Author Topic: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12  (Read 183049 times)

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Offline LovelyLilyandJack

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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #75 on: December 06, 2014, 06:30:46 am »
My "baby" is 21 months now so past the BLW stage, but we did it all the way and still get notifications on this thread so I'm still around!



Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #76 on: December 06, 2014, 07:49:17 am »
Wonderful! It really is so exciting






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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #77 on: December 06, 2014, 10:48:41 am »
Mine is almost 4yo but still happy to join you in your journey and answer questions you may have.
I absolutely loved our weaning journey, it literally filled my heart with joy, and gave me many laughs along the way. I filmed a couple of DS's meal times and if I watch them back now I have tears of laughter rolling down my face.
I hope your journey is just as rewarding :)


Offline 1stimer

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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #78 on: December 13, 2014, 14:58:14 pm »
Ok ladies I think I'm ready to start blw. Any advice on how to start etc??? We started him on pureed food bc our MD told us we needed to increase his calories and I wasn't 100% clear in the blw process. He's a very hungry boy lol!!! I actually just bought a sweet potato yesterday so I was winding if I could start with that?? How do it cook it/ give it to ds??





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Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #79 on: December 13, 2014, 15:22:48 pm »
Hi creations. So lovely to hear about your experience. Ours has gotten off to a good start. DD has tried apples (yum), banana (double yum), kiwi (not interested), plums (interested but too much chewing even after lightly steaming), egg yolk (yum), carrot, and papaya. Phew! Sounds like a lot but I have actually been going very slowly. She had some sort of a reaction to carrot and got red spots on her face and apple got her all  bunged up.

I'm loving BLW though. She seems so grownup when she is eating all on her own. It was a proud moment for me at the play date the other day when she literally reached out and took a piece of banana from my hand and sat and ate it on her own! The other moms were also quite amazed especially the ones with much older LOs :)

I keep wondering -- how much is too much? She ate almost an entire steamed apple the other day! Too much, I think but she kept crying for more :S Of course she was constipated for 2 days after that.

And it is okay to offer some foods on a pre-loaded spoon, right? From what I can understand, the point is to follow their lead and not to push anything on them or coax in any way.

1st timer - Great to have some company. We are just starting off too! I do think your doc gave you some misguided advice though as from what I have heard, solids before one are just for fun and exploration, not really for nutrition. I want to offer her sweet potato too. Today I washed it and poked it with a fork and baked it for 30 minutes and then chickened out. I haven't eaten it before so I don't even know what it should be like :S:S:S:S






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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #80 on: December 13, 2014, 19:17:19 pm »
Any advice on how to start etc???
This may help
Baby-Led Weaning

I would go mainly for the foods you already eat as part of your family meals, this way LO learns the flavours and textures of your regular meals and is more likely to go along with those as they get older - it also means not having to keep cooking separate meals for LO. There's no need to go exploring for foods you haven't tried yourself before, although BLW can also be a great way to move towards more health conscious or varied meals for the whole family too :)
The main things really are to keep things large enough to hold in a fist grip, so the size of an adult finger, and to cut out added salt to your cooking where ever you can (eg I never put salt in pasta any more but instead rely on the sauce or dressing to season) at that age I never added salt to anything as their daily allowance is taken up so quickly. Also to make sure baby is sat up properly to reduce the choke risk.

Sweet potato can be:
- cut into fingers/wedges and lightly steamed (keep checking with ta fork as it takes less time than a carrot for instance) although may turn to a mush quite quickly (no harm in it being very soft for LO, just it's harder to pick up)
- cut into fingers/wedges and roasted in the oven like roast potato or oven baked chips. Toss in a little oil or use oil spray and bake until the outside begins to firm up and crisp.  The outside can be quite dry and easy to pick up this way whilst the inside will be very soft like a mush/puree.  Many other veggies can be cooked this way (we often have 'chips' here as I know we are all getting a great variety of veggies).  You can use herbs and spices on any of these oven roasted chips, but I'd avoid salt.
- baked in the oven, whole, then sliced open (treat like a baked potato, if you can easily stab it with a fork through then it is soft and cooked). Wedges can be served, the inside will be like very soft mash but the skin on the outside should help LO grasp the wedge.  If you want to make sweet pot mash this is a great way to make it, bake then scrape out the inside which will fall apart like mash and you can almost just stir it into a soft mash. Unlikely to need butter/milk adding as it is already slacker than white potato. Some LOs like to grab hand fulls of mashed food to self feed.
- grated and used in sweet recipes such as sweet potato and sultana mini muffins (yum! Think carrot cake type of thing) or sweet potato pancakes
...and it's a great source of vit A

And it is okay to offer some foods on a pre-loaded spoon, right? From what I can understand, the point is to follow their lead
Yes that's right.  I found a plastic fork a bit more useful than a spoon when DS was very young. I used to hold the end of the fork to prevent him poking himself in the eye but he had control of picking it up (or taking it from me) and guiding the food to his mouth.

Although you generally follow their lead on quantity, you are still the parent, it's up to you to provide healthy foods and reasonable balance to the diet. If you discover certain foods cause constipation or diarrhoea in large quantities then it's your job to limit the portion, in the same way you wouldn't give in if your 6 month old was crying for access to a glass of wine yk.  It's fine to explain to LO why they can't have more and offer something else.
Mine became too firm in his BM with carrots so I made sure to skip carrots if he was getting a bit form, cook up a portion if he was getting a bit loose. And in the main balance out a portion or carrot with a portion of prune.

