Baby Led Weaning Support Thread #11

[eva026]

Angela, have you tried making mini pancakes and omelettes? You can put all kinds of stuff in to make them sweet or savoy and they are easy to hold too. 
Our whole family enjoys them. If you are not giving egg yet I found a great recipe for eggless pancakes I can send you if you'd like. Although they don't taste as good if you have them the next day.
I was actually considering giving all DD's food in pancake/omelette form because they were all she'd eat for a while, lol
Another thing that worked well for us when we started doing meat is mini burgers. Also easy to hold and easier the chew than pieces of meat.

[British Coaster]

Thanks for the suggestion - I thought pancakes and omelettes would be popular with him too, but unfortunately he doesn't agree! I tried all in one omelette again today with some squished up peas and sweetcorn mixed in but no go.

Thinking more generally he seems to be less willing to try what I offer, and also less content in his high chair.  He's on EASY, and he has milk as soon as he gets up, then 30mins-1hour later I offer solids.  If he's not eaten much I tend to do 10 mins A time then offer a bit more milk - which he usually takes. His going off savoury solids matches up with dropping BF and moving to formula - wonder if that might have anything to do with it?

Am wondering whether to offer solids after he wakes rather than milk so he's a bit hungrier, or possibly halving the amount of milk he has at wake up in case that's it...
 

[Fiver]

Milk is still the principle source of nutrition until 12m. Just keep offering and one day he msy just surprise you.

As sor the slippery stuff, you can try leaving skin on fruit, cutting bananas length ways rather than across or again still in the skin and also dipping slippery things in crushed cereal. It might just make it a less slimy texture so he might be more happy to handle it

[British Coaster]

thanks everyone.

Had a slightly better day today, will just try and go with the flow a bit more. 

[Carren_m]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this thread and was hoping you lovely people could help me out with some BLW questions I have.

My LO is nearly 7 months and so far he has been on purées plus basic finger foods - he eats brilliantly and loves a bit of flavour. I put off finger foods for a while for fear of choking, but realised the sooner I gave him stuff the better and so far he's enjoyed it (if somewhat frustrated at times!) - it also gives me time to eat my food before it gets cold!

So after making some chicken purée last week and deciding I wouldn't eat that so why should he, I decided to look into doing more self-feeding than purées. In addition i'm so tired of all the extra cooking, and my husband rightly commented that LO is eating better than we are because that's where all my energy goes! I don't want to stop spoon feeding altogether as he enjoys it and especially loves his porridge, soups, and yoghurt, so this more about us all eating the same healthy meals together, whether that's with fingers or occasionally a spoon.

So I'm a little confused about how to offer some of my favourite meals to him, and whether some things should be avoided. When you're making meals like risotto, lasagna or casseroles, how do you actually serve them up to your LO? I'm presuming the lasagna sheets need cutting up? Also he's not got very good pincer grip yet, so I don't think he'd manage to pick up grains of risotto rice - can I make it into balls, or could this be something I offer on a spoon? Other people have said O-shaped cereals are good, but again should I wait until his pincer grip improves?

Also, as he's got no teeth yet do I need to avoid foods that he can bite off in solid lumps? I tried cucumber but he just broke a big bit off and then got upset as he couldn't chew it. Should I stick with softer foods that break up easier? I think because he's teething he chomps down on things and only starts sucking/nibbling if it holds together well and he can get bits off gradually like cheese, toast, roasted veg, etc.

Finally, sorry of this is a silly question but is pesto ok with whole pine nuts in? I've heard people say you shouldn't give bread with grains in as it's a choking hazard, so is the same true for pesto?

Sorry if these are silly questions but there is so much contradicting info out there and I don't know anyone else who tried BLW.

Thanks - I appreciate any guidance you can give.

Carren 

[Fiver]

Part of the idea of BLW is that it gives LOs a chance to learn and develop new skills, so I used to offer things that DD may not necessarily be able to pick up in a pincer grip, but she could experiment with.  I've heard of people doing rice balls with risotto rice, so that's probably a good one to try.

As for lasagne and casseroles, to start with I tried to prepare the contents in an age friendly sort of way, so meat/veg in strips to start with (no reason adults can't have strips/batons for a little while) and the same with lasagne.  If they can get hold of something, they will learn how to manipulate it and get it into their mouth.

As for the spoons, what you can do with that is load the spoon up with the porridge (or whatever) and place it either in LOs dish/plate or on the tray and allow them to pick it up and get it to their mouth themselves.  It can get a bit messy, but again they're having a chance to learn a new skill.

My DD didn't get her first tooth until 15m, but that didn't stop her having carrot, cucumber, steak, chicken, etc etc from 6m.  As with any form of weaning, you just stay with them so that if something starts to go down the 'wrong way' you can take action should you need to (if they're choking - gagging is usually resolved by LO).  I would (and still do) avoid any sort of whole nut, though.

[*Ali*]

And salt is important to limit too. Maybe add it at the table if you wish rather than in the dish you will be serving the LO.

