Baby-Led Weaning Support Thread #1

[Sharondp]

Bryony - this is the first link I found when I googled so you can get it elsewhere....

http://www.amazon.com/TinyDiner%C2%AE-Portable-Placemat-Diddle-design/dp/B000BH79YW

[Bryony]

Thanks Sharon, that looks fabulous - think I will get one of those!

Bx

[STraverse]

Hi All,

Thanks for the links. I have read up on it and it sounds so good. I don't know if I could get past the fear of her choking!! My lo is almost 7 months old. She has been eating infant cereal for almost a month now. I have tried the following purees: apple sauce, pear, sweet potatoes & carrot. The only one she would even tolerate eating was the sweet potato. She does love eating cheerios & rice krispies. I was surprised at how quickly she learned to pick them up and get them into her mouth. This morning I did cut off a chunk of apple and gave her, she sucked & nibbled a little - she didn't eat much of it though.

Anyway, I guess I have a few questions on BLW.

- what to give in place of infant cereal or should I continue giving that (I know what the healthcare professionals in my area would say to that for sure)

- what are some good first foods you found to start with

- do you still offer a new food every 2-3 days

- how does the age of my lo affect this process, should I do anything to ensure she gets enough food, I know I read somewhere about not putting bite size pcs into her mouth and to let her experience it all herself -what if she doesn't eat anything

- any advice on how to get past the fear of choking??

I would appreciate any input you guys can give.

Thanks,
Shelley

[Bryony]

Hello all!

Well I have to report that Katie is obviously textbook in relation to her eating...  she'll be 6 months on Monday and suddenly yesterday and today she seems to have got the hang of this eating lark!  She obvously read Gill Rapley's thesis.  Last night she sucked all the little bits off a large piece of broccoli, leaving only a soggy stalk; this morning she ate most of half a rice cake (well it all disappeared, suspect I will be finding soggy bits of rice cake about her person and the high chair for the rest of the day...) and then just now DH and I went out for brunch and she ate most of my toast crusts...  I tried to make sure it was bits without too much scrambled egg or brown sauce   

Shelly - I am a complete newcomer to this but can try and help with a few of your questions, but no idea on the infant cereal as we haven't tried that at all. 

Some good first foods: broccoli, cauliflower, steamed carrots, lightly steamed apple, banana, rice cakes, toast crusts, sweet potato, really most veg or fruit cut into chip shaped pieces.

I've not been very organised about offering a new food every 2-3 days; I've offered her whatever I'm eating or whatever is in the fridge... but I suspect this would be the sensible thing to do.

In terms of the fear of choking - I don't really worry about it - maybe I should. I read somewhere that they were less likely to choke with BLW as they are more in control, rather than parents shovelling in puree - but I don't know whether there is any real evidence for this.   Katie started really gagging and coughing on a large piece of broccoli a few days ago and I just patted her on the back and it came up again. 

I've noticed that Katie was less interested in her 11am feed than usual today - wonder if she was still full of rice cake?  She was BF at 7, had rice cake at 8 for breakfast, then BF at 11 and toast at 12. I am trying to make sure solids are about 1-2 hrs after a feed.

Bryony

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

- what to give in place of infant cereal or should I continue giving that (I know what the healthcare professionals in my area would say to that for sure)

Cereal is usually offered because of the iron, which is something babies are thought to need by 9 months (an external source).  She'll be eating some meat by 9 months, however, so that should be addressed.  As for the bread group - rice cakes, toast, cheerios, pasta spirals... that sort of thing are great.

- what are some good first foods you found to start with

Soft carrots, sticks of sweet potatos - steamed or baked, avocado (a bit slippery, but you can roll in infant cereal) - same with bananas

- do you still offer a new food every 2-3 days

It varies - depends what your comfort level is - I personally do!

- how does the age of my lo affect this process, should I do anything to ensure she gets enough food, I know I read somewhere about not putting bite size pcs into her mouth and to let her experience it all herself -what if she doesn't eat anything

For the first year, solids are mostly for practice and exposure to different tastes and textures. At first, she'll eat quite little, but once she gets the hang of it, that will increase - by 9 or 10 months, for instance, you'll probably notice she's eating a fair bit....and this can be the same with babies fed purees too!  (My first was fed the "traditional" way and ate almost nothing until she was 10 or 11 months old).

- any advice on how to get past the fear of choking??

You could take a baby CPR and choking course. Watch that you're not giving things that are too hard and that could block her airway (hard carrots or other hard fruit...).

Good luck!

[STraverse]

Thanks for your input.

I tried her with banana at lunch but it was almost too slippery, I never thought of rolling it in infant cereal. She got a couple of mouthfuls, and yes gagged. Maybe I'll get used to that. My first child was fed the traditional way as well and he gagged quite often too once he started finger foods.

I boiled some carrot to have with supper so I'll give her that. Do you offer just plain rice cakes, the large ones or minis? When you refer to chip shaped, do that mean like potato chips or french fries (sorry).

I can't wait to try some more things!! For those who are further along this process...My lo is almost 7 months, she will be starting daycare in Jan once she turns 1 year old (I will be returning to work full time then boo hoo) so I need to ensure she will be getting enough nutrients from solids by then and not relying on bm. In your opinion will BLW transition her onto solids in this timeframe, 5 months??

