So... give me the low down on weaning (BLW and TW)!! :)

[AngelofTroy]

So Micah will be 4 months next week. I know it's early, but I like to be prepared and have time to read, research, choose a high-chair etc so 2 months to explore the minefield of weaning seems necessary!

I've read a bit on traditional weaning and some on baby led weaning, I really like the idea of BLW, but I also think of some things lend themselves to blending.

Does anyone do both? Or does that confuse the child too much? What about dipping firmer textures in a softer texture? i.e.pasta into blended bolognese or cucumber into hummous?

BLWers:
When did you start?

Did you steam or boil all your veg at first? What about fruit?

What consistency is ideal?

What size?

Did you introduce one thing at a time or mix things like we would?

Did LO eat much of it at 6 months? Or just explore?

Give me an example of an early meal:

TWers:
When did you start?

Did LO accept a spoonful easily?

Did you start with smooth puree?

When did you introduce lumps?

If you have moved on, then how did the transition to 'normal' food go?

Did you introduce one thing at a time or mix things like we would?

Give me an example of an early meal:

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Casey3]

BLW just means no spoon feeding.. you can still eat mushy foods like hummus! LO loves cucumber or red peppers or pitas dipped in hummus or homemade tzatziki! or pasta dipped in tomato and meat sauce. One of his very first favourite foods that he devoured was the cucumber/yogurt dip (very much like tzatziki) in the blw cook book.. I was stunned as it was a very strong flavour (lots of onion, dill etc.) but he's always seemed to prefer more flavourful meals.

We started when he could sit unaided and had lost the tongue thrust.. when HE was ready.. which was 25/26 weeks.. so we started just after 26 weeks when we just happened to have a bunch of steamed veggies for dinner it seemed appropriate to start! His first food was steamed broccoli.. then the few days he had some watermelon, cucumber sticks, red pepper sticks, hummus, homemade sweet potato fries and then he just jumped right into family dinners and ate what we ate... fajitas, roast dinners, enchiladas, spaghetti, etc etc. we only did dinner time for the first two months of solids.

Everything was the way we'd eat it.. nothing was blended or steamed if it shouldn't be steamed and there was no 'slow introductions'. Everything was cut into strips so that he could hold it and eat the tops off.. they don't get the concept of opening their hands so it has to be long enough for them to hold and eat. He explored a lot, ate some too.. but we moved fairly slowly as well. You can still use blended foods if they should be blended for us to eat as well, you just preload the spoon for them or they use their hands! (it gets SO messy! I'd recommend the ikea antilop high chair for easy cleaning!)

I can't believe Micah is almost 4 months, it seems like just yesterday he was born and you were posting questions in the BF section!

 

[hel_5]

I've done/doing TW with all mine but with a strong emphasis on finger food,

TWers:
When did you start? About 20 weeks

Did LO accept a spoonful easily? Yep, there was no need for a bib at all as nothing came out of his mouth!

Did you start with smooth puree? Yes

When did you introduce lumps? Very early, it's all homemade so I just made it a bit thicker and then didn't blend it down as much

If you have moved on, then how did the transition to 'normal' food go? Very easily, we are 50/50 at the mo but I'm trying to give him the same food we are eating

Did you introduce one thing at a time or mix things like we would? One at a time to begin with, but soon mixed, eg he had sweet potato, then a couple of days later he would have sweet pot and green bean, as he started to eat more I mixed more

Give me an example of an early meal: to start off I just did pear puree, then carrot, then apple, then sweet potato, he just had one meal a day to start with then increased as he wanted more xx

 

[eulmh82]

TWers:
When did you start? 5 mths 3 wks - guess I figured that last week wouldn;t matter

Did LO accept a spoonful easily? yes and my friend's didn't - she tried weaning earlier so i figure when they are ready they'll accept it easily whether it be at 17 wks or 6 mths

Did you start with smooth puree? Yes carrot/ sweet potato - I didn;t introduce fruit for a little while and am against mixing savoury and sweet things together

When did you introduce lumps?well 8 mths I guess but he had toast from 6 1/2 mths and he has finger foods such as rice cakes/cucumber/breadsticks/cheese

If you have moved on, then how did the transition to 'normal' food go?

