A few BLW questions for a confussed newbie.

[TribbleWithoutACause]

We've started doing this with DS, I quite like it as it means less faff with the old purees [lazy arse]. But I have a few questions,

1, What kind of butter do I use with DS? I use the 'light' versions of spreads or 'I can't believe it's not butter'. I know we're supposed to give him what we're eating, but I don't really want to give him all the processed tat I eat.

2, If I'm out and about, do I give him a puree or carry some finger foods out with me? I've given him the occasional loaded spoonful of puree alongside whatever is on his tray to sort of get him used to spoons and dipping. I figure though that the whole point is to let him get on with it in his own time though so filling him up on puree would kind of defeat the object. I'm a little conflicted on that one.

3, Meat and fish; As a family we don't really eat a lot of meat or fish just because I don't like it and am allergic to certain types of fish. However I want to give him stuff like this, can I give him sandwich ham and chicken? Also you can get chunks of takeaway chicken in the fridge section, can I give him that or would I be better just getting some fresh stuff and doing it that way.

4, I use a lot of ready made sauses for stuff like curry and pasta sauses, can I give him these at all or should I just start whipping up my own. I can make my own pasta sauses but curry would be a whole other thing altogether.

5, Do I introduce each meal times slowly or do I just sit him down with me at each meal time? The book wasn't very clear on that one.

6, What do I do if DS is opening his mouth expecting me to put the food in for him, he was doing it today so I showed him how to pick up the spoon and dip it in his tea. Is this right to do? He's never done this before, he's mostly just got on with picking things up and popping them in his mouth.

7, What the hell do I give him for breakfasts?

Sorry I know this is a lot, but we're new to this and I'm just going to throw myself on the combined wisdom of mumsnet.

1. We have a unsalted butter for dd3 (labelled!)

2.We had a picnic today & took a tiny cheese spread sandwich & fruit but if we eat in a cafe etc we share.

3.No idea. Only done salmon so far & she picked it off & threw it!

1. We(dh) makes our own pasta sauces , curry is a bit of a mix of packet/ fresh but not gone there yet. She had a tiny tiny taste of shop pesto the other day but I'm getting dh to make some!

5.we've gone to 2 meals v quickly, breakfast is a bit hit& miss. If we are eating dd3 has something but when I'm up late & don't she has only had milk. I'm making a conscious effort this week as it's been worse with older ones off!

1. I'd leave him to it! Just hold something out for him to take, maybe the spoon confused him?

1. So far fromage frais is her favourite. Plain sometimes with fruit. Toast isn't going too well , neither did weetabix or porridge.

I'm scared of the salt factor & obsessively checking labels. Dd2 has started too, quizzing dh on dd3s tea last night making sure there was no soy sauce on it!

1. We use real butter, sometimes unsalted but not always

1. Haven't yet got to the stage where she needs food to take out but I would go for bread, breadsticks, fruit, cheese type stuff

1. I've avoided giving dd2 prepacked ham and chicken, though she has had stuff cooked by me. The pre packed stuff has all kinds of stuff added so I would avoid for now.

1. Easy curry sauce: tikka paste, mix a spoonful or two in with yoghurt, marinade meat, cook in oven on high for about 10 mins. Meanwhile cook onion/other veg in a couple more spoonfuls of paste, add carton of pasatta and coconut milk. Bring to boil, add meat and reduce heat. Avoid jars. For pasta sauce use pasatta with some herbs and garlic, dead easy (I add loads of veg and whizz up for veg phobic dd1.

1. Sit with you at each meal but don't get too worried if he misses one due to sleep etc

1. Blw is blw theoretically, so if they want spoon feeding they are still leading you. Dd2 prefers being spoonfed for proper meals (though she will self feed finger food) which is annoying actually as dd1 just got stuck in, and I'm fed up with having cold meals myself! Don't get too hung up on spoon/no spoon.

1. Weetabix, porridge, pancakes, toast, banana, croissant, cheese, hot cross bun. Don't worry too much about 'breakfast food' if they want broccoli for breakie well, why not?

This is all just based on my experience with dd1 (there's a pic of her in the BLW!). Dd2 hasn't taken to it as well as she is too hungry and pants to be fed!

1. I use unsalted normal butter, but I don't always use butter. I have used nut butter, guacamole, soft cheese and fruit puree as alternatives on toast.

1. I feed DS whatever comes to hand usually. A corner of my sandwich, some apple segments (like you get in packets from Boots or whatever with sandwiches) I always carry some form of snack for if I get caught short. I tend to use the Organix goodies range (toddler snacks) he likes the gingerbread men, and the corn snacks (like wotsits without the crap) or baby rice cakes, he's also really into the oat bars, so I tend to have one knocking about in my bag.

1. I tend to avoid processed meat because of the salt content, I would definitely avoid ham. DS really got on well with some meat from a chicken thigh. You could bake one, keep it in the fridge and use it for a couple of days. He also likes mince. I don't worry too much about meat though, he gets a taste but mostly he is getting protein from dairy, eggs and bm for now.

1. I would be checking the salt content of the ready made sauces very carefully, I think they would probably be too high. What you could do is put some cooked veg/pasta etc to one side for baby before you add the sauce in.

1. Whatever works, he will probably not want to be left out, even if he doesn't eat anything he will want to sit up and play.

1. I take BLW as an ethos, the point is that the baby chooses what goes in his mouth, spoons are fine, but I won't cajole, trick or pester him into taking it. DS can self feed with a spoon loaded with weetabix, but yoghurt would go everywhere. I tend to load the spoon and hold it out for him, he will either take it off me, or lean forwards to eat off it. Sometimes I will offer him small mouthful sized bits in my fingers, again, sometimes he will take it off me and eat it (or throw it) sometimes he eats from my hand.

1. Weetabix (makes a thick mush that sticks well to the spoon for him to self-feed) porridge (the same but can also be made really thick and allowed to cool on a plate and be cut into fingers, like milky flapjack - I put raisins and cinnamon in it for flavour), omlette or pancake in strips, toast spread with boiled egg/nut butter/fruit puree/mashed banana/soft cheese or just butter and fruit (I always include some fruit alongside his brekkie). In a pinch or a rush I'll give him a Goodies oat bar.

Good questions, and some good ideas thanks, was struggling with ideas for days out too

I have another (little) question - was planning to do risotto tonight but we normally use powdered stock cubes and not sure they are ok? Any ideas what to use instead? Am too -lazy- busy to make stock from scratch

You can get salt free / very low stock cubes... boots and Heinz do ones marketed as baby food, Kallo also do them (our local Asda stock them). Depending on what you are cooking you might want to season your portion after serving the baby one.

Salt is the main barrier to the 'just give them what you eat' approach to weaning. Generally, processed foods eg curry sauce do have lot of salt in them and are best avoided with little ones. We use a little low salt stock - all the time now as our taste buds have changed - or no stock at all in many recipes.