Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 8

[~Sarah~]

I didn't just cut it the long way and let her go at it.  She figured it out pretty quickly, but she is a determined little thing and nothing was going to stop her from eating what she wanted!

[*Amy*]

i might but a hole in a chunk for her thumb would that work?

[*Amy*]

Ok so for breakfast - well brunch!! was late today!!
cuecumber - loved it -
chedder cheese - loved it
pear - loves it but can't manage the slippyness - any suggestions?

Also put a bib on her but she was so distracted by it that i just took it off!

[aimeeL]

Jumping in here... DD2 is 6 mos and while I would much prefer her to do purees (DD1 was all about purees and I'm just one that hates change... ), it seems as though she doesn't care what I prefer and would much rather do BLW.  So here I am.   

We started solids a few wks ago - right after she turned 5 mos, but I will readily admit that it's been more half-hearted than anything.  I usually get one meal in per day, although not necessarily the same meal (i.e., not always breakfast or lunch)... and she hasn't really taken to it.  At least not the purees.  We've done pears, avocado, banana, sweet potato, rice cereal and carrots.  At first I thought it was just that she had a strong tongue thrust reflex still, but now I think it's more taste/texture than anything else.. because she sits and chews and swallows toast just fine! 

We had stroganoff tonight - and since she was having none of the pureed carrots I offered her - I gave her a tube of rigatoni, which she enjoyed chewing on... and then I decided to get clever and stuff a tube with the carrots.. and she sucked it all down!  So that's how she finished her carrots..

But anyways - I digress.  Have some questions about BLW - and that is, mainly, do you just become accustomed to the gagging?  She's scared me a couple times with banana and avocado... got chunks that were too big in, and then had to cough them out.. turned red, eyes streaming, that kind of thing.. Is that just par for the course with BLW and they just get better at it??

Also - is there a sticky or thread here about good foods to start doing BLW with?  With purees, you sort of have that stock list of fruits, yellow veggies, green veggies, etc...  Is there a comparable list with BLW?  Things to start that are either easy to chew/swallow, yet easy to hold?

TIA! 

[~Sarah~]

Have some questions about BLW - and that is, mainly, do you just become accustomed to the gagging?  She's scared me a couple times with banana and avocado... got chunks that were too big in, and then had to cough them out.. turned red, eyes streaming, that kind of thing.. Is that just par for the course with BLW and they just get better at it??

Yup..and the more you let them do it..the quicker the gagging tends to stop.  They figure out pretty quickly how much they can get in there before it starts to cause problems.

So far as foods go...pretty much anything goes.  Avocado, banana, pears, roasted apples, roasted/steamed veggies, pasta, chunks of roasted meat.  Crock pot meals with meat.  Meat loaf, any veggie cut into a spear shape.  Pretty much anything that is cut longer than their fist.  In the beginning the bigger the better I found.  Eggy toast, waffles cut into strips.

That should be a good start for you!

[*Amy*]

And Cheese DD loves her cheese! also a yogurt, but I dip the spoon and give it to her to lick - best doing this one before a bath

[Hester]

noah does not like beans. He doesn't seem to be a big veggie lover. He did some protectile vomiting after avocado, now I am not sure if it was the avocado, but am a bit scared to try it again.
Any fruit is a big hit though! I tend to hold off on grains/carbs when they are little, except for oats and barley. I also hold off on any dairy, but that's just me. Too many intolerances around me.
Do you give your kids rice? What about peas? Are they too little? And one more How to prepare squash?

I think I might need to get a steamer, I boil now, but food does lose it's taste.

[Mama Kate]

Hester - I give my LO peas and corn kernels and she picks them up and eats them individually.  It's slow going but I think it's good for her fine motor skills.  I also give her rice in onigiri (Japanese rice balls) - I use sticky rice and wrap in seaweed so she can hold onto it.  I prepare most of my veggies in the rice cooker using the steaming function.

[hjrmom01]

Jumping on as well!  Even though C is almost 7 months, GI wanted us to wait until 8 months before starting any solids because then she'd be 6 months adjusted. She's had so many tummy/gut issues he wanted her to develop more before we made the transition.  But I think she has other plans. Anytime we are holding her and putting anything into our mouths, she reaches for it!  Just to see how she'd do I gave her a thick stick of celery and she really enjoyed sticking it in her mouth and sucking on it.

Aimee, I came searching for a sticky on what to start with, too!! I did BLW with H and I've already forgotten how I did it  I may have the book around somewhere.  I just don't remember what to start with, do I have to do the 3 day rule...I'm guessing yes with C's issues....And with the gagging, you just get used to it. They learn really fast.  I don't tend to overreact to that stuff, though...I'm of the trained mind "if you are coughing you aren't choking. when you stop coughing, you stop moving air...then you are choking."

Hester, I used to give H peas and corn and little things like that to get her fine motor skills/pincher grasp working. 

So what did you all start with?  C is no gluten, dairy, soy, or egg....so.....give her fruits and veggies???!!! I'm worried about all the gas that she may get...she has an awful time with gas.

[~inbalance~]

Erin, the thing about BLW and gas and the 3 day rule and all that is, realistically they don't actually swallow very much at the very beginning.  So I don't think you have to worry too much about gas, especially if you're just doing basic fruit and veg.  Also I find it's hard to do the 3 day rule again because they are not actually eating a lot, often not enough to make any sort of difference.  I don't think the 3 day rule technically exists with BLW!  But I can see how you would want to go slow with C's intolerances and sensitive tummy.

FWIW even with F's tummy we didn't wait 3 days and just kinda started giving him stuff.  I can't remember what we started with though.   

Aimee and Erin, how are K and C already ready for solids???   

There is a BLW recipe sticky, but it's more for recipes and not single foods really.  I'm sure the ladies here can all share what they do. 

[hjrmom01]

  Duh, me! Have I really been out of it this long to not realize she's probably NOT going to get much in her tummy  MIL gave her a plan pretzel twist yesterday and she managed to slobber off some of the coating. Of course, this was all done without my permission  That is NOT one of the foods she is allowed! 

And I know, how are they ready for solids already!  Aimee, where did our babies go 

But, let's roll on the fun messy food times! 

[Mrs Coops]

Hi ladies, been busy lately trying to find ANYTHING that J will eat! I've come to the conclusion that he's having a solids hunger strike so now if he doesn't eat it I give up!

Still got poop issues. He was so badly constipated Saturday morning I had to put him in the bath to stop him screaming! The hot water helped soften things and I had to catch his poop as he finally did it He's been off all dairy for a week now and things have improved, but he's also on Lactulose twice a day! Funnily enough he's gone off prunes now!!! Fingers crossed his poor bum can have a rest now. I've taken it to the health boards now to see if anyone else has some ideas!

Welcome to all the new mums, I'll try and read back a little.

[aimeeL]

"if you are coughing you aren't choking. when you stop coughing, you stop moving air...then you are choking."

Ahhh - I like this rule of thumb.  Will keep that in mind.

So I bought a nice butternut squash last wk to bake and puree... any suggestions as to what I should do with it now??

[~Sarah~]

So I bought a nice butternut squash last wk to bake and puree

Use it on some cooked pasta as a sauce...great way to get veg in while still letting them handle their food

[my3girlsjde]

I lovek putting purees on toast fingers. Less dry and extra 'stuff' for them.