BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Lu28]

Has anyone given their LOs casserole and how did it work? Just wondering how they manage the vegetables because they're all going to be pretty soft given that they're in a casserole. I'm thinking of just doing separate veg for her but that kind of defeats the purpose Oh, and is it ok to add wine to cooking if LO is going to have some too? DH loves a bit of red wine in a casserole!

 

[kirsten1985]

If it was me I would probably leave out the wine and make the chunks of veg pretty big. I was thinking about this too, as we have casserole fairly often, and it would be nice for Freya to have some.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Is the alcohol not boiled off though? When I was pregnant I still put loads of wine in stuff, just brought the pot to the boil so the alcohol burnt off...

 

[kirsten1985]

Yeah it does I suppose. I don't know, I don't really put wine in stuff. Does it definitely get rid of all the alcohol? I might try it!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah as far as I understand, it definitely does. However some wine does have other stuff in it that you might not want to give to a baby. I seem to be constantly reading labels these days...

 

[Lu28]

I was thinking the wine would probably boil off. It's just a dash of red wine, hoping that'd be ok. Not a problem obviously if it's not suitable but it would be nice!

 

[Faerie]

The wine would definitely be ok re alcohol levels. Buy organic if you're worried about nasties

 

[asacia]

I'm not sure about the alcohol cooking off, opinion seems divided on this. As I can tell if a dish has alcohol in it, I'd say that some definitely remains, but I imagine it is a small amount. I know most Muslims and Alcoholics avoid alcohol in food, which I know is a different thing all together. Personally, I'd avoid it if possible, just to be safe.

I should probably say hello too. My LO is 6 months and a few days old, and we are doing a bit of BLW. Taking it very slowly, and having food a maximum of once a day until 9 months old. We've had success with toast, porridge, brocolli, avocado and pear so far.

 

[Lu28]

Hi asacia, great to see you here! Any reason you're sticking to one meal a day until 9 months old?

Casserole is slow cooking at the moment minus the wine, maybe next time!

 

[asacia]

Hi asacia, great to see you here! Any reason you're sticking to one meal a day until 9 months old?

Casserole is slow cooking at the moment minus the wine, maybe next time!

I want to breast milk to be LO's main source of nutrition until a year old, so we are planning on introducing solids very slowly. I'm aiming to start two meals at 9 months, then 3 meals at 12 months. I've got worries about allergies and obesity, so this seems to be the best thing for us.

 

[kirsten1985]

Where have you read stuff about staying on one meal a day asacia? We are concerned about allergies too, and will be holding off introducing quite a few things 'til at least 9 or 12 months. I had considered staying on one meal a day for a while but haven't actually read anything about it and didn't even know people did it!

 

[asacia]

Where have you read stuff about staying on one meal a day asacia? We are concerned about allergies too, and will be holding off introducing quite a few things 'til at least 9 or 12 months. I had considered staying on one meal a day for a while but haven't actually read anything about it and didn't even know people did it!

I got most information from the Kellymom forum, and the following pages:
https://www.mother-2-mother.com/startingsolids.htm#BeginningSolids
https://www.mother-2-mother.com/samplemenus.htm
https://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.htmll#frequency
https://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032000.asp#T032006

My LO is in a really distractable phase, and I want to be careful that he is getting enough milk. We are avoiding a lot of high allergy food until 12 months, which seems to be a more common thing to do in America. Some doctors in America recommend waiting till 12 months to wean high risk for allergy babies. I've also read that foods before one year old should be about taste and texture and exploring, so I want to be careful not to rush.

We ate having some banana tomorrow

 

[kirsten1985]

Thanks, they are good links.

I think we will start on one meal a day, and only put it to two when she sems hungry at another time of the day. I don't think this will happen for quite a while as I read they don't actually swallow for ages, etc etc. This prob won't happen 'til 8 or 9 months anyway.

 

[Lu28]

Don't be surprised if they chew and swallow quite early on either though. Aisling's first food was at just over 5 months when she chewed on a finger of apple, bit a chunk off, chewed it and swallowed it - I was more than a little surprised! And she's been doing it since..

Quick question about the types of foods they feed themselves. The only things Aisling is happy to hold in her hand and feed herself are bread based. If you try anything else she'll take a bite if we're lucky and then throw it down. It's all stuff she takes really well in purees so it's not the taste. I'm wondering if it's the texture in her hand and how to overcome this?

Tried her with the casserole just now and she quite happily mashed her hands in it and gave it a squeeze but didn't seem to realise that if she then put her hand in her mouth she'd get to eat some She does it so well with toys, why not with food?!? So frustrating!

 

[Lu28]

Don't be surprised if they chew and swallow quite early on either though. Aisling's first food was at just over 5 months when she chewed on a finger of apple, bit a chunk off, chewed it and swallowed it - I was more than a little surprised! And she's been doing it since..

Quick question about the types of foods they feed themselves. The only things Aisling is happy to hold in her hand and feed herself are bread based. If you try anything else she'll take a bite if we're lucky and then throw it down. It's all stuff she takes really well in purees so it's not the taste. I'm wondering if it's the texture in her hand and how to overcome this?

Tried her with the casserole just now and she quite happily mashed her hands in it and gave it a squeeze but didn't seem to realise that if she then put her hand in her mouth she'd get to eat some She does it so well with toys, why not with food?!? So frustrating!

 

[Julie74d]

Just a quick question how does everyones little ones get on eating stuff like toast, bagels just bread like food? kaitlynn never seems to eat it well and she's 9 months now. Just gums it until it gets soggy and might swallow some but only a tiny bit and never eats the whole thing!

 

[Lu28]

I wonder if it's just a preference thing, the only thing Aisling eats well is bread based stuff

 

[asacia]

Toby loves bread based things! He doesn't seem overly keen on lumpy, slimy things, although banana did go down well yesterday.

 

[moggy]

Hi there....Just wondered if anyone could help...Ava has been BLW since about 5 months and one week, only trying not actually eating anything. About three weeks ago she actually started chewing and swallowing. She is on three tiny meals a day, not always, but when I eat I give her more or less the same and she seems to love it. The thing is I don't think she is actually eating much....is this really a problem at this age and should I just not worry or is there something else I could do? She is still on 5 milk feeds (tried cutting it to 4 but she decided to be hungry about 2 am so we went back to 5 lol).

To those worried about introducing different foods, I've let Ava have everything except honey,nuts and no salt (if poss), although we have no real allergies in the family only a bit of eczema. I've done loads of research on this and found this was how I wanted to go, although you all know your own babies so I suggest you do exactly what you think best, I am only saying what I do. Good luck xx

 

[Lu28]

It's best to go at her pace hon. She'll eat when she's ready and in the meantime, milk should be her main feed - for that reason, I'd let her drop a milk feed only when she's ready