Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #1

[Bryony]

Thanks Ali and Aleesa, you have encouraged the final 5% of my mind...!  We will continue as we are doing.

And also (TMI alert!) yesterday Katie passed some wind while I was changing her and it was accompanied by teeny bits of broccoli (yuck!) so I take it some of it must have gone down!

Bryony 

[Aly Mac]

Amazing what you will find in there now.......

[Cornish smiler]

Don't like to tempt fate, but I think Sam is mastering his pincer grip.  I gave his some pasta shells at lunchtime with some nice sauce I made (so nice I think I may put it on the recipe page!).  I was loading the spoon with the sauce, then offered him a piece of pasta and he took it from me and then did it a few times more from his bowl.  I know he couldn't do this last week so it looks like another thing he's mastering!

Made cheese and broccoli muffins on Saturday (another for the recipes I think) and he loved them yesterday.  Got something bad to tell you though amongst all this goodness - I gave him a Jaffa Cake and he adored it  .  I promise it was just the one (well, half, not even one!)

Bryony, sounds like Katie is doing great so don't worry.  They all progress at different stages and it can take a while to get started.  You'll have a wonderful non-fussy eater in due course I'm sure (as I hope we all will).

Take care all

Ali x

[Freya'sMum]

Those muffins sound yummy and the pasta sauce might give them a try when I have some time for baking (ROFLMAO!)

Sharondp - you're an OT too! Thought I could hear the 'common sense' in your posts! Comes with the job!

Ax

[Aly Mac]

Well Lilly has had a great day eating finger food!! Lunch time was a little pieces of chicken, carrots, zuccini and cheesy toast (sounds a lot but not really), and then now she is eating dinner (some of ours - the first time!) pasta back with veges, chicken & white sauce.  I might post on the recipe BLW forum.

ONe good thing with BLW is that you can get other things doen in the kitchen while she's eating!

[Bryony]

Wow, sounds like some of your LOs are really putting away some exciting foods!

We had our first gagging experience yesterday on a largish piece of broccoli that she managed to bite off.... Katie's eyes were watering as she tried to get it back to the front of her mouth. It then disappeared following a swallowing sound and I thought she'd managed to swallow it - but then she went a funny colour and started coughing so I patted her on the back and the offending piece of broccoli reappeared. Not sure which tube that had gone into!  I don't think she was particularly bothered by it, but it was slightly scary for me....  however I tried to be calm and reassuring so that she didn't get scared.

We tried sweet potato this morning but I am not sure that she liked it. It was nice and soft so easy for her to mash around in her mouth but I am not sure that she liked the texture.  Will try it again tomorrow!

At what stage in the process have you all started offering water?  We haven't yet... but am teaching her to drink EBM out of a sippy cup so that we can put water in that once the time is right.

Bx

[Cornish smiler]

Hi Bryony, I started offering water right from the start.  Sam doesn't take a huge amount and I hold it for him, but he does seem to like it with his food - he takes more now than he used to.

Well done on not panicking re the broccoli; it is scarey when that happens.  I'm going to roast some vegs for Sam and I for lunch - we bought a small oven the other day to go on the worktop and it's ideal for just the 2 of us to save warming up the big one!!! 

x

[Sharondp]

Sharondp - you're an OT too! Thought I could hear the 'common sense' in your posts! Comes with the job!

Common sense? I've lost mine! Anybody seen it?? 

Thanks everyone for starting to post the recipes. Leo had curry last night - I'll pop the recipe up when I can - thankfully the nanny has the nappies to deal with this morning!  It's not at all highly spiced and made with lentils - Toby still eats it.

That's another great thing about BLW - Leo can eat what the rest of us eat! No separate cooking & pureeing! 

