Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #2

[VickyB20]

Cathy - If you're happy to try eggs, eggy bread is a really quick and easy one, as are omelettes (with all sorts of veggies added).

I make up mashed potatoes (white & sweet) with a mixture of finely chopped veg, make them into 'burger' shapes and fry them briefly.  They freeze well and can be heated up easily either in the microwave or in the oven.  You can also add fish to make fishcakes that freeze well too.  I serve these with a side of peas/sweetcorn/soya beans or leftover veg from our dinner the previous night!

I did tofu burgers from the 'Finger Foods' book the other day.  It was really quick and easy.  Well, I kind of did a modified version of the recipe - mash up some tofu, add a grated carrot and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, some soya sauce if you like (I use Bragg's, which has much lower sodium levels), a beaten egg and breadcrumbs from one slice (I actually used two dessertspoons of no-wheat, rice-based 'breadcrumbs').  Make into 'burgers', chill for ten minutes and then oven bake or grill until golden brown.  They don't freeze but are quick and easy.  I make them during morning nap time and they're ready in plenty of time for lunch!

Vicky
xx

[grahamsmama]

Another "on the go" thing I found yesterday is called Fruitabu.  I got it for the big kids but I don't see why you couldn't let the baby have it too.  It's kind of like those freezer pops that you cut the top off and push up, but you don't have to have them frozen. 

[url]www.fruitabu.com[url]

Vicky- I've made those tofu burgers too.  I thought they were quite tasty!

[lyndsy_p]

Alison...thanks for the interpretation on the chicken...we call them "chicken strips" here. I didn't give her the cheese. I'll just wait a while yet.

It seems everyone is giving their LO's whole eggs. I was told not to give egg whites before 12 months (I know it's not true BLW to limit...), is it not really a risk for allergies? I love omelets and would enjoy giving Grae some of mine! I gave her a lick and a suck of my toast today...it was salted butter  so I'm sure that's why she liked it. The peas at dinner were a bit of a miss. She didn't put any in her mouth, so I helped her, she wasn't thrilled.

Lyn...I have some firm tofu in my fridge. I'd be interested in more details on how you prepare it for Meghan.

Cathy...another one to try would be rice cakes with spread on them. Honestly, most of the things that Grae eats are leftover from our dinner the night before. I omit some spices and salt from hers, and just store in the fridge for a few days. All of the veg that we eat with our meals are steamed or baked, so we're good to go.

Lyndsy

[lovedtodeath]

Wow, I haven't replied in a while!  Welcome Lyndsy and Janelle!
As far as when to introduce certain foods, I use this schedule fairly confidently, and my lo have allergies. I am pretty lax as far as waiting three days unless I suspect a problem ( I am pretty familiar with my kid's sensitivities )

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/weaning_food_introduction_schedule.html

J has gagged to the point of vomiting twice. Once was on pancakes that were left over and dried out too much and the other was last night, his first noodle. He has been pretty much eating every day for a month now and has not had any other scary moments, and no heimlich maneuvers.

I love the avocado ideas, J seems to balk at it so far, will keep trying. He is not keen on anything that I put in his mouth for him.

I would keep offering Katie the fruits and veggies Bryony. J ends up at least tasting everything offered and sometimes eats more of a certain item than other times.

Cathy I do the same thing. J eats while I am cooking or cleaning the kitchen if we are not all sitting down for dinner. But I have noticed he eats much more if we are eating too. Also, what about organic cereal bars? Also, when Em was a baby, she loved green beans and beets straight from the can and fresh avocados and mangos, which require no prep work.

Vicky, I love reading about your boys. They are so cute!

As far as unpasteurized cheese, it is really up to you. It is so much better for us than pasteurized, but seems a little scary too. I looked into it and decided to pass, but we do not eat much dairy anyway. I am going to read the next page and see if I need to reply anymore.
 

[Lippy Chick]

Everyone is doing so well.  Alice is still not really eating any amount of quantity and is still gagging.  She is doing it slightly less, but still does it.  We are going to give her some home made apple puree, with lumps, so that she gets used to swallowing mashed stuff.  I'm going to put it on her tray and let her lick it off her fingers, like the petit filous, because I just don't want to spend my time spoon feeding her.  We're also going to start giving her some food at dinner time too.  We all sit down together anyway, so it seems silly not to give her anything. 

You have all got some great ideas going there.  I'm going to get that Jennie Maizels book too.  I did ask for it for my birthday, but am going to the Spa instead (what a horrible choice to make, finger food recipe book or Spa).  Hopefully will get it from someone for Christmas.

Pauline

[grahamsmama]

 (what a horrible choice to make, finger food recipe book or Spa)

    I think you made the right choice!!!

I tried the avocado with the peel on and it worked great for Meghan.   I cut off the peel on the top and bottom and left the middle part on the avocado wedge so she could suck on the ends. 

[evanskimberley]

Seeing Sophie enjoying the goujons makes me want to make my own again - used to do it a lot, put that on my list for the week!

