Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #2

[Aly Mac]

Hi everyone!!!

Just wanted to pop in and say hi and let you know how L is going.  She is eating everything now - peanut butter last week - and is drinking cows milk really well.  We've been doing bfast on Sunday's and it's so nice to take her out and not have to take a plate full of food with me.  she loves egg, mushroom, toast (of course!), hash brown etc.

I also figured out why L always ate more when my DH supervised a meal instead of me.  HE PUTS THE FOOD ON A SPOON AND GIVES IT TO HER!!!LOL!!!  even finger food - ham, cucumber, corn, peas, tomoate - which is a fav lunch for her.   I don't mind as its' all good stuff and he doesnt do it that often, but I thought it was funny.........

Also, a relative of DH's that we are friends with ahve a 4yrold and a 1yr old only a couple of days older than L.  They have always been really particular with their eldest diet (the father si a bit of a health nut - no processed food, not even bread until he was 3).  speaking to them the other day I was very proud to say what L ate and how - their lo is still on mush food....The father is paranoid about choking etc...i gave some ideas, and got the feeling she would like to do some of it , but her dh is so anal!!  we are going to their place for lunch next week so it will be interesting to see the difference in the two of them.....

[MJMom]

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.

Lyndsy- if you ever want to hear about some one NOT giving their LO something, just ask me.  I've been playing the safe side on every thing!  The irony to this of course, is there are no allergies on my side of the family, but there are on DH's.  Either way,  the only thing I fudged on was wheat.  Ever notice that most teething biscuits are wheat?  Well, after that oops and there was no reaction, I figured wheat was fine.  I've actually been following Super Baby Foods rather closely as she seems to have taken a conservative approach to what to give LO's when.  I also always do the 3 day wait rule.  It's clock work, every 3 days, there is something new, but nothing randomly new.  Also, no processed foods.  All home made organic, with the occaisional piece of bread or potato when we're out at a restaurant.

And then when I say I'm conservative... my thought on the non-pasteurized cheeses?  Give it a try yourself.  If it tastes fine to you, it's probably OK. 

[MJMom]

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

That link was interesting... Much more aggressive than the book I'm following.

So sad, the woman BFing the babe with the legs in casts.  Any able to read that for a translation?

[lyndsy_p]

Hey Alissa..you're back! I too was so surprised that so many moms gave their LO's toast and such, so I thought I'd give it a try...also she's tried homemade pancakes and she's crazy for them. Tonight we went out for dinner and gave her a large piece of celery from dh's caesar (we rinsed it) to suck on. It kept her occupied for 30 mins,"bite, suck"....."suck, suck, bite". I guess the celery juice was just her style!

Lyndsy

[MJMom]

yeah, Marina loves toast!  I was worried giving it to her dry, but her drool made up for it. 

I find it SO much fun going out to eat now, just looking for things to order that I can hand her off a bite or two!  (or in the case of today, a piece of bread, half a potato and like 7 french fries.  I decided they were OK, because it was at a Spanish restaurant and they were friend in Olive Oil)  Downside is, carbohydrate city!  Good thing I gave her the mango and asparagus earlier!

[VickyB20]

Re: eggs.  I looked into this a lot and found so much conflicting advice that in the end, I decided to leave it to the boys to tell me if they were happy eating eggs.  They were and they still are!  (And it's very convenient for me!)

It has been completely different for me this time round.  My daughter, who's now 2, didn't have wheat, dairy (except for organic live yoghurt), nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers) or anything ready-prepared or processed till she was 1.  I hate to admit it, but my boys have even had McDonald's fries!  Oops!  Their needs are completely different though and they are growing bigger and stronger every day so I figure that they have good instincts.  Other than the fries and occasional taste of a chocolate biscuit (!), I only ever offer healthy food and at the moment I'm feeling confident that I can trust their judgement IYKWIM.  (I'm expecting that will change when they hit toddlerhood and only want to eat chocolate and sweets!)

Vicky
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[Bryony]

Eggs  - Vicky I came to the same conclusion as you. And they are nutritious and convenient so I am very happy that Kate likes them!

Katie still doesn't eat any fruit or veg - do you think it matters?  I can't believe I have a fussy eater on my hands already. She wolfs down meat, fish and any form of carbohydrate, but either ignores or chucks on the floor anything fruit or veg. The only fruit she gets is that in the petit filous fromage frais things (which she loves - but they are quite sweet so they are not ideal healthy food...) and the only veg is the odd pea.

I wonder if it's why she took a while to get started on the BLW - all I was offering her intially was fruit and veg...!

Does anyone have any ideas?  Next time I make a batch of home made beef burgers I am going to chop up some bits of veg and sneak them in to the mix...

Bryony

[Lippy Chick]

Hi all,

Catching up as I was quite ill yesterday, think it was something I ate on Saturday, fine today though, really bizarre. 

Anyway.

