Baby Lead Weaning Support Thread - Part 7

[~inbalance~]

I have tried pear and banana, neither of which he had any interest in or could really hold. 

I ordered the book today so hopefully it will come soon.   

[bug_blues70]

Kim if the food isn't long enough for it to stick out of their hand they won't be able to eat it. It takes ages for them to grasp opening their hands & eating it without dropping! Or in most cases it takes a while to figure out this toy actually tastes different from plastic & takes that feeling away from his tummy!

I was watching S eat her cereal this morning, she happily spooned the milk out of the bowl that she had tipped up to get at it! Apparently her use of cutlery is well in advance of others Grin

Wow, that's impressive about the cutlery!! But I must say that I disagree about having to have long enough spears of food... it must depend on the baby b/c while Ellen has almost no concept of silverware, she can get tiny bits of food into her mouth really good. I mean, sometimes she misses, but usually not. Lol, today, she went to pick up a piece of toast, TOTALLY missed getting it in her hand - she didn't even put her hand where the toast was - and still put her hand to her mouth and opened it as if to eat the phantom piece of toast!!

[~inbalance~]

T could pick up and eat tiny pieces of food by 7mos.  And he also mastered cutlery early and is amazing with both a fork and a spoon.  I think different babies just have different motor skills.  Some excel at gross and some at fine. 

Tried the pear again today and wouldn't you know it he picked it up and munched on it for a bit.  So he's getting there. 

[bug_blues70]

so are you all talking about raw pears and apples?? Also, at what age did you start letting them use cutlery? Ellen is the type who will do something (as in her sippy cup) as long as you are not touching it. The moment I touch it to help her, she will pull both hands off and expect me to do it completely for her. With cutlery, she just wants to play with it so the food falls off... she's not even attempting to get it to her mouth. Should I let her play with it anyway and just let her learn its use by watching us or is there a better way to do it or should I just wait til she's interested in using it for what it's for? I haven't really given her much opportunity to try yet, b/c she just thinks it's a toy, not a utensil, kwim?

[~inbalance~]

Should I let her play with it anyway and just let her learn its use by watching us

Exactly this.  Give her the cutlery, who cares what she does with it.  It might take her 2yrs from now to learn how to use it, and that's ok.  It's a good way to encourage independence and help them gain confidence.  One day she will think "oh, mommy trusts me enough to let me do this on my own!"  I never once tried to teach T how to use his cutlery, he learned soley by imitation.  But I always gave him some with every meal, even from a young age.  Children learn through exploration, sometimes you have to let go and trust that they will try and eventually get it.  I have often read that when it comes to a new toy, instead of taking it out and showing them how to use it, just give it to them and let them figure it out.  I figure the same goes for things like cutlery and sippy cups. 

I give F raw pear so long as it's really ripe and soft.  With T and apples I steamed them first as I always found them to be too crunchy.  Then when he was a little older I would give him the whole apple and let him nibble at it.

[bug_blues70]

hm, yes, I suppose you're right. I will start giving her a fork or spoon with her meals. And what about cups? i mean, she can drink out of a cup if I hold it for her, but she won't touch it if I'm touching it, and if I don't help her, it just goes everywhere... I've only let her try by herself once (outside ) and it just ended up in her lap...

[Mrs Coops]

Megan S mastered the pincer grip at 31 weeks, most BLW babies develop that quicker. Having longer pieces of food is needed for Kim's baby (and mine when he starts) who are not quite 6 months yet!
 We started her with a Doidy cup at 6 months and had a firm grip on it until only recently. The little monkey is very spirited and it would go flying if we let go! But as we all know babies develop differently, at a restaurant recently there was a 15 month old confidently holding & drinking from a glass tumbler! I would NEVER have trusted S at that age, it would have been bitten or thrown!
 

[Kimberlina]

morning mummies!!!

Last night, the spears of squash were about the length and width of my finger when I cut them...but shrunk a bit when cooked! oops!! They were big enough for him to get a grip of, just didn't really try to put it in his mouth.  So I went with the carrot/parsnip puree as well...

Breakthrough this morning!! I made him some lightly toasted wholemeal...erm, toast... with just a bit of homemade jam (I know probably a bit naughty, as i don't know the sugar content, but am housesitting for MIL and don't have a lot of options!). AND HE LOVED IT!! Well, in that he picked it up with his hands and gnawed on it a bit!!

I feel a bit uneasy because I don't have really any dos or don'ts yet - but will hopefully have`the book soon!!

If you have any dos/don'ts, I would be appreciative!! xx

[*Ali*]

Cadan has been able to do the spouted free flow sippy himself for a couple months now but does tip it up to much unless I only put a cm in the bottom. He just tips the Doidy everywhere although can drink well from it whilst holding the handles if I steady it for him. My 16mo nephew can drink from a a normal glass and use a spoon and fork. I think he just got to an age recently where he has the control and understanding to copy what we do. I can't say there isn't some mess of course!
Cadan got a good pincer grip around 8mo and can pick up things like cheerios and blueberries with ease now. He can also pick up the tiniest piece of invisible fluff of the floor to eat! I think things like this happen quite suddenly and he's always surprising me. 

[Kimberlina]

Hey girls!! We all ate breakfast together today, and it was brilliant!!! DH and I had normal french toast, and Jack had his own kind of egg-free french toast that I found on a BLW website:

1 banana
3oz milk (breast, formula, or cow's - which is ok, because it's used for cooking apparently. We used formula)
Dash of vanilla
Dash of cinnamon

Puree all of the above, dip bread in. Cook in frying pan. Cut into "soldiers"! He LOVED it! And it was nice, because that's pretty much what we were eating too!

[Mrs Coops]

Mmm, sounds YUMMY! Might have to try it myself

[sianie]

We did a family 'roast dinner' tonight & we all ate together (which is rare as during the week DH gets back too late from work to eat with us), E wasn't sure to start with but he seemed to like the roast veg & yorkshire pudding!

This might be a silly Q but if your LO's don't eat anything at lunch, dinner etc then what do you do, offer an alternative or just leave it?

[Mrs Coops]

You can offer an alternative, whether he eats is another matter. Was he perfectly happy, just not eating? If so he could be going through a famine stage, don't worry he'll probably want to eat everything in a day or two!
 

[*Ali*]

I always offer an alternative if Cadan rejects something. We normally have several foods making up a meal so he'll usually eat something. Not always a whole meal though. I think he makes up for it with his BFs later if he doesn't eat enough.

[~Sarah~]

Now that all the good summer fruit is gone, what are you guys feeding for fruits?  Someone told me that bananas are hard on reflux tummys...anyone have any ideas about this or any ideas of other foods to avoid or for sure give? 

I also am experiencing hard poo due to her PPI and I am not sure what to give her to loosen up her stool?  Ideas for that would be appreciated as well