Baby Led Weaning Support Thread #11

[Fiver]

PS: that link above looks odd, but does lead to the right place!

For some reason we were talking about things you could feed your LO on a BF thread, hence the strange link!  I'm fairly sure Katy (Amayzie) posted the recipe somewhere too, but that was the 'original' (unceremoniously stolen from the BLW cookbook!)

[K-JDA]

Thanks guys - gonna give the fingers a try as he likes porridge so should work well!

[MeAndVee]

DS2 is nearly 9 months. If I give him a common allergy food like whole eggs and he has no reaction to it would that mean it is okay for him to have it again? He had grain free pizza for dinner and the crust is made with eggs. I hope he isn't allergic! I use a lot of eggs in cooking for DS1.

[creations]

I offered eggs in baking and on their own from 6 months.  Unless there is a known allergy (in the family) you don't need to avoid them based on UK guides, however egg guidance is different in different countries, but I would think if your LO already ate egg and didn't react then it's fine.

[*Ali*]

Actually the IgE antibodies are created after the initial exposure to the allergen and the strong allergic reaction may not be evident until the second exposure when the antibodies react with the allergen. As Creations says though unless you have reason to believe he may be allergic then there is no reason to avoid after 6mo.

[creations]

Thank you Ali

[Vio]

Hi!
I would please like to know how to increase the amount of solids my baby boy eats.
This is his eating routine:
(We live in Spain so everything is done later...)
Wake up at 9 (recently at 7...)
9-10am BF and BLW (whenever I say BLW he just eats a few bites, swallowing practically nothing.. Although he is quite curious about tasting many foods.)
11am 30 min nap
Activity
2pm BF and BLW
4pm nap (which I am going to try and start at 2,30-3pm)
5,30/6pm BF
9pm BF
Used to sleep until 6am where he BF, but lately he wakes at 3 or 4 and then at 7, very hungry.
I definitely must give him more solids during the day...
If I wait for an hour after BF to give him solids, it would be time to nap...
What would be the normal quantities of solids and BF he should eat? Please could you give me an example schedule of BF and BLW?
Thank you!!!

[Vio]

Forgot to say my LO is 10 months old!! Turning 11 the 18th August
Thank you!!

[creations]

How old is your LO? At first glance it looks like your routine could be a bit off as there isn't a lot of nap time, but it does depend on age and your LOs needs.
When we first started BLW it seemed like eating was all we did all day as it took up almost all our activity time (he took up to 45 mins on solids) and ran right up to nap but we still managed to wait an hour after milk feeds before offering the solids meal.  There isn't really an amount because it is all "baby led" (like the name suggests) so it is whatever baby wants (within reason, safe food obviously) and some babies take to solids rapidly whilst others have very little interest for a few weeks or months.  Playing with and exploring the food tastes and texture is far more important in the early days rather than eating a lot.  It's important to remember that milk is the primary food until 12 months old and it is milk which will see your LO through the night with fewer night feeds, increasing solids won't give you a longer night.  It's also very normal for a baby of say 6 months to have a night feed (or dream feed) and breast fed babies often have more than one night feed, esp during a growth spurt.
hope this helps some

[creations]

Oh just saw your baby is 10 months. LOs can have quite varied routines at this age depending on their sleep needs.  I would think 2 hrs A time in the morning is rather short really at 10 months many would do 3 or 4hrs or even longer.  Here is an example but for specific help on your EASY maybe post on the EASY board because it looks like you are doing short morning nap and long afternoon nap? (EW could indicate need to tweak routine too if morning WU has changed form 9am to 7am)
E 9
E BLW 10
A 3hr
S 12.00 - 1.30
E 1.30
E BLW 2.30
A 3hr
S 4.30 - 6.00
E 6.00
E BLW 7.00
A 3hr
E 8.45
S BT 9.00

[Vio]

Thanks for the quick reply!
Yes, I am also working on reorganising his sleep and activity times as something is going wrong lately...
I will try to apply your tips.
Thanks very much!!!

[creations]

Could be early stages of the 2-1 (dropping to one nap), your LO will likely need to stay on 2 naps for a good while yet but some show serious dropping signs now and the routine needs to adapt.  We dropped to 1 nap at 11-12 months which is on the early side.  There are some stickies and a support thread on the sleep boards.

[Violet's mom]

Can someone direct me on how to start - what foods, how much, etc?  My LO is not tolerating puréed well and is 7 months old today!  Thanks

[creations]

You might find this site helpful
http://www.babyledweaning.com/

The general idea is that you cook your regular (healthy) meals for the whole family and give baby just the same as you have (there are a few restrictions, low salt, no sugar or honey, no whole nuts).  In reality I changed my cooking quite a lot based on what he would find easier to pick up, what I discovered he liked, and batch cooked healthy snacks and easy to pack foods for going out and about. I ate with him at least twice and usually three times per day whether I felt like it was my regular meal time or not (we had some odd lunch and dinner times because I followed the times he ate well rather than making him wait to eat at my time).  With BLW you do not feed baby however in the early days he had some great frustration of being unable to get food to his mouth fast enough so I helped a few times, I saw this as him leading the way as it was very clear he wanted help. holding a piece of food and letting LO pull it to their mouth is not quite the same as spoon feeding where you put it in their mouth.  As for amount, it is clear when they have finished, the baby leads the way and that's when it is enough.
You can begin by just offering something from your own plate and go from there.

[Violet's mom]

I guess I am just having a hard time with the fear of choking.  My type A self just really needs some ideas - I looked through that website and it is not specific enough for me...