BLW - what did your LO eat today?

[kayleigh&bump]

today my LO has had

B - Small bowl bitezised weetabix with full fat milk, 1 slice bread with apple puree on top, most of a fruit pot
L - Cream cheese sandwhich made with 1 slice bread, 4 cucumber chunks (only nibbled at them), 2 organix rice cakes, and 2 organix sweetcorn crisps which he loved!
D - chicken and fusilli pasta in homemade tomato and carrot sauce, greek yoghurt and small bit of fruit puree

Does this sound ok for a 6 month old? He's also had 4 x 7oz bottles today

 

[Shiv]

If he is actually eating all that then he is doing bloomin well for a 6 month old!

 

[craftymum]

things are not going great for us lately, although I think it's because he is cutting loads of teeth at the minute including his molars
B - porridge pancake and c&g fruit pouch
S - 1 mini rice cake and a few sultanas, most of this got threw on the floor
L - Toasted fruit muffin with philli and nectarine, the nectarine wasn't even touched, just straight on the floor and most of the muffin also got chucked also
D - mini baked pea and baby corn omelette with one slice of toast, he ate the toast and most of the omelette but spat out any bits with peas, mixture of fruit but only thing he really ate was some pineapple and plum

 

[kayleigh&bump]

If he is actually eating all that then he is doing bloomin well for a 6 month old!

we started BLW with him at 5 months so hes had a bit of practice. hes always been a food monster!

 

[sun]

today my LO has had

B - Small bowl bitezised weetabix with full fat milk, 1 slice bread with apple puree on top, most of a fruit pot
L - Cream cheese sandwhich made with 1 slice bread, 4 cucumber chunks (only nibbled at them), 2 organix rice cakes, and 2 organix sweetcorn crisps which he loved!
D - chicken and fusilli pasta in homemade tomato and carrot sauce, greek yoghurt and small bit of fruit puree

Does this sound ok for a 6 month old? He's also had 4 x 7oz bottles today

OMG - yes I would say that he's doing really well! My LO didn't eat hardly anything until 7.5 months!!! xx

 

[joeyjo]

B shreddies, blueberries & a plum
L slice of granary bread with Philadelphia, 2 beadsticks with cheesespread, humzinger, slice of pineapple, half an organix oaty bar
S mini Jaffa cake (bad mummy)
D 4 bites of chicken, a lick of potato, a teeny bit of yogurt & a few raisins - the rest was dropped over the side slowly & deliberatly. When DH tried to take it offhim he turned and pulled it all to the otherwise to drop off there!

 

[Mary Jo]

Adam has had:

b: tiny bit of Weetabix & yogurt, 1/4 of a peach, dried cranberries
l: 4 home-made drop scones (2 with butter, 2 with peanut butter, they were not tiny bite-size ones either), raisins, dried cranberries, 1/2 a banana
s: full size ricecake spread with Philadelphia and Marmite
d: loads of roast chicken, 1 roast potato happydance: - only one but better than none), dried cranberries, a couple of pieces of cherry tomato, a taste of roast sweet potato and carrot (spat straight back out and what was in his hand thrown across the room ). rejected broccoli

He seems to have gone off veg, pretty much entirely.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yes, Ruby started refusing veg at pretty much exactly Adam's age! Weird.
She now eats broccoli though but that's all. She used to love all root veg but now she spits them out in disgust!

Ruby had...

B - Shreddies
L - Organix snacks, raisins, cheese, refused wrap with fruit spread
D - Fish fingers, potato wedges, Yeo valley yoghurt and raisins

 

[sun]

My LO used to eat roasted potato and sweet potato, but now refuses them. I put sweet potato in lots of other things I make though - and my pasta sauce is "hidden veggie" sauce - tastes like regular sauce but has sweet potato and kale!! Bun also eats broccoli soup over quinoa or rice or toast fingers. No plain veg though!
xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Ruby also eats veg 'in things' but not on its own, unless it's the expensive tenderstem / sprouting broccoli!

 

[Mary Jo]

so if they are regularly rejecting food they used to like (eg veg), do you carry on offering them in the belief that if they need them they'll eat them, or not offer them so you don't have the waste, or hide the veg in sauces and the like... think I need to dig out the BLW book again and see what she says (if anything) about older babies and accommodating their likes/dislikes/whims...

it's not so much about the waste because I'd be cooking most things anyway (sweet potato excepted, as it seems I am the only one in our house who likes it even a little bit, OH is in Adam's camp on that point) but realistically I am trying to plan a varied and balanced diet and if there is something he never eats surely I'd be better looking for something he will eat to provide that nutrient instead?

just wondering - when do you get to the point where you can be sure they are rejecting something not because they don't need it but because they genuinely don't LIKE it?

