Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 6!

[First Time Mom]

Hi Sophie and welcome to the BLW board! While she does seem eager to start I would perhaps check with your ped/doctor about starting her before 6 months as there are new recommendations out there that point to 6 months being the "ready" age to start. If you do start early just be sure that your dd is sitting up well on her own as that's an important requirement for BLW so that they don't choke. As PP said I would not worry about set meals as milk is the most important part of their diet for nutrition until 12 months. I did start my ds with breakfast but really, he doesn't know the difference between a "breakfast" food and a "lunch" food so you can mix it up. When giving food off your plate just be sure that there is no extra salt used in the preparation of it (or table salt added) as their kidneys can't handle salt at this age (with the exception of naturally occuring salt found in foods). Have fun and take lots of pictures!!

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Hi all....

Dropping by to say hello and to get us out of our finger food rut!  DS decided last week that it's no more spoons at mealtimes for us!  (Except for yogurt, though, which he eats by the cup, I swear!)  When we were doing purees he was eating lots of fruit and veg and I was doing some BLW too, with big chunks he was sucking on and he loved it.  But now with this no spoon thing has also come no fruit or veg!  He'll eat bread, waffles, cheese, and peas but everything else ends up on the floor!

Ideas for how to get this kid to think outside the box a little?   

[First Time Mom]

No, but I want to pinch his little cheeks in your new picture of him! He's so adorable!!

Is he tasting/trying the veggies and fruits that you offer in ffs? Are there ones that you have not tried yet that might make him curious enough to try?

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

No, but I want to pinch his little cheeks in your new picture of him! He's so adorable!!

Is he tasting/trying the veggies and fruits that you offer in ffs? Are there ones that you have not tried yet that might make him curious enough to try?

Haha!  Thanks.  He's such a ham.  Right now he's taking everything out of the paper recycling bag and giggling his head off.  Too funny!

So he'll taste the fruits and veg and then spit them right back out!  And usually I actually hold them up for him and he eats them from my hand and then spits them out.  He won't pick up anything that's not bread or cheese to eat himself!

[First Time Mom]

Have you tried dips for him to dip the bread in? You can take one of your pureed cubes and have him use it as a dip. Have you tired other foods like pasta with sauce? Or, other pasta or potato dishes that have veggies mixed in, you can mash it up with a fork and see if he'll use his hand to scoop it into his mouth. I take it you've tried different spoons to rule out if it's a spoon bothering gums and teething?

[lilly_kitt]

Hi

i would love to try BLW with Tyler as he has such an interest in our food i think he would love it.  I have no real clue on how to start so this lunchtime i just placed a slice of melon and a banana in front of him to see how he got on.  He sucked the melon as i think it was nice and cool on his gums and then sucked abit of the banana.  Do i just try the same thing again tomorrow ?  I'm treating it more of an activity than meal time so he plays with the food a little.

Please help as i was and still am a picky eater and i dont want Tyler to be like this.

Thanks

Sarah

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Those are good ideas!  I hadn't tried dipping for the bread.  I will try that.  I was thinking of spreading some mashed avocado on it, too, to see if he'll eat that.  Actually, thinking of it DH did dip his waffle in pureed prunes the other day () and he ate that!  So I'll definitely give that a go with some other dips.  I just tried mini ravioli the other day and he did take that.  I guess I should try some different sauces on it?  (I just put margarine on it to see what he thought of it.)  Should I try putting a bowl in front of him with a chunky mash in it?  I wonder what he would do with that?  He loves his pincer grasp but maybe he'd do a shovel maneuver!

I don't think it's the spoons since he's still taking his yogurt (my, the day he won't eat that I don't know what I will say!)....

[First Time Mom]

I'd try a bowl with a chunky mash in it, and have your camera ready , it could be a mess or he could do a shovel maneuver. Have you tried a baby fork? I recall when my dd was a baby and we switched to chunky food I used a baby fork. Hopefully the dips will work, let us know. Even still, I would continue to offer the solid pieces of fruits and veggies as you don't want him totally turned off of them, but only a few pieces to have on his tray (no sense in wasting lots and having extra to clean up).

