BLW - for the first time DS has actually enjoyed mealtimes

[vnmum]

my ds is 8 months and after starting weaning the traditional way with purees at 5.5 months we reached a point about a month ago where he was refusing most feeds.

i looked up baby led weaning and decided to give it a try.

i am converted. it was the first day today and for breakfast ds had rusk and toast. i normally have to force feed him a teaspoon then he doesnt want anymore, but today he thoroughly enjoyed his mealtime. he laughed, screached and played with his food. the same happened at lunch and tea.

i just wanted to pass this good news on as i am so relieved he is now enjoying eating

[CorrieDale]

awwwwww, that's lovely!

[vnmum]

yeah i am so pleased. i no longer have to do battle. it was lovely to see him relaxed and enjoying himself. lets hope it continues to go ok

[aitch71]

that's fantastic news, vnmum, it's so cute seeing them get their fists round whatever you give them. how exciting for you both. oh, but be prepared for the fact that tomorrow he might not be fussed. i find my baby eats loads some days and nothing the next so don't stress if he's not interested sometimes.

[vnmum]

thanks aitch, i am struggling at the moment to find out what foods i should give, should they be raw or cooked etc. today he as mouthed some toast for breakfast, spread porridge all over his hands (he enjoyed that), gagged at the taste of baby carrot and mushed up broccoli and cauli. none of these he actually swallowed. i do get abit worrid that he doesnt seem to be eating anything but he wasnt eating anything off a spoon, just getting upset at the process. im just trying to chill about it all and let him take the lead and let him bf as often as he wants.

im now waiting to see what comments my hv says tomorrow when i see her to get ds weighed as she had told me to cut back on milk to get ds to take more solids, so we may have an interesting discussion tomorrow. im just going to inform her that it is reccommended and researched by the baby friendly initiative and see what she has to say to that. i will keep you informed as i may be posting with more questions about blw as the time goes on

[aitch71]

hi vnmum,
at the risk of coming across like an avid self-publicist... you might want to take a look at babyledweaning.blogware.com/blog
i've been tryingto keep a diary of what the baby has as finger foods, and when i get a minute i'm going to put recipes up there too. i'm supposed to be doing it with a friend but she's been on holiday so it's quite a monologue at the moment.
and there is a yahoo message group which is very good. groups.yahoo.com/group/B-LW/ (lots of good links that will help with the HV)
and quite a few people here too who will be able to help...
i think the thing to remember is that the baby probably knows what he is doing, food-wise. one of the things i like best about BLW is that at least if you give them a stick of steamed pepper and they don't like it you know not to give them it again for a while. whereas if it was mashed with something else you couldn't necessarily identify what it was that they didn't like. your baby might just not fancy much food yet, in which case he'll be absolutely fine with milk for the next few months. Not sure why the HV would advise cutting back on feeds, actually, but maybe someone else will come on and explain the logic of forcing the child into eating through sheer hunger...?

[Iklboo]

We've just started giving DS 'separates' - food like we'd have it, not all mashed together - and he seems to be enjoying it even more.

[vnmum]

hi aitch71, if you're out there i have a question for you?

today ds did well at breakfast and ate some rusk, had nothing for lunch. i was starting to worry as he hadnt eaten anything as such for a few days.

tonight for tea he had pork and potato, what a difference, he loved it and couldnt get it into his mouth fast enough. thats what caused the problem. he got upset on two occasions when he seemed to put too much in his mouth and didnt know what to do with it. he gagged, coughed and cried lots. then didnt want anything else to eat.

do you think he could have scared himself by putting too much in his mouth and not knowing what to do?

on another good note, he ate nearly half a banan that i shared with him, thoroughly enjoyed it. he had previously gagged and seemed to hate banana when i gave it him mashed, and i did try a few times.

[aitch71]

possibly, or possibly he just got tired and was over it by then. did you give him some water after he gagged? i always think that it must hurt their wee throats somewhat so i give DD some water just to clear anything.
if you gave him a nice big bit of pork then ideally he wouldn't be able to do much more than suck and chew at it (the first time i gave DD a bit of pork i cut it too thin, funnily enough i just updated the blog with the pork story last night, so she did get a bit chokey). for guidance Gill Rapley the BLW expert suggests a piece the size of their fist.
as regards potato, i've given her quartered jersey royals with the skins on so they don't break up too easily, or roast potato wedges which she sucks at til the soft middle bit comes out.
as a side issue, we've just got through a really sticky patch with her sleeping (only lasted about three days but i was fur-eakin' out) and i discovered that at 7 months old she actually needs to finish eating no later than 5pm so that she is ready for her bedtime milk at 6.30pm. that's an hour earlier than she used to go to bed.
so if he was crying after his dinner, i'd have a think about whether or not he might have been a wee bit tired cos i think a gagging incident can take it out of them a bit...
anyway, hopefully he'll be back on track tomorrow, but if not don't worry, just take it slowly.

[vnmum]

thanks aitch. the prok i gave was quite big but he had two teeth and was really chomping (definately not a vegetarian!) and i think that might have been the reason. it also was a late tea as he had had a late nap and seen as he was still up when we ate i thought id try him with something. it doesnt seem to have bothered him though. he had banana and apple for breakfast, and new potato, sweet potato, pepper, tomato and yoghurt for lunch. he didnt eat much but enjoyed tasting them.

[aitch71]

blimey, you and ds are doing really well by the sounds of things...

[vnmum]

is it normal for them to get frustrated that they want to eat things but havent quite worked out what to do with them? DS is doing this quite alot now, he shovels stuff in, then gets frustrated when its too big and he cant swallow it.

he had roast beef dinner last night and ive never seen a baby love it so much. cauli, broccoli, potatoes and meat were just being shoved in left right and centre, he just hasnt quite got the chewing to swallow, either that or the veg was a little too al dente. he has only got 2 teeth though

[aitch71]

i think it is normal, especially when they are just getting started. i found that DD needed things quite overcooked to begin with, and sometimes i would sit her on my lap and hold onto the food so that she could grab my hand and pull it towards her. it was almost like she could control the amount she ate better with my hand than with hers, iykwim?
it didn't last longer than the first week, if that...