Thanks again,
Shelley

[Bryony]

Ah, Shelley, by chip-shaped I mean like French Fries - we call these chips in the UK    But like big fat french fries not the skinny ones!

I use large rice cakes as they were the only salt-free ones they had in our local supermarket.  I break them into 6 or so bits so that they are manageable sizes...

Bryony

[Cornish smiler]

Sam's done so well today - had Ready Brek for breakfast, bread and (unsalted) butter soldiers, tomato pieces and cheese then part of a Kit Kat - all was demolished.  Been out this afternoon and gave him the end of an ice cream cone with some nice vanilla ice cream in (posh stuff it was too) and he loved it all! 

[Freya'sMum]

Shelley,

Try this link for some first food ideas:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95978.0

Eryn is nearly 13 months, and has been self feeding since 6.5 months, and can pack away a good size, nutritionally balanced meal totally independently eg. 3/4 steamed salmon steak (protein/oily fish), 2 steamed broccoli florets, 6 steamed carrot sticks and dessert spoon garden peas, and lots of pasta twists (have had to ban pesto on these because she refuses to eat anything else if these are available ), followed by 4 strawberries or 10 grapes.

It's marvellous, she's never needed us at mealtimes at all really, and her confidence and dexterity has just improved with practice! 5 months is a long time for a baby, by a year she'll have mastered all she needs to know!

Pure BLW does not require parents to offer new foods in any controlled way at all, because it trusts babies' innate instinct to know what they should/shouldn't eat, and some of the mum's posting on this thread have gone with this theory whole-heartedly, others have modified the approach to adopt a more controlled introduction of solid foods - it's really up to you!

Re: cereal, Eryn didn't have any to eat until quite late, when she'd got the dexterity to pick up soggy cornflakes/cheerios with a pincer grip - I know it's popular to offer baby cereal as a first food, but it doesn't really fit into BLW at all, and cereals can be offered through other solid foods such as wholegrain breads. Interestingly in the uk, health visitors don't proactively input into how you introduce solid foods, they offer clinics and tutorials for parents to access if they want to, so I never really cared what the 'professionals' thought of my methods, which were mainly based on common sense - if your professionals are more proactively involved, and don't support this approach, there is plenty of research out there to back it (see the links at the end of the FAQ on BLW) and some research that also suggests that EBF babies prefer more flavoursome foods as first foods because of all they've tried in their mum's milk!

HTH a bit?

Ax

[STraverse]

Hmmm... had the carrot. Went ok. Made a slice of whole wheat toast to go along with it. She gagged, especially on the toast. Thought I was going to have a heart attack!! Seems she bites off too much. Is it possible she's not ready? She devours cheerios though without a hitch!! I'll have to pick up a few things to try.

thanks again, shelley

[Cornish smiler]

Hi Shelley, don't worry about her gagging on the toast as the gagging is really common but you'll find that she'll grow out of it.  Sam used to gag ALL the time but it's quite rare he does it now, and we've only been doing it for 4 weeks.  Just relax, go with the flow and enjoy watching your little girl enjoy her food!

HTH

Ali

[STraverse]

I don't know if I can relax. She seems to bite off the biggest chunks of food. Is there an alternate approach I could take...giving the table foods but making them a more manageable size. I am just afraid of what might happen if something gets caught in her throat. Has that ever happened to anyone?? Watching her shove a fistfull of mushed banana into her mouth that I know she won't ever be able to swallow without gagging and spitting is so terrifying...is that what I am supposed to do, just watch. I really want to see this through but I don't know if I can.

Shelley

[Wink's Marmy]

SO I tried steamed broccoli with DD and she just flung it on the floor. Carrot too. Seems like all she wants are carbs (and avocado!). Anybody else experience this?

How should I offer meat?

[Bryony]

Shelley - sorry to hear you are worrying about the gagging. Katie does gag too, but I am assuming it's just one of those things and it's there to serve a purpose. I suspect if you made things into smaller pieces it would be just as likely to happen - and more difficult for her to pick up.   Katie did get a biggish lump of broccoli caught in her throat but I patted her on the back and she coughed it up again. I was pretty scared at the time, but it didn't seem to bother her - and she now tends to suck and knaw on stuff a bit more so it's going into smaller bits. 

Jennifer - carbs and advocado - mmm, sounds like my kind of diet       The only veggie Katie seems to really like is broccoli - carrots and sweet potato go straight on the floor in this house too. I will wait a week or so then try them again.   Have bought a cucumber to try as a few people have said that this has been popular. Will let you know how she gets on tomorrow!

A practical question - what do you do when you are out?  I don't feel happy laying Katie's food out straight on the table in a restaurant (not sure how clean it is, plus it seems a bit antisocial!) but I don't really want to carry a tray around with us. But I do want her to try some food if DH and I are eating stuff she can have....  When we were out on Sunday I just handed her bits of toast, but seems to go against the grain of BLW.  What do other people do?

Bryony

[Freya'sMum]

Gagging... is a natural reflex, and can happen with any texture/size/mushiness of food (even liquids)... and gagging is different to choking, where the windpipe is blocked and baby can't breathe... I agree with pp who suggested taking a basic baby first aid course which would give you the confidence to deal with this if it were to happen!

Eating out... we usually ask for a highchair and have a pack of parazone wipes with us so we can give the tray an extra clean then put the food straight on it, no-one has complained about the mess on the floor yet!

Ax