Bryony, about trying to get more veg and fruit into Katie, what about Spanish omelettes.  If she likes egg, then you could add a bit of veg in there too, or even add it into scrambled egg.  Will she eat potatoes, someone suggested frying them off once mashed, you could maybe add some veg in there too.  Do you think you could "hide" some veg into some of the dishes you cook her?  You could try Vicky's alternative to petit filous and get some fruit in that way.  Spreading fruit puree on toast, putting into sandwiches.   Sounds a bit gross, but it is funny what they'll eat. 

Yeah, for Marina, Alice liked toast too, but we've gone back a step and so won't be giving her toast until she's got the mashing thing sorted a bit more.  You can out a small amount of un-salted butter on the toast too.

Vicky, thank you so much for the recipe, have you put it on the recipe thread?  I still don't want to give it to her anyway, at the moment, I want her to get used to mashing first.  Alice is gagging slightly less with each day, I'm not particularly worried about it, I think she's just a lazy eater, always has been.

Lyndsy, about avocados.  Get your avocado, cut it in half, twist and pull one side away.  Then take out the stone from the other side.  Cut off the top and the bottom.  Then slice length ways, so you have long pieces to hold, you can leave the skin on or take it off.  Does that help?

She is starting to mash better, today you can actually see her moving her mouth when she mushes.  She had kiwi this morning and seemed to like it.  I was thinking about giving her scrambled egg.

Pauline

[Bryony]

Thanks Pauline! We have tried hiding veg in the mashed potato - but she stops eating it once she gets to the veg....  will try mashing it up together (with carrot etc) and see if she still eats it...  love the idea of the spanish omelette, will try that 

Bryony

[lovedtodeath]

Here is a great link on sneaking veggies into foods:Jessica Seinfeld's sneaky veg recipes

This is what I do sometimes, Pumpkin, blueberries, cranberries, and sweetpotatoes all get pureed and baked into bread, muffins, pancakes. She has a lot of ideas.... macaroni and "cheese", scrambled eggs with cawliflower, I can't wait to try them.

Also, we eat our cawliflower coated in olive oil and cooked under the broiler until it is crispy. Takes about an hour. It is called cawliflower popcorn.

Hope this link helps some!

[lovedtodeath]

I am waiting on eggwhites... but you can separate the egg and cook with just the yoke, you can substitute tapioca flour mixed with water for the white if needed.

I am also waiting until 8 months on white flour and 10 for whole wheat, and waiting a year for dairy, as he is allergic to milk but can handle any other dairy products in my diet, just not milk itself.

I have been told that it is true that many children will naturally not eat something they are allergic to when they are young. They are repulsed by the "aura" Just don't feed it to them or cojole them and you should be ok. This is based on kinesiology ideas. So take it or leave it. I don't really trust it enough, even though I use accupressure to cure ailments. I am too "safe".

[MJMom]

When can you start adding salt/spices?  I've been making just the straight up vegetable, but I wonder if a little oil, etc would help on the taste factor?

My SIL is always in amazement that her kids will eat loads of vegetables when they are at my house.  And I'm thinking, a little salt & pepper go a looooonngg way!  Her kids are older, but I figure, same concept, if that could help get your kids to eat veggies?  Broccoli cooked with garlic and a bit of salt is a LOT tastier than plain broccoli!

lovedtodeath - just an aside on white vs wheat flour- white flour IS wheat flour, just even more processed AND with bleach added!  If you're going to go white because it doesn't have the hull on it (don't know if that's what makes it an allergen) I would go with the unbleached white flour.

[lyndsy_p]

Also, we eat our cawliflower coated in olive oil and cooked under the broiler until it is crispy. Takes about an hour. It is called cawliflower popcorn.

OOOOHHHHH This sounds delish. Do you toss the cauliflower florets in a bowl with the olive oil, or do you spray with oil? Does it look dark brown when done? What rack in the oven. Sorry I need more details.

Pauline.... I think this is what I was doing to the avos the whole time, just without the skin. Also on the mashing thing, when I started feeding Grae I moved my mouth in a biting motion (really exaggerated), and she was copying me...she has now realized to do it on her own.

Byrony...have you trying the sweeter veg, like carrots and squash? If you bake them, they kinda caramelize.

Alissa...I'm sure all the spices are okay (she'll let you know if she doesn't want them), but I would be wary of salt. I don't think their kidneys can handle it yet.

Lyndsy

[Bryony]

Alissa - I agree with Lyndsey on the salt - but spices are fine.   Esp if you have been BF, as they are used to the spices that you eat 

Lyndsey - yes have tried sweet potatoes, carrot etc - I am wondering if it's the texture she doesn't like as she won't even touch them. Am going to sneak some into potato fritters and see if that works!

Bryony

[lyndsy_p]

YESS! Now come to think of it, texture was a huge one for Grae. Once she got over that, a whole world of tastes opened up. I used to make a large quantity of veg for her, save some in the fridge and freeze some for later. If she didn't like what I had in the fridge, I just tried about a week or so later with the freezer stash as I wasn't about to throw it out. She now loves things that she originally wouldn't touch. Especially Yams and Sweet Potatoes.

Lyndsy