BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[kirsten1985]

.I think I've been so worried that if she had food before a bottle then she wouldn't want her milk.

I am worried about this too, yesterday Freya had porridge for breakfast and only had 3oz of milk after, I don't know if it was coincidence or if she was full...it's so hard!

 

[helen1234]

i give bottle before breakfast but leave it half hour before giving her toast and porridge, i only givehim 4oz and 2oz in his porridge

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Lunch before bottle didn't work. She started crying while I was getting the lunch ready, so I gave her the bottle first and she ate no solids whatsoever, probably because no bread or toast was offered. She just banged on the table really, she did pick food up a few times, took a bite but then just spat it out. I am now not sure the crying was about hunger!

I have no idea whether she is even ready for solids, she doesn't seem to particularly enjoy eating although she likes sitting at the table. I hear lots of people saying their babies are 'loving their food' and I cannot relate to this whatsoever. I feel really disappointed with the whole weaning thing, I thought it was going to be enjoyable but it is not. I dunno what to do

 

[kirsten1985]

Claire, don't worry. She is healthy and doing well on her milk isn't she! I would just carry on offering it, and don't expect her to eat any, just completely treat it as a game and she will eat in her own time.

I know it's hard to get caught up in the whole how much is she eating thing, but whatever people say, I really think they will eat when they are ready, and each baby is different. Ruby has a lot of milk, so you know she is not going hungry! And it's great that you are prepared to let her go at her own pace.

I would probably stick to one meal a day at the moment - whichever goes best for you and Ruby - and then offer her bits and bobs when it's convenient for her (sleep and milk wise) to play with. It doesn't have to be like breakfast, lunch and dinner yet, meal times means nothing for them!

Sorry that probably doesn't help much, I don't want you to feel bad though.

 

[helen1234]

Lol Sara! There are some types you can buy that I love, but I put waaaaay too much garlic in mine, I can still taste in now It burnt my tongue a bit!

Think I am going to try and make guacamole - thats avocado yeah?

ye avacado, rhys love avacado sandwiches, now he's 11 months ne has tinned red salmon sandwiches. lots of brain power lol

 

[CountingDown]

Lunch before bottle didn't work. She started crying while I was getting the lunch ready, so I gave her the bottle first and she ate no solids whatsoever, probably because no bread or toast was offered. She just banged on the table really, she did pick food up a few times, took a bite but then just spat it out. I am now not sure the crying was about hunger!

I have no idea whether she is even ready for solids, she doesn't seem to particularly enjoy eating although she likes sitting at the table. I hear lots of people saying their babies are 'loving their food' and I cannot relate to this whatsoever. I feel really disappointed with the whole weaning thing, I thought it was going to be enjoyable but it is not. I dunno what to do

Ah try not to read too much into hun, Olivia is nearly a month older than Ruby and we still have days were she will eat little or nothing I offer and she still hasnt dropped any of her milk feeds yet xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Claire, don't worry. She is healthy and doing well on her milk isn't she! I would just carry on offering it, and don't expect her to eat any, just completely treat it as a game and she will eat in her own time.

I know it's hard to get caught up in the whole how much is she eating thing, but whatever people say, I really think they will eat when they are ready, and each baby is different. Ruby has a lot of milk, so you know she is not going hungry! And it's great that you are prepared to let her go at her own pace.

I would probably stick to one meal a day at the moment - whichever goes best for you and Ruby - and then offer her bits and bobs when it's convenient for her (sleep and milk wise) to play with. It doesn't have to be like breakfast, lunch and dinner yet, meal times means nothing for them!

Sorry that probably doesn't help much, I don't want you to feel bad though.

Thanks Kirsten, that really does help. She's having a sleepy day today so maybe that's got something to do with it.

I guess the main problem for us is trying to follow BLW 'properly' and offer food at my/our mealtimes. She's nearly always asleep or tired at meal times and I don't see this changing. I might just have to do some toast mid morning after her nap, then carry on doing 'tea' at about 4-5pm, I'm hungry for a snack then anyway as we don't eat dinner til about 8.30pm.

Long term I think this will work better as she'll be spending at least 3 days a week with a childminder from March and those timings will probably be more realistic. All I remember about meals from when I was little is that my mum always sat with me when I ate, I liked that, I wasn't bothered if she didn't eat too.

 

[CountingDown]

I try to offer Olivia food either an hour before she is due a milk feed or a hour after. Though if we are having dinner and she has just had a milk feed, I give her some and sometimes she will eat alot or sometime she will just play with the food.

Does anyone have any breakfast ideas, Olivia never eats porridge or weetabix when I offer it and she must be getting fed up of toast and crumpets. I do sometime give her yoghurt with fruit but cant really think of anything else (Cant you tell I am not a breakfast person lol)

 

[faille]

Claire,

I agree with Kirsten hun, you're doing a fab job and Ruby will get there in her own time - you're doing great just letting and trusting her to go at her own pace

It doesn't have to be mealtimes that she has food - if you want a snack then that's a great time to offer food as well. There's no point trying to get her to eat at "the proper time" if she's tired or grumpy! Do what works for you best.

