BWL: How much "choice" do you give your LO in what to eat

[Rydia]

My son refuses to eat off a spoon so he is fed almost all finger foods. He will eat almost everything and does eat fruits, veg, dairy meat and bread. However, he prefers some foods to others. For instance, if i give him cheese he will ignore every thing else on his plate and eat all the cheese. He is less keen on veggies than most foods and tends not to eat much of them if there is anything else available. I try to give him balanced meals--i.e fruit/veg (a couple portion with each meal)+ bread/cereal/potatoes + cheese/yogurt (once a day) + meat (once a day) but he doesnt always eat a balanced mix each day.

For those doing BWL, do you try to give veggies alone or give them first to encourage your baby to eat more of them? Or do you just offer them at each meal and allow your baby to fill up on cheese/bread/fruit if that is what they want to?

 

[faille]

I give her a bit of everything I have (without giving too much to overwhelm her). So if I have meat, veg and carbs in one meal then I'll give her something of each.

Not sure if that's what you meant?

 

[rach321]

I tend to stagger it - otherwise he would just eat the meat only and leave the rest so I would offer 1 bit of meat and 1 veggie then offer some more once he's eaten that - if i put it allout in one go he just throws it on the floor!

 

[Faerie]

Sofia's the same with cheese and meat, she goes mad for it and tends to ignore other things! She does eventually get round to it though, I just have to give her time.

Think that was my mistake in the beginning with BLW, not giving her enough time. Sometimes she'll "break" to play about, stare around, talk... then suddenly delve back into the food.

I also find if I give her a drink of water she's more likely to eat more. I offer it regularly.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I put only one or two pieces of food out at once. If too many pieces are offered, she doesn't focus on any of them. But if one or two pieces are put in front of her, she'll home in on them. At the moment though she shows no preference for any certain food but some foods are far easier to pick up and eat than others so although she tries to pick everything up usually, she only ends up actually eating the easier foods. So I try and put out something she will be able to eat, and more challenging foods.