Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 8

[*Kara*]

Hey Creations   Thanks for asking about DD!  She has finally figured out the art of the pincher grasp so things are going much better now!

[pondofstillwater]

Thank you for your suggestions.

I sort of combined 11am and 3pm into 1 bottle and gave it between 12:30 and 1pm and it worked. DD drank at least 7-8oz each of the 3 bottles. and She slept through the last 2 nights. I did offer another half bottle at around 4pm just to see if she is hungry. She took just 3oz.

I read that some baby does drop to 3 bottles earlier. Hopefully DD is one of them.

[*Kara*]

That's great pondofstillwater!  I have a friend whose LO dropped to 3 bottles around 6 months and she still gets 24 ozs a day... with 4 bottles, it was less. 

My LO dropped to 3 bottles but I still give her a little top up before her AM nap to get lunch closer to noon... she wakes at 6am and would never make it from solids at 8am to lunch at noon   It works for her so I offer the 3 ozs to her each day... there is the odd day that she refuses,  but she does generally take it.

[DSAN]

Hey!

So we've been doing BLW for over a month now, since the end of july, but we aren't really making any progress... some days DS won't eat at all, sometimes he'll have a few bites, and rarely he'll eat a ton. Lately food ends up on/in his ears more than his mouth  

Because he doesn't eat much we haven't really moved further than fruits and vegetables, when did you start giving your LO's more of the same foods you are eating? DS is going to be 8 months in 11 days.

[creations]

Hey Kara - good to hear DD is getting to grips (literally) with her food

PondOSW I have milk envy.  DS only took 9oz the whole of today   I've left a message with his paediatrician that we need some help and will hear back in a few days.  I am now starting to suspect that the more dairy I put in his solids the less milk he will take at his bottle feeds, just a hunch.

Hey Heather.  For a couple of weeks I only offered one or two tastes at each meal because a tray full of food seemed to be overwhelming.  But DS took to solids so quickly that I really had to go to 3 meals per day when he was 6 months and after those couple of weeks we got into more and more 'meal' type things pretty quickly.  I still have a tendency to put things out separately on his tray and name each thing as I put it down, so from a stew rather than plonk all the stuff in one mound I put each item down in a line across the tray so he can see what's on offer (maybe I am very weird!).  Also, I think a big thing is to show LO that you are eating the same thing.  At about 5.5 months DS got a suck and lick of melon, same of banana, then he had a gum on garlic bread and then his real eating started: baked apple, baked potato wedges, quarter teaspoon of ice cream, ready brek, melon, lemon and corriander humous, mackerel, baby porridge, avocado, rice cake, pasta in sauce, yellow pepper, carrot, asparagus, pear, beef, yogurt, toast...those were his first tastes.  I always felt like I focused more on fruit and veg (I still do) but looking at my food diary this is the reality of it.  He is now 8 months 2 days and has pasta, stew, curry, all sorts really.  But I cook everything with his needs as priority so it's kind of a compromise between what I'd normally eat and what his baby needs are, for example making curry I know he won't eat much of the chicken in there (almost none if it's in chunks, he'll gum a bit though so shows willing) so I chucked in a can of lentils too which he is more likely to eat so i know he is getting protein and I make sure some veg are available in big chunks for him to grab.
The problem with us though (as mentioned) is that he doesn't take his milk!

[pondofstillwater]

Thank you Kara! Without the threads and discussion on BW, I would not have thought of that! I really love to be here and to be a small part of it.

And creation, I am thinking you might be right about the dairy... I really feel your pain... Let me know how it goes with you ped. The other only possibility is that your DS is advanced in his palate and skills of eating solids and he is actually getting caloeies from every bite he takes. I read online the other day from a mum who had the same problem as you. It turns out, according to her ped. that her lo is all good because he is eating like a 9 month should. I am sure your DS is fine.

[pondofstillwater]

Hi heather,

DD wanted to start solids when she just turned 5 months. I started with different cooked veggie and fruits but very soon I found that with her fast improvement at gripping, I can give her more things with all kind of texture and shapes.

