Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #2

[VickyB20]

Poor Alice.  Get well soon!!!

rob1lu2 - Sorry to hear you're still suffering from broken nights too.  :-(  I've actually given up trying to fix it now and am just waiting till they grow out of it!!  I've tried everything I know (except CIO) and have read but it just doesn't seem to work with 2 in the room and Ella in the room above them and we have no way to split them up.  Hay ho.  We'll survive somehow and it won't last forever!!

I'm delighted to say that they seem to have turned a corner with eating.  They really do properly eat LOTS of food now!!  I guess something to do with their age.  They even had fishfingers with carrots, cauliflower and green beans for tea, just like Ella was having!  It's so liberating to just prepare one meal.  They had a whole fishfinger between them!  And at breakfast they had shredded wheat and Cow & Gate toddler cereal and toast and fruit.  At lunch they had peanut butter sandwiches (about half a slice of bread each) and cheese straws and pear slices.  It's such fun on the days when they eat!  It does take AGES but it's worth it.

Hope you all have a fun filled weekend!

Vicky
xx

[Freya'sMum]

Get well soon vibes for Alice

I know this might not want to be what folk want to hear (especially those of you with twins ) but Eryn still doesn't sleep a whole night (15.5 months) and only stopped a night feed (by herself) at 14 months, so you could have some way to go - it really doesn't correlate proportionally with how much food they have in the day! Of course, everyone else's los might not be quite so wakeful for so long - here's hoping!

Ax

[grahamsmama]

Poor Alice.  Hopefully once they get her sample results back, they'll be able to fix everything in time for the weekends events.  Sending her some more get well vibes! 

[rob1lu2]

Get well soon vibes for Alice

I know this might not want to be what folk want to hear (especially those of you with twins ) but Eryn still doesn't sleep a whole night (15.5 months) and only stopped a night feed (by herself) at 14 months, so you could have some way to go - it really doesn't correlate proportionally with how much food they have in the day! Of course, everyone else's los might not be quite so wakeful for so long - here's hoping!

Ax

rob1lu2 - Sorry to hear you're still suffering from broken nights too.  :-(  I've actually given up trying to fix it now and am just waiting till they grow out of it!!  I've tried everything I know (except CIO) and have read but it just doesn't seem to work with 2 in the room and Ella in the room above them and we have no way to split them up.  Hay ho.  We'll survive somehow and it won't last forever!!

I know this isn't BLW topic, but I'm glad we are talking about it. I'm not actually tripping too hard about the NW to eat, but I do feel pressure to not feed her at night. Even Tracey says in her book that most babies don't need to eat anymore by 4 months. I was doing some hard core stuff (NOT CIO) to not feed her at night. But she would cry and cry for over an hour at a time several times per night. Very stressful and mademe feel like a bad mom. I know she's hungry, she eats the most that she'll eat at that feeding, and she's back asleep in ten minutes. For me it's hard b/c her twin sister has been sleeping through the night since 3 months old. I try not to compare but it's hard!

On a BLW topic, today I added the second meal. I mashed up banana (their first time with fruit) and dipped cheerios in the mashed bananas. They LOVED it. What a hit! Plus they also got banana on their spoons and were "feeding" themselves. Great job, girls!

Thanks for the NW info Vicky and Ali!

Lu

[VickyB20]

Had great success with 'eggy bread' this evening.  I posted the recipe (what there is of it!) on the finger foods for babies thread.  It was fab that I could give the same to my toddler as to the babies.  Really seeing the practical advantages of BLW now!

Also, for those of you in the UK... Cow & Gate do a Stage 4 (supposed to be for 12+ months) cereal called 'Fruity Sun, Moon & Stars' or something like that.  I had some in the cupboard but Ella won't eat it.  Typical!  However, the last couple of days, I've put some in a bowl of milk, let it sit for a couple of minutes to soften and then put the cereal pieces onto the boys' trays.  They're loved it!  There's no salt or sugar added so I feel very comfy giving it to them - more so than 'adult' cereals.