Cathy - my fail safe food is either rice cakes (adult no salt ones) or crisp breads (organic baby ones) with banana spread on them. So easy to take out with you, you can take the banana whole or a bit in a pot. Also works well with avocado.

[Lippy Chick]

The nursery nurse who is supporting me through the BLW suggested sandwiches as a take-out food.  You can put some purée in the middle or a cheese spread, like dairylea (not sure if you have that where you are).  She said they work very well.  Petit filous or yoghurts, not sure if you're happy with dairy or wheat, Alice seems fine with both, if you just want something quick.  Alice licks it off her fingers from the tray.

Lyn, glad you tried the avocado with skins on, they do pretty well with it, that's how Alice has it too.  Alice holds everything really well and picks it all up, whether slippery or not.  I have been quite impressed with how well she can pick stuff up and hold it and squish it and smear it etc...  I didn't know about the Spa, so in fact it was Stuart who made the right choice.  Thinking this can be my birthday pressie every year now.

Alice tried orange tonight.  Not a hit!!    

Pauline

[lyndsy_p]

I tried the avocado with the peel on and it worked great for Meghan.   I cut off the peel on the top and bottom and left the middle part on the avocado wedge so she could suck on the ends. 

I want to try this, but how do you cut off the skin (it's so tough) without cutting through the avocado, or the avocado seperating from the skin...or are yours not quite ripe?

Lyndsy

[Bryony]

Pauline - we do sandwiches too - Katie loves philadephia cheese so I make it into sandwiches for when we go out. As the cheese is quite sticky they hold together well.....  

Also thanks for the tip (whoever it was) on frying up bits of mashed potato and veg to make potato cakes - Katie would drop mash potato on the floor but we tried lightly frying it tonight and she LOVED them!

Bx

[Lippy Chick]

Lyndsy, the avocado I used was so ripe, the stone fell out of the middle when I cut it open.  I cut it in half, then cut off the end bits, leave the skin on and then cut in length ways into slices.  It kind of comes away from the skin anyway, but she has no problems with that, she will spit out the skin as it is very tough.  Give it a go, it is fine honest.

Bryony, we're still not at the stage of trying foods which need mushing a lot, as she hasn't got the hang of mushing at the front of her mouth, pushing it back and swallowing without gagging.  It is getting better, but it is sooooooooo slow.   

Pauline

[grahamsmama]

I want to try this, but how do you cut off the skin (it's so tough) without cutting through the avocado, or the avocado seperating from the skin...or are yours not quite ripe?

Mine was not very ripe, but ripe enough to eat, not too mushy.  Then I did just like Pauline, cut it in half, cut the ends of the peel off with a very sharp paring knife and cut it into slices.  So, I just peeled the very top and bottom. The peel came off one piece but stayed on two more I gave her.  She didn't eat three whole pieces but she nibbled on them and threw them on the floor.    

[lovedtodeath]

Oops! My link won't show up! The link for when to introduce what is this: Food Intro Schedule

Pauline, good for you for sticking to it! My cousin's baby is on jarred baby food and still won't eat hardly anything at almost 9 months, so don't be disheartened.

When Emily ate avocado I scooped it out with a spoon to give her. Mango was out of the mesh feeder and nectarines she would eat whole. She ate these along with bananas and amaranth cereal (similar to cheerios) for quite a while. Melons and waffles came next.

TTFN

[VickyB20]

We discovered a great 'convenience' food yesterday, quite by chance, since it was pretty much all I had in the fridge!  Organic falafels (made by Cauldron).  They were really quick to prepare - 10 mins in the oven - and the boys loved them.  The right size to hold, a good texture to mush and pretty nutritious too!  I won't make a regular habit of them, but figure it's useful to have a packet in the freezer.

Re: yoghurts and petit filous... Pauline you said that you put petit filous on Alice's tray but didn't want to give it too often because of all the sugar.  So I thought I'd share my yoghurt 'recipe'.  I take some fruit puree, dollop a couple of spoons of natural yoghurt in it and mix it up.  Then I add baby cereal (I love the Organix baby rice/oats/other cereals and also the Plum Baby ones, which have fab grains in them, such as quinoa and amaranth) either plain or with fruit flavour just to thicken the yoghurt.  I actually feed it to them on a spoon but it's much thicker with the cereal added so might work well on the tray?  Just an idea.
(I also add Udo's Choice, which is a cold-pressed oil blend to up their intake of 'good' fats.)

Re: gagging.  We had loads of gagging incidences in the beginning to the point that I'm now very unconcerned about it!  I read that gagging is a really healthy, natural reflex and if they're gagging, then they're not choking IYKWIM.  But it practically never happens now and I'll happily let them get on with eating on their own whilst I get on with other things.

Vicky
x

[lyndsy_p]

Thanks for the link lovedtodeath. The picture of the week on that site was a LO in 2 leg casts, laying in her crib with her mom bending down BF'ing her. So sad! How does a LO have double leg casts?

Graesha gags sometimes on avocado...she loves it so much, she bites of big pieces! It's no biggie since I've seen her do it before. Thanks Pauline and Lyn for the explanation of the avo with the skin on. I still don't get it 

Lyndsy