Baby Led Weaners - please help - I want to start weaning but don't know where to begin!

[cupcakes]

dd2 is 6 months old on Monday but I can't wait till then. She has suddenly become hungry and I can no longer satisfy her with breastmilk.
I gave her a cooked carrot baton on Wednesday and she waved it around a bit but it didn't go in her mouth.

I really, really want to help her to eat and I really, really want to do BLW. Please help!

[lulumama]

www.babyledweaning.com look at the blog

remember, breast milk is still the main source of nutrition...food is a complement to teh milk, not a replacement

keep offering finger foods, and eventually DD will start munching bits , rather than just playing

it is also about exploring taste and texture, not just filling her tummy.

[cupcakes]

I do understand that, I'm just stressing today a bit because she is feeding almost every hour and getting very upset about it.

She is hungry and I'm fighting every urge to go and puree a carrot and sterilise a spoon.

Any ideas for some other finger foods I can start her on?

[reikizen]

Why don't you want to give her anything but finger food? I'm confused. What's wrong with pureed carrot?

[cupcakes]

you sound like my dh

I want her to learn to feed herself, not rely on me and a weaning spoon.

[Aitch]

lol, wanting to help her eat and BLW are a wee bit incompatible... you really just do as lulu said and leave them to it.
i think the first things dd ate were peach and apricot, because that's what i was eating at the time and she was on my lap so i held them out to see if she'd grab them, which she did.
after that it was steamed carrot etc, but as i recall dd found chunky things like broccoli good to play with.
just think of every thread you've seen on here that says 'babies are all different' etc etc, 6 months is a rather arbitrary date if you htink about it like that. i wouldn't designate 12 months as the date i buy shoes for dd and expect her to walk, would i? (well i might, but i'd have been disappointed as she didn't walk until 14 months).
so if you're doing BLW, try to keep that in mind, she might take to it quickly or she might not. just like walking, talking and every other stage of her development. best thing you can do in the meantime is give her all the tools she'll need and calmly let her get on with it.

[cupcakes]

right - deep breath, calm.

I'm going to get a banana for myself and see if she wants to share.

how do you cope with the hunger whilst she's learning her new skills?

[Aitch]

i wonder if she's just goinig through a growth spurt and your milk is taking a wee while to catch up? if so, a day or two of feeding every hour should right your supply, shouldn't it? [knows nothing about exclusive bfing]
break out the spoons if that's what you want, of course. there is Nothing Inherently Wrong with carrot puree, it's just not what BLW is about. i don't have time for a discussion with anyone today, really.
i hope you get on okay, cupcakes, remember a week is a long time in a baby's life, things could be very different very shortly.

[Aitch]

well, again the hunger isn't relevant to the BLW, strictly speaking. how can it be, she doesn't know that you were intending to start BLW. it's more likely a growth spurt and your milk is catchign up (i think). if she was scoffing down carrot puree or carroty finger foods, she'd still need lots of milk to get her through a spurt as calorifically neither is particularly dense.
good luck with the banana, they are slippery little buggers. if you see what look like black threadworms in her nappy tomorrow you'll know (to your horror) that the banana made it through. i nearly phoned my mum in tears when i first saw them, but it's just banana poo...

[cupcakes]

thanks aitch - I don't mean to swamp you with BLW questions.
dd2 is definitely hungry. She doesn't necessarily seem the right age for blw - she doesn't really hold much and doesn't mouth things much (other than her thumb sucking). And she can't sit up by herself either. It could well be that I just need to increase her milk.

What's the latest that anyone on here has started weaning?

Now that I've declared I want to do this I'm going to feel a big fat failure if I don't.

[cupcakes]

just read your second post (you must get fed up repeating all this to people like me ). I think I'm being swayed by my friend who started weaning her baby (at 4 months) - baby then immediately started sleeping again and her hunger calmed down. I know that's just one baby and I know that dd2 is better off with more breastmilk as opposed to a half carrot but it's hard getting that through to me (I weaned my first two the old fashioned way - does it show? ).

[yogimum]

I did both at six months. If my son doesn't want to eat off the spoon he pushes it away. It gives him lots of variety. He has lots of finger food aswell. It hasn't slowed down his development by me feeding him. He loves yoghurt, a bit difficult for him to feed himself.

