Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #2

[lyndsy_p]

Hazel, maybe she's actually getting those teeth right now. Teething can make it hard to chew or eat solids in general......

[Lippy Chick]

Just to let you all know I got a reply from the esteemed Gill Rapley this evening.  She is already writing a book about BLW, a sort of How to, with the whole rationale behind it too.  Kind of thought she would be doing one, but it was worth a shot contacting her anyway.  She said the book will be out next Oct/Nov, so we can recommend it to all our friends then with young babies.  She said the book will have stories from parents too and that it's nearly finished and has a publisher, so it's all full steam ahead.

Slightly disappointed that we won't be doing it, but really glad that there is one in the pipe-line.  It does seem to give it credence if there's a book to back it up.

Thought I should let you all know.

Alice has ate loads today, by the by.

Pauline

[VickyB20]

Pauline, that's fab on both counts!  Great that a book's on the way and great that Alice has eaten so well!
Vicky
x

[Bryony]

Pauline - thanks so much for looking into it - and as Vicky says it's great to know a book is on the way!  How nice of her to reply so quickly - just sorry you won't get to write it 

Bryony x

[Lippy Chick]

Bryony, yeah I thought it was really good of her to reply so quickly too. 

Vicky, indeed on both counts.

Pauline

[Freya'sMum]

Ax

[jaylabliss]

Hey everyone!
So things are going well with little Jude but my dh and I need some reassurance. Jude picks up food and sucks on it ( bell pepper, broccoli, pita, melon, etc) BUT whenever he gets a chunk in his mouth my husband and I get nervous and wonder if the piece is too big...occasionally we put our finger in and swipe it out. Just wondering if everyone did this in the beginning and then as we get used to it we'll stop or what.....don't really know what i'm asking here, just need some reassurance!
thanks!
oh p.s. he is getting some food in b/c i have seen it in his diaper!!

[Lippy Chick]

Hi Jaylabliss,

I have to say Alice gagged a lot at the beginning and I didn't try to swipe anything out of her mouth.  They have the gag reflex so they don't choke, so I would try to relax about it a bit more.  I know that's difficult because we just want to protect them, but we also need to trust them a bit more too.  It's great that Jude is downing stuff though, that is very encouraging.  He has to learn to mush the big bits down, so that he can chomp bits off and mush them and swallow.  I found this phase very frustrating and wondered if she'd ever get it, but she does, it will click in all of a sudden.  Is he gagging much?  Alice does gag sometimes now, but not nearly as much.  Honestly, he will be OK.  We're the ones who worry, not the babies. 

Hope that's a bit reassuring.

Pauline

[jaylabliss]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try and back off a bit! Today he munched on roasted sweet potato wedges and they were great, crusty on the outside and he could suck the mushy stuff from the inside right out. it will definetly be a repeat!

[rob1lu2]

Jaylabliss,

I was totally freaked out about them choking in the beginning. DH was MORE freaked out. I tried to maintain my cool, but it was very hard. Even now occasionally they will bite something, or they will two fist something and I try to keep cool. Pauline is correct, though, they will gag before they will choke. One of my girls gags all the time and she isn't turned off by the food. She just keeps at it.

Also, I don't know if this is correct, but I've heard you shouldn't try to swipe anything out of their mouth b/c sometimes you can actually push it further back. My girls always gag, but when we do get nervous, we pound them on the back.

HTH,
Lu

[lovedtodeath]

Jaylabliss, Jake has gagged some and he has actually vomited three times, which at first seems really scary and horrible, but it doesn't bother him and it shows that he will not actually choke, his body gags and vomits to protect him, so it is a good thing, not a bad one.

Pauline, there is no reason you cannot do a book. Most of us do not do strict BLW, so we could call ours something like "My baby won't eat mush" or "Introducing solids with finger foods for young babies". Gill Rapley does not have to approve.    Maybe she has the term "Baby Led Weaning" tied up, but I was giving finger foods to my 5 year old when she was a baby and I had never heard of Baby Led Weaning. If you really wanted to do a book, I think there would still be a need and I am still on board to help. (I have some graphic design experience) Anyway, hope no one gets irked at me, but wanted to offer my support as you seemed disappointed.

Planning my Disney vacation and dealing with Jake's constipation.... gave him zucchinni (courgette) just sauteed in butter, he did not like it roasted. He loved it. I also made scrambled eggs with "sneaky" cawliflower puree, about 2 t. puree per egg. Emily ate them up and did not notice the puree. 

[Bryony]

Lovedtodeath - that's a good point about the book 

I was wondering at what age have you / are you going to go from 4 milk feeds a day down to three?  And if so when do you do the daytime bottle?  Katie is starting to lose interest in her morning BF and I was wondering if she might be moving towards dropping one of her daytime BFs.  It would also make life a lot easier when she starts in nursery in January if I only have to express one bottle a day  rather than two    What are the rest of you BLWers doing?  Most other children of Katie's age around here are down to three milk feeds a day (or even two) but I think they are eating a lot more than Katie as they are on purees

Bryony

[DJs mummy]

Bryony, Hannah is formula fed so it it is a bit different but I thought I'd throw in how we space out 3 milk feeds a day (we dropped one day time bottle about 6 weeks ago).  She now has a bottle on waking, another an hour after lunch (1pm) and one at bedtime (an hour after dinner).  I've noticed she will usually happily drink the whole bottle even immediately after a meal, though I do try to space them out a bit.  I also offer her water with all 3 meals and she usually has an ounce or 2 at each 'sitting'.

Thanks for all the reassurance about Hannah not eating.  The last 2 days she has started eating much better again.  There's no teeth so I don't think I can blame teething     I guess she just lost her appetite.  (Boy, I wish I would lose my appetite for a few days )

[Bryony]

Thanks Hazel, that's really helpful 

So do you do lunch at 12 and bottle at 1pm?

Bryony

[DJs mummy]

Yep, that's the plan although quite often lunch gets pushed a little later (sometimes closer to 12.30) and the bottle happens almost immediately after lunch (still around 1pm ish).