW community. Our new doctor who I thought wouldn't have a problem with what we were doing, does in fact have a big problem with it. She advised us to stop and go back to mushy foods till atleast 9months or later. I'm devastated again. This is the second doc to tell us this. I now have to go through all the work of PUREEING everything he will eat and giving him cereal via spoon, THREE times a day. I don't know how I can do this. I'm so stressed at the thought of it I get anxious now. I'm gutted and feel like nothing is going to be good enough and I've been doing it wrong the whole time. I'm so incredibly sad and unsure of what to do or "what is right" now.

I don't understand why they would say this! How old is your LO? Have you had any problems or health issues which would make them concerned about it? If it was me I would either ignore them or just stick to pre loading spoons of mushed banana, mushy peas, mashed potato / turnip / carrot, weetabix, yoghurt, soups etc until the 9 month period. Surely they can't have a problem with that I don't see why pureeing would be necessary, you can still do blw just stick to foods which can be easily mushed / mashed

 

[hersweetleaf]

Looks like ill be leaving the BLW community. Our new doctor who I thought wouldn't have a problem with what we were doing, does in fact have a big problem with it. She advised us to stop and go back to mushy foods till atleast 9months or later. I'm devastated again. This is the second doc to tell us this. I now have to go through all the work of PUREEING everything he will eat and giving him cereal via spoon, THREE times a day. I don't know how I can do this. I'm so stressed at the thought of it I get anxious now. I'm gutted and feel like nothing is going to be good enough and I've been doing it wrong the whole time. I'm so incredibly sad and unsure of what to do or "what is right" now.

I don't understand why they would say this! How old is your LO? Have you had any problems or health issues which would make them concerned about it? If it was me I would either ignore them or just stick to pre loading spoons of mushed banana, mushy peas, mashed potato / turnip / carrot, weetabix, yoghurt, soups etc until the 9 month period. Surely they can't have a problem with that I don't see why pureeing would be necessary, you can still do blw just stick to foods which can be easily mushed / mashed

theres no medical reason. bubs is 20lbs, and has a ravenous hunger, and we havent had any problems medically. i think shes just overly worried about the choking. apparently 6-7 months is too young to have normal human foods and the risk of choking is large. hes choked on the jarred food, but not the BLW stuff. i guess ill just have to do like you said and do the loaded spoons till 9 months, which is in 2 months. just makes me sad. i changed peds hoping shed be a little bit more understanding about it, but she wasnt. even though shes got lots of relatives in the UK, shes still never heard of BLW. and she said we should buy into fads, just like potty training at 6 months, it will just fade out. kinda made me mad.

and to be honost, i will continue to BLW when i and baby are alone to bypass allt he stupid ridicule i get from family and friends. so sue me. lol.

 

[chysantheMUM]

Choking is a big worry and I find myself being very cautious because of it, so I do understand their concern but I agree they can choke on mush too. I have given LO banana biscotti biscuits (which are being sold as suitable finger foods for 7 months plus) on 3 occasions now and each time she choked or gagged with them. I'm not sure why exactly but she doesn't have the same problem with whole bananas, sandwiches and potato wedges, so go figure!

Lets hope your doctor does go away and read the blw book and as a result eases off a little but I think its a shame that your family don't understand either. Like I said though, if it was me, I'd stick with it. My LO loves to feed herself with a spoon or just scoop mushy stuff up with her hands, so its definitely possible to still let baby lead that way

 

[canadabear]

Looks like ill be leaving the BLW community. Our new doctor who I thought wouldn't have a problem with what we were doing, does in fact have a big problem with it. She advised us to stop and go back to mushy foods till atleast 9months or later. I'm devastated again. This is the second doc to tell us this. I now have to go through all the work of PUREEING everything he will eat and giving him cereal via spoon, THREE times a day. I don't know how I can do this. I'm so stressed at the thought of it I get anxious now. I'm gutted and feel like nothing is going to be good enough and I've been doing it wrong the whole time. I'm so incredibly sad and unsure of what to do or "what is right" now.

I don't understand why they would say this! How old is your LO? Have you had any problems or health issues which would make them concerned about it? If it was me I would either ignore them or just stick to pre loading spoons of mushed banana, mushy peas, mashed potato / turnip / carrot, weetabix, yoghurt, soups etc until the 9 month period. Surely they can't have a problem with that I don't see why pureeing would be necessary, you can still do blw just stick to foods which can be easily mushed / mashed

theres no medical reason. bubs is 20lbs, and has a ravenous hunger, and we havent had any problems medically. i think shes just overly worried about the choking. apparently 6-7 months is too young to have normal human foods and the risk of choking is large. hes choked on the jarred food, but not the BLW stuff. i guess ill just have to do like you said and do the loaded spoons till 9 months, which is in 2 months. just makes me sad. i changed peds hoping shed be a little bit more understanding about it, but she wasnt. even though shes got lots of relatives in the UK, shes still never heard of BLW. and she said we should buy into fads, just like potty training at 6 months, it will just fade out. kinda made me mad.

and to be honost, i will continue to BLW when i and baby are alone to bypass allt he stupid ridicule i get from family and friends. so sue me. lol.

