Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #1

[Cornish smiler]

Sorry I've been MIA.  Sam's caught the cold lurgy too and I'm sure there's teeth stuff going on PLUS he's been a bit constipated so all in all not a happy chappy.  Glad to say it all looks much better now and his appetite is picking back up so I thought I'd pop back on here.  Hi to new people I haven't spoken to yet (sorry, haven't looked back at pp  ) - I look forward to getting to know you and sharing our BLW adventures (and recipes!)

Take care all, Ali

[evanskimberley]

Just caught up on all I've missed, been so busy with feeding Sophie that I haven't had time to read - very ironic!
Sophie hit her GS and we dealt with it by fully introducing solids, 3 meals a day instead of increasing her milk. She has been so reluctant to feed and hardly drinks any milk that this seemed the best way to go, i think she would be a lazy feeder otherwise!
She's loving being a big girl and part of the family at meal times! Her favourite is cucumber! No-one seems to have mentioend it so I thought I'd let you all know! I cut a 2/3 inch stick off then slice it length ways in to quarters. She started by just sucking it and the progressed to sucking off the seeds, now she gnaws away at it with her gums till there is just the skin left!
She had peaches today - thanks for the tip of leaving the skins on, it really helped her out!
She's had brocolli and banana too. I've tried giving her packet baby rice cereal with fuit in it, but she really isn't keen. I try to give her the spoon as well to keep it as BLW as possible, but some mornings, if they both sleep in, I have only 40 mins to get both of them up and ready for the school run. So I wanted to be able to spoon feed her a bit to help with that. Its for quickness really, I know its selfish of me, but I would love to beable to just spend 10 mins spoon feeeding her breakfast so she can have a play afterwards so i can then get Holly dressed, brushed teeth, pushchair out etc, istead of having to  watch Sophie with her finger foods.

I'm reluctant to start on toast as I'm midly wheat intolerant. It had a bad effect on Holly so I'll have to get the rice cakes out.

[Lippy Chick]

Kimberley, cucumbers are a good idea, will give them a go at some point.

Ali, sorry to hear you've been having a rough patch.  As one of my friends told me when Alice was born, everything's a phase, good and bad.

Had a chat with Helen today and grassed up the health visitor from last week who tried to encourage me to spoon feed.  She said it was slow progress trying to persuade others of its benefits.  She said it sounds like Alice is doing really well and it's amazing how little credit we give babies.  She said it is wonderful to see how much they can do on their own at this age and to keep with it.  She said that if I was trying to feed her puree, she still probably wouldn't be swallowing huge amounts, as it can take quite a while to get it established. 

The courgettes weren't too great today, they're very wet and I think she didn't take to that too well.  So will try again in a week or two or maybe when she's a bit happier with the whole BLW and eating.

Just in case others are in the same boat.  Helen also said that babies tend not to want to feed too much in the mornings.  They tend to want some milk and then chill.  That's certainly what we're noticing with Alice, because she tends not to be that interested in the morning.  She said it does tend to be the last meal that comes on board.  To stick with it and it will get there.

Pauline

[Cornish smiler]

Well today at lunch Sam wouldn't play at all - I did fishfingers, steamed asparagus, green beans, carrots and baby sweetcorn (all from Sainsburys in a mixed pack that you just steam in the microwave - very lazy but very good) and noodles.  He swung those chubby arms over almost the whole lot just like windscreen wipers in a car and chucked 90% of it on the floor.  I thought  but ignored it - little tike.  He was better with his bread, butter and cheese for tea and ate a whole yogurt (I spoon fed him as lately he won't eat it if I don't).  I actually have to feed him breakfast too because otherwise he bashes his arms up and down on the Cheerios or whatever I've given him and doesn't eat anything.  Feel like we're taking a few steps backwards but so be it.  Like Pauline said, it's a phase (I hope!)

Hope the rest of you are enjoying the los and having fun with BLW!

Ali

[Freya'sMum]

Kimberley,

Well done to Sophie for getting on so well with self-feeding, may I just offer a word of caution...?

