to those who BLW

[princessellie]

i just dont know if imdoing this right lol, i thought BLW was meant to make ur life easier but it just seems to be adding a whole load of new questions for me haha

so atm, leyla is on 3meals a day, cereal (porridge, baby rice or weetabix) and pureed fruit for breakfast, then some kind of chicken/ beef/ fish puree with veggies for dinner, then a random veggie combo puree for tea, she has 3 bottles of milk aswelkl, one with each meal, so she ends up having 24oz of milk aswell as her meals

so here is where im worried, i gave leyla beef casserole with steamed veggies last night (sweet potato sticks, red pepper sticks and broccoli) she just didnt eat any of it lol, i ended up putting some into her mouth and she ate that, i know i shouldnt have, but i was worried she would starve in the night

then this morning i made her porridge and apple, but i left the apple uncooked and just cut it into sticks, she had the porridge cos i fed her that, she wouldnt even entertain feeding herself, she just screamed until i put the spoon in her mouth! but she didnt have none of the apple, she sucked it for few seconds, then just threw it down! so i tried giving her it back but theres only so many times u can pick it off the floor and give it back to the baby without it being gross!

ok no ive rambled on a bit so my main questions are, how on earth do i get her to want to feed herself, the book i have just says that the baby will want to feed herself...mine doesnt!!! and how do i know she is eating enough?

help?

x

 

[rach321]

It takes time......it took about 2 months for my LO to feed himself properly. We spent ages just screaming and throwing stuff on the floor. Try offering her finger food when she's not hungry. So do what you usually do for breakfast so she is full up then offer the finger food - she might be more receptive - maybe in between meals. It takes a while of exploring and investigating this new food stuff before they start to eat really well. Or you might just be lucky and have a baby that takes to it really well and gets going really quickly.
There have been many times when I've felt like throwing in the towel with BLW but stick with it - it does get better, patience is key. Keep offering food in various forms so if sticks of raw apple didn't work then offer lightly cooked apple so its a bit softer. My LO will eat banana but it has to be cut into rings and not sticks - sticks get smushed! To check a finger food is suitable try squashing it into the roof of your mouth with your tongue - if it breaks up easily then the baby should be able to manage it. Hope that's of some help.

 

[princessellie]

thanks hun, so i dont offer her hard things, see thats where i was confused cos i thought u dont cook things u dont normally cook, eg apples...but thought it seemed bit hard for her to have lol, it is harder for her i think cos she has no teeth yet so cant chew

i'll have a try with cooking things so they get a bit softer, thanks hun

do u reckon its alright to give her pieces in her mouth if she cant eat it, or do i just top her up with puree? surely its better for her to get the bigger lumps than to just get a puree if she refuses to feed herself?

x

 

[ryder]

I dont do blw... but I have always offered finger foods. I usually offer her snacks and things and cooked veggies, toast, cheese, cooked fruit or really ripe stuff like pears etc, and let her play with it etc and eat some whatever, and then I would give her something pureed.

No matter what way your weaning, finger foods take time to master for babies... Usually around 7 months or so they begin to get the motor skills to start actually eating more.

 

[ryder]

also, but that age I wasnt really giving Jasmine purees, I gave mashed stuff, or sauces with pasta etc so it was chunkier.

She will be fine and she will eat finger foods when she is ready.

 

[helen1234]

she will do it i promise i feed rhys 10-20mins before he has his meals, i gave him foods to play with and if he ate it was a bonus she wont starve honestly. i've sat looking at rhys thinking surely your hungry you've had equivilent of a spoon, he just pushed the rest around his tray. anyway came back at teatime sat him in the highchair and there was a bit of toast left from lunch and he went straight for it to eat i stopped him but it proved to me that if her were still hungry he would have gone for it.

i find pear easier for rhys to eat than apple as its softer i just make sure its really ripe, strawberries are nice and soft.

i'#m 4 wks in and rhys displayed the same as leyla and 4 weeks later rhys is sat eating spag bol and spaggetti its all about learning and choosing. let her hold a spoon and guide it up to her mouth, might seem daft but eventually she'll realise the motion going up to her mouth and moving her arm to get the spoon there.

i help rhys still but i let him play mostly he often plays for 20 mins and then starts eating,

really topping her up with puree is defeating the object as she'll wait to be fed, the middle ground is to help her not do it for her and she'll soon be taking food she likes and wants. i carried on with puree's for the 1st week and then ditched them.
if you put food i mouth she might not realise its i there and may be more likely to gag its natural for them to put things in their mouth its giving tham chance to put 2 and 2 together food in mouth chewing then swallowing.

do you eat while she's eating? when your eating your less likely to analyse what she's doing and she'll copy you, we dont have a dining room table till we've built another room but i make sure i eat breakfast and lunch with him.

did i waffle lol

your doing great hun

xx

 

[ryder]

ya I agree eat while she's eating... but make sure its the same thing lol. god forbid I dare eat something different! I get the saddest little beggar look EVER!

 

[Rachiebaby24]

Alot of weaning at first is not about nutrution but your baby exploring and tasting rather than eating. So if you want to give her purees, do so. But if you want to try BLW, always offer finger foods. Also, when you are feeding her, put some finger foods on her tray. She may throw them, touch them and one day, may surprise you by actually eating it! If you have been feeding her, then self feeding is a new experience to her so persevere...she will do it!! She just may be unsure at the moment and sussing it all out.
Also, i found that i would give her the taste of the finger food by holding it to her mouth...then i would put it back on the tray. By then she knows if she likes it or not and may try to get some more!! lol

I did a mix of BLW and purees and Maley didnt pick up things straight away.

 

[princessellie]

thanks everyone, its really hard for us to eat together cos we only have one tiny room, no dining table and no highchair, i feed her in her bumbo, so we will all have to sit on the floor to eat lol, i gues its not that bad, i might try it for a few weeks cos we'll be moving soon anyway into a bigger house

ok so i dont give her any purees just help her to eat whatever is on her tray

how much milk does she need? she was on 45oz before i started weaning her lol and now with her 3 meals a day she has gone down to about 24oz, but if she is not getting as much dinner i will have to put her milk back up wont i? what do your blw babies have in milk?

x