Baby Led Weaning Support Thread - Part 9

[amayzie]

Well we just had possibly the MESSIEST breakfast- and all i could think of while he was eating was you Beckygatt and your DH!! We had Yoghurt- the pot set, no added sugar type.. of course served directly onto the tray... He LOVED it!! But let me tell you- it may look firm in the pot but once its been smooshed around the tray a few times it's not so firm... He LOVED it!! Which surpised me as it's fairly tart really... Some peaches and strawberries in it for good measure- fun for the whole family!! I figured it was ok to introduce it as the momtastic website says you don't need to wait till 12 months...

The other thing Rach to keep in mind about the variety of foods is that there's no pressure to have her eating everything. If you were following traditional weaning by the book you'd be doing the 4 day wait rule, so if you'd been at it for 2 weeks you'd only have introduced 3 foods, and they'd probably be rice cereal (bleaugh!), some stewed apple, and maybe some pear or sweet potato... So- no rush...

And also- you probably don't have to take as messy an approach as i've taken.. I'm pretty messy myself (this morning hamish dropped NOTHING on the floor- mummy dropped a piece of strawberry through my hair onto the floor, and a spoon covered in yoghurt!!) and working in disability and paediatrics for 10 years has kinda taken the edge off messy eating for me!!

[dburseth]

Haha Katy, lovely

We had a very messy lunch of mashed poatoes and gravy served on his tray and it was everywhere, but miraculously none on the floor!

Rach, re: vomitting. We tried bread with the same result. I'm just going to avoid it for awhile.

[beckygatt]

LOL Katy! I was cringing as I read your post!

[amayzie]

We had a chuck with egg tonight... doesn't seem to worry him though- he just jumped right back in!! I find that he's getting really good at not getting anything on the floo- unless he's not interested- then we get EVERYTHING on the floor!!

[snowbird]

We're blw but LJ's got a cold and has gone off her food a bit. Could be that!

Finger foods can be anything - brocolli, carrots, cucumber (good to suck on ESP when teething), toast cut into fingers with toppings ( like mashed banana, soft cheese, cheese), rice cakes, potatoes including sweet (parboil and roast a bit do they don't fall apart)...anything they can pick up. I even give LJ mashed potato in clumps now we've been doing it a while.

Once they've had practice you can go for more difficult foods to pick up like the mashed potato or weetabix (drop teaspoons of milk on it 1 by 1 to soak it just enough for it to be picked up), chicken strips ( when you are ready to introduce this). The list is endless

Xxx

[squeakersmum]

It seems that my baby girl very much has a mind of her own when it comes to food. It looked like she wasn't going to go for blw at all so we tried purée - fine. But she will only eat yoghurt or fruit purée from a spoon.

So we're back to blw. She WANTS to try things on her own - although very little actually goes in. She's getting there with her pincer grip; but while she can find and get into her mouth a tiny piece of plastic she can't get 1/4 of a blueberry there!??!!?!

So I guess my question would be; When do you 'worry' about how much and the variety of things they actually eat? Or even how much actually gets to their mouth?

[snowbird]

I would say just offer her lots of different foods. She will get there in her own time. I wouldn't worry for a few months yet xx

[amayzie]

you don't really start replacing breastfeeds with solids till at least 9 months.. so therefore the milk is still the most important... and i'd say by 9 months she'l be right.

Today we discovered watermelon!! Soo exciting- looks like summer! And had my first solid food chuck on me... i was unimpressed...

Anyone have suggestions on how to offer mushrooms? I really don't like them yet as a whole finger food as they don't really break down and are kind of airway shaped...

[beckygatt]

Maybe cut them up and add them to rice or an omlette?

[dburseth]

Ya, I would say cooked and sliced or cut up.

Summer, Amayzie!? Its so nice to have some Australians on here :')
Watermelon sounds fun and yummy. I thin I'll get some melon for C to try!

No gas with the apples yesterday. Good, because he like them.

squeakersmom, our Doc told us at 6mos check up not to worry how much they eat for the first year really. 

On the side...At his 4 month check she asked what I was feeding him and I said breast milk, and she said good, that was a trick question, and laughed! Docs have a real twisted sense of humour!

[amayzie]

Sounds like you have a good doctor!!

My tip on the watermelon- cut the pointy top of the triangle of watermelon as that can break straight off into their mouths... you may not be concerned about that... but i was....

[snowbird]

LJ had roast beef and butternut squash for the first time today . A bit nervous about the beef!!! Then she gagged on it!! Deep breaths!! More comfortable as my hubby was right there to...

Xx

[beckygatt]

Well done LJ! Sophia loved beef! I had made a stew so it was really tender.

[amayzie]

we had a bit of a scare this morning (more hamish than mummy..) he had some watermelon- a big chunk- and it was in the middle of his mouth and he didn't know what to do with it!! he burst into tears and then tried to bite my finger wile i fished it out!! It was ok though.. we just had some yoghurt with mummy and it was all ok!!

I started Hamish on a cup with a straw today (is this a BLW thing? It thought it was under 'independant eating'). I have been having him drink out of an open cup but today decided to try with a straw as it isn't overly practical to have him use an open cup EVERYWHERE! I had tried him with the spout cup but he didn't know what to do and thought it was a bottle teat. I figured- that rather than teach him to use a spout cup- only to have to teach him to use a straw later, i'd go straight to the straw! He thought it was fun- even if he did get only a very tiny amount!! Any other people have experience with this?

[beckygatt]

Poor Hamish, hope he's recovered! I got a tommy tipee cup yesterday. Its a new type with a very soft spout, but also leak proof. Don't see any reason why you shouldn't use a straw though...