Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 8

[Hester]

Quick question, when you give carrots, do you steam or boil a whole carrot and then just give it to munch on? Or do you cut it in some way. i ordered the book, but it's not here yet...

[zoeselina]

I don't have the book, so I don't know what that says. But I just cut the carrot into sticks and boil them until they're soft but not mushy.

[Mrs Coops]

Hester I usually chop them into little batons before boiling or roasting them. I always make sure they are still quite firm though.

[Hester]

so why are you both making sure they are still quite firm?

BTW, Noah hated the carrots shivers all over...

[Kimberlina]

I'm thinking of doing baby sign too! Check here: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=165991.210

[Mrs Coops]

I guess if they're too soft then they may have been over cooked and difficult to handle. I actually avoided cooked carrots for a while as it's the one food S choked on!

Kim I love your new avatar picture.

[Kimberlina]

Sorry, completely forgot about the carrot question!

I prefer to steam my veggies, I rarely boil. For me, I think steaming loses less nutrients... so I cut into batons and steam until "al dente".

And same as Marsha with keeping them firmish, if they're too soft, I find J will accidentally bite off mre than he can chew (literally!) and end up choking a bit. He did this with a soft apple just yesterday, it was softer than he expected and really had a hard time with it!


And thanks, Marsha! It was actually you that inspired me to do a back carry! I'm having a h3ll of a time doing it, though!

[jakobsmommy]

havent got much time to read all and post a lot but im a big supporter of BLW my 1yo eats anything except tomatoes, which he used to love. is also struggling with lactose but there are some good products out there if you can source them

i find its caused him to become much more dextrous at an early age, he could pick up peas and raisins at 7m and feed himself with a loaded spoon.

hes just mastering dipping a spoon into yogurt and getting it to his mouth with some still on..up until about 10m he used a small rice cake. he still drops most things off the spoon, so when hes had enough just uses fingers for whatever hes eating

he never choked, gagged a bit...apple was there usual prob in the early days

he can take his milk in a doidy cup if less than half full without majot disaster!!!

i think its a great way to wean x

[zoeselina]

Regarding the carrot thing; I cook them so that they're soft enough for her to mush up in her mouth, but firm enough that they don't squish and fall apart in her hand.

[Hester]

Well so far Noah spits most out . But he does enjoy the fact that he CAN eat...
Banana is a bit too slippery, but he likes it when I mush it a bit and he can lick it...
Most pieces come straight out, which is quite funny, but he finds it also frustrating, since he is hungry and acts starved, so he gets upset.

Anyhow, it's still fun, tomorrow we'll try sweet potato

[Kimberlina]

Well so far Noah spits most out

SO SO normal! It's literally only in the last month or so that I noticed the food DISAPPEARING rather than being "rearranged"! Only this morning I noticed that all of the food was...GONE, not just down the side of the highchair/on the floor/in his bucket bib!

[Hester]

Ok, so what do you do if he seems hungry, but gets super frustrated that he can't get his food in his mouth. He gets very angry and impatient when feeding himself, so I gave him some oat cereal in the morning and some mashed apple i the afternoon and he was very happy, but this is not BLW.
I do put the cereal on the spoon and give the spoon to him and he sucks it off. After that he gets something to chew on, but then he's not so super frustrated.

And another question, I got squash and sweet potato for him, but how do I make those? NEVER had them myself .

[*Amy*]

Hester what age was Noah when you gave him some finger food - Cassie is SO SO ready but I am holding off in case she chokes......but not sure how much more she will develop in the next two weeks??

[*Amy*]

just wondering how long you steam the veg for? going to offer some carrots today and see how she goes

[zoeselina]

Depending on the vegetable, I usually go between 7-10 minutes, but I think I do them a bit softer than some of the other ladies here. I guess it also depends on how big you make the pieces. I usually just stick a fork in one, or eat one myself to check the texture.