BLW - question

[Chicane]

I think maybe I should be posting this in the BLW support thread...or not? Anyway - ds is 6mths - we have just started with baby rice and pear and he is liking it - he is EBF. It seems he has only just mastered moving the food to the back of his throat, he still pushes out with his tongue but is gradually getting more control.  Have been doing some research into BLW...

Questions -

1. he cannot sit up by himself yet - do/should I have to wait until he can before starting BLW
2. Is it okay to mix BLW with traditional puree - ie. do a bit of both?
3. At the moment he has his solids at 11am - he has actually hardly ever seen the family (ie. me and papa) eating together as he is never up when we eat. Although, he watches me eat my breakfast every morning (papa gets to sleep in) lots of the BLW info talks about including LO in family meals.....any thoughts on this in my situation?

thanks all

[First Time Mom]

Hopefully some BLW mamas will come on and give their experiences and advice so I just want to comment on the part about lo watching and sitting with family during meals. I do agree that los should be part of the family meals (sitting along in a high chair even if they are not eating) however, with that said, I also believe (stronger) in lo getting their naps and sticking with a BW routine. Our DS misses our lunch and used to miss our dinner (when he was younger and bedtime was 6). Dh and I try to eat early now, like at 5:30, so that dd can eat without getting too hungry ahead of time and ds can sit with us. He eats breakfast with me and dd and later on this month will be getting finger foods at dinner time.

[Mrs Coops]

Hi Chicane
The most important thing is that he can sit up, even if it's with assistance. Our LO could sit up in our laps but would topple over at  six months old. It's all about the neck muscles, if he can hold himself up he has the strength to swallow.

I've never fed a single purée, I didn't see the need to so I can't really offer advice here. I know some people mix the two as they are worried that their LO's are not getting enough food in, but the way I see it BLW lets the baby lead the way.

I think it is really important to include your LO's in the family meal, it is the best way for them to learn about everything from how to eat to etiquette. Our LO is nearly 19 months old and has been able to eat with a fork and spoon for months, she is learning all the time from watching us. I'm not sure if she's advanced in this area over spoon fed babies as I have nothing to compare her with, but her pincer grip developed weeks ahead of others.
  Is there any way you could adjust your routine to fit him in around you? We didn't have her eat with us at the start as she took so long, but after a month or two we changed our meal times to include her.

HTH
-x-

[First Time Mom]

Hi Chicane, me again , my ds is now well into eating his solids, we started with cereal and puree and are now doing a combo. He eats his solids before our dinner (as I don't want him too full for his last bf) yet I want him sitting with us during dinner so I now give him different foods on his tray to play with and he's now eating these foods. He has had lots of different steamed veggies (brocolli is super messy!), bagel, and today Cheerios (to practice picking up). He only recently started eating the food on his tray, prior he would just play and squish. I guess they are really do know when they are capable to eating solid food when they are capable of picking the food up!

[anielasmommy]

so heres the thing im totally for BLW and my DD can not sit up by herself yet...but she definately weaned herself onto solids...i have been avoiding it b/c i thought there is no way she would want solids so young.

i wanted to start around 9 m/o but she just wont have it she has been literally attacking my food for over a week now and trying to eat any food she sees! she has been grabbing food off my plate whwn im not looking and everything! shes also ver spirited so idk if that has something to do with it.

anyways i make my own purees for her actually started today lol.. shes happy as can be and im glad i did what she wanted but your LO doesnt really sound ready and if i were you i would wait until he is. the first bite of food i gave DD she didnt do that reflex thing she chewed it up and swallowed it! i was in shock lol.

i was letting her "taste" some brocolli the other day and she bit the stem in half! she doesnt even have teeth!

so i puree but not too purred KWIM? like she just ate peas so i smushed them up with a fork real good and took any big skins out and she ate them just fine.


but honestly if i were you i would just wait and take your cues from your LO.

[*Liz*]

I did a mix of purees and BLW and it worked just fine. DS was never keen on very liquid solids anyway, and as soon as he could self feed he dropped all purees.

From about 9 mths he wouldn't allow any feeding at all.

But I had no issue with doing a bit of both. He never ate anything at lunchtime so that was always pure BLW, and a mix for the other 2.

Even now we include J with meals when we can but he does still eat alone quite a lot. It is a shame - but some things are hard to fix. He always eats breakfast with other people, and his afternoon snack.

Kami - you will continue to be amazed by what foods a LO can eat with no teeth. It really is only larger bits of meat and very crispy food that they need them for - and actually they need the molars for that really which only come through at 12ish mths or so.

[Mum to F&A]

Ok, so I did just BLW but I have some friends who did a bit of both so hope their experience might help you a little bit.

My lo started weaning aroung 5.5mos. I just sat him at the table with me and limited it only to lunchtime to start off with. He started grabbing food from my plate so thought ok lets give it a go and he did chew some. If I wasn't ready for lunch at this time I would get a snack maybe a piece of fruit just so he could see me eating. This lasted a couple of months and we then got to the "lets drop this on the floor and see what mummy does stage!"

Have you read the book that's been written on BLW? I would recommend it. It was a great sanity saver for me because a lot of ppl panicked when my lo appeared to be eating virtually nothing but it reminded me that until 12months this is all for fun. And then when he reached around 9mo he worked out how to move food around and we have never looked back!

Mixed feeding - a friend of mine did this with her lo (now 11mo). She used puree as a basis and introduced finger food around it. She found as PP said that she had to move very quickly from purees to lumpy because her lo started refusing spoons. He seems to have phases when he does this every now and again and goes to pure blw when he does this.

Do what feels comfortable with you. IMO there's no right or wrong way. I'm the only person in my circle of friends to have done 'pure' BLW but have many who have got on fine with a bit of both.

The Goblin - I too have been wondering about the fork and spoons! And my lo did the same re. pincer grip. He's elevn months now and is using a fork and a spoon with a little help, but noone else around me has started yet. I was told to wait until 12mo but started a 10!

[Mrs Coops]

Rebeccanew I never even thought of introducing a spoon it was my childminder that started her with one! I bought all these rubbish plastic cuttlery sets and was a bit concerned to see my childminder giving her one of the metal spoons in case it damaged her teeth! Then I went round early one day to pick her up (she must have been 10 months old) and she was happily eating with a spoon, I was converted and all plastic was thrown away!
  At a restaurant a week ago there was a two or three year old eating pasta, or trying too! His parents were giving him the 'stab it like this' lesson that DD has mastered at 14months old, we were so pleased! Our purée free weaning has been a total success!

[Chicane]

Hey ladies - thanks so much for all this advice. Yes, I think my LO is not quite ready for either puree or BLW. I am just playing around with him - we try a bit of puree if he's into it he'll eat it, sometimes he is sometimes he isn't. Today I gave him a piece of apple at breakfast (we were all eating a huge fruit salad and he just looks at us eating with such desire in his eyes!) but you know what, he wouldn't even hold it! I think that kind of proves the BLW philosophy because every other object he gets his hands near goes straight into the mouth. Seems he's not quite there yet but will continue to experiment. Am going to follow the BLW route for the main part...we'll see

[*Liz*]

My DS was just the same - took him a long long time to want to hold anything that wasn't dry - he doesn't like getting his hands mucky!!

Be careful with apple though as they can bite off quite bigs chunks that they can't chew until they have some teeth, so they are a choking hazard. Some Mums lightly steam or grate apples for very young LOs to try. I think J was eating them at about 12 mths though.

But honestly - just keep offering things for 'food play'. I ended up with a real stop/ start with weaning due to reflux which I really regret now as even if he wasn't eating it he could have been having the opportunity to familiarise and experiment.