BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[kirsten1985]

Yes!!!! I am soooo excited about Christmas dinner! I have been for months, just because Freya will be able to show off her BLW skills!! (Hopefully )

We are having two dinners as well, one at the inlaws on xmas day and one at my mums on boxing day - twice the fun!!

 

[Lu28]

I'm really excited about Christmas dinner! It was one of the main things I was looking forward to when I decided to do BLW

Need some help though - I just tried the banana french toast recipe that was posted on here ages ago and it went horribly wrong! The bread was soggy and there wasn't time for anything to go golden brown before parts of it were burned to a crisp Needless to say, Aisling hated it... Where did I go wrong??!

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Hey!

Well we had to start weaning, his milk just wasn't doing it for him anymore. Was taking so much more during the night than we had been.

Because he is only 5 months we have had to start with purees Which is going down well.. we've only done rice and avocado so far!

Anyway the more I read about BLW the more I want to do it, have been reading the book Did any of you have to start on purees and then make the switch? Was it easy and how did you do it?

Thankies

 

[Faerie]

I'm really excited about Christmas dinner! It was one of the main things I was looking forward to when I decided to do BLW

Need some help though - I just tried the banana french toast recipe that was posted on here ages ago and it went horribly wrong! The bread was soggy and there wasn't time for anything to go golden brown before parts of it were burned to a crisp Needless to say, Aisling hated it... Where did I go wrong??!

Hi hun, I got that with my first batch too. With the second batch i realised i needed a little more oil in the pan and I kept flipping the pieces and making sure they went in more hot oil, that way it didn't burn by staying in one place and went golden.

I'm excited about Christmas dinner, even if it's likely to be just us 3, Sofia loves roast dinners

Kirsten are you vegan then? I thought you were veggie. We went to a lovely organic vegetarian restaurant in town today, they are so kid friendly and have stokke chairs. Sofia loved it, she had falafel for the first time.

 

[kirsten1985]

No I'm not vegan (not out of choice anyway) I am veggie, intolerant to dairy and eggs. But, I do eat cheese (only hard stuff like cheddar) and chocolate (but too much is baaaad!).

Just cos of this (and my mum has wheat problems, lol) Freya won't be having egg, dairy or wheat for another few months at least. I would really like her to grow up being able to eat anything she wants.

So I guess I could very easily be vegan, if I dropped the cheese etc. I love it too much though! I pretty much only eat vegetables so cheese is good .

That restaurant sounds cool - I want to go to one with Stokkes!

 

[maccy]

Help me..I had a wobble last week and thought I'd do combination...puree morning and night..e.g. porridge.. and BLW through the day..well..my LO hates puree..she started ok but now she just cries and turns her head so I have stopped it. I am continuing with the BLW which I have to admit she has really taken to, (and I love) she's not 6months till next week but already has swallowed bits of broccolli (as seen in her nappy) and other things like chicken and banana. she still wakes at night for a feed so I was hoping the extra bit of food would keep her down longer as she will not take extra milk! I just feel like I am not doing enough with it..should I be giving finger foods three times a day now or not...it's hard when everyone around you is doing puree and everyone including my mother thinks I am wrong!! reassure me someone..please.

 

[Lu28]

Sounds like you're doing great maccy! What is a typical day now that you have stopped the purees? It'd be no harm to offer finger foods 2-3 times a day although I only give some at breakfast if she's polished off her porridge and is looking for more! Just don't worry if she doesn't eat much

Lucy_lu, I started on purees at 5 months 2 weeks and offered as much finger foods as possible at the same time. I moved fully on to BLW at about 6 1/2 months. Basically, we were away for the weekend with her and she was being difficult with the purees. I came home and realised I had no homemade purees left in the freezer so just didn't make anymore! We've been BLW since then Because she had been used to having solids for a month, I felt I could do BLW too strictly as there were times where she was obviously hungry (after having had milk), liked the taste of the food but just didn't have the skills to get it in her mouth so I'd help by handing her the food or sometimes holding it for her so she'd lean forward and bite bits off herself. That was just what was comfortable for me though.

She's come on brilliantly since we moved over, we had a tomato pasta bake tonight and she was able to pick up individual bits of pasta and get them in her mouth!

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Sounds like you're doing great maccy! What is a typical day now that you have stopped the purees? It'd be no harm to offer finger foods 2-3 times a day although I only give some at breakfast if she's polished off her porridge and is looking for more! Just don't worry if she doesn't eat much

Lucy_lu, I started on purees at 5 months 2 weeks and offered as much finger foods as possible at the same time. I moved fully on to BLW at about 6 1/2 months. Basically, we were away for the weekend with her and she was being difficult with the purees. I came home and realised I had no homemade purees left in the freezer so just didn't make anymore! We've been BLW since then Because she had been used to having solids for a month, I felt I could do BLW too strictly as there were times where she was obviously hungry (after having had milk), liked the taste of the food but just didn't have the skills to get it in her mouth so I'd help by handing her the food or sometimes holding it for her so she'd lean forward and bite bits off herself. That was just what was comfortable for me though.

She's come on brilliantly since we moved over, we had a tomato pasta bake tonight and she was able to pick up individual bits of pasta and get them in her mouth!

That was my concern because he is eating puree when we make the switch to BLW he'll still be hungry. He's brilliant at reaching and picking things up. He stole his spoon off me today and after smacking himself in the eye and the cheek he managed to get it into his mouth. So i am confident that we we do start with the finger foods he won't have much trouble. He's to young to start jsut yet though isn't he? Guess I will just have to see how he goes in a few weeks and if need be give him a helping hand like you did with your LO.