And about sitting with her whilst she eats - I think that's a great idea. Most of the time, I've finished my food way before Violet has so I'm sitting there without anything for 85% of the time she's actually eating. I think that whole thing is about you eating and not including them. I was always a slow eater and I'd be the only person left at the table and I hated it. If somebody would have just stayed with me then it would have been nice - doesn't matter if they were eating or not - it was just the company I'd have liked lol.

 

[faille]

CountingDown - those little pancakes you can buy make a nice breakfast or if you're a good cook you could always make your own (I can't cook so don't lol!). How about some banana loaf or muffins?

I'm not very good with breakie ideas, we end up with either cereal or yogurt ..

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah that's so true, I remember at school people being left on their own still eating and all the chairs being stacked up around them, how awful!

Thanks for your support girls, it is much appreciated!

 

[Lu28]

Claire, you're doing great! I think it's hard not to see how others are doing and wondering if it's ok that our LOs aren't the same. We still have off days too, Aisling had loads of porridge this morning but wasn't at all interested in lunch, had a tiny bit and spend the rest of the time mashing it into the table! I have found that she seems to enjoy having things like stirfries and cottage pie type things more than separate stuff like fish fingers with potato wedges etc, not sure if it's because there's a bit of a sauce or something. We had soy cottage pie last night which went down well. But we do still have frustrating evenings.

I think it's us sitting at the table with them too that matters, I'm finished my food way quicker than Aisling anyway. I don't eat breakfast at the same time as her because I'm busy loading the spoon and I don't eat lunch with her because it's too early (11.30am). I think it's just them not sitting on their own that's important.

I've stopped offering Aisling a bf in the morning. She'd usually have one at about 10.30am but I found she was just messing around with that one and then again with her 2.30pm one. So I figured I'd see if she asked for it and I wouldn't offer again til 2.30pm. She hasn't been bothered going without. I've been giving her water instead and she gets really excited when she sees her cup!

I'm dull with breakfast, it's always porridge the poor child.

 

[saraendepity]

oh Claire i know how you feel

as for brekkie ideas eggy bread erm scrambled eggs on toast (ill be nice and messy tho!!) omlette

sara

xxxxx

 

[helen1234]

dont worry claire rhys is hit and miss with food, if he doesnt have a bit of a drink to start with he just gets frustrated with his food and throws it overboard, somedays rhys hardly eats anything but the next day he eats loads, rhys loves loves scrambled egg on toast its fail safe sometimes i feel guilty he had it two days in a row, and even if i put some tomato down he'll miss it and go for the egg.

 

[kirsten1985]

For breakfast I often only do fruit, like pear, plum, orange or banana. She then has stuff like rice cakes/breadsticks and dips for lunch and roasted veggies or something for tea. So breakfast is a good time for fruit here.

Mind you, she is not getting anything to eat this week as she just screamed her way around the supermarket and we had to leave with hardly anything I went for. So that's that.

 

[saraendepity]

oh no, looks like freya's on rations LOL.....................

POO - HARD, SMELLY, REAL HUMAN ADULTY POO!!!! 3x today sorry i no its totally TMI but that must mean she's gettin something right?????

 

[TigerLady]

Oh, poor you having a screaming baby! And poor Freya for being on rations... but I guess it is her fault! haha!

 

[CountingDown]

I havent tried Olivia with eggs or pancakes yet, will give them a go x Olivia also gets really excited when she sees her cup too and she also tries to drink from her stacking cups and anything that looks remotely like a cup

Well Olivia has had salmon with veg for lunch and she ate quite well. We are having pizza for tea but it is full of salt so I am going to just toast some bread for Olivia and add some tomato and melted cheese for her.

 

[sublime_ivy]

Yeah that's so true, I remember at school people being left on their own still eating and all the chairs being stacked up around them, how awful!

Thanks for your support girls, it is much appreciated!

I was one of these people

In nursery I was grouped with the "fussy eaters". one of the nursery workers sat with us to encourage us to eat but in school that wasnt offered.

dex wont really eat much breakfast or lunch but he yams down dinner. His poo is horrible.

 

[sublime_ivy]

Lol Sara! There are some types you can buy that I love, but I put waaaaay too much garlic in mine, I can still taste in now It burnt my tongue a bit!

Think I am going to try and make guacamole - thats avocado yeah?

yeah it is but it also has lemon\lime in it so if you are avoiding citrus then dont put that in. also has onions, chili, coriander, tomatoes and salt. so lots of things to avoid. lol. maybe just call it mashed avocado. haha