BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[kirsten1985]

One of Freya's favourite first foods was roast baby sweetcorn, she LOVES it!!! That and rice cakes, natural goats yoghurt, raspberries, sweet and normal potato wedges, roast butternut squash.

Glad you and Ruby like the Tripp Trapp Claire!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Successful foods vary with us - at first it was tendersteam brocolli, that was the first solid food she actually swallowed, but I offered it today and she just waved it around in the air for ages, doh! Sweet potato and butternut squash she's generally been interested in, cucumber, cheese on toast is a favourite, she likes mini babybel cheese, and dried apricots.
Sometimes it's the shape that's most important, so they can pick it up and hold easily. I find cutting slippery foods like pear into ring shapes rather than sticks really helps.

 

[Aquarius24]

Hi there, I am really interested in trying BLW, had not really heard of it until I read up about it on this thread. My DD, Sofya, is 20 weeks now and I have been weaning since about 16 weeks as milk just wasnt enough. I have been giving her puree fruits and veg, some baby porridge and she likes mashed up banana. Shes nearly able to sit up on her own, so when she can do I would like to try BLW...can I do it as well as giving puree stuff?? Just wondering can I give her most foods that are soft or steamed and are there any foods to avoid. I am concerned about her choking! Any advice would be really appreciated ladies

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Successful foods vary with us - at first it was tendersteam brocolli, that was the first solid food she actually swallowed, but I offered it today and she just waved it around in the air for ages, doh! Sweet potato and butternut squash she's generally been interested in, cucumber, cheese on toast is a favourite, she likes mini babybel cheese, and dried apricots.
Sometimes it's the shape that's most important, so they can pick it up and hold easily. I find cutting slippery foods like pear into ring shapes rather than sticks really helps.

Never thought of cutting into rings! Will try that next time we are offering something slippery.

BTW when you offer apple and pear do you peel the skin off? i thought leaving it on would make it easier to grip but then wasn't sure if this was okay or not!
So much to think about!

Think I need to make a shopping list with foods I can get for LO. Going to start offering more over the next week or so.

Did you always offer what you were eating or to start with did you cook something different? Like last night we had lasange but I wouldn't even know where to start with offering something like that. So i just stuck a vegetable in boil for him to play with.

Thanks girls! This thread is so helpful

 

[Rmar]

I am concerned about her choking!

With foods, I would much rather the child learn how to chew first rather than swallow. Children are different but I have found that fruits such as watermelon are great because there is less risk of choking for beginner chewers. If she has good head control and is able to sit in a high chair without you feeding her she can lean over and suck on the watermelon herself. I find it very amusing to see this happen. Be sure to get plenty of photos!

You don't have to stop BF all together. I would reccomend both. Baby led weaning is more successful if you don't wean her at all. Just let her choose when to eat. Believe it or not in more cases than not if children are able to choose from either they end up with a more varied diet as they grow.

 

[purple_socks]

I was gonna ask u guys the same thing abt asacia a few days ago but i thought people who knew her better probably knew what was going on...i saw that she was innactive from a post she'd made in another thread and i checked her last post (i just wondered if it'd shed some light no where she'd gone) and it made me really worried. things sounded pretty nad for her. does anyone know if she had a txt buddy or anything so someone could check on her? hope she's alright....wonder y she got banned? x

as for pitta breads...i saw a recipe once for kids lunch box stuff that said fill a toasted pitta thats been cut don the middle (so u've got two pockets) with bits of peppers, strips of cooked chicken and little cubes of cheese then microwave it so the cheese melts and once its cooled a bit it holds all the other filling together in the middle of the pitta. i guess u can put anything with the cheese- doesn't have to b chicken and peppers.

 

[faille]

Hi there, I am really interested in trying BLW, had not really heard of it until I read up about it on this thread. My DD, Sofya, is 20 weeks now and I have been weaning since about 16 weeks as milk just wasnt enough. I have been giving her puree fruits and veg, some baby porridge and she likes mashed up banana. Shes nearly able to sit up on her own, so when she can do I would like to try BLW...can I do it as well as giving puree stuff?? Just wondering can I give her most foods that are soft or steamed and are there any foods to avoid. I am concerned about her choking! Any advice would be really appreciated ladies

Yeah definately wait until she's sitting up pretty well.
You can keep up with the puree and then either try a mix or switch completely to BLW which a few ladies on here have done successfully.

