Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 6!

[Otownmama]

Yay, I'm really happy to be doing BLW! We have tried several things, including rice cakes, toast fingers, carrots, parsnips, broccoli (all cooked) and banana. She seems to like toast and rice cakes quite a bit, but honestly, doesn't seem to be really consuming too much of anything. Still, I love watching her play with the food and sit with us while we eat. I just sit her at the table whenever we're eating, put something on her tray and hope she'll stay occupied and nibble/chew away while we scarf down our food 

[Mimi 2]

Yay!  Keep her time and soon she will get very good at it. 

[sadie bea]

hi all, i've been a baby whisperer for 5 months and visit here often although this is my first post. basically, my girl is 9 months and i've been trying to get her to eat solids with not much luck, we're kind of doing baby-led weaning but now and then she'll let me spoon her some food especially breakfast. I'm breastfeeding still 5 times a day. the healthvisiter came yesterday and weighed my girl and was slightly concerned as she's only 18 pounds and told me to drop some of the breastfeeds so that she'll eat more solids... i dont if i should or how i should as that's all my LO eats (appart from fruit, yogurt, pasta). should i tell you my routine? can anyone help me? i'm really worried about her health. if i drop the dreamfeed do you think she'll eat more solids during the day?

[Mrs Coops]

Hi
I wouldn't drop any of the breast feeds! If she's low weight the last thing you want is to reduce her calorie intake in any form in the hope she'll eat more solids!!!!

I would just maybe offer her solids more often, that way she might drop the b'f herself. Does she eat potato's or anything like that? What foods have you tried her with? Also do you eat with her? If she likes sweet food maybe you could introduce something like sweet potato, butternut squash or parsnips to get her going.  My LO loved all of those, but she is a bit of a greedy monster!

For some reason my LO absolutely loves little foods like peas (devils food), sweetcorn and baked beans. Don't know why but she can't get enough of them, give them a go, see how she fares.

As for the dream feed, if you drop that she might wake during the night for a feed, not good!

Obviously I am no expert and you have to see what happens. 

Good luck and let us know how she gets on.

xxxxx

[Beata]

sadie bea - 18 pounds at 9 months seems fine to me...we had little weight gain between months 6-9 (right over 18 pounds) and then gained a pound in a month. Also, we were feeding at night until then, and once I stopped her daily intake of both BF time and solids really jumped. Any second opinions about that weight for a 9 month old?

[candcmcd]

Hey ladies - I was wondering if I could jump in real quick and ask a question.  I am doing BLW largely due to the fact that DS gets very gassy and has lots of digestive issues.  So we are taking solids VERY slowly.  But I am wondering how much you guys are BF?  We usually do 5 feeds a day and 1 or 2 (usually 2) feeds at night.  Should I be trying to move to just 1 feed at night?  Just about every night is different so it is hard to know what he really needs.
Thanks for your help!!

[Mimi 2]

Hi candcmcd

How old is your lo?  DS was still on 5 bf including an early early morning feed until about 8/9 mos.  I didn't do the df with him.  If every night is different, do you mean the times?  Is he taking a full feed at night? 

[*Liz*]

18lb at 9 mths sounds fine to me too - considering DS is only 18lb at almost 14 mths. He is small but the paed is happy that he is healthy. As long as your lo is happy and developing normally I wouldn't be concerned at all.

[candcmcd]

Thanks for your response!  DS is 7.5 months.  Yes, the times that he wakes up are different all the time.  He will have the same wake up times for 4-6 days and then change completely.  It can vary from 1 to 4. When he only wakes up one time, he has a feast and goes right back to sleep.  So I'm pretty sure he still needs one night feed.  But usually on nights that he wakes multiple times he will not settle until I feed him.  I have tried many times and spent over an hour trying to get him back to sleep without feeding him.  He seems to take a full feed most of the time but I don't believe that he needs to eat 3 times at night!
When you say an early morning feed is that 5 a.m. or something like that?
Thanks again!

[Mimi 2]

An early morning feed for ds was 4-5 am and his last feed was 7/7:30pm.  The df never worked for ds so I didn't even bother with it.  If your lo is getting up 2-3 times a night for a feed, then you might want to visit the NWs board to help with getting rid of them or at least decreased down to one night feed. 

[Otownmama]

We're not seeing a lot of progress with solids still so I'm checking in for some support! LO is eating toast, waffles, and Farley's cereal biscuits - holy carbs batman! - but that's about it. I have offered her a variety of veggies and fruit (carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, apples, banana, broccoli) but she has very little interest in them at all. More recently we have used toast or waffles as dippers with purees just to get some different flavours into the equation, but with limited uptake. I know that it takes some babies longer to take to solids, and LO is pretty touchy, but still, it seems like this is taking a lot longer than I expected!

[Mrs Coops]

Hi Otownmama

Has your book arrived yet? I found that quite useful and reassuring as it basically covers most things. It also says that some babies can take until they are ten months before they actually start 'eating' what you have been offering!

Don't dispair and please don't give up. She will 'get it' eventually. Just keep offering her everything you eat and preferably while you are eating it. That might help encourage her a little more.

My LO is just getting over a tummy upset and for the first time ever refused to eat what we had offered. I found it quite difficult as we are used to her being an absolute pig! So I can understand how frustrating it must feel for you.

Hopefully she will start eating soon.

xxxx

[sadie bea]

thankyou for your help!

[heidiruthie]

hello all! mind if i join in? my lo just turned 6 mos a week ago and he is really not into spoon feeding the way ds1 was. a few ladies on my birthclub chat have mentioned blw, so i read up on it a bit online and it sounds really great!

okay, so my questions are: what do you start with? should i stick with the foods that he's already eaten pureed? (which aren't many, maybe 4 different ones) or can i just sort of branch off without worrying about allergies? there are no food allergies in my immediate family. should i stick with fruits & veggies, or is it okay to do a bit of breads too? what about dairy, like cheese & such? i think i waited till 12mos to give ds1 dairy, but is it okay to give younger lo's that sort of thing? i guess i'm just concerned a bit about allergies popping up. he is exclusively breastfed, doesn't seem to have any digestion issues, isnt' sensitive to what i eat (i know i'm pretty lucky!)...

anyhow i guess i just need a few tips on how to get started! once he wakes up from his nap i'm taking the boys to the grocery store to load up on some fruits & veggies he LOVES it when i put a bit of banana in his mesh feeding bag so he can suck away on it, but won't eat it pureed from a spoon, so i was already thinking blw thoughts in my head before i even read up on it!

thanks in advance for your help

-heidi

[Mimi 2]

Hi Heidi,

You can basically give him anything.  I think starting with fruits and veggies is a great BLW first food.  DS started with cooked broccoli.  I put some on his tray and off he went.  DS was given what the family ate for meals.  I just made sure that it is mushable or soft enough for him to gummed.  We did lots of veggies and chicken & fish in the first few months.  As we didn't have any allergies in the family, I didn't follow any set guidelines.  The only things I waited till he was older were nuts & honey.  Check some of the suggestions on finger food for more ideas.