[Carren_m]

Thanks so much, that's really helpful  I love the idea of putting food on the spoon for him to feed himself.

I gave him cucumber again tonight and he was brilliant with it - not much got swallowed but he was quite happy chewing it then spitting out the lumps as they came off, then he demolished a pear. I guess I need to stop worrying and let him get on with it!

So another quick question - I use quite a lot of chopped tomatoes in my cooking but have seen mixed opinions on whether LO's can have them. Is there an opinion in BLW? I could reduce the quantities and add a little yoghurt to balance it maybe?

Salt isn't a problem most of the time as I cook from scratch, but we occasionally have things like ready made fresh tortellini, which I'm guessing has more salt than homemade versions - is this ok once in a while?

Thanks x

[Fiver]

I never worried about chopped tomatoes....
And once in a while I'd say was ok

[*Ali*]

You're aiming for no more than 1g of salt a day for a LO under 1yo. I'm sure mine had a bit more than that once in a while too. It also depends how much she eats. If she's having 1 piece of pasta that obviously makes a difference to her having a dozen pieces yk? It was any stock in things like casseroles I was thinking to be mindful off.

I hadn't heard about chopped tomatoes. What is the issue with those? Do you mean tinned or fresh? Mine had both anyway.

[Fiver]

Ali, I think it's about how acidic they are more than anything else.  It can play up the tummies of some LOs and also a common eczema trigger.

[creations]

we occasionally have things like ready made fresh tortellini

The 'fresh' filled pasta like tortellini and ravioli was one of my LOs fav meals.  he totally loved it!  I was very mindful of salt at that age and looked at his entire day of salt intake so for example if he was going to have one of those pasta meals I would not give him bread/toast, or pate (unless it was home made with zero salt), or canned baked beans or fish etc in the same day.  I also cook almost everything from fresh produce so really it was a case of only one packaged food per day.  My LO would eat loads of those filled pastas, I just worked out his max allowance from the pack details on salt contents.
I'll also add that things like that are really slippery to pick up.  I sometimes cut them in half or prodded each one with my finger which then gave him a better grip on it.  Other slippery things, fruit wedges etc can be easier to pick up if you cut in a crescent moon shape rather than a straight baton, or if you finger prod each one to make a place to grip.  Pasta twists for example are easier to  pick up than penne which is straight.  There is no necessity to make things easier to pick up other than a hungry LO can get quite frustrated if everything shoots out of their hands.
I introduced a fork (rather than a spoon) at 6 months.  I pre-loaded and just held the fork for him to take.  I never forced it into his hand or made him hold it.  Initially I kept hold of the fork not to 'spoon feed' him but at a safety precaution so he didn't prod himself in the face, he did all the self feeding though.  It was handy for melon or nectarine chunks which are very slippery.  A fork is a much easier tool to learn to use because it doesn't require the same wrist twist action which doesn't develop until later.
I've also never heard anything about not giving tomatoes, only that some LOs might have an allergy or intolerance like with any food.  If there is no history of allergy in your family I see no other reason not to give them.  Fresh cherry toms and grapes I sliced in half or quarter to avoid the whole round choke shape.

[*Ali*]

Ah right. We did sometimes get a red patch round the mouth with fresh tomatoes but it was always gone an hour or so later. They are both fine now I think.

[Carren_m]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all of the helpful info - we went out for lunch today and I just gave him some salad and a bit of my toastie and he was a very happy chappy! Much easier than trying to organise purees and it kept him nice and occupied.

I'll make sure I stay aware of his salt amounts then - most stuff I make from scratch but I didn't think about things like bread etc.

Also, is it ok to leave the skin on fruits and veg? He had a quartered pear and gripped it really well with the skin on, and he spat most of the skin back out, but the AK recipes I was using before insisted on peeling everything.

[creations]

Peel is fine and as you've already discovered it does help with grip.  Some LOs just eat it, other spit it out.  Things like melon skin I just told DS which part to eat and which part we don't eat, a combination of being told and being unable to eat it meant he learned about that sort of thing really quickly.  I really like that the process of learning such things was gradual and started naturally rather than the puree route.  He now (2yo) eats an apple, leaves the core, eats a nectarine or plum, takes the pip to the bin himself etc.  Even learning how to peel a clementine is great for learning about foods, fine motor skill etc.

With regards the salt.  At 1yo the salt allowance recommendation increases, and again at 2yo etc so it it isn't all that long that you have to be super cautious.  I was told by my hv that there was quite a problem in the UK from LOs having too many beans on toast meals, salt in bread, butter and canned baked beans.  Otherwise the meal itself isn't unhealthy, it's just very easy to give too much salt on packed foods that's all.  I cooked everything with unsalted butter when he was little too.
You can use lots of other herbs and spices to season food instead of salt which is better for the whole family really.

There's lots of recipes on the board too.  I made (and still do) little pancakes with fruit and veg in them to take out and about for snacks, sugar free mini muffins, bean burgers.  All handy and can be batch frozen for convenience.

hey, sounds like he was very pleased to get some of your lunch
Weaning is one of the things that filled me with joy and amazement, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.