Foods to avoid are really only nuts and honey (nuts because of choking hazard) and honey because it can be harmful under a year old.

If you give things like grapes then cut them in half, don't give them whole.

If you haven't already, I'd advise getting the book by Gill Rapley as it explains a lot and also has lots of info regarding LOs who are on puree and parents wanna move on to BLW.

 

[faille]

Never thought of cutting into rings! Will try that next time we are offering something slippery.

BTW when you offer apple and pear do you peel the skin off? i thought leaving it on would make it easier to grip but then wasn't sure if this was okay or not!
So much to think about!

Think I need to make a shopping list with foods I can get for LO. Going to start offering more over the next week or so.

Did you always offer what you were eating or to start with did you cook something different? Like last night we had lasange but I wouldn't even know where to start with offering something like that. So i just stuck a vegetable in boil for him to play with.

Thanks girls! This thread is so helpful

I always leave the skin on things (except banana).

She always has what we're having. We've given her lasagne and as I always have a side salad with mine, she gets some salad as well. If there still isn't much I think she could handle I'll give her like a breadstick or something as well. But she always has what we have, never do anything different.... Like I said, at most she'll have something "extra" if I don't think she can handle our dinner (but still gets it anyway!)

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Successful foods vary with us - at first it was tendersteam brocolli, that was the first solid food she actually swallowed, but I offered it today and she just waved it around in the air for ages, doh! Sweet potato and butternut squash she's generally been interested in, cucumber, cheese on toast is a favourite, she likes mini babybel cheese, and dried apricots.
Sometimes it's the shape that's most important, so they can pick it up and hold easily. I find cutting slippery foods like pear into ring shapes rather than sticks really helps.

Never thought of cutting into rings! Will try that next time we are offering something slippery.

BTW when you offer apple and pear do you peel the skin off? i thought leaving it on would make it easier to grip but then wasn't sure if this was okay or not!
So much to think about!

Think I need to make a shopping list with foods I can get for LO. Going to start offering more over the next week or so.

Did you always offer what you were eating or to start with did you cook something different? Like last night we had lasange but I wouldn't even know where to start with offering something like that. So i just stuck a vegetable in boil for him to play with.

Thanks girls! This thread is so helpful

I peel apples and pears, although it makes it a bit harder for her to handle, it is easier for her to take bites out of if it does get to the mouth!

We eat dinner when Ruby is in bed but I make a decent meal for us to share at lunch now which I never did previously. We eat mostly the same foods, but I think of her before I think of myself when I decide what lunch is going to be.

We just had spinach tortelloni (small filled pasta) and she picked it up really well and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls.

 

[sublime_ivy]

dex ate from my plate today (well demanded food), i had potatoes and turkey mince which i cooked with onions, tomato, a yellow pepper and a slight bit of sweet chili sauce. he ate loads of it and all his carrot sticks. he defo has the chewing down and i think his flu is going.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yay! Well done Dexter. It's great that they can chew already!

 

[Arcanegirl]

Im trying to incorporate fingers foods more into Alexs meals as he gets bored easily and i have a qu.
Does everything have to be prepared fresh? I do foods much better by preparing days in advance, is there any way i can make finger foods in advance? And if there is, what can i make?

 

[saraendepity]

omg we have had sooooooooo much fun !!! and i think even a teeny swallow (not purposely tho LOL will update properly with pics and vid soon

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

We had fun today, went shopping so we did some experimenting

At lunch I did pureed sweet potato but instead of using a spoon I loaded it onto a ricecake. He sucked the life out of the rice cakes, hard to tell if he swallow but there were pieces missing.

The this evening I gave him brocolli and carrot to play with as we had tho. he was having a good go of the brocoli He Usually needs me to hold it out and he to take it but he did pick up the brocoli yay! LOL but he dropped it so he held his hand under it on his chest and dipped his head forward to suck on it!