Hope everyone's had a good Saturday.

Vicky
xx

[lovedtodeath]

Hello there! Sevenbites here, changed my name 

I am a little behind and do not know what is going on with everyone, but would like to tell yall our fun. Wednsday Jake had 1 T. of homemade millet porridge for dinner, and drank his juice from an adult cup. Thursday he had two frozen cubes of peach puree that I had made in a baby safe feeder.

Friday for dinner I went with the pancakes. I forgot to mention that I am avoiding wheat because Emily was allergic and yeast because Jake is allergic. I think waffles would work well too, but my waffle maker is broken. I soaked the millet in the refridgerator with the liquids since the morning and then added the other dry ingredients at about 5 pm, fried them up in canola oil and gave one to Jake. I made them thin so the bites would not be too much. Jake ruined this plan by smooshing it into a ball and taking a big bite. Took him forever to chew it and then he really enjoyed tearing it into little pieces and chasing them around on his tray with his "claw"  . So one bite was all he had, and then I gave him some juice, no more interest in eating. Saturday we all had pancakes, though ours were wheat and involved salt and sugar. He had his special pancake, and took one bite, which he gagged on and daddy stood up ready to do the heimlich maneuver and looking quite panicked. I said "it's ok gagging is how he protects himself" and was really calm about it. Daddy was not impressed I don't think. It actually was quite a bit of gagging, more than I had seen previously. Jake then tore the rest to bits and threw most on the floor. Then he took a smaller bite after having some juice. So two bites today. Then we went to the grocery store and I fed him banana baby food on his binky to keep him happy,  so I did not want to add a dinner on top of that, but he played with his new gripper sippy cup and had a grand time with it, even managing to get water out of it on his own once.

Will continue with millet and peaches for a few days to be sure he is ok with them, and then move on to sorghum/milo. Plan to buy a waffle iron too. Hope to add pictures to my posts soon, but I cannot figure out how. Well, I am off to catch up on your lives. I love having such a specific thread with LOs the same age also BLW.

[lovedtodeath]

OK my confidence is shattered. He loved the pancakes and kept eating more and even figured out how to open his fist to shove crumbs into his mouth. Kept gagging and gagging and threw up. DH and I agree said "NO more get them away from him".

So now I am very dissapointed b/c the basis for BLW is that they will not eat it if they are not ready. Throwing up is not a good sign IMO!!  I felt so guilty for giving them to him. I will probably just stick to purees now. I know that I did not follow BLW to the tee....I should have put a variety in front of him to choose from. (sigh) I just don't know what to do now.

[Lippy Chick]

Lovedtodeath.  Have you had a look on the recipe section?  It might be worth while waiting a few days until you feel a bit more confident about it and then trying something different.  You could try some fruit or cooked veggies.  I would say don't give up, because he seems to be doing so well, at least he is eating it.  You may find that you end up with more problems in the future trying to transition from puree to lumpy and finger foods.  That's one of the benefits of this form of weaning, it cuts out effectively weaning them twice.  It does take a lot longer (as I'm constantly being reminded) but the benefits out way the negatives.  I think throwing up is fine, they throw up their milk from time to time.  How was Jake afterwards?  Alice has had a few gagging incidents but it certainly doesn't put her off trying.  You're the one who is nervous, not your child.  Stick with it.

Pauline

[Lippy Chick]

Forgot to put a link in.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95978.0

[VickyB20]

Hiya!

Lovedtodeath - how old is your little one?  My boys are 8 months old now and just in the last 2 or 3 days, I am soooo pleased that we persevered with finger foods.  For what it's worth, they used to throw up on purees all the time!!  I remember one time I was really impressed that they'd eaten a whole jar of pear pudding plus a mashed up banana between them and then on the very last bite, Brynley brought the whole lot up again!     So it happens with puree feeding too.

Why don't you try bits of fruit and veg?  Ripe pear (with the skins on is great) - just the right texture and with the skins on it makes it easy for little hands to hold.  Pancakes might not be soggy enough when 'gummed', IYKWIM.  I made some buckwheat blinis a week back and my boys didn't eat them - I think it was because of the texture.  Perhaps you could make a wheat free bread to toast?