Sarah, that's exactly how it's done, you put some on their tray and let them play with it, taste it, gum it. My ds is 8 months and I do pureed foods but I always offer him finger food. He usually mashes it about, very little ends in his mouth. They say to offer one new food every 3 days just to make sure there is no reaction to the food. My dd had allergies so I tend to follow this with ds but I know many who don't. I'm not sure how to prevent a lo from being picky, but I would think that by making meal times fun (especially when they are older children) and offering loads of variety, it must help.

[Mrs Coops]

Sarah, I'm a VERY fussy eater and was worried about weaning. Then I discovered BLW, we started giving DD stick shaped food, just held it in our hands in front of her so she could pick it up. We never did the one new food every few days we just went for it.
 Shes 20 months now and eats everything except egg! Haven't figured out what she doesn't like about egg but we do keep offering it! I cringe a little as she tucks into food that repulses me but I'm so glad she's not fussy! 

[Jiinx]

completely not BLW..but I had to mention:

oh goodness Kate..your boy is going to be melting those ladies hearts one day!! well he's
already melting mine SOOO handsome!! love the new pic.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

completely not BLW..but I had to mention:

oh goodness Kate..your boy is going to be melting those ladies hearts one day!! well he's
already melting mine SOOO handsome!! love the new pic.

  Thanks.  He is a total flirt, also.  My DH's grandpa says Austin is a great kid because he already loves food, music, and women.  Haha!

[roseola]

Marsha - how are you feeling? Any news?

[Mrs Coops]

Not a thing I feel fine thanks but the little swine isn't coming out!!!

[Lola's Mum]

Thanks for the advice last week. I wrote a reply and don't know what happened to it. Maybe I thought I pressed 'Post' but didn't but it's definitely not here.

First Time Mom, I didn't bother trying to get a doctor's appointment as I think by the time I'd get a non-emergency appointment, DD would be past 6 months. I've just been going slowly on the weaning.

In the post that I thought I'd sent, I asked when LOs actually start to swallow food. I know that the first months are really focused on exploring and experimenting. However, I think I got an answer to the question in DD's nappy. Pretty sure I saw a piece of sweet potato. So, are they swallowing small amounts at this stage?

I've been really careful on the salt front and most of what I've given has been veg or fruit but I am a bit confused about things like breadsticks and rice cakes. I looked on the packet and they have a small amount of salt. Is this okay as only a small amount would be consumed. The rice cake I have in the cupboard has 0.02 gms of salt per rice cake. DD has chomped on one but hasn't eaten much of it.

The monkey's favourite at the moment seems to be strawberries and avocado. Gave her broccoli but don't know if it was too hard. Didn't want it to be too soft so it broke up but think it could have done with an extra few minutes of steaming. She seems to be really loving having a good suck/gum of different things and hasn't shown any dislike of any flavours. It's a little silly but my OH has 2 boys from his previous relationship. They're 10 and 8 and barely eat anything. I've never met fussier eaters. I'm hoping that by the time DD is a year old, she'll eat more adventurously than them and hope it might encourage them to try more.

Oh, yeah, houmous, do you buy it or make your own? And how long should I wait to introduce meat?

Thanks... Sophie

[Mrs Coops]

Sophie you can start on the meat now as she'll only suck on it at this stage so will get protein that way. Salt in rice cakes and bread is pretty negligible especially the amount she is likely to eat, it's just a balancing act! I gave DD a whole crumpet (which she loved) before I realised it had over one gram of salt in, I was shocked!
 As for broccoli I boil it to the point where you can just about pull the little florets off. It's just soft enough to be gummed without crumbling at the first grab!
 My LO swallowed the first thing she tried and a little bit of everything there after! Every LO is different, if she can swallow she will!
 We give shop bought houmous, but that's entirely up to you!

As for fussy eating I am pretty bad. My LO eats everything except egg! BLW has been a winner, I hope number two takes to it as well! Mind you, he/ she has to be born first!!!!!!!!!!!!