Too cute...shoulda tok pics!

thanks for the advice girls

 

[maccy]

Immy had malt loaf yesterday ate it well..this morning she has 3 whole raisins in her nappy..is this ok?? LOL I had to laugh..good job I was changing her cause anyon else would have wondered what the hell they were.

She's eating loads now and swallowing, she coughs still but it's getting less frequent and I'm more at ease with it.

I gave her pear today but it was too slippery and she got fed up...should I give her this whole or leave the skin on or strips or what???

I'm so excited that she's doing so well and not 6months till Sat.. it's like all of a sudden it's clicked from playing to eating....yay!

 

[sublime_ivy]

lol for the whole raisons, i got a shock today when i opened dex;s nappy to the biggest chunks of carrot dex barely if at all coughs or gags now.

i've given up with pear, dex just gives up trying to eat it no matter how I cut it.

i got a great tip from someone today. to thicken up a meal use bananas. it works a treat i boiled down some baby wheat free pasta with a tomato and banana and it made it thick enough so it stuck to a spoon,it works like a stock as well and made the meal nice tasting with the tomato. dex went mad for it.

 

[sublime_ivy]

Im trying to incorporate fingers foods more into Alexs meals as he gets bored easily and i have a qu.
Does everything have to be prepared fresh? I do foods much better by preparing days in advance, is there any way i can make finger foods in advance? And if there is, what can i make?

I'm not sure, it depends on the finger food. I would do it from fresh.

 

[Faerie]

Hi AG, I can't really think of many finger foods that could be made in advance... I do quick and easy things like mashed avocado in a sandwich, tuna with natural yoghurt in pita bread (pita bread is really easy for her to hold, I cut it into little triangles). Or say if she has salmon for her supper the next day I'll mash it up with avocado and put it in sandwich.
If you microwave a sweet potato and then scoop out the flesh it goes well with tuna (yes, really) or can just be used as a spread on rice cakes.
If you've had chicken the night before that can be cut into fingers and given cold (don't reheat meat). I tend to only keep meat/fish in the fridge for 2 days.
Basically she often has leftovers for her lunch!
You could cut veggies into sticks 1 or 2 days in advance, ie cucumber. Also cheese could be pre cut into sticks.

For pears I use the little pears, cut then in half then I nibble down either side so it's easier for her to grab onto, but yeah, it took a while for her to be able to!

Maccy, Sofia has the same with malt loaf! Shouldn't worry. Generally their stomachs don't digest new foods and they just go through whole, though some nutrients will have been absorbed in the stomach. Sofia had lots of whole bits of food at first, now it's mostly just yucky solid bits of poo with a lovely splash of bf runny poo for good measure

 

[faille]

Yeah there's not really much food you prepare in advance as it's meant to be them eating the same things as you.. So unless you prepare your own meals in advance, I don't know what to suggest!



Was sooo proud of Violet tonight, she ate loads.
We had a pasta bake and she gobbled down two whole (big/heaped) table spoons full! She also had a breadstick which I chopped into 3 pieces and 2 slices of cucumber (but only thin slices).

She managed to eat the middle of both cucumber slices without touching the sides (god knows how??) and she had about half of one bits of breadstick. But she had all the pasta bake - I had to give her more half way through eating mine!



Sounds like everyone is doing really well

 

[saraendepity]

i am sooo soo happy ok so as i am sure you will all no, we stated today

Toast for Breakfast went down sooooo soooooo well she really loved it

we had just a picky Lunch - Rice cakes with Houmous Bananas, Pear and Peppers (me n Rob dont really eat lunch so we just popped a few bits down for he to play with and we had a couple of clemantines and i had a nana!)

she wasnt too keen on the Pear but Loved the Banana but it just kept slipping out of her hand it was sooooooo sooooo funny!LOL and had a good chomp on the Rice cake

and Dinner was A Roast Chicken dinner - she loved the roast potatoes and i think she even swollowed a little (by accident of course!) and she really liked the Carrotts

not too much Gagging going on either only a little when she was having her Potato and 'swallowing'

could really see her tongue going and playing with the food in her mouth


we only got pics of breakfast (and a video but thats on my FB if anyone wants to see )