Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 9

[Khalam's Mama]

I agree. What did she eat.

[amayzie]

did these work? hamish eating pumpkin!!

[amayzie]

and mango!!

[snowbird]

Katy, photos are fab

She had 3 Cheerios at breakfast and then at 2.15pmish mashed banana on toast. Nothing that normally bothers her either hence my looking to the day before...

Xxx

[londonlady]

Hi all...

Katy - great photos!!

Well we are starting BLW - but slowly. Sofia's not really interested in food in the mornings at the moment and her A time is still quite short in that period, so I've been doing a bit either at lunch or sometimes at dinner time when I've cooked for DS.

She really doesn't have the coordination necessary yet, and when she does manage to get something in and suck on it, she spits out any lumps that may have gone into her mouth. But she's loving the tastes of the things we've tried so far so I'm taking that as a good sign.

She still has a cold at the moment so I'm not expecting too much. The biggest challenge so far is tuning out the stories of mums on my UK birth club who have been doing purees for months now as it just makes me feel a bit behind that I'm only just introducing food...

Rach. x

[beckygatt]

Rach - before you know it she'll be eating loads! Sounds like she's doing fine

I can't believe how much sophia is starting to eat! Especially in the evenings it seems. Today she had omlette and avocado and she just went on eating! She's managing to handle the food much better too. She doesn't really play with it; just eats it! I haven't noticed much change in her poo though. When weaning DD1 with purees I had noticed a change right away. Sophia's are getting less frequent but same consistency and smell (sorry tmi!!)

[creations]

Katy - hilarious!

Rach - agree with becky, she'll start eating loads before you know it, there's no rush anyway.  As for the traditional weaners, well take a look in 6 months or a year and see where they are up to.  Some of the LOs at groups we go to are 14 or 18 months old, lump refusal, puree addiction, jar addiction, mums who won't let them try to self feed because it's too messy (of course it's still messy they haven't had a chance to learn how to do it!).  The number of stories I've heard about difficulties with traditional weaning I am so glad we went with BLW.

Becky - how I WISH solids reduced the number of poos DS does!  Prior to solids he did one, possibly two per day, now we have 3 or 4 before 9am!!!!!!!!!!!  5 to 7 poos per day is normal for him now.  Sounds like Sophia has take to solids brilliantly, just like DS, he never played with food just ate it.  These days (almost 11 months) once he is full he might play a little, to see what happens if he squishes something but he would never do that before.  Some of them haven't read that 'food before one is just for fun' and want the food in their bellies asap lol

[amayzie]

Rach- Yep- as i think i said before i'm convinved- it took hamish 2 weeks.. i'm not sure if that was because that's how long it takes or if he was just developmentally ready.. now i put stuff down and he grabs it and eats it right up!! yesterday i served him an icecube worth of brown rice- so probably a tablespoon and a half? as well as about a tablespoon or so of avacado and mixed it in (I want him to have rice and it's too tricky at the moment.... so i make it more sticky to handle). He ate pretty much all of it and hardly any went on the floor!! He even had a good go at some kiwifruit after that! Just remain calm and don't worry and before you know it she'll be off (and for your own piece of mind bush up on your first aid for choking... we haven't needed it yet by any means but it's good to keep you happy- anyway traditional weaning doesn't prevent choking in the long run!!)

And Sometimes i think hamish will just keep eating!! Some meals though he's just not interested. Often breakfast- but yesterday it was dinner.

Solids have reduced Hamish's poos- or the frequency... he'll now go a day or so with nothing, but usually makes up for it the next day.

My tip for storing rice in the freezer: press it into an ice cube tray and then add the tiniest little bit of water. This means that it freezes solid and you can then turn it out into a container... you guys may have already worked that one out!

[beckygatt]

Some meals sophia is not that interested either. I guess their apetite fluctuates!

Yesterday we were out shopping and had lunch out. It was pizza so not very nutritious so I thought she would be better off just skipping lunch. Haha! Well she had other ideas! She was on my dad's lap and the moment his food was placed in front of him she lunged at it and grabbed a piece of chicken before he knew what was happening! . The I put her on my lap and she complained very loudly till I gave her some bread and rice cakes to nibble on. I guess there's no more eating without her from now on! I'll have to be better prepared!

[Khalam's Mama]

For sure. I cannot eat without B or he gets really mad.

K is always asking me "Is Baligh allowed X" and gives some of his food. He tried to give him chocolate buttons last week. He also told me he gave him a lick of his boiled sweet lolly one day. I really have to watch that boy when he has food. He is too generous.

DH was moaning about the mess B made with some broccoli today. I told him it was quicker to clean the mess than it was to puree it and sit there feeding him!

[beckygatt]

Yes I have to watch Eleanor too! She loves giving Sophia food. Its very sweet actually . And yes broccoli is VERY messy. It gets everywhere!! . But its healthy and as you say quicker than puree

[londonlady]

Max is dying to feed and share his food with Sofia, I really look forward to the time (very soon hopefully) that he can hand her something and she can take it and hoover it up!

So we've tried a few things this week, it's helping my confidence to hear you all so enthused about it all. I think the key to it will be her co-ordination as she seems willing to try everything and seems to enjoy most tastes so far (tomato pasta was a big hit, funny because it's Max's favourite too!)

So I'm holding you all to your word that she'll take off with it in a matter of weeks...

One question - at this stage do you / are you allowed to spoon feed anything i.e. yoghurt / soup / sauce etc?

[beckygatt]

I believe its ok to load the spoon with food and hand it to her. This can get very messy! Which is why I've only done it a couple of times

[Khalam's Mama]

If you want to give something on a spoon you should allow her to take it and feed herself. Technically you shouldn't spoon anything in to mouth if she is unable to do it.

It is easier to a try to adapt things so you don't need the spoon. Yoghurt can be frozen, soup can be dipped in bread or either can be sipped from a cup which they do surprisingly well. I tend to give a little food pot full as it is easier to drink from a full cup and then just put a finger on it to stop him tipping it up. You could just as easily use a sippy cup. Or just dip the dpoon in a thick version and let him take it.

[londonlady]

Ok thanks. We're nowhere near that stage, she can barely ram a breadstick into her mouth at this stage... it's half funny half frustrating watching her try and do it. We'll lay off the sloppy stuff til much later then!