Did you introduce one thing at a time or mix things like we would? one thing at a time so that I knew if sth didn;t agree with him - like swede didn;t - then when he;d had a few things singularly I would mix them together and then add sth new

Give me an example of an early meal:
very first meal: pureed carrots
then we did things like sweet potato and carrot
then maybe butternut squash sweet potato and courgette
then we moved onto meat but that took a while for him to accept

I introduced his lunch first then breakfast after a couple of weeks/ porridge and banana which he loves.
his favourites are: weetabix/porridge/ toast and philedelphia/shepherds pie and any fruit/yoghurt!

 

[Rachel_C]

When did you start?

24 weeks with my first LO when she grabbed food off my plate and ate it.
26 weeks with my second when I put a plate of spag bol in front of her.

Did you steam or boil all your veg at first? What about fruit?
No, not unless we're having steamed or boiled veg. Baby eats exactly what you eat (apart from salt, honey, pieces of nuts, whole tomatoes/grapes etc) so you don't do anything different to what you're eating.

What consistency is ideal?
You don't think about consistency, that's why it's so easy! If you're eating something hard, baby has something hard. If you're eating something mushy, baby eats something mushy.

What size?
It depends what it is. If you're having spag bol, spaghetti is spaghetti sized and mince is mince sized If you're eating something where you'd have it in different sizes depending on your mood e.g. a chopped salad, you'd probably want to try stick shaped/sized foods so LO has something to grab onto. Cauliflower, for example, is good in big florets as there is a 'handle' but peas are obviously a lot smaller. You usually give whatever you're having and LO will learn to eat the smaller stuff, given chance to practise.

Did you introduce one thing at a time or mix things like we would?
Mix it. The only exception would be if there is a family history of allergy you may want to be careful introducing certain foods.

Did LO eat much of it at 6 months? Or just explore?
Both of my LOs were pretty great from day 1, but it's totally normal for babies not to eat much until a year or so old too. You try not to think about it with BLW because it doesn't matter - you're being led by baby.

Give me an example of an early meal:
Slice of toast with smooth peanut butter.
Weetabix.
Banana, chopped into chunks.

A cheese sandwich with some sliced fruit on the side.
Omelette.

Spag bol
A full roast dinner, with no salt on veg, only a bit of low salt gravy.
A baked potato with reduced sugar and salt beans and cheese.
Fish, chips and veg.
Soup, blended if you'd have a blended, chunky if you'd have it chunky.

 

[Meredith2010]

TWers:
When did you start?
17 weeks with DS. 6.5 months with DD.

Did LO accept a spoonful easily?
Yes, both did.

Did you start with smooth puree?
Yep, did baby rice for a couple of days with DS but not with DD as I didn't really see the point. Started with pureed veg with her.

When did you introduce lumps?
Moved from smooth puree to mashes after 6 weeks or so, then built it up from there (with DS - DD still has things fairly smooth although she's happy to eat loads of things as finger foods)

If you have moved on, then how did the transition to 'normal' food go?
Really easy - DS has always been an amazing eater. He eats anything and everything (other than raw peppers - hates the taste) DD is having more and more finger food now and she's brilliant with it. That's what's made me see the advantages of BLW more I suppose - she'll happily eat things if she can feed them herself, but if I chopped them up and fed them to her she'd just spit them out.

Did you introduce one thing at a time or mix things like we would?
With DS I was careful to introduce things one at a time, and then add in new things every day or so. With DD I basically just gave her everything at the same time, but she was started much later

Give me an example of an early meal:
With DS it was pureed carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash etc before moving onto mixing different veg with meats. With DD we did a couple of weeks of pure veg then pretty much straightaway just pureed whatever we were eating as a family as it's so much easier. So she gets spaghetti bolognese/shepherds pie/lasagne/stews/pasta bakes/roast dinners etc etc and has done since the beginning really. We just make sure we are careful with the salt content.

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Button#]

I did BLW

Started at 6 months

Offered steamed and boiled veg in sticks big enough to poke out the top of his fist.

I did them soft enough to bite off and chew but firm enough so he could pick them up easily.

I gave him everything from the start but made sure he had something he'd be able to pick up easily at each meal.

He didn't eat much to start with but everything did go in his mouth. He has eaten progressively more each time.

Early meals were pasta bake, root veg casserole, sweet potato and spinach dhal, omelette, toast, crumpets, spag bol, roast dinner, veggie fingers and mash... Basically whatever we had.

 

[AngelofTroy]

Thanks everyone, I forgot to check for responses til now!