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Weaning

Can I start BLW like this?

12 replies

crestfall · 19/03/2014 09:51

I have been reading things about BLW and I like the idea that you just give the baby what you are having and let them get on with it. I am bf on demand and my baby is now 5 months. I intend to wait until the recommended 6 months but am keen to have a clear idea of how it's going to work (as am quite excited about it!)

I plan to just carry on bf as I do now, as and when she wants it. Then at each meal time sit her in the high chair with the rest of us and give her some of what we are having (but without salt). As we have a toddler too we will try to just eat healthy unprocessed foods as a whole family.

If I do this should I also in addition give her snacks? And should I start more gradually with her only doing 1 meal a day or just let her get stuck in every meal?

Sorry if this is all information that I could easily find out with a bit of reading around, I am very sleep deprived and my tired brain can't cope with sifting through loads of pages of reading at the moment.

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addictedtosugar · 19/03/2014 10:06

We gad a toddler also. Basically, if toddler eat, and baby was awake, he was offered food (or milk if I didn't want to eat!)
Food was often used as a toy in the early days, but both eat really well now at very nearly 3 and 5.

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CornishYarg · 19/03/2014 10:20

That's exactly what we did. So some days DS joined us for all three meals (although he wouldn't necessarily eat at every meal!) and other days he might only join us for one or two.

I didn't bother offering snacks until nearly a year. He was still having milk feeds mid morning and afternoon so they were his "snacks".

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Eletheomel · 19/03/2014 12:10

That sounds like a good plan, only thing I would say is that initially we just offered him food once a day (at evening meal) as he was often napping over lunchtime and got up late so missed bfast anyway. After a week or so, we started offering lunch and dinner and it's only since he was about 8 months that we started offering bfast aswell (but thats mainly because he's not really a morning baby, so the few times we offered bfast before then he wasn't interested).

We only offer a snack if DS1 is having something mid-afternoon (as DS2 will usually try and take it off him!)

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Splatt34 · 19/03/2014 18:00

DD2 stole my cheese on toast at 5months 12 days & there was no looking back. she would get really upset if we were eating and she wasn't. So she was be offered 3 meals a day from the start. She is now 9 months & is gobbling up pasta and sauce with her sister as i type! When I mentioned to health visitor she said the gradual building up of number of meals per day isn't necessary if you wait til 6 months & it's slightly old fashioned advise.

I BLW with my now 3 year old too and have no idea why you would do it any other way.

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Indith · 19/03/2014 18:05

That's how we've done it with dcs 2 and 3 too. I didn't do snacks for a while though. if baby was awake at family meal time the baby gets offered food. Sometimes he ate it, sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he ate 3 meals a day, sometimes he didn't eat any.

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crestfall · 19/03/2014 18:46

Great thank you all, can't wait to get started! Smile

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Toowittoowoo · 20/03/2014 09:10

I was thinking of doing this too as DD1 is 3 yrs old so most of our food can be easily adapted to DD2 when she is ready to wean.

I was wondering though - did you offer food when the baby woke if they slept through meal time or did you just offer milk as usual?

I weaned DD1 in a very structured way and although we both loved it, it was a lot of hard work that I don't think I can cope with this time around!

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CornishYarg · 20/03/2014 12:07

Toowitt if DS slept through a meal, he just missed that meal in the early weeks of weaning. He ate very little anyway so it was no great loss to him! As he got older and ate more, I made sure he got all three meals every day but tbh, by that stage his naps were more regular so it was easy to plan meals around them.

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TheNightIsDark · 20/03/2014 12:09

Can you give them anything? DS is 6 months and refusing the purees I've made him. He's tried toast and banana and loved them but I haven't don't BLW before and am clueless!

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CornishYarg · 20/03/2014 13:13

Anything except honey and whole nuts. (And maybe some obscure fish; can't remember off the top of my head!) Just watch the salt content so don't add salt when cooking until you've removed their portion.

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addictedtosugar · 20/03/2014 13:36

yarg has summed it up: no whole nuts, no honey, and watch the salt content.
Also, no diet food - full fat all the way.

btw, yarg is the most yummy cheese in the whole world. Just wish I could find it more often up here.

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TheNightIsDark · 20/03/2014 14:56

Brilliant. Thank you. I don't add salt when cooking anyway Grin now I have an excuse when FIL moans.

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