BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[fordkim]

Hi girls thanks so much for the quick replies and pleased BLW going well for you. Lily was only playing with her food till really recently too but then gradually all of a sudden we started to realise that there was less and less waste. I'm a bit worried though that she might be cutting down on her milk too early.

She takes 7 oz and some cereal at breakfast. She has a variety of finger foods for lunch but at this feed I'm lucky if I can get her to take 3-4oz. At 2pm she takes another bottle, sometimes she fusses and sometimes she takes 7oz.

Teatime is the worst though, she eats a good meal with us but then its a real struggle to get her to take her bottle, tonight she's had 2oz.

I did try t cut out her 10pm feed but she was waking at 4am so I've reintroduced this and she takes about 3oz.

I'm going to speak with the health visitor tomorrow to see what she thinks.

 

[sublime_ivy]

do you all think it is ok that i give dex rice cakes? he doesnt seem that interested in food yet but he seems to love rice cakes. I think more for the fact that it helps his gums as he is teething loads at the moment (he has 2 teeth). He is defo eating them too as his poo smells like them, haha. He was interested in porridge but that seems to have waned. He has pretty much gone off milk feeds too so i think this must be the teething. He was eating the porridge but then suddenly it is back to square one again, I'm not really that fussed though.

I think that sounds ok, can't believe Dex has 2 teeth!

Can I ask which rice cakes you all buy? Do u get the baby ones or if not, which brand have low salt?

i know, he does everything fast, he was crawling and standing by 5 months. We've just taught him how to wave and kind of say bye bye. he pretty much talks to you and he can finally sit up. His fast learning means he is irritable a lot of the time because gets bored very quickly and he constantly fidgets. hes also going through the clingy stage so he follows me everywhere and calls me.

i have some pics im gonna post here shortly.

oh and fyi, the co-op rice cakes have no salt.

 

[Pink_Witch]

ern had a piece of toast with vegemite at lunchtime, but we had chippy tea so he just had a slice of bread with some clover on (which he liked)and a banana!!

In 24 hours he has 6 x 7oz bottles, some times he only drinks 3-5 oz but most of the time he drinks all 7oz

I havent tried him with rice cakes yet,ill have to get him some-i tried him with breadsticks but he was less than impressed with them!!!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Hi

I'm brand new to this forum so just wanted to say Hi. Lily is now 6.5 months old and we've been baby led weaning for the past few weeks. She's definitely gone from playing with her food to eating more and more which is fab but I was just curious is anyone else on here formula feeding and doing BLW and if so how much does your little one take?

Thanks

We started about 10 days ago...Ruby is not swallowing on purpose yet though, although we're getting closer each day I think. She drinks about 45oz a day.

 

[kirsten1985]

Asda's 'Good for You' rice cakes have no salt.

 

[Babyshambelle]

Hi girls, just popping in again.

It's a few more weeks until we start BLW, and Olivia has been sitting with us at tea time in her high chair. We have given her a spoon to play with and she seems really interested in the whole 'occasion' of eating, which is really nice.

Anyway, my main question is is there anything I can do to prepare for BLW?? My mummy friends are all pureeing, mashing and freezing things in ice cube trays like mad, and at the moment all I have done is read 'the bible' and been thinking about how to adapt our foods.

All my mummy friends keep joking that I'm following the 'lazy bums parenting style', not making bottles of formula, not pureeing foods etc

So, can I make some things to freeze? I was thinking like a fruit sauce for toast/porridge maybe??

Any tips would be welcomed!!! xxx

 

[faille]

Hi girls thanks so much for the quick replies and pleased BLW going well for you. Lily was only playing with her food till really recently too but then gradually all of a sudden we started to realise that there was less and less waste. I'm a bit worried though that she might be cutting down on her milk too early.

She takes 7 oz and some cereal at breakfast. She has a variety of finger foods for lunch but at this feed I'm lucky if I can get her to take 3-4oz. At 2pm she takes another bottle, sometimes she fusses and sometimes she takes 7oz.

Teatime is the worst though, she eats a good meal with us but then its a real struggle to get her to take her bottle, tonight she's had 2oz.

I did try t cut out her 10pm feed but she was waking at 4am so I've reintroduced this and she takes about 3oz.

I'm going to speak with the health visitor tomorrow to see what she thinks.

I don't know if this will help at all, but Violets routine is:

8-8.30am - wake up and 8oz bottle
12-12.30pm - 8oz bottle
1-2pm - some lunch
4-4.30pm - 8oz bottle
6-7pm - some dinner
8-8.30pm - 8oz bottle

It's annoying because litterally every 2hrs it's either milk or food but it does work well for her. She's never hungry when she has food so doesn't get frustrated and as she's now swallowing, the food doesn't stop her having her milk as there's a nice gap between it all.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

'Lazy bums parenting style'?? LOL, I don't think BF and BLW are that at all!
I never froze anything for Ruby, I guess you could puree some fruit to go in porridge or on toast though...or just buy 100% fruit spread.

I would say not to make anything just for her. Just stick to offering her a bit of your food. Whenever I've made something specifically for Ruby I've been irritated when she hasn't eaten it which is obviously not the idea at all!

