BLW- did it make your baby cross?

[flowerygirl]

Did BLW with my first, no problems at all. My second gets so cross if he drops anything, then he's inconsolable! Any tips?

[DoodleCat]

Sorry haven't really got anything useful to say but didn't want to ignore this post as it must be really frustrating for you. Are you offering lots of pieces of food? Maybe if he has lots of bits available then he might not mind dropping them. Are you putting the food on his tray?

What a shame for you.

[jennifer86]

DS does seem to get frustrated sometimes. Some foods (like peas which need pincer grip) seemed to be difficult for him to get to his mouth, so that is clearly annoying for him. I now do half and half BLW and spoon feeding, so that he can enjoy playing and experimenting with food but he gets less annoyed with it.

[Lookslikerain]

How old is your DS? Mine is 9 months now, but at 6 months he too would become quite frustrated if he dropped things. A dropped corn on the cob resulted in rage! He would also get annoyed if he had too much food in his mouth and didn't know what to do with it.

I can't advise on what to do, but my DS has grown out of it now. He can deal with food in his mouth much better and dropping food over the side has become a game!

[Thurlow]

DD never liked BLW at all. The moment she understood what food was, she wanted to be spoon fed so she got the food in quicker.

She moved on to feeding herself later and it hasn't seemed to make any impact on how or what she eats as she's got older.

It's a great idea, but some kids just don't like it.

[pregnantgrump]

My little one got really frustrated trying to pick up a pear slice today having managed superbly with a cucumber stick yesterday and a spoon preloaded with thick porridge this morning. It did make me wonder if I'm expecting too much from him. He's six months this week. BLW initiated as he lunged for my crudités yesterday.

[nephrofox]

I feel sorry for the babies who are forced into the strict BLW routine. You don't expect them to hold their own milk bottles, change their own nappies or hunt for their own food, so why not help them with their journey into eating too?

I have always puree / mashed food offered on a spoon plus finger foods on the tray at each meal to play with and practice self feeding strikes a sensible balance

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Oh please. No one is going to "force" their baby down a "strict" baby led weaning approach. If the baby can't manage to pick anything up and is getting frustrated at every meal, then parents are obviously going to try a different approach. Just like those parents who have babies who absolutely refuse to be spoon fed and end up doing baby led weaning when they hadn't planned on it.

[Jw35]

Didn't work for me, baby loved it but barely ate anything and went up to 6 bottles a day instead of 4 at 7 months. I do spoon fed, finger food and a blw tea when she's not as hungry and bedtime bottle an hour later.

[cabbageleaf]

I agree nephrofox. I do know a mother who refused to change her weaning method because she believed it was the only right way of doing it. And that it's not okay to hold pieces of food up to your baby for him to take I don't know how that's going to teach your baby that food is a pleasure. There's nothing wrong with a mixture of finger foods and spoon feeding.

[flowerygirl]

It's been getting worse I've been trying a couple of times a day for a month, he's now 7 months. Every meal I put plenty out for him on his tray, whatever we have. It starts out well and he digs in but then about 5 mins later he just flies into a rage! He becomes completely inconsolable. Just now he screamed for 20 mins Even after I took him out of the highchair.

I've now introduced a few spoonfuls of fruit puree at each meal which he eats but he still gets to angry by the end! He's having 4 milk feeds a day and sleeps all night...it can't be that he's so hungry can it? Otherwise surely he'd be waking at night?

[Thurlow]

Does he get angry if you are feeding him the spoons?

[SewButtons]

Flowery, I've found some babies get cross if there is too much there for them. The LB I nanny currently will eat loads but only if I give him very small amounts at a time. I have to refill his bowl/tray/plate as he gets cross if there is too much there and just cries and won't eat anything.

[poocatcherchampion]

Agree with what sew said - too much going on

What about if you just offer him a banana /finger of toast. Into his hand if need be?

[flowerygirl]

No he doesn't get angry Thurlow if I spoon feed him but I really, really want BLW to work. Spoon feeding just feels wrong to me! I know that probably sounds selfish I keep thinking, he may be cross now but hopefully it's just a phase. I feel if I spoon feed him that's a whole other set of problems. He may like it now but soon he'll refuse certain flavours, then it'll be texture....my friend who is spoon feeding her DD is having a hard time with it. I just want him to explore and get on with at his own rate, minus the crying!

I guess that means I just have to accept the way it is now if I want to benefit in the long run.

[flowerygirl]

For breakfast I'm giving him strips of crumpet and a few pieces of satsuma. He kicks off just as much then as if I give him a full roast.

[Thurlow]

I know this might sound picky but spoon feeding really isn't something that is guaranteed to cause problems in the long run. Why would you think that?

We ended up spoon feeding DD because she, like your DS, did not take to BLW at all. She never refused flavours. She never refused textures. She has always eaten perfectly well and, once her motor skills were good enough for her to feed herself at the pace she wanted, she started to feed herself.

If your DS isn't happy with BLW, why continue strictly?

[flowerygirl]

I think maybe you're right Thurlow, I'm being too strict. It's not definite there will be fussiness if I do spoon feeding, I just have such awful memories of trying to get DD to eat from a spoon I just dread the thought of it!

I feel with BLW giving them a variety of foods each meal time, they will at least eat something. But with spoon feeding, if they won't eat what you've made it's all got to go in the bin. My friend made a load of baby friendly beef casserole for her baby and she point blank refused it. So it was all wasited. I know what I'm like, if I made some especially for DS and he wouldn't eat a drop I'd feel more frustration than I do now!

[flowerygirl]

*wasted, not wasited sorry!

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Wouldn't it be possible to spoonfeed, whilst still giving some finger food at the same time? Then your DS can choose what he wants to try?

[Thurlow]

Yes, you can do a mix. I also used to finger feed DD bits of toast, fruit etc. It wasn't the lumps and that she didn't like, it was just picking it up herself.

[fruitpastille]

Is he hungry before eating? Perhaps try giving a bit of milk before the meal so he in a better mood? I agree a mix of finger and spoon feeding is easiest. I tried proper blw with my first and he is much fussier than the other two so there is no guarantee either way! I would just give whatever you are having as a family rather than making something specially then there's less investment if it isn't eaten. You can easily blitz a bit of spag bol or whatever.

[flowerygirl]

Thanks everyone. I've just given the health visitor a call as I've been getting myself really wound up.

She has reassured me that he's eating more than I think. The getting cross after 5 mins of eating is just a sign he's had enough and I should take the food away and try again later.

Feeling much better now, thanks for all your advice :)