I just go ahead and do what I feel is best for my LO. I haven't even mentioned BLW to our doctor at all. Why should I? LO is gaining weight well and meeting all the milestones perfectly, even a bit early for some. We have no health issues etc.. and I just use my common sense as to what to feed LO. I have read the recommendations on what foods to give and when.. so I basically follow those guidelines, but do it the BLW way. LO is a very happy and healthy baby. The only stress OH and I have at the moment is remembering not to make the curries too spicy..

If you and LO are enjoying BLW, and have no health issues.. then why not just continue with it? I understand the worry about choking etc, but that will be there regardless of how you decide to wean.. and you will have to introduce fingerfoods again eventually anyways.

Also.. I do EC, elimination communication, with my LO and now he is holding both is poo and wee.. doing both in the toilet and only having approx. 3-4 damp nappies a day and is MUCH happier than going in his nappy. So we are enjoying that 'FAD' very much as well

 

[blondey]

Looks like ill be leaving the BLW community. Our new doctor who I thought wouldn't have a problem with what we were doing, does in fact have a big problem with it. She advised us to stop and go back to mushy foods till atleast 9months or later. I'm devastated again. This is the second doc to tell us this. I now have to go through all the work of PUREEING everything he will eat and giving him cereal via spoon, THREE times a day. I don't know how I can do this. I'm so stressed at the thought of it I get anxious now. I'm gutted and feel like nothing is going to be good enough and I've been doing it wrong the whole time. I'm so incredibly sad and unsure of what to do or "what is right" now.

I don't understand why they would say this! How old is your LO? Have you had any problems or health issues which would make them concerned about it? If it was me I would either ignore them or just stick to pre loading spoons of mushed banana, mushy peas, mashed potato / turnip / carrot, weetabix, yoghurt, soups etc until the 9 month period. Surely they can't have a problem with that I don't see why pureeing would be necessary, you can still do blw just stick to foods which can be easily mushed / mashed

theres no medical reason. bubs is 20lbs, and has a ravenous hunger, and we havent had any problems medically. i think shes just overly worried about the choking. apparently 6-7 months is too young to have normal human foods and the risk of choking is large. hes choked on the jarred food, but not the BLW stuff. i guess ill just have to do like you said and do the loaded spoons till 9 months, which is in 2 months. just makes me sad. i changed peds hoping shed be a little bit more understanding about it, but she wasnt. even though shes got lots of relatives in the UK, shes still never heard of BLW. and she said we should buy into fads, just like potty training at 6 months, it will just fade out. kinda made me mad.

and to be honost, i will continue to BLW when i and baby are alone to bypass allt he stupid ridicule i get from family and friends. so sue me. lol.

The only advice I would have for you hun is do what YOU feel comfortable with.

Choking is not actually that common. Gagging is common but there is a BIG difference between choking and gagging. The gag reflex is very far forward in a 6month old, compared with a 10/11month old. So the likelihood is that anything that shouldn't be going down will be gagged back up before it goes near the wind pipe. So if a LO can learn to deal with foods whilst there is this safety net, they should be ready for when the gag reflex moves further back towards the wind pipe when they get older.

There is nothing wrong with traditional weaning e.g. purees but the concept of the 'stages' of TW are quite often based on earlier weaning (pre 6months)

Do what you think is right. Meal times should be a stress free as possible and fun, you shouldn't be worrying about what you're doctor said.

xx

 

[caz_hills]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice please! My boy is nearly nine months now and I've been giving him purred food really since six months. Recently he won't take puréed food maybe due to teething but he won't take that much food in. So I'm trying to hve him finger foods and things but he doesn't seem to take much in - he much prefers it and he isn't crying like he does with puréed food. How do I know he is getting enough? For tea I just have him about 1/4 chicken breast nicely marinated cold which he chewed on and two cherry tomatoes-love them- and then melon for pud.

He ate some but he was playing with it too - he prefers feeding himself so should I persevere with it? I don't want him to starve! Thanks x

 

[mistyscott]

Lo is really getting into BLW now and is starting to go for it with shoving as much food in his mouth as poss and actually swallowing a lot of it too

But, with meat like chicken we are finding that LO holds it in his mouth and is still trying to chew it half an hour after eating... it often gets stuck to the roof of his mouth and we end up having to get it out of his mouth, unless he takes some water to help it go down (but he's not a fan of his cup so this isn't usually successful)

Does anyone else find this problem? Any tips?

 

[RaspberryK]

I've not noticed this with meat but it has happened with cheese, banana and bread.
My lo does eventually spit it up or swallow after lots of gagging so I just toast all bread, grate the cheese and slice banana thinner.
How do you cut the meat?
x