 

[kirsten1985]

Laura, I spent my weeks before BLW practising making loads of meals that we could all eat as a family, and sitting at the table with Freya every mealtime. It's surprising how much of the food we eat is unsuitable for them, for us especially as we are avoiding so much stuff! I don't make anything specially for Freya, just make sure that she canhave some of what we are eating.

 

[Kiree]

Babyshambelle- how about a nice thick soup for dipping rice cakes, breadsticks, toast in? And loading the spoon with. I've done one today just chucked a cup of red lentils 1 onion 1 parsnip 1 potato 2 carrots and half a turnip (all grated) in the slow cooker, (or pan) covered with water and cooked it for a couple of hours. We will both have it for lunch tomorrow, going to try him dipping some toast in cos its really thick so hopefully will stick to the toast and he can suck it off. And I have frozen tons of it tonight.

I've done a few fruit purees for things like toast, rice cakes or mixing in porridge and yoghurt. And I definitely do it the lazy way so your friends may disapprove! For apples I just peel and chop them and microwave them about 2 thirds covered with water for about 5 mins high power and then whizz it all up with the water still in. For peach and pear I'm even lazier again, I get the pots of fruit from asda (in pear juice not syrup) and whizz that up. No cooking involved!

That's all I can think of sorry!

 

[Lu28]

The only preparation type things we still do are fruit purees to put on toast or mix in porridge etc. I was half thinking of pre-preparing some sweet potato wedges so they're already parboiled...

 

[sublime_ivy]

ladies i have had to stop blw, I am sick with a stomach bug and i have no energy to do anything. I feel so bad, I have just stuck dex is his playpen which i only usually put him in for when i go to do something in another room. My OH works from home but he is ill as well. Booo

Dex is already whining to get out of the pen but i cant run after him all morning. man i hate stomach bugs.

 

[faille]

We never prepare anything in advance for Violet - she has what we have, we don't give her anything that we don't have.

Before you start giving food though, the involvement at mealtimes is a great way to start. Even giving a spoon/cup/bowl etc to play with. Apart from that, BLW I don't think is about preparing food because it's about them eating the same as you. So unless you pre prepare food for yourself, then...


Hope you feel better soon sublime ivy!

 

[purple_socks]

i have a few Qs: When did u all start BLW? b4, after or at 6 months? and what was ur LOs first food? also did u introduce different foods individually or just go for something with a mix in? i know Kians not anywhere near ready yet but i was just day dreaming abt what i'd give him when we do eventually start out. i dunno whether to go through each food on its own to check for any probs then go for mixed meals or just dive straight it at the deep end?

 

[Lu28]

We started at just over 5 months, just giving her some apple to chew on etc. I didn't start proper dinners or anything until 6 months, that way I wasn't worried about alergies etc.

Hope you're feeling better soon sublime ivy

 

[fordkim]

Hi we started at just before 6 months but really just to let Lily start playing with food. Its only recently she's started eating. We started with apple, pear, cucumber,baby rice and then from 6 months she started to have meals with us.

 

[faille]

i have a few Qs: When did u all start BLW? b4, after or at 6 months? and what was ur LOs first food? also did u introduce different foods individually or just go for something with a mix in? i know Kians not anywhere near ready yet but i was just day dreaming abt what i'd give him when we do eventually start out. i dunno whether to go through each food on its own to check for any probs then go for mixed meals or just dive straight it at the deep end?

We started at about 5.5 months by just giving her a bit of banana / cucumber / apple / other big things. We started off giving her 3 things at a time, never just the 1. We didn't do the whole 'allergy test' either as neither of us have any allergies so we figured that the risk's quite low.

Now she'll have about 4 or 5 different things, different sizes, textures etc. and doesn't have a problem picking most new things up after a couple of attempts

 

[abster]

We started #1 on finger foods at lunchtime the day she turned 6 months (it just happened to be a saturday). She had steamed vegetables, avocado, baked potato and banana. She dived straight into trying everything so I just gave her whatever I could think of and very quickly she was sharing whatever we had. Held off on marmite and honey til she was 1 and won't give her peanuts til 3 coz we have asthma/eczema/hayfever in the family. BLW's the way forward!

 

[Pink_Witch]

we started at a little over 5 months,just putting bits on his tray whatever we were having-toast,potatoes,veg,fruit etc. He is 6 months on saturday and he is doing really well-hes even started to swallow some food!!!

After reading on here about rice cakes,i brought him some of the asda good for you ones today and he loved it!!


hope you feel better soon sublime ivy xx

 

[kirsten1985]

We started at 5 months and 3 weeks I guess, but Freya only had one piece of cucumber and one piece of apple and didn't eat any of it. Since 6 months she has just had the odd bit of our dinners but still hasn't swallowed any.

She has gagged a lot and was sick quite a lot yesterday when eating broccoli. I am ok with it but it is a bit offputting to have my mum keep telling me I need to help her and should stodge her up before bed with baby rice . I am not going to visit her again 'til Freya is eating a bit more, I can't handle it!!

Purple Socks, generally if you wait 'til 6 months there is less of a worry with allergies, but we have a few in the family so are waiting for a few more months with wheat/gluten/dairy/eggs.

Oh I did find some Alpro Soya natural yoghurt! I was so excited!