It is really worth sticking with it if you can find a way forward.  This evening, my boys had mixed vegetable risotto - not pureed, or even mashed - just exactly as my husband and I ate it last night.  Green beans, spinach, onions, mushrooms, carrots, broccolli and obviously the rice.  I spooned it onto their tray and they just shovelled it in!!  So if you stick with it, the benefits will far outweigh the patience required now.  It is fab that I can already feed them the same food that my toddler and I eat.

Hugs,
Vicky
x

[grahamsmama]

Maybe try a cracker, Cheerios, or some toast, something that isn't quite so gummy when chewed up.  And,I totally agree with giving him fruits and veggies.  Take it slow. And don't worry.  He'll be fine.  They all get gagged sometimes. 

Meghan has started taking yogurt and she's really liking it now.  Yay!  Today she got steamed carrots and shredded wheat cereal that I soaked in pear juice.  She's constipated, but won't take juice from a bottle or cup, so that's how I try to get it in her.  She was delighted by this meal!  I love having her eat real food and she's really getting good at picking up small pieces and getting them to her mouth. 

[lovedtodeath]

The first day, one bite, no gagging, second day two bites and gagging, third day lots of bites and lots of gagging! I don't know if it is because of more bites, or I think maybe he choked because it was leftover and leftover pancakes get less soft each day. KWIM?

I think I might try something a little easier, like a really ripe avocado next time. Problem is, he has food allergies, so I cannot give him raw fruit. (he cannot tolerate pears at all, even cooked) or a lot of the other things the family would eat anyway, so I will still need special food for him. Well, I will hang out and read some more. 

[Aly Mac]

Lovedtodeath - how about stewed apple?  Lil loves them, as they are soft and sweet, and won't stick together like maybe potato or sweet potato would. if you don't want to make, i buy the tin of pie apples, which have nothing added and they are the perfect consistency.  maybe a little slippery at first, but he'll get the hang of it.

I've never heard of allergies to raw fruit before?  maybe if you tell us what he can have, we can see what we can suggest.

big hugs to you.

[lovedtodeath]

I found myself giving him a raw apple today after I told yall I couldn't! Think I better take a break before I do something stupid. It is so hard for me to remember all the things to avoid, and finding BLW has confused my gameplan! I get so drained and brainfogged sometimes. It is just another thing to remember. I have had PPD, and am getting tested for hypothyroid soon.

How is Alice doing?

[noonie]

Hi guys,

I have to join in, i keep coming back and reading what everyone is up to, when I should just pop in and say Hi!

OMG - so happy to hear everyone else has bib issues   we are SO messy.  I brought one of those high chairs that "grow with you", that dont have a table attached to them, they sit with you at the table ... anyway EVERYTHING gets to the floor, we really need to borrow someones dog.

so our BLW is going well.  Everyone is always impressed with his eating - and feeding himself.  But the other day he just didnt want to be  spoon fed, i mean it was banana, everyone loves banana.  I then tried just straight banana and he wanted to hold and eat.  So i have a couple of small probs with stuff like cereal, but i guess i cant really complain.  Emilio does cough up food when it gets stuck which i worry about but then everything is fine after some water. phew!

sausage recipe is awesome, i have made lots and they come out of the freezer when we need.  potato cakes - really good too , ive cooked up some grated mushrooms and zucchinis and added them, another time added baked beans, although the label did say salt .  now DH wants me to make them for his lunch.

I get stuck for ideas, tried a lamb casserole, was ok, bit hard to "pick up" pieces, basically I think the pieces needed to be bigger.  and it was my 1st casserole so was a bit of an experiment. 

So whats the deal with cheese?  - i made these tortillas, with cheese and avo in them - only to realise that cheese shouldnt be a good idea?!?!?, we didnt have any probs with tho.

My days revolve around food!  Its great to hear what everyone is up to and I will post this now and stop rambling.  back later