Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 5!

[*Nicola*]

LOL @ ganet

I love that word!

[lisi's mum]

We're ticking along. I've had to move on to one meal a day from a spoon as the babysitter was nervous about self feeding, and Norah didn't really know what to do with that spoon. Besides, she's really into - get this - cabbage and bean soup  loads of other veggies in there too, plus old bread to sop things up a bit, olive oil and parmesan. Delicious, but strong tasting. Not an ideal finger food.

I'm having real probs with breakfast, in that she doesn't want any. She'd chomp on bread, but I'm trying to limit that at the mo - she had runny mucousy poo, open and sore bottom and a full body rash that coincided with me getting a bit more adventurous with the allergens  It also coincided with Lisi having an ear infection, and N about a week before N started cutting 6 teeth at once, so it could equally be stomach bug, or teething. Anyhow, we're back onto playing it safe for a bit.

Breakfast at the moment is about 6 or 7 flakes of special K. I know, I should just get over it, food is for fun and all that, but still there's a part of every mum that wants to see their LO stuff their face, right? And she's not exactly starving - the best part of 10kg / 22lb at 9 mo  Lisi was that weight at 2!

So that's us.

[Jocasta]

Mae's such a little pie muncher that she's gone from the 25th up to above the 75th since starting solids !!!!!  OMG!  She's now just over 20lb!  Honestly, you wouldn't believe her unless you saw her - it could be an hour after eating a ton and she'll be all happy and smiley and then she'll see someone with food.  Her whole disposition changes and she gets all serious and then eyes that person up as if to say "you gonna eat all that?"  If they don't get the hint, she gets really lary!  I've never known a child like it lol!

[*Nicola*]

ROFL @ pie muncher!!

Katie, Callie went thru phases of eating TONNES and then she would literally eat 7 flakes of sp K for a few weeks.  It is so so hard not to get 'stuck' on it.  Very easy to *know* its for fun but totally different at meal times, I  know. 

All I can say is that we did BLW, went thru the phases, and now at 1 we have moved to cows milk and food intake has went way up.  Breakfast this morning was a banana, 1/2 weetabix mixed with banana porridge self fed off spoons , 4 raspberries and some blueberries. There was just no way she would eat that amout after having a milk feed first. 

(((Big hugs))) x

[Freya'sMum]

Hello ladies!

Just wanted to say goodbye - I've been moderating this site for the best part of 2 years, and I've run out of time and energy to do it justice anymore! This is my last night

Am so proud of you all, please help the new mod to keep BLW alive and well 'coz I think it's the future of introducing solid foods, and just want this thread to thrive

It's been a pleasure - thank you so much for supporting each other and me!

Ax

[lisi's mum]

 

Bye Alison, your knowledge will be very sadly missed. Thank you so much for all of your time and dedication. I know about time and energy - I just stepped down as bf mod too 

take care, and see you on the other boards I hope.

xxx

[*Nicola*]

Thanks a million Alison

Your knowledge and BLW support is awesome

Totally understand your reasons for stepping down, I've just done the same too.  Don't be a stranger

[Jocasta]

Thanks Alison - so sorry to see you go

[lisi's mum]

Girls, I need your opinions on a not stricly BLW question, but you're going to be the best ones to ask, as I need to jiggle our milk / solids routine as what we've got isn't really working.

Right now I'm usually feeding Norah at around 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 7pm. Solids are at Lisi's meal times so 7, 12 and 6.

I have found that she will drink practically nothing at 7am if I try thanks to that early morning feed. As it is she's not eating an awful lot of solids (could be her gums looking like chopped liver right doesn't really help...) which is actually just as well, as most of her solid meals are about an hour before a bf.

Then we have that big cluster of 5pm bf, 6pm solids, 6.30 or 7pm bf. The 5pm's usually really just a snack (you know, suck as long as it takes to get a letdown then decide something else is more interesting, leaving you spurting everywhere - gee thanks  ).