At under 6 months, she still really needs her milk! Until at least 9 months, babies should be taking their pre-solid foods quantity of babymilk which should be at least 20oz per day. My experience of BLW is that babies actually take less milk as solid foods because they aren't having the runny cereal/milk mixes for breakfast, or the pureed veg in cheese sauce dinners, so really need to maintain their milkfeeds more than spoonfed babies - and because BLW means that they are not overfed on solid foods, this usually isn't a problem!

I don't mean to nag, but babymilk is sooooooooooooooooo important to developing young babies, it has all the vital fats and calories, and vitamins and minerals, that they need for healthy growth and development, whereas most common starter solid foods (carrots, yams, bananas, pears, rice/oat cereal etc) have some of the vitamins/minerals but virtually none of those essential fats/calories.

This means that they shouldn't be relied on for babies' nutrition, they should only supplement the milk, with the main reason for introducing solid foods being to get babies familiar with what food is and what to do with it in preparation for when it is an essential part of their diet at around 12 months old. BLW should ensure that this happens naturally!

Hope this makes sense?

Ax

[evanskimberley]

Thanks Alison - I hoped you would chime in! Saw the HV today and Sophie weighed in ok, she is still very little - on 15lbs, but steadily putting on weight. I told her what I was doing re milk feeds and BLW and she agreed it was the best course of action for Sophie. S has not drunk more than 25 oz of milk per day since I weaned her off the breast and she just drank it from the bottle cos she could!! Since then she has been struggling to drink more than 4 oz per bottle cos of her reflux. She hasn't been interested in food as she was so uncomfortable with hre wind/reflux. however throughout this time she has still been steadily gaining weight.
Since the GS, I haven't decreased her milk, she has 5oz five times a day, some of those she drains, some she leaves half an ounce. I then give her solids on top. I think maybe twice a day she may drink more than 5 oz if it ws there, but then I know she wouldn't want any solids cos she just wouldn't be hungry enough!
The idea being that the more solids she takes in then the better her reflux/wind will be!

I've got to keep a really close eye on her weight doing this like this, but as long as she keeps putting it on and stays on her line then I'm happy.

I know I need to think ahead about how to get some dairy in to her to make sure its topped up if we're doing BLW, but if I need to spoon feed her instead then so be it. She is getting quite good at feeding herself with her spoon so we are perserving with the cereal in the morning and some yoghurts.

So she is still drinking the same as before and if she carries on being so keen on solids and yet draining her bottles then I will put more in. Thanks for the heads up!#

Kxx

[Freya'sMum]

Kimberley,

Well you've reassured me about the milk, 25oz is fine, just do keep an eye on the balance between milk and solids so that the little that she does drink is maintained, as long as it remains the same, Sophie can eat as much food on top as she likes !

Bloomin' reflux, makes everything so much more complicated doesn't it?

Sophie is little, and I know the weight gain is important, but the fats in babymilk are also really important for brain development which you obviously can't monitor, so that's the other reason I get a bit neurotic about the milk/solids balance (forgive me ) I just want all los to have all the goodness they can before they're old enough to choose their own meals and live off McDs ,

Ax

[Aly Mac]

Ali, I so hear you on the hand throwing and chucking food on the floor.  L has gotten out of control with it lately - i'm hoping it's just her cold.  What do we do when she does it.  I've been telling her no (as she likes to give her food to the dog  ) but do you think ignoring would be better.....funny how our first instinct is to tell them no....  L also seems fussier on the food front - again, i hope it 's just the cold....

[Cornish smiler]

I try to just ignore it Aleesa as I don't want to draw attention to it and my feeling with Sam is that he'll think it's all a big game.  He's a cheeky little lad this one!!!  I'm sure if we had a dog it would be the best fed dog in Bristol  .  We'll get there I'm sure!!  He's up and down with his milk too. 

I just feel as I said in my post that we're taking a bit of a step backwards with me spoon feeding him breakfast but I have to make sure he eats (don't feel 2 Cheerios is the best breakfast for a growing lad) plus I now have the added pressure of getting Z to school by 8.50.  All a bit busy!

Ali

[Aly Mac]

Me too, but you need to do what you need to do sometimes.  I figure with this eating malarky, there is no *wrong* way!

