Baby Lead Weaning Support Thread - Part 7

[Whatbit]

What is cuke?

cucumber   The lazy way to say it.
I use the little Lebanese ones that have a thin skin and just slice them into rounds and then into smaller quarters.  Peeled and cut into sticks is probably best for LO's who haven't been doing BLW for long though.  DS has teeth and knows how to use them (BLWing for almost 5 months now!)

Gogomama, DS still has a hard time with couscous and smaller grains so I usually let the couscous dry out a bit and then mix it with cilantro and cumin and yogurt (for eample) for a thicker consistency that he can pick up with his hands or spoon out of a bowl (we're still working on the spoon skill!)  With rice, I use day old rice and that seems to stick into little balls better for picking up and you can serve it cold if he doesn't like it warm.

Marsha, your little one is growing so fast and it sooo cute !  I like the ticker picture a lot!

[Mrs Coops]

Thanks Whatbit (sorry I don't know your name) he is my little cutie pie, I could gobble him up!

And Jaci I love the comment about my 'little goblins' Don't they grow so fast? DD was two yesterday! We're on holiday now and she eats better than some of the 6 & 7 year olds do. Someone commented that it's disgusting that they charge the same to feed a toddler as the do a 10 year old. I replied 'she could probably eat more than a 10 year old' BLW was SO easy with her!

[~Sarah~]

Is there a spot where there are BLW recipes?  I know that a few have been added to this thread, but I wondered if there were any in a specific spot...

We have done our first 2 days of official BLW, it is going great!!!  By last night DD has worked out how to pick things up off her tray.  She uses both hands to slide it to her chest then she uses her bib to stabilize it then picks it up!  I was watching her thinking OMG she just figured that out all by herself!!  Crazy

So she had some carrots out of our crock-pot meal as well as some potato.  I also gave her nectarine slices and a piece of meat.  She loved it all but wasn't as enthusiastic about the meat...I have to admit though, it was quite dry...I forgot to add water to my crock-pot duh

I also am very glad I borrowed the book from the library.  I think I would have went about it slightly differently and I don't think she would have had as good of results. Haven't finished the book yet, but it is going well, so purees and cereal are completely out in my house!!

Oh one question, today we had a very messy loose stool diaper, which I expected bc of how much fruit she ate...is this ok and if not what should I do to change that?

[Mrs Coops]

so purees and cereal are completely out in my house!!

YAY, real food is the way ahead.

The loose stool isn't normal, it might just be her body's reaction to the new foods. Or like you say too much fruit, maybe just slow down for a day or two and see what happens.

Isn't it great watching them figure it out? Most people tend to interfere and not trust them to do it themselves! I've never got bored of watching DD eating.

I don't know of an area for BLW recipes, maybe you should start the thread!

[~Sarah~]

I think the loose stool is bc something did not agree with her...maybe too much fruit, but also maybe an allergy?  She has a little rash now  
I gave her nectarine slices, bananas, carrots, avacado and potato-which she already had before and had no problem.  I did give her some whole grain toast to chew on so now I am suspecting that is the culprit.  We have a Dr. apt. on Friday...talk about it then I suppose.  Until then, she seems fine just a rash

She still gets very frustrated and gets very vocal, but I think I am still figuring out how big to cut her pieces of food into.  Sometimes I think I get it too big and sometimes too small.  Finding the happy medium is on my agenda

I think I will start that thread right now.  I need to come up with something while DS and I eat breakfast.

[Mrs Coops]

I always found the bigger the better! I remember giving DD a massive chunk of boiled potato, DH looked and said 'you can't give her that' as the greedy so and so rammed the whole thing in her mouth what didn't fit fell out the sides, lol! I think we might have filmed that. She was about 7 months at that point.

She may have had an allergic reaction, don't they say it's the second and third time that the reactions are bigger? The bodies defences work quicker each time they meet the offending article!

Be sure to post your recipe link here so we can take a peak. x

[~Sarah~]

She may have had an allergic reaction, don't they say it's the second and third time that the reactions are bigger? The bodies defences work quicker each time they meet the offending article!

This is what I worried about, now I am not totally sure which the offender was

I did start a thread and then found another but it seems to have gone dead in 2008..maybe we can revive it!

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=178221.new#new

[Mrs Coops]

I've marked my spot!

I guess the only way to find the culprit is by a process of elimination! The rash may be coincidence! Maybe avoid it all for now until you've seen the doctor? I hope he's a doctor that supports blw though, there are a lot of purée fossils out there.

Mind you I can't ever see Heinz or other mush companies supporting it either!!!
 
Right I really should be sleeping now! Night night. x

[EloysH]

Hello lovely ladies 

We are starting slids tomorrow, very excited after a false start a few weeks ago.

