Baby Led Weaning support thread #12

[creations]

Personally I wouldn't use a stock cube or other shop bought stock just because the salt will go into all the veg too and for such a young baby I'd want it to be super low salt - but I'm sure lots of people do use stock cubes and don't expect LOs portion to contain too much in the scheme of things (depends how much they eat too).  You can though use any kind of spices and herbs.

What's causing the frustration? Is she finding it difficult to pick the food up or something else?  Are you giving large enough pieces for her to pick up comfortably?

[Eva's Mummy]

I think its because she isn't getting much in her mouth, she shovels it in but most breaks off and fall down, I do give more but I think she is used to eating more as she was spoon fed at the beginning.

I think I give large enough pieces, like a finger size?

[creations]

Yes adult finger size is a good guide.  Maybe her frustration ca be reduced with something a bit firmer? If the vegetables are very soft they fall apart too quickly for her, perhaps steam just a little less? Toast fingers should be ok though.  I understand having a frustrated LO though, mine would cry and shout with frustration if he couldn't get the food in fast enough.  Generally he was ok so long as I kept the food coming.
If she's very upset maybe try some spoon feeding at the same time or a fork which you load and let her self feed? I used a plastic fork from pretty young and just held the back end to prevent him stabbing himself but he had control of the feeding aspect.
Or something like wedges of melon with the skin left off, tell her not to eat the skin and point it out to her.  The skin gives some grip for picking up, the soft flesh doesn't fall apart unless it is sucked and gummed.

[1stimer]

We had to do the finger food/ spoon fed combo with ds. He would get so mad like your lo bc, just like yours, he'd shovel it in but a lot would fall out.  I usually have something he can feed himself and I'll have something I can feed him so I know he gets enough and he doesn't get too frustrated.  There's been several times he's gotten so frustrated he would have a melt down and I ended up just bathing him to calm him and nursing him and he would go to bed bc he was so worn out from the melt down lol

[Eva's Mummy]

Well it seems she will not let me spoon feed at all anymore.

I had a wee fright there, she had baked potato cut into wedges for dinner which just crumbled so she was a bit annoyed and didn't really get much of it. So I gave her cucumber batons which she loved and an apple slice.

Well she almost chocked on the apple, I could see she was trying to get a wee bit back up with the gag reflex then her wee face went purple and she vomited everything up. She as fine not a peep out of her but mummy got a fright 

[1stimer]

So glad shes alright!!!! I hate this age when they are still learning. I haven't been as nervous with DS as I was with DD but im still terrified.

[creations]

Oh dear, sorry you had a fright
FWIW this can also happen with purees and mashed foods too, it's great she got it up without any intervention.

In the early days with apple I would either steam or bake wedges. When I gave raw apple I took a little of a *full* apple and discarded that bit, then helped DS hold onto the full apple to gnaw at. I personally found this safer and less of a risk of getting big chunks off. I think at the time he had a couple of front teeth which he could kind of grate off some apple with rather than big pieces. If that makes sense. It wasn't something I let him at on his own though as I worried like you about big chunks.
Grated apple is another option too.

I know you must be feeling really shaken. hugs.

[Eva's Mummy]

Definitely.  It worries you for the next meal.  Still not really sure what to be giving her at lunchtime,  is she too young for sandwiches.  I tried to make porridge fingers for breakfast but it turned into like a glue mixture,  not great at this cooking malarkey 

[newkidontheblock]

Glad she is okay, Gail. {{Hugs}} That must have really been scary. Porridge fingers were not a hit here. I think they were to dry for E. Need to refine my skills too

[creations]

Sandwiches I used to do things like deconstructed sandwich (otherwise it would fall apart when he tried to eat it and he'd get frustrated, so better I gave it in bits), basically just kind of bread/toast and a piece of cheese or whatever filling you choose.
Pitta opened up or a tortilla wrap can be filled with cheese then closed over, toasted in a dry frying pan to melt the cheese and the two halves pushed together whilst it cools so it all sticks - that was an easy sandwich which didn't fall apart.

There are lots of idea on the finger foods thread. Eggy bread, fritata... you can't go wrong with plain steamed veg...

[ginger428]

We're also getting spoon resistance here.  DH tried giving him a spoon while we were feeding and that distracted and satisfied him enough.  I even gave him a small empty container to "dip" and it was too cute how he would just dip his play spoon into the empty container and put the wrong end in his mouth. So cute. Whenever we can preload the spoon, we let him try to feed himself, but yeah, most of it goes down the front of his shirt/bib.  Just a tip, I was able to split a toast in half flat wise, and it became thin enough to roll up nicely. Can't toast for too long or it'll just crumble.  Tried this with cream cheese with teeny bits of cucumber and peanut butter with teeny bit of natural jam. However, DS figured out how to unroll it recently.  Haha.