[Aitch]

oh i'm super-happy to answer questions about BLW, just not to defend it, that's all.
tbh, if you can rid yourself of the whole idea of failing that would be really useful. remember, the goal is to have a happy baby with a healthy attitude to food, as well as a happy mum, regardless of how you get there. it's not a challenge, it's just a developmental stage...

for me, i liked the laziness of BLW, the fact that i didn't have to spoonfeed and could eat my own dinner in peace and everyone could enjoy our meal. i'm forever bobbing up and down from the table anyway, grabbing water, condiments etc, i can't imagine having to be stuck spoon feeding my baby. lots of people find it a downright pleasure, but i don't think i would have past the first few exciting weeks.

there may be some other benefits to BLW, but no-one really knows so at the moment you just have to weight it up with yourself. will your anxiety at if your baby doesn't eat actually ruin your own pleasure in food, for example? some would say (and i'd probably agree with them) that having an anxious mother around food is less beneficial than one who feels better knowing that she has given her child a set amount on a spoon. long-term, who's to say what's better?

for me, it wasn't an problem, i don't have issues with food, i knew i could really not bother about her intake and i thought that was a blessing. but not everyone feels that way, or has such an uncomplicated relationship with food.

the funny thing is that in a few months time in all likelihood, your baby will be eating solids just fine and you'll never even think about it again.

[cupcakes]

if I start on spoons now it won't necessarily be difficult to introduce more finger foods in a couple of weeks then?

Can I give her things like bread now?

sorry if am being annoying dumbass.

[Aitch]

not at all, but it's you could say that she'll have to learn how to manage finger food at some point and it might as well be now. toast is better than bread to begin with as it goes less claggy so is easier to swallow down. bread crusts are good for the same reason.
i really don't mind answering your questions at all, it's just i can't be arsed defending the whole idea of BLW to people who are Perfectly Happy with what they've done to wean their children.

[yogimum]

Not in my experience and I have weaned several children in 20 years of nannying.

[cupcakes]

aitch - I keep cross posting..

I don't know why I've got so worked up about this. I'm normally fairly laid back about everything. And god am I lazy - that's really why it's been so easy for me to wait till 6 months. I would love her to feed herself as soon as possible.
I don't want anyone to feel they need to debate whether I should or shouldn't BLW, I am just struggling to know how to begin. I suppose I saw it as a 'today thou shall eat solids' moment (though not through choice, it's ds's birthday today and he has a huge 5 hour party at the zoo on Sunday, I could so do with putting this off a bit longer) and suddenly started panicking that actually it could take weeks before she actually started consuming anything.

Bear with me, I'm so not usually like this.

[yogimum]

as its been mentioned before, as long as she is still having her milk just experiment, it shouldn't be chore but an enjoyable experience.

[Tommy]

reading all this with interest as I am planning to try this with DS3.

Just a point cupcakes, it is very hot at the moment so your dd might just be thirsty at the mo as well?

[Aitch]

i know plenty of people who waited til 7 months plus, because they were very happy with bfing and just felt that their baby wasn't ready. not just blwers, either.
i think the 6 month thing is a bit arbitrary myself, if my b aby picked up food and ate it in front of me at 5 months, that seems to me a clear indication of readiness. likewise in the other direction, if they don't. but that's just my opinion, of course.

[yogimum]

good point tommy. I wasn't convinced either that weaning would make my son sleep any better.

[cupcakes]

ok - here's my plan:

1.I am going to keep bf on demand.

2.At mealtimes (when she sits with us in her highchair anyway) I will pop a bit of our food (if suitable) on her tray ans see how she goes.

3.I will relax.

[Aitch]

exactly. tbh i think i did that for about the first month... it took until eleven months before she was doing a three meals a day thing. (largely because of my lack of organisation...

[kels666]

The same happened with my ds. He really was just too hungry to do BLW exclusively (dropping centiles and feeding 24/7)So I gave him a bit of mashed stuff - banana, avacado etc. and the minute he hit 6 mths straight onto finger foods. I think he had a bit of toast to chew before 6 mths - just to get him used to the idea.

[kels666]

Sorry, correction - he had a rice cake before 6 mths! (toast contains gluten and is therefore unsuitable).

[reikizen]

Very interesting! I've never heard of BLW, what is the thinking behind it?