I would like to get to a bit better spaced out 7 - 11- 3 - 7 or there abouts, but have a couple hindernaces.
1 Do you reckon I can feed at 5.30, offer again at 7 and if she doesn't really want much some how persuade her through to 11? It's not like she's begging for a feed at 9
2 she has got into a habit of feeding better before a nap, this started in the early days of oversupply, before a nap seemed to be the time she could best deal with the flood. Sooner or later she's going to be able to change that habit and feed on wakeups right? Particularly once she gets the message that this is how we're going to do things now.
3 on days I work if I feed at 11 and 3 it means I miss 2 feeds, if I feed at 9, 1 (during my lunch break) and 5 I miss none. As the minx will take a bottle for me but not her babysitter  you can see why this is desirable. Am I messing with her head too much if I do this twice a week?

These days she's never actually asking for feeds IYKWIM, or solids for that matter, so I feel confident I could some how jiggle her to the way I want our day to look, but it may take a few days of being a bit of a toughie. That kind of goes against the grain, but could be for the greater good.

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

I'd really like your input, I think a bf, blw-ed baby is a bit of a different kettle of fish.
 

[Purplecattypants]

Hmmmm Katie its a difficult one.....when you say "get her through till 11" do you mean you still do a DF?

I think things would be easier if she wasn't having that 5am feed.....does she go back to sleep? Do you think she could be waking out of habit/learned hunger rather than genuine hunger?

If she fed instead upon waking in the morning you could have more of a routine like this:

bf 7am
solids 7:30am

bf 11am
solids 12pm

bf 3pm
solids 5pm

bf 7pm

Obviously because you're a little restricted with solids time because of having to feed Lisi too its a bit more complex...I only have one to deal with so meal times can be whenever...maybe someone with 2 will be able to comment about that better?!

You say she feeds before a nap....do you feed her to sleep?

[lisi's mum]

I mean 11am!

Do I still do a df - HA! I didn't at 3 weeks, but since the 4 month gs it's been back there. I  (last night at least, and every night for the past few months) have been feeding every 3 hours, or 4 on a rare good night. This is why I feel like the daytime needs a bit of a rethink.

If I don't feed N at night when she wakes she's awake for 2 hours plus, and I'm just not up to that! Of course things would be better without that 5am feed, but then I'd have to accept that the day was going to start then.

I don't feed to sleep - not even to drowsey most of the time.

[*Nicola*]

Katie,

I started to reply yesterday but ran out of time.  Totally agree with Ang that the 5am feed is messing things up.  Totally agree with you that 5am is just a tad to early for the day to begin
 
Could you give a smaller feed at this time?  One side, reduce mins etc?  Whatever works for you?  Enough to get her back to sleep for a couple of hours but keep her hungry for 7am ish feed. 

[lisi's mum]

I totally agree with both of you that the 5am feed is messing things up! Still, back in the good old days when she only had one night feed, at 3am (oh how I want those days back again!) she still wouldn't drink much on waking at 7.

Having said that, I think she's older now and could establish new habits.

I think the crux of my question was, knowing what you know of Norah, and knowing the amounts your BLW-ed babies ate solids wise at her age / are eating at her age, should she absolutely insist on that early morning feed do you reckon I could let her just have the short sip she's going to take at 7 and then push her through to 11 without offering her that 9am feed, or would your hunch say it'd bite me in the bum? I think she can do it, and sooner or later will get the message that if she wants milky (and she surely does) well, she'd better drink it when I want her to.

Mummy's getting tough 

[*Nicola*]

Sorry Katie,

We were teaching you to suck eggs there weren't we! LOL

So .. does she take a good feed at 5/530?  I would offer both sides to fill her right up and then breakfast at 7am with EBM in sippy, and then not offer again until she is really looking for it. Even if she goes til say 1030 and then you can work on moving them forwards.

I'm thinking that might take us up to nap time though does it?

[Purplecattypants]

Sorry K got distratced and never replied!!

I guess all you can do is try it...that's the only way you're going to know if it works. I don't think there's a magic answer, I wish there was! Do you think the nw's could have another cause? Do you think it might be work doing a post over there? I can't really comment about the amount of solids etc and J didnt really start to eat until 8 months so wasn't eating much...but was still sttn 

Sorry i'm about as useful as a fart in a windstorm arent I??!!