Anyone have experience with 1 yo and their pickiness?

[newkidontheblock]

What exactly is a deconstructed sandwich? Lol, Eris will painstakingly pick it apart and throw it down for the doggies to get. So annoying when she is more concerned about feeding the dogs than herself but sweet that she shares:p

No spoon refusal exactly but she is so moody. We spoonfeed her porridge in the morning and somedays it is done in 5 minutes. Others we linger,linger, linger and most of it decorates her hair & the floor I prefer using a fork but I have to hold on to it otherwise it is tossed on the floor along with everything else. I don't want to deprive her of her experiments but I refuse to wash multiple forks.

What sort of pickiness do you mean, Ginger? I have noticed E spitting out a lot of stuff nowadays but I figured it is just a phase and I don't push her to eat quantity-wise. She has discovered mangoes and loves them so much.

So, I've noticed many babies eating 3 solid meals + snacks. What sort of snacks have you'll been giving and how much?

[ginger428]

Lol. If only we had dogs to clean the mess around DS's seat. Hahaha.

How do you make your porridge, Fleur?

Well, DS used to eagerly eat whatever was in front of him.  He had favorites, but still ate everything.  Now, he just moves them around and tries to put pieces in my hand, on the table or floor.  He will only independently eat and finish fruits now.  All the veggies, meats, and others we have to encourage him or place in his mouth.  He didn't eat his sweet potato which is his favorite! It was shocking... hahaha. I'm going to try to cut back on the fruits and see if it helps.  Maybe it's another phase... Perhaps I'm giving him too much at snack time and therefore he's less hungry? I don't know. His tummy has been bothering him now too with the introduction of cow's milk. Major byproduct is gas and he's not happy about that... neither is his momma!

Snacks...I mainly feed fresh fruit as it's easy to port around and prepare... half a banana, small handful blueberries, 1/4 cup chopped grapes, half a sandwich smeared with something, 1/2 yogurt + <1/4 cup fruit, half a waffle, package of applesauce, dried apricot pieces, couple wedges of peach, 1/4 cup chopped plum, slices of watermelon or honeydew melon, 1/2 a tangerine (I peel part of the skin off the wedge), Cheerios cereal, etc...  Oh and on busy or difficult days, I give him these puréed fruit pouches.

I'd like to try a hard boiled egg one day since we're on eggs now and hummus at some point. Any other suggestions out there for easy snacks? I save veggies for meals but maybe it's not the best idea.

[newkidontheblock]

Okay, that's some yum stuff! Yes, I tend to give a lot of fruit too. I make it a point that meals are savoury rather than sweet, and then snacks and dessert are fruits.

I do think they go off solids at around this point (or so I've heard) but just another phase:)

I give E two types of porridge - oats & lapsi (broken wheat). I cook up a week's worth  with water and then freeze it in cupcake moulds and then put it into a ziplock bag. DH then defrosts one 'cupcake' and adds milk & fruit chunks. I have tried to give her a millet porridge too but it doesn't go well with anything sweet and tastes pretty awful on its own:p What about you?

So I just made apple oat cakes for tea and she nommed it all up! Success:p

[creations]

What exactly is a deconstructed sandwich?

It's just all the bits you would use to make a sandwich but don't put it together - so a quarter slice of bread with or without butter, or a finger of pitta bread, a finger of cheese or a cube of pate, a slice or finger of cucumber - one bit of each thing on the tray or plate but not in the form of a sandwich.

Snacks I based on the overall food balance across the day or the week. Often fruit but other snacks too (we did a 3 day strict portion control to reduce his fruit intake actually, his diet had become out of balance and I felt I needed to put my foot down, he was not happy with fewer and smaller portions for 1 or 2 days but his diet balanced out and he stopped fussing about not getting constant fruit).
crackers
bread sticks
pancakes (with fruit or veg in, small sized made in batches and frozen, very easy to lift a few out for a snack later in the day)
mini muffins (sugar free, with fruit or veg added, again frozen in batches)
mini bean/lentil frittas/burgers/patties (frozen in batches)
oaty chews (like flap jack but not sugar/honey etc, just oats, milk, oil, fruit, frozen in batches)

Basically I'd make a fresh batch of something for snack one day then freeze the rest, something else another day freeze the rest etc so there was a variety I could just lift out the freezer.  It doesn't need to be a big variety but I found it useful to have something healthy and carbsy rather than fruit all the time.  Mine was also very hungry at his morning snack, it was more like lunch but we were often out and about so I needed something more substantial to take with me.

I also saved any left over veggies from dinner the night before and gave those as snacks or for lunch the next day or used them in the lentil/bean/veggie burger type things I made.