about to start...

[forgetmenots]

hi all - I'm about to start first tastes in the next couple of weeks, and I feel like I'm back to being thirty-odd weeks pregnant, trying to absorb as much information as possible...

DS is (now) ff - we mixed-fed for a couple of months and then ff after that. I'm not convinced he ever got much more than comfort from bf to be honest, he is a hungry boy and my supply was poor. I'm going to offer some different textures and see what he takes to rather than being too decided on either blw or traditional weaning (probably a hangover from failing to bf and wishing I'd been a bit more openminded about ff)

All the BLW advice I'm reading is for BF babies which is putting me off a bit, but i'm happy to just go ahead as I say and try different textures. Does anyone have experience of this for FF babies? Can anyone give me some simple pointers for the first few weeks about how to just take the leap? He can sit in his snug chair happily for a long time, grab things etc... I'm just a bit unsure about how much to offer and how often (so once or twice a day, but how much food? One chopped carrot? Half a steamed parsnip?) and how varied I should make these initial attempts! All help welcome whether you're blw or puree feeding (I've done a lot of reading online but as usual it is so conflicting, actual mum help would be much appreciated), TIA

[ExBrightonBell]

I don't see that being FF makes a difference to doing BLW, so I wouldn't let that put you off. Gill Rapley's explanations often reference breastfeeding, but she does clearly say that FF should not make a difference.

I did BLW with my ds, and started off offering food once a day. Don't worry about quantities at all - the idea with BLW is that they self regulate, so I offer food until they are clearly not interested. In the early days there is a lot of exploring food and not much eating! It can take a little while for them to get the idea that food is for eating. As long as they are still getting their usual milk, then this doesn't matter. I moved to 2 meals a day after a few weeks, and then to 3 by about 8 months. By about 12 months I began to introduce snacks as his number of bfeeds reduced.

I wasn't quite brave enough to give family food from day 1, so I gave ds easy things like steamed veg, soft fruit etc for a while until I got my confidence up. I then moved to giving my ds the same food as me after a while. The most important part of the process for me is to have absolutely no pressure or anxiety about what he eats - if he doesn't eat much for one meal I don't let it affect what I do for the next meal.

I really enjoyed doing BLW with my ds, and he now eats well at 16 months (although of course this could have been the same had I done spoon feeding).

HTH.

[forgetmenots]

Thanks so much exbrightonbell - it really does help - I'd seen some conflicting messages about blw and ff so that's reassuring, and your approach sounds great. I love cooking (an eating!) so I'm actually quite excited about having DS as part of that social/family thing. The idea of not being stressed about quantity really appeals. Thank you