I always offer things that she can definitely manage and then some that she can try. Since 5.5 months, she is pretty much eating the same thing at dinner as we do. Now the same for lunch. She eats breakfast alone so I cook thing just for her specifically. She is already picking up blueberries!

So I would suggest to give pieces of whatever you are eating and have specially cooked just-for--her food ready on the side for few days to see how is she getting on. I am sure if you give opportunity, your lo will surprise you. It is blw so try to give a chance to your lo to lead and have fun watching your lo showing off eating skills.

[bluehour]

DSAN  (Sorry,  I don't know real names like everyone else!),   I think the hardest thing with BLW is waiting for the baby to really start eating.  I found it VERY frustrating when he was just not really eating the food.   Then one day - BAM- he started eating.   And teething definetly put him off.   

In my opinion,  if you're worried or if it seems like a good idea to you,   try some spoon feeding.  We're doing both because DS will have to go to day care soon and they'll spoon feed him.   There is no harm in mixing,  if that works for you.   Strict BLW people say not to,  but I think a different approach works for each baby.   

Also, as I'm sure you're doing,  keep offering different things, and things over and over again.  My DS will turn his nose up at something one day and eat it the next. 

[DSAN]

Thanks everyone!! I took your advice and started making sure I eat what he is eating and he was pretty thrilled to have me 'show' him and then copy me. Still not eating a huge amount but I think that's just his nature! I also introduced a few things recently, like eggs... I worried about it being to soon but he seems ok with it! He got to have pancakes with us today which was a hit

Bluehour, my name is in my siggy so that's how PP knew it don't feel left out! And I did try and spoon feed him a bit but he will rarely take food that way... I guess mamas milk is just to good to eat real food, lol.

[bug_blues70]

I'm assuming that it's normal (not sure how it wouldn't be) but wanted to get some input - is it normal for most of the food to come out whole? Most of what DS eats (which isn't much) comes out pretty much the same shape it goes in (i give him small pieces)

[creations]

bug blues - I'm sure it is normal as I've read so many posts about people seeing the meal in the nappy!
I think all (most) kids have a tendency to swallow things whole if at all possible and only chew what they really have to and I think it goes for trad weaning or BLW.  It's a cliche to hear a mother saying 'you've got to chew your food!' but my mum keeps saying it to DS and I keep telling her off as I think he should be allowed to just get on with it, he eats great.

Heather I'm sure you will get more and more success with a little time, there's no hurry.  I do always make a point of eating the same and I know DS checks out every morsel I put in my mouth and compares it with what's on his tray.  I always start out the meal showing him we have the same.  He usually tries everything but once or twice with a new food he has looked at it not recognised it and gone for something on his tray that he knows.  Then when he sees me eating my 'new food' that's when he tries some.

DS started eating off his spoon again this evening which has made me happy.  He seemed to forget for a while that it was a tool as well as a play thing to bang with and wave around.

And update on the low milk intake.  The paed has come back saying there is no problem whatsoever with the amount he is taking (about 9oz or 10oz per day now).  His weight is fine he gets vitamin drops and he eats bucket loads of solids so I'm going to stop stressing over it.

Incidentally for you breastfeeding mummies - have you been told to give vit drops to your LO?  My health visitor said yesterday all bf mums should be giving vit drops from the 6 month mark, I didn't know that.

[*Kara*]

In Canada, you have to give Vit D drops to BF babies from birth

[Khalam's Mama]

It is very common in my experience for food to come out whole. Everything i read says bf babies need vitamins at 6mo but my gp and hv said not to worry. Not sure i trust them to be up to date though. B seems really ready to eat but i am waiting until 6mo. Anyone else start under 6mo? Did you find they ate much? What age did they get good enough with a spoon?

[pondofstillwater]

Khalam's Mama,

I don't have lots experience as I only have one baby and she is 6.5month at the moment. But She wanted to try food at 4.5month. I started at 5month. I personally don't believe the 6month rule. It is Baby Led. So if you think your baby is ready you should start. But just be a bit cautious when starting out.