Well done on the pasta bake.

 

[sublime_ivy]

we had a great evening, i pureed some food for dex so he could spoon it to himself as what we were eating was not suitable and also to see if he actually did want food. i also gave him some sliced cucumber. he threw away the spoon and used the cucumber to scoop into the bowl and ate the puree off that. i forgot how much he loves cucumber. I was very impressed by his alternative cutlery usage too. back to whole food tomorrow.

great idea about making ringed finger food, he could hold the cucumber loads easier.

 

[Lu28]

Well done Dex!

Lucy, you could just keep offering finger foods at the moment and make the switch when you feel the time is right. You could just swap out certain meals at the moment too if you want.

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Lu ...do you think it's okay to offer finger foods now? I just worry he is a tad young...although he won't actually eat anything for a while will he?

So if i am giving him avocado I could try giving him a slice of it to play with to?
GOsh it a minefield

 

[Lu28]

I was giving finger food for her to play with from 5 months on the basis that if she wasn't ready to eat it, she wouldn't. She bit off a bit of apple, chewed and swallowed it on the first day, then ignored it for the rest of the week! My HV said it certainly won't hurt to let them play with food before 6 months because they'll only swallow when they're developmentally ready

I tend to cut things into wedge shapes, makes it easier to grab.

 

[maccy]

Thanks Lu28....she has 5oz of formula every 3 hours and I am just giving her bits of what I eat...toast and banana for breakfast...today I had chicken rolls so she has some chicken ...for tea some veggies like baby sweetcorn or carrot sticks etc..but I am not making her anything specific..she hardly eats anything and only sucks at the foods and occassionally swallowing which she is def improving on. Do you think thats ok?

 

[Faerie]

Lu ...do you think it's okay to offer finger foods now? I just worry he is a tad young...although he won't actually eat anything for a while will he?

So if i am giving him avocado I could try giving him a slice of it to play with to?
GOsh it a minefield

I gave Sofia chunks of veggies when she was about 5.5 months old, she just sucked on them like crazy. Within a weeks she had started ingesting things (proof in the nappy!) but only in the last week or so has she started to learn to chew and nibble little bits off rather than just sucking.

I think in the bible (sorry, leant mine to a friend) it says if you started your baby earlier than 6 months on purees you can either carry on until 6 months or if you want to do "pure" BLW just up the milk feeds again and wait to offer finger/proper foods later.

Correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

I was giving finger food for her to play with from 5 months on the basis that if she wasn't ready to eat it, she wouldn't. She bit off a bit of apple, chewed and swallowed it on the first day, then ignored it for the rest of the week! My HV said it certainly won't hurt to let them play with food before 6 months because they'll only swallow when they're developmentally ready

I tend to cut things into wedge shapes, makes it easier to grab.

Thank you Didn't wanna talk to my HV i don't like her! LOL Wil start giving him bit of food to play with then
It's reassuring to know that you tried it that young

Will read more of my 'bible' when i go to bed

 

[Faerie]

Thanks Lu28....she has 5oz of formula every 3 hours and I am just giving her bits of what I eat...toast and banana for breakfast...today I had chicken rolls so she has some chicken ...for tea some veggies like baby sweetcorn or carrot sticks etc..but I am not making her anything specific..she hardly eats anything and only sucks at the foods and occassionally swallowing which she is def improving on. Do you think thats ok?

Hi hun, I think it's ok about the sucking, Sofia did this for about 3 weeks and then she's come on leaps and bounds in the last week or so. Have faith

 

[faille]

Thanks Lu28....she has 5oz of formula every 3 hours and I am just giving her bits of what I eat...toast and banana for breakfast...today I had chicken rolls so she has some chicken ...for tea some veggies like baby sweetcorn or carrot sticks etc..but I am not making her anything specific..she hardly eats anything and only sucks at the foods and occassionally swallowing which she is def improving on. Do you think thats ok?

Hi hun, I think it's ok about the sucking, Sofia did this for about 3 weeks and then she's come on leaps and bounds in the last week or so. Have faith

Seconded!
Violet began just randomly sucking on things which turned into her deliberately sucking on things like mad which turned into her deliberately getting chunks off, chewing and swallowing

Just give it a couple of weeks and you'll most likely see a difference with how your LO is with food

 

[faille]

Violet totally demolished her dinner tonight, I was quite amazed!

We gave her some tomato (with all the seeds cut out) which she really seemed to enjoy lol. She's also got a huge thing for cucumber and apples lately (she wasn't very interested in cucumber to begin with).

It's so amazing to watch all the small differences every day. I'm so glad we chose BLW, it's so exciting to see her progressing

 

[Lu28]

It's so exciting to see more people starting BLW and others coming on so well, I love this!

 

[Pink_Witch]

we went to tesco today after some pj's for mil's birthday and after we had finished we decided to go to the cafe for some lunch. They have started the xmas dinners so dh and i had one each and they do kids jam sandwiches so i got ern one to nibble on.

I sat ern on my knee and gave him a triangle of his sandwich which he demolished=then he spotted my dinner so i gave him a parsnip.....he loves parsnips!!! which he sucked the life out of dh gave him one too, then he made a grab for my plate and grabbed a handful of turkey and shoved it in his mouth!!

There was an elderly lady sitting watching him with great interest!!! that was our first proper foray into the world of blw outside the house and ern seemed to love it!!