[mikiweiser]

hi all

well it's been just like byrony wrote in her post - almost exactly - you took the words right out of my mouth - thanks.

since i still have frozen puree food in the freezer, every now and then i brake down and try to give him some - even give him the spoon, but he is so adamantly against it. i thought of buying gerber and maybe the taste will turn him on,.. but i feel like it's givin gup on blw if i turn to gerber and ... i keep telling myself that the solids are not the important part of his diet.

i am worried that he will become a picky eater since he is mostly bottle fed.
i lessened the amount of formula so as to maybe trigger a hunger for solids - thank god it is not affecting his sleep.
so far he has had veges - tomatoe, cucumber, red pepper - can't get him to eat steemed veges like sweet potatoe, zuccing, carrots - fruits like apple, melon, - well rarely does anything get in the mouth and i hand him the food since he still doesn't sit on his own. i figure let him keep playing... he's 7 months now - any suggestions?

xxx thanks miki

[Cornish smiler]

Hi Miki, try not to worry about it as I'm sure in time he'll get the hang of it.  At the moment, I wouldn't give him less formula as that really is vitally important for him - this really is just a fun thing to do to get him used to the idea of solid food.  I do it during A time and see it as part of an Activity rather than a proper sit down meal iykwim.  Sam can't sit unsupported either so I just pop him in his highchair and sort of wedge him in with rolled up towels - rather primitive but it works for us! 

Sometimes I hand Sam his food if it's particularly tricky (like today's kiwi fruit) but normally I have him sit right beside us and make it clear I'm enjoying my food (yum yum I say as does Zoë!) and that can often encourage him to try.  When you steamed the vegs, were they very soft, or did you do them for less time than you do for yourself so they were easy for him to hold but still OK for him to eat? 

What's Gerber?  Never heard of it! 

At the end of the day you just have to keep believing that you're doing the right thing by Adi and keep going with it and not worry if he has a teeny tiny bit.  The milk is giving him all the nutrition he needs (hence the reason why not to drop it) so go with the flow and have fun!! 

HTH

x

[Freya'sMum]

Hi Miki,

Can I just echo what Ali very eloquently wrote... don't lessen the formula, that's what Adi really needs most of, and let him go at his own pace! Her advice on how to prepare the steamed veg is spot on, but even if you try this and he still doesn't fancy eating it, well ok, leave them for a bit, and try introducing them again later - there really is no rush, you have all the time in the world!

Ax

[Wink's Marmy]

Hi! Mind if I join this thread? I don't have time to read everything, but I will fill you guys in.

Basically, DD is forcing me to go the way of BLW, which is fine. She refuses the spoon or my hand giving her a chunk of food. She will only eat what comes from HER fingers. Her pincer grasp has gotten quite good.

So basically, she only eats avocado and grain foods. Here is her current list: avocado, cheerios, sweet potato puffs, bitter biscuits. Thats it. I have tried plum, apple, cooked carrot, pear, peach, mango and she rejects them all. Sometimes she will eat bananas but it is constipating for her. I like the idea of BLW. But not sure how to implement it other than to keep offering her stuff. Any suggestions? DH and I are not picky eaters AT ALL and would like DD to have a wide variety of foods in her diet. We eat a lot of very spicy food so I don't feed her what we eat, but maybe I should just tone her portion down?!? I feel so clueless!

[Aly Mac]

Welcome Jennifer.

Lilly is also getting to the point where she just wants finger food (other than vitabrits and yoghurt) she wants to do it herself.  Show's independance I think.  I would just keep offering her the food - even if she has shown she doesn't like it, just reintroduce again a week down the track. Try offering it to her in stick form, so she can grasp all of it in her hand with some sticking out the top.  That seemed to be the easiest for Lilly.  Try not to overcook the food too. She will need some firmness to hold on to.  It took me a while to get over the gagging fear, but really, the gag reflex is there for a reason, and Lilly seemed to use it well. 

I'm actually sitting here with her now while she is having her lunch.  A piece of chicken, carrot, zuccinini and pasta spiral.  Only two of each, but she seems to really enjoy it.

All I would say, is just keep offering and try not to worry about how much she is or isn't eating.  Some lo's take time and in the meantime she is drinking her milk which is the best source for them now anyway.  I ahve a friend who;s lo waasn't even interested in food until 9 months old.

oh, and don't worry about the mess   

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Whole wheat pasta spirals worked nicely for us too - I think she only got about one bite in, but at least she seemed interested!

[Cornish smiler]

Hi Jennifer, welcome to BLW.  I look forward to hearing all about Winnie-Kate's progress feeding herself!!!

Found a new thing Sam adores - clementines.  We had some in our organic veg & fruit box and he got so excited when I gave him a segment, it was soooo cute!!  He also really went for his broccoli and cheese muffin which was nice to see and had some tomato too.  He's very good at extracting the seeds and fleshy bit without getting any skin.

I love BLW!!