I did a combo of spoon and finger food for my DS1, I would feed him for the first few minsutes from a spoon and let him havea  spoon too....  then put finger foods on his tray after 5 mins or so and let him go for it.

This timeround for Ds2, I wanted to do a bit more focus on BLW this time, but he has major food intolerances and only will be eating a few foods for quite a while. His first foods will be rice cereal, choko, potato, swede, pear, chicken breast it will take at least two weks to get to that point. Its important that he has the chicken early on for his protein, as there will be no dairy till he's 1. And alos he will need to protein for his weight gain.
So its inevitable that I will need to do purees/lumpy foods/etc and finger foods combo.

I wanted to ask  your thoughts on one crucial question:  From experience and reading i know that bubs will eat the most of their food in the first 3-10 minutes or so rather like a breastfeed.  So a reason to start with spooned foods then finger foods after would be to ensure that an adequate amount of food gets into them, whilst still providing all the sensory and fine motor skills stuff with finger foods next or at the same time.  HOw does that sit with BLW philosophy?

[~Sarah~]

Hey Eloise-I am by no means an expert bc I have just started doing this with DD, but I did pick up the book from the library and have started reading it.

So basically what you are thinking does not really align with the "true" BLW philosophy.  In short-you are not feeding them at all so the get a chance to experience the food and learn how to judge how much they want/need from the beginning.  This also lets them explore how food works in their mouth to prevent them from choking on bits you give them.  The way the work the food in their mouth is different in purees, they kind of slurp it which sucks it to the back of their mouth.  Then as they eat more solid food, they do the same slurp and then choke and sputter and might put them off to food.

Also, they suggest starting when your baby is NOT hungry bc they are less frustrated bc of hunger and will better be able to explore food at the right pace (I have already learned this)  So basically still having BF or FF as main source of food.  I think they said they will get to the point of really using fodd for food around 8mo (correct me if I am wrong) and they will do this in their own time frame if let to explore.

From my experience, I did not know what to expect.  I had been giving EL some puree and cereal, but I have stopped that completely.  We have been doing it for a week or so now and she went leaps and bounds even the first day.  She is able to pick up all sorts of stuff and she is actually eating WAAAY more than she would have with the purees.  She will eat a whole banana for breakfast, a half a nectarine and 2/3 an avacado for lunch, and just a bunch of carrots or potatoes for dinner (or whatever we set on her tray)  at first she wasn't getting much but in a weeks time she eats and swallows almost all of it!!  It is really amazing what they can do if you let them work through it...just be patient.

I know you have food concerns, but honestly I think you could just go straight to BLW exclusively and get the same results you are looking for.

I have had to work on getting my supply back up bc she is not depending on the rice or purees anymore, but honestly I kind of like it better that way anyhow.  Just me though...(but it also may be due to GS, still not sure why she wants to nurse all the time  )

HTH-hope I explained it clearly enough...someone else can fill in what I did not put in or get right!!

[EloysH]

thanks, you have given me some points to think about.  I do prefer he eat and learn by himself. Tere are so many upsides.  I still do worry about being able to turn everything into a finger food though.

For instance how do I get the meats into him? We are starting him on chicken within two weeks for protein. I am thinking the BLW says if they can't eat it, then they are not ready for it?

[*Ali*]

EloysH could you mince or puree the chicken but then make it into patties/burgers/meatballs that you could cut up and do as finger foods? Or you could puree it and dip sticks of other foods, like the swede, into it to be sucked off. DS loves eating houmous this way. We do bread and pasta with purees on but I don't think you are giving these are you?

[~Sarah~]

EloysH could you mince or puree the chicken but then make it into patties/burgers/meatballs that you could cut up and do as finger foods? Or you could puree it and dip sticks of other foods, like the swede, into it to be sucked off. DS loves eating houmous this way. We do bread and pasta with purees on but I don't think you are giving these are you?

I am pretty sure there is a recipe that would work doing it this way:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=102407.0
 It looks like you might be able to do something like this.  Also, FWIW, I think if you did BLW for 3 meals the next 2 weeks, she could pick ou the chicken and eat it..or like in the BLW book says to give them a chicken leg bone (with meat still on) just remove the grisly parts and splinter bone first and that gives them a handle to hold onto to get the meat in her mouth.  I will be trying this this week so I can let you know how it goes.

I really want to help bc I may be looking to you for ideas in the future.  I know your LO has intolerances and I am beginning to suspect DD is not only MSPI, but also maybe wheat?  So you may have some suggestions for us too

Good luck!

[~Sarah~]

Oh by the way what is swede and choko?  I love trying new things and I haven't heard of either thing

[*Ali*]

Oh yes I meant to ask what choko was.
Swede is a root vegetable a bit like a turnip but round. It is also similar to a potato once peeled and cooked.