Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 6!

[Whatbit]

I think I made his veggies too soft the first time around.  DS woudl mash it just by picking it up and then anything above his fist would fall off before even reaching his mouth.  Poor guy seemed confused- 'I have soemthing in my hand but where is it?!'  I made himj a firmer carrot stick last night and it worked a lot better.  SOme even ended up in his mouth!  He didn't really like carrot puree (tried home-made and a jar just to see) but the stick seemed to work ok.  I know I have to offer it at least 15 times to say one way or another so we're only about half way there

[Manueli]

I found that his dis/likes really change from day to day, I guess just like with us. So I just keep offering him the food and he decides wether he wants some or not. If he didn't like one thing for the first time, I keep trying or vary the way I process it. At least now he is eating more veggies again, there was a time where he only wanted carbs like pasta, bread, and I guess potatoes. Silly guy...

[roseola]

Hi Everyone,

We started BLW about 1.5 weeks ago and I have not been worried about choking. But after reading this thread I think maybe I should be more worried

My DS is just 6m and he gets apple, pear and mango slices, whole banana with skin on, breadsticks and he's even tried Jarlsberg and Locatelli cheese and cantelope.

I was thinking of starting grilled chicken strip soon.

Am I being to aggressive?

Thanks!

[Mrs Coops]

Oh god no, that's what BLW is all about! How does he get on with breadsticks? DD didn't 'eat' much meat when she was starting out due to the lack of teeth, but she sucked it! They get a lot of nutrients that way!

As for the choking we only found cooked carrot a problem! It sounds like he's getting on great with it.   

[roseola]

He has done fabulous with all the foods we have tried! We went for his 6 month visit and my Pedi. fine about all foods...as long as I'm okay doingthe Heimlich!

I just don't think there is any evidence that little cut up soft pieces of food are less likely to cause choking than big hard ones.

What did you do when you LO had a hard time with carrots?

[Mrs Coops]

Roseola has he ever choked yet?

Carrots were an issue as she gummed off chunks that were too big that made her gag! We started feeding her initially in our laps so we could deal with her if she did choke. Only once did I feel I needed to help so I started leaning her forward to give her a back slap when she did it herself! DH put her in the high chair when I thought it was still too soon, but it gave us the opportunity to observe her and she coped with the gagging/ choking beautifully on her own! Nature has babies well designed, their gag reflex is much further forward than ours so they seemingly 'choke' on everything they put in their mouths! By allowing them to discover this they learn how far they can put stuff in!  They do make it sound very dramatic though! Puree weaned babies suffer with choking more as they are not allowed to discover this gag reflex until much later, when it has already started to move back!

We also never gave her 'small' pieces of food, it was all stick shaped or large chunks. Soft food like bread got stuck in the roof of her mouth so we always gave it lightly toasted!

Health professionals around the world still seem against this way of weaning. I thankfully had strong support from my HV, it was just friends and family that needed the most persuading and ignoring! They all thought it was too risky. I'm afraid I am now totally smug and anti puree as we had such success with DD and I'm hoping number two will follow in her footsteps!

[roseola]

He has not chocked yet! Yippee! Thanks so much for the encouragement. I am moving full speed ahead...on to chicken!

[Mrs Coops]

Have fun weaning!

All meat is good as long as it's not bleeding As he can't chew you can give long strips, if you cut with the grain he won't be able to get any chunks off but can merrily suck away As he gets more teeth you cut against the grain so he can gum/ bite pieces off! We discovered sausages are best with the skin removed as that is impossible to get through for ages!

[Jiinx]

good luck with your labour Goblin I do so hope you have it on May 4th

[Mrs Coops]

Cheers Jiinx, but why the 04th May? My husband is hoping for that date so he can say 'may the fourth be with you'! Men??

[Jiinx]

lol!!! I used to say that to people just to exacerbate them. it worked though - they remember my bday now!!

[Mrs Coops]

In case I'm rather busy that day happy birthday for Tuesday. x

[inoella]

Hi all! I see a few of my fellow "6 monthers" are here already.

Just wanted to mark my place as we seem to be heading towards BLW by default... DD has lost all interest in any puree. ATM she's teething.. AGAIN... and refusing anything, really... but hoping she'll be interested again soon.  Really helpful stuff here -took me forever to read it all, but good stuff. I just picked up the book at the library today - looking forward to getting to that too.

Happy B-day Sara! 

[Jiinx]

inoella..so nice to see you again. Been missing your posts. And thank you to both of you for the wishes

Inoella..I just recently gave up with purees...1) I'm starting to get lazy; 2) she doesn't care for it anymore and 3) she's doing really well with picking up her stuff and eating it

It's so remarkable watching a baby pick up food and eat it. She goes in such slow motion, almost like a helicopter hovering for landing. I did BLW starting at 6 and half months, and I have to say all that practice has really fine tuned her fine motor skills.

Keep us posted on your progress *hugs*

[Mrs Coops]

Happy birthday Sarah.  It doesn't look like this baby will be born today, not a twinge in sight! Mind you I've just bought a box of 50 raspberry leaf tea bags so hopefully it will tempt fate to get things started!

Welcome Ineolla BLW is the way ahead! If she's teething try some cold tomato cut into strips and de seeded, she might find sucking on the cold flesh nice on her gums! Or strips of cold cucumber.