BLW with a young baby

[Lunaty]

Cole is now hitting 5 months and has been eating pureed pear since he was 8 weeks to take his medication do to severe reflux and had been on Kumara / Pumpkin / Carrot / Mashed rice since he turned 4 months..

However, he is such a hungry baby and always stares the food out of my mouth... he screams if i have finished feeding him (equivalent of a whole baby jar per feed!) he gets solids 2 times a day and he still gets breast fed like normal (which is a lot) ... gets a 250ml bottle before bed.. then gets another 2 breatfeeds during the night... (yes you read this right!)

He is a very healthy weight and thriving fine though he never seems to get enough..

For the first time yesterday (he is now 4 months and 3 weeks) he didnt scream during our dinner.. i gave him some cool broccoli on a stem and a bean... he sucked and munched on it and loved it though he still doesnt have enough motor skills to always get it to his mouth..not to mention i had to fish some chunks out of his mouth to avoid him choking..

What do i do? Is this alright.. i know BLW means they can decide when they are ready to eat .. but is he ready to try yet if he cant bring the food to his mouth properly>?

He seemed to have fun playing around with it..

And also, what finger foods should i start with so he doesnt choke?

 

[anothersquish]

putting food on a tray infront of him will help teach him motor skills but you do have the be careful as he isnt "ready" by usual BLW standards (however hes already eating solids so its not going to harm) "safe" stuff like banana, carrot, cucumber, anything like that.

Also dont worry about gagging. Gagging is fine. the gag reflex is VERY far forward and gagging doesnt mean choking. Obviously choking is bad but dont dash over to clear his mouth if he just gags if he has the ability to chew and swallow.

Obviously you can adapt it a bit atm and progress as he is more "ready"

 

[Lu28]

^^^wss

 

[Rachel_C]

I think the general rule is that if he can get some in his mouth, he's probably ready for it. If not, he's not but it won't go in his mouth anyway so no problem. As squish said, I'd probably give him softer stuff just to be on the safe side, or very hard stuff that he won't be able to bite off like raw carrot.

 

[princessellie]

leylas first food was chicken and courgett and sweet potato, she was 6 months though so probably more ready for it, i would think cole would be ok with them though, as the others have said if he can bite it, chew it and swallow it then he is ready

x