 

[sun]

so if they are regularly rejecting food they used to like (eg veg), do you carry on offering them in the belief that if they need them they'll eat them, or not offer them so you don't have the waste, or hide the veg in sauces and the like... think I need to dig out the BLW book again and see what she says (if anything) about older babies and accommodating their likes/dislikes/whims...

it's not so much about the waste because I'd be cooking most things anyway (sweet potato excepted, as it seems I am the only one in our house who likes it even a little bit, OH is in Adam's camp on that point) but realistically I am trying to plan a varied and balanced diet and if there is something he never eats surely I'd be better looking for something he will eat to provide that nutrient instead?

just wondering - when do you get to the point where you can be sure they are rejecting something not because they don't need it but because they genuinely don't LIKE it?

I keep offering things he doesn't like periodically. I have read that it can take 20 times offering before you really know if they like something - but that seems like alot! I also offer frequently because Bun will like something one minute and not the next. xx

 

[joeyjo]

I keep offering - maybe not so often Or somuch but I do keep at it. Foods he has come back to include raspberries and brocolli - although he seems a bit off raspberries again. I try to mix things up and offer different things & combos. I cook extra veg in sauces and shepherds pie etc but I always have, I am trying not to blend it or deliberatly hide it coz my mum had to put spag bol sauce thru the blender for my bro till he was into his teens

Like wise it took 6 months for him to start enjoying pasta although he ate a little the first couple of times I offered and 7 months in he decided last week he LOVES banana.

 

[Mary Jo]

Yes, I've always added loads of extra veg in dishes wherever I can, for reasons of health and economy (to stretch the meat), so no change there. But I've never blended anything down, my tomato and veg sauce has always been extremely chunky. Wondering if I should... or at least blend some and leave some chunks, because it's not that he won't eat lumps but that he'd pick the bits out he doesn't want.

So if you carry on offering the rejected food, when you do, do you also offer something you are fairly certain he'll want, or not? Or do you only offer something else when they've thrown the pasta/veg/whatever on the floor?

I'm actually thinking of changing Adam's meals around a bit, offering things we'd usually have at dinner time for lunch, since he has seemed to be more hungry at lunch lately.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

With veg I don't make an extra portion for Ruby, I just make a portion for us and if Ruby decides she wants some of it, then great, if not, then we eat it all.
I don't put any disliked food onto her plate because it will probably go on the floor. She can see it on our plates and if she wants it, she will let us know. That worked with brocolli, she just took some from my plate one day and has eaten it since.

I don't blend sauces down but I chop veg up small and make sure they are really nicely softened and I find it goes unnoticed. Spinach is good for going unnoticed in sauces and omelletes too. Curry is great for hiding veg also.

Also - I read an interesting article in a magazine about toddler nutrition a while back. Apparently a lot of parents put too much emphasis of fruit and veg and not enough on carbs, protein and fats. We have to remember that what is a healthy diet for us (highin fruit and veg and low in fat / calories) is not good for LOs. Reading this made me feel a bit better about Ruby not liking many veg and being very very picky about fruit, because she is mad for carbs and protein!

 

[sun]

With veg I don't make an extra portion for Ruby, I just make a portion for us and if Ruby decides she wants some of it, then great, if not, then we eat it all.
I don't put any disliked food onto her plate because it will probably go on the floor. She can see it on our plates and if she wants it, she will let us know. That worked with brocolli, she just took some from my plate one day and has eaten it since.

I don't blend sauces down but I chop veg up small and make sure they are really nicely softened and I find it goes unnoticed. Spinach is good for going unnoticed in sauces and omelletes too. Curry is great for hiding veg also.

Also - I read an interesting article in a magazine about toddler nutrition a while back. Apparently a lot of parents put too much emphasis of fruit and veg and not enough on carbs, protein and fats. We have to remember that what is a healthy diet for us (highin fruit and veg and low in fat / calories) is not good for LOs. Reading this made me feel a bit better about Ruby not liking many veg and being very very picky about fruit, because she is mad for carbs and protein!

Also it makes sense that most babies want carbs and protein since they are growing and building muscle! Those are the main building blocks for growth! Bun eats mostly carbs (oatmeal, rice, quinoa) and some meat - the veg is definitely an add-on, I also read that you should look at a toddler's eating pattern weekly rather than daily because they tend to eat certain kinds of foods in blocks, yet over a week get a pretty good intake of everything.