DD was eating pretty much the same thing we eat at 5.5 month. She just had her first taste of curry last night. And though it is too early she has decided to drop to 3 bottle.

Every baby is different. Only your LO and you can decide how to do BLW.

Good luck though, it is such a fun and learning experience for us. We all enjoy our meal time everyday.

[creations]

Khalam's Mama, I was determined to wait the full 6 months.  DS was showing lots of interest in my food and watching me eat, and trying to get bits from about 3 months.  By around 4.5 or 5 months he was getting upset if I ate in front of him because I wouldn't let him have any and I almost stopped eating!  I was grabbing a bite of something (usually sugar packed and totally unhealthy just for the energy boost) a couple of times per day and trying to get a proper meal after he went to bed at night but it was very hard.  On two occasions I thought I could have a quick meal because I had only just given him his bottle (which he never drained so had eaten to his fill), big mistake, he wanted the food and got SO upset.  I offered him his milk again and he went into a rage. I felt I had to give him something so held a piece of melon for him to suck on.  I still wanted to wait though as he couldn't sit on his own or grab the food so from then on I didn't eat in front of him at all (I was starving!).  Then at about 5.5 months his cranial osteopath told me off for letting him pull to standing holding my hands and told me I mustn't let him, he must crawl.  So I stopped offering my hands and 2 days later he was sitting totally unaided.

Next an unexpected delay at the hospital when he saw his ped meant he was fed (milk) but his nana and I were ravenous, we decided to go for a pub lunch and I couldn't bare the idea of DS screaming in the pub so I let him hold a piece of raw cabbage from the salad.  Not happy with that he ended up having a bit of garlic bread - and I had SUCH big plans for a totally healthy diet and a big introduction to solids on his 6 month birthday! A few days later I was to meet up with nana and her twin for lunch, and rather than be caught out and end up giving him something terribly unhealthy and salt filled I thought I better take some food along.  Baked potato wedges and apple wedges.  he didn't just play with them and taste them, he ATE them, finished them all, and looked for more.  Auntie was having ice-cream, DS's eyes were popping out at the sight of it, and I was suddenly under huge pressure to let him have some (what about the healthy diet?) including a full table of old ladies near us who had watched with delight when he'd been eating his wedges.  I ended up saying that if it was given to him on a spoon and if he could feed himself then he could have some (about quarter teaspoon full).  Auntie loaded the spoon and offered him the handle, he took it and in one very well aimed swift motion deposited the ice-cream bang on target first attempt.  (Huge applause from the old ladies)  So that was it and I hadn't even got to offer his first foods myself!

Naively I still thought I could hold him off another couple of weeks.  No chance.  After that he spent all day every day asking for food, smacking his lips the way he had done as a tiny baby looking for milk.  I even offered milk several times outside of his EASY times but he got quite annoyed and continue to ask for food.  I had to go to 3 meals per day from then on there was just no turning back.  Disregarding his first ice-cream spoon, he was offered cereal on loaded spoons from our 'day one' breakfast and he ate a lot.  Yes he got some on his face and bib and he dropped about 6 spoons to the floor as he seemed to think once they were empty best thing is to just dispose of them.  I had to take a dozen teaspoons to the table each breakfast time for this reason but the food was for sure going in.  The other thing was day one porridge spoon was a baby spoon, plastic and curvy.  I loaded it, handed it to him and he again went into a rage that I had cereal and had tried to fob him off with some stupid plastic toy.  he did not recognize it as a spoon.  he really cried at me.  I ran off got tea-spoons came back, loaded one and he took it and ate.  He really knew what it was and how to use it even though he had not seen me eat in about a month or more.  I was astounded by all of this.  And also overwhelmed at the amount of meal prep I suddenly had to do.

He is now 8 months, eats mainly with his fingers, uses a fork better than he uses a spoon, and eats the fridge bare.  I no longer need to have more than one spoon to hand as he has learned I need it back to re-load.

So, yes we started under 6 months and he could use a spoon immediately.
Feeding him is hard work because I cook and bake so much but it is truely so enjoyable.
I hope he doesn't have delayed development in some other areas due to focusing so much on learning to self-feed!