Some questions about baby led weaning

[Mossy]

My ds is now five months' old (where has the time gone?!) and I want to be prepared for when I start weaning him.

I've some questions about baby led weaning as that sounds like a sensible way of going about it (okay, I am quite a lazy person and purees seem like a pita).

1. What age should you start? Should you wait until six months? Also, if you wait a little bit past six months is that okay (I told you I was lazy and I have a wedding to go to when he is six months and a week old, will it be okay to wait until after that?)
   
   
2. One of my rl friends started out doing BLW but she said her ds got really frustrated as he couldn't eat the food properly and was very hungry, so she gave him purees. Are some babies just not meant for blw, iyswim?
   
   
3. I am a bit nervous about him choking.
   
   
4. Are the "restrictions" the same as pureeing? i.e. no salt, no sugar, that sort of thing? Or is it quite literally that he can eat whatever I'm eating (I mean obviously I know he can't have a nice glass of beer... although I suppose it gets in his milk anyway lol!)
   
   
5. If I do BLW and he isn't that interested in foods, does it mean I'm going to be bfing forever and a day? I mean, I like the idea of extended bf, for a bit anyway, but I don't think I could sell it to my dh (whole other thread there but I'll not go there this evening!)
   
   Thank you in advance!!

[fibernie]

Look at the new forum at www.babyledweaning.com where you'll find lots of people who can answer your questions. There is a poster there (Habbibu) who took her baby to a wedding in the first week or so of blw, and they had a great time.
Good luck.

[Habbibu]

Ha! Yes, one of our very first BLW experiences was at a wedding. We'd started maybe a week before, in a bit of a random fashion. Arrived at wedding and realised I had nothing for her. Meal arrived, baby all cheerful and excited in a high chair, and she ate/played with: cucumber, broccoli, carrot, courgette, parsnip, potato and a bit of cooked peach. I have never enjoyed a wedding dinner more. Apart from my own, obviously...

Fibernie is right, try the blog/forum, but:

2. If the baby is hungry, make sure they're getting enough milk. No idea if some babies are not meant for BLW. It's possible some parents aren't...
3. Good. You should be. All parents should be, whether they have a blw 6 month old or a 3 year old who was weaned on purees but may still pick up pebbles. Aitch will tell you to do an infant resus course, and she's right. That said, it is amazing how well the babies learn to manipulate food. They will gag, but that isn't the same as choking. And you will be watching like a hawk.
4. Yes, limit salt and sugar - you can always add to taste to your own portion at the table.
5. No.

[sazzybee]

I started giving my 25 week DS food last week as he kept grabbing it off my plate. He is not brilliant yet at grabbing food off the tray on the highchair (too slippery) so I hand it to him or give him the spoon so he feeds himself and I load it iyswim. He finds this easier and is very keen and eats loads. I haven't made any purees for him but squash stuff with his spoon a bit. I'm hoping I'll be able to stop doing this pretty soon.

He loves eating and sat in his highchair mucking about with bits of broccoli and carrot for about 45 mins today.

Oh and he has gagged but only a few times. He just spat it out again and grinned at me so I don't think he finds it remotely worrying.

Although he is now eating a couple of times a day, we haven't dropped a single feed!

[Aitch]

suuuuch good advice, ladies. i don't think there's anything to add, tbh. good luck if you decide to try it, Mossy, and remember if you hate it for some reason, you can stop and do something else.

[gillhowe]

I'm going to say it again - I am a one woman crusade . I really don't think that you should be worried that BLW is going to increase the chances of choking

The alternative to BLW that most of us use is not puree, it is a combination of spoonfeeding and fingerfoods

It seems that the press etc are always bringing up this choking point when BLW comes up. Its worrying that this could put people off giving finger food

Well that's off my chest! Worrying about choking is a good thing - just learn what to do. Now DS has choked (which I think is pretty rare) bizarrely I am less worried

As to whether some babies don't suit, well I don't think anyone knows. Certainly some babies don't suit spoonfeeding. I think you just have to go for it and play it by ear.

Good luck!

[Mossy]

Thank you all very much, I will check out the forums too! Yes that sounds like a good idea, attending a resus course, of course, why didn't I think of that? [d'oh emoticon]

Sazzy I saw your photo of your ds holding some brocolli actcually he looked very at home with it!

[MadLabOwner]

Oh yes, and if you are still undecided about the start date of BLW it might help to know that I moved house when DD was 6 months and a week old (moved out of old house in the south, everything into storage, stayed with relatives in Scotland for a week until we could get into the rental house in the south, nightmare nightmare nightmare!) and so waited until we were settled in the new house before starting BLW. Had no problems waiting that extra week or so, and my HV agreed I should wait as well.
Frankly all DD did for the first few days was mouth a bit of bread so it wouldn't have made any difference really

[Aitch]

my pal didn't start til 7 months as she was on holiday travelling a lot and bf was much more convenient. baby was fine and took to blw beautifully.