[evanskimberley]

You are so right Alison!!! Trouble is I don't think she would take any more milk if I gave it to her anyway, she obviously has a little tummy and a small appetite so she will need to eat little and often!
She was up inthe night with belly ache I think but then was hungry cos she was awake for so long. i'm sure she wasn't hungry to start off with. So I ended up giving her a bottle and she drank 4 oz at 4 am. She then wasn't hungry for her breakfast at 8am and only had 5 oz at 9.30 again. I'd even put more in that bottle incase she needed more milk after what you said yesterday! But no! Hey ho. All I seem to be doing at the moment is feeding and winding her, not much fun!
I get very stressed about food and them not eating, its my achelles (sp) heel. I get really stressed when they waste food and throw it on the floor or don't eat what I've prepared. I was hoping I was going to be better with Sophie, but its rearing it ugly head again.

[Cornish smiler]

Hi Kimberley, don't think we've spoken before but sorry if we have and I've forgotten!  It's really really hard not to get stressed when Sophie throws food onto the floor - the thing is we really have to TRY not to as I'm sure that Sophie (and my Sam) pick up on it.  Just try to turn a blind eye to it and think that it's just another phase that will pass soon.  It's all developmental stuff that they're going through and I think they're checking out our reactions to what they are doing.  If they think 'hey this is good, Mummy is reacting to me - what fun' then they'll do it even more.  Also, we have to try not to take it personally when we've prepared them a sumptuous meal and they fling it (Sam did the exact same for me yesterday) - they're not doing it to upset us!

All I try to do is to relax, smile and let it go over my head (not literally - he can't reach that far!) and think this too shall pass.  Works for me!  Big hugs to you.  Just think, you'll look back on this phase when she's happily tucking into her healthy food and is a non-picky little girl and it'll all just be a memory!

[Bryony]

Hi all

We get the throwing food on the floor - and I have also decided to ignore it.  When she's a bit older and has more control over her hands, if she still does it, I will start pointing out that we don't throw food on the floor...

Alison - thanks for the reminder about the importance of milk - it saved my sanity yesterday!  I am fed up of comments about why am I stil giving Katie 4 milk feeds a day (most people I know are down to 2 or 3) and why am I not giving her solids first like everyone else. Seems everyone is in such a rush to get thier LOs onto solids as the mainstay of their diet. Including our HV who insists that I start forcing Katie to eat off the spoon.

Katie has also dropped a bit in weight (she's always been 9th centile - she's now somewhere nearer the 2nd centile) but I am going to replot her weight on the WHO breastfeeding growth curve before getting concerned as I seem to recall that it's sometime around now that BF babies fall below the curve.  hey ho.  I give Katie solids about 1.5hrs after her milk feeds - she's BF so I have no idea if she's having the required 20-25 oz but I will assume that nature is doing its stuff and she'll take what she needs. She's so distractable though these days it's quite hard to keep her on the boob  

Ironically breakfast is probably Katie's best meal!  She usually has half a Farley's rusk and a handful of shreddies, and some mornings eats a fair bit.  Dinner is also good - lunch isn't!

hope you are all doing well.  I'm still suffering from nasty chest infection which I don't seem to be able to shake off - it's the first time I've been ill since becoming a mum and it's a bit scary isn't it - you can't take a day off sick to recover!

Bx

[evanskimberley]

Thanks for the encouragment.
I saw a House of Tiny tearaways once with a todller with eating probs and the mum was just like me. Tanya Byron suggested that it was cos she felt she has failed to breastfeed that she was forcing the fod on her daughter and getting upset when she wouldn't eat. It was a failure on her part again to provide a basic need- nutrition for her daughter. that was a light bulb moment for me and I could really identify with it. i was hopin gthat as I had managed to bf Sophie for 4 months that I wouldn't feel like this, but maybe its still going to be there.
Some of it as well is just basic money costs, I can't afford to keep us in fresh furit and veg if all she is going to do is throw it on the floor!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Sam's discovered the joys of gravity too: "Oh, look - when I drop things off the side of my chair, they fall to the floor....and then Mommy picks them up again!"  Yesterday she even started dropping things and saying "Cat!" then looking to see if the cat was coming to investigate.