 

[sun]

Yes, I've always added loads of extra veg in dishes wherever I can, for reasons of health and economy (to stretch the meat), so no change there. But I've never blended anything down, my tomato and veg sauce has always been extremely chunky. Wondering if I should... or at least blend some and leave some chunks, because it's not that he won't eat lumps but that he'd pick the bits out he doesn't want.

So if you carry on offering the rejected food, when you do, do you also offer something you are fairly certain he'll want, or not? Or do you only offer something else when they've thrown the pasta/veg/whatever on the floor?

I'm actually thinking of changing Adam's meals around a bit, offering things we'd usually have at dinner time for lunch, since he has seemed to be more hungry at lunch lately.

I'm sure Adam is different, but Bun is more adventurous toward the end of the meal - once he has gotten into a routine of food in hand - food in mouth. If I offer him something new the minute he sits down, he is very suspicious and may just start whining without trying it. So I usually try him with something new at the middle/toward the end (but not when he's full). I just give him a bit to sample. He "tests" new food by tasting it, making a horrible face and dropping it on his tray - then he picks it up and repeats a few times. Finally he will either leave it there or eat it. Lucky for us he doesn't throw anything on the floor yet! (I know he will though lol)

So I do offer him something I'm fairly sure he'll want! For us, that is anything saucy (even soup) with pasta or rice and congee. Bun used to be hungrier at lunch too until a few weeks ago - and I used to offer dinner items at lunch instead. Now he just wants little snacks all afternoon and eats a big dinner, so I switched it around. It is strange though - maybe Bun is in a growth spurt (they do lots of their growing at night) and thats why he needs so much energy before bed?? It makes sense that Adam would need a big dinner-like lunch as he is probably active and all over the place during the day! xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Ruby is also more adventurous in the middle / end of a meal. She will eat what she knows she likes first, so any meat or pasta will be gobbled up! She'll then eat veg or tackle fiddlier foods like boiled rice.

 

[TennisGal]

DD is the same - one week she loves something, the next...not so sure. Broccoli and courgette have remained favourites. However, spinach - which was right up there - now gets thrown on the floor in contempt. I stop offering, and then re-offer a week or so later, to see what happens. This worked with chicken (which she didn't like - and now loves)

That's a very reassuring article, Mum_2b_Claire, as sometimes it's easy to forget that just because we don't eat tonnes of protein and carb, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be the focus for our LOs. DD LOVES her egg, meat, cheese, sweet pot mash etc.

So...

Br: Porridge with plum compote and mashed banana, piece of cinammon bagel
Sn: Smoothie stick
L: Cheese and tomato sandwich, Plum oat biscuit, yoghurt
Sn: Organix rice cakes
D: Chicken, sweet potato mash, broccoli, crushed peas, plum crumble with custard

 

[Mary Jo]

thanks Claire and Sun - thinking about it, yes, Adam is the same, he takes a while to get into his stride at mealtimes and will really fuss and sometimes throw a complete wobbly if I offer something new at the beginning. Not that it'd occured to me to wait till he has settled down with something he likes first, must try that.

It also hadn't occured to me the growth/energy thing making him now less hungry in the evening and more so during the day He is usually very active all day, rarely slows down, never mind stops!

I have also read that thing about toddler nutrition, can't remember where; what concerns me a little is that now potatoes are pretty much on the reject pile, there's only bread, baked (ish) items (like my drop scones and biscuits) and ricecakes that he'll reliably try never mind eat any amount of. He's gone off cereal for the most part and has never wanted to eat rice or pasta, so we were relying on potatoes for a bit of variety! I am ok with him eating as many of my drop scones as he likes because there's no salt in them and only 1/2oz of sugar in the entire batch (which makes about 20). Protein I am not concerned about, he loves cheese and milk and chicken and peanut butter (at least for now). He's still mostly fine with fruit - that is, he'll eat it but not as much as he used to, it's just veg that have fallen from grace.

Next step I guess is to monitor his milk intake so he's not having it to the detriment of his meals. I think he has about 16oz a day right now (morning, night and late afternoon - about 2-3 hours before dinner).

Anyway, today:

b: tiny bit of Weetabix & yogurt, most of a nectarine, a whole banana
l: 3 home-made drop scones (1 with pumpkin seed butter, 2 with peanut butter), a 20g piece of cheddar cheese
s: raisins & dried cranberries
d: a small piece of buttered baguette, a slice of ham, a little bit of cold roast chicken, a plum, raisins, cranberries, 1/4 of a nectarine