She had some sort of a reaction to carrot and got red spots on her face
Do you think it may have been a contact reaction? Mine had some of those, esp where his poo touched his bum, orange foods seems to be the main culprit but he was never poorly in his tummy.


Offline LovelyLilyandJack

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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #81 on: December 14, 2014, 06:57:10 am »
Yes, Jack has a contact reaction to tomatoes exactly as you describe,  but they've never affected his tummy either (and they're his favourite food!)

Also wanted to add that if you're starting off then a crinkle cutter can be good for roast veggies as it gives them ridged edges which give more grip.



Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #82 on: December 25, 2014, 15:48:46 pm »
Merry Christmas, ladies! DD was an absolute star at family lunch.. Accepted all sorts of fruits and vegetables from the salad and patiently gnawed through them.

I'm having another problem though and I wanted your opinions. We seem to be going through a growth spurt but it is weird. She feeds normally during the day but in the feed before bed, she will nurse as usual, let me know as usual that it's time to be put down... Everything the same.. Until I actually put her down and then she cries so much until I pick her up and re nurse. Before doing this, we spend ages trying to settle her without. Then she will nurse with eyes open till letdown and then I can put her down as usual and she will also off independently. She has also been draining her DF bottle and waking for one night feed. The others on my birth club are saying that I'm going too slow with solids and if I give her solids properly it will help. Even Tracy says solids are needed at this gs. What do you think???

BTW you were both spot on about the contact reaction






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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #83 on: December 26, 2014, 09:16:45 am »
I'd prob be more tempted to shift her last solids meal earlier, I don't know if you're giving an evening solids meal but if you are possibly cut it for now and stick to morning/lunch solids so she can fill on milk in the evening.  Milk has more fat and calories than solids so if she's super hungry you're more likely to get a better night from her if she's properly full of milk.
Make sure she has enough to drink at her solids meals too, either water or milk, so he isn't thirsty in the night.  Otherwise just continue, a GS is a GS, they all get extra hungry.


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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #84 on: December 26, 2014, 13:39:19 pm »
We aren't doing an evening meal yet. But does this sound like a growth spurt? Isn't it odd that she refuses the feed and then as soon as she's put down, asks for it? I'm finding it so weird. She isn't eating much all day and then suddenly goes berserk. Anyway, fine, I was just really wondering whether milk isn't satisfying her enough or something strange like that!






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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #85 on: December 26, 2014, 22:17:47 pm »
Isn't it odd that she refuses the feed and then as soon as she's put down, asks for it?
You said in the previous post that day feed were normal and DF was drained plus another night feed, that sounds like a GS.  Refusing regular feeds then asking for a feed later on sounds like something else. Thirst? SA? Or being more alert in the day can mean she is now more interested in things around her rather than focusing on feeding which could result in being very hungry later on.  If this seems to be the case you could try feeding in a quiet, dim light room away from all distractions.


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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #86 on: December 30, 2014, 16:13:45 pm »
I've been mulling over your post and observing DD, and I feel that you are right. It started with a cold leading to decreased day feeds and then distractibility on vacation but I do feel that she is taking less during the day and then tries to make up for it later.

So BLW n holiday is fun. I'm being a bit too gung ho though as she seems to want to try everything. She's been having egg yolk and fruit chunks for breakfast and vegetable sticks and fruit for lunch. Unfortunately, the past 2 nights she has woken up with a poppy diaper. We haven't had to change a diaper in the MOTN since 2 months, so it's been impossible to settle her back in her crib after. Will this stop after a while? I am only offering solids at breakfast and lunch. In fact, didn't even give her anything at lunch today. FX it doesn't happen tonight






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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #87 on: December 31, 2014, 08:00:07 am »
The pooing at night should stop once she's got into a new routine. It's not uncommon to see threads about MOTN poo - you could try shifting the solids 30-60 mins earlier or later and see if that helps or just ride it out, eventually her body will get back on track to day time poos.

Sounds like you're both having fun  :)


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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #88 on: January 04, 2015, 05:51:53 am »
We did have a ton of fun. So if I keep lunch light, the poo doesn't show up too early. She always pooed sometime just before waking. So yesterday, I decided to try giving her porridge. Basically, I have been getting some help on the boards and I was advised to space nursings to 3-4 hour intervals. DD is doing 3.5 A and then with a 1.5 - 2 hour nap, thats a long time, so I had taken to topping her up before the nap. They suggested heavier solids instead. So, enter porridge. It was such a confusion! She wanted to control the spoon but it was too thin and kept splattering everywhere. By the end of it, you could see more porridge than child. It was fun and quite a hassle to clean it out of her ears and nose and neck and... :p

 So much easier to just hand her the food and let her eat. She had already gotten the hang of it and there is barely a mess any more! So happy that we are doing BLW.

When did you all switch over from fruits/ vegetables/ bits from your meals to making things specifically for them - eg: porridge pancakes or cutlets etc? She is 7 months now. I was thinking maybe by 8 or 9? I worry about oil






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Re: Baby Led Weaning support thread #12
« Reply #89 on: January 04, 2015, 10:33:41 am »
There's a recipe for porridge fingers somewhere around - basically very thick porridge which can be eaten as finger food, you might like to give than a try?
I used a baby muesli (it's tagged as aged 10 months but as we did BLW I ignored ages and used my own judgement as to what was suitable) which I mixed extremely thickly and rolled into balls for finger food.

I made batches of things like fruit pancakes, mini muffins, bean burgers, oaty chews, which I froze in small batches. I used them mainly for snacks and for taking out and about when I knew he'd be very hungry but it wouldn't be my meal time.

What is it about oil you are concerned about?