Aaaitch, oh aitch, put the baby down a minute, lovely as she is, VS and Scorpio need you!!

[VictorianSqualor]

So. That magical age has arrived.
Scorpiolette is nearly 24 weeks and Squalorite has just turned 24 weeks.

I'm all clued up on the baby gut 17-26 weeks thingy, and know what goes on blah-de-blah.

But we have a couple of questions.

Will they really not eat the food we give them if not ready? So does that mean we can start now?

We've both been reading the blog (shameless plug) but somewhere it says you didn't give babybear tomatoes, why is this?

Cheese? Can we give it grated?

[scorpio1]

Thanks

Pasta shapes? Grated apple?

[LittleMyDancingForJoy]

hello! I'm not Aitch but I thought I'd stick my oar in anyway.....

In our case DS spent most of the first few weeks mouthing and playing with food anyhow, so ready or not, very little was going in.....certainly not amounts that would upset a very nearly ready gut. We waited till the magic six months though, and in fact DS really wasn't ready for food in any large amounts until about 10 months.

Don't know about why not tomatoes - grated apple was interesting, mostly played with although some sucking went on, we found very ripe pear and very steamed carrots worked best as first foods. it's the right season for lovely pears, too!

don't see why not cheese, although it's quite sticky on the mouth, so not sure how well it would go down. rice cakes are brilliant.

have lots of messy fun!

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

I'm not aitch, but know that some people hold off the tomatoes as they are common thing to be allergic to.

I gave grated cheese, pasta twists good - easy to hold and sauce clings to them well.

DS's first taste was when he sat on my lap a bit before the magic 26 weeks and I accidentally let him knaw on my banana, I think a smidge went through as it turned up in the nappy next day... He's 2 now and is a banana fiend.

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

Oh yes, really ripe juicy pears - just gave him a whole one with a bite out of it and let him get on with it

[LittleMyDancingForJoy]

oh and small pasta shapes sound like a good idea, slip down easily without choking anyone, especially if well cooked.

[VictorianSqualor]

DS2 has had toast, thanks to DS1, but just gummed it til it fell apart and I noticed
He also has raw carrot for his teething but two teeth have just cut through so surely the choking hazard is worse now as he can tear things rather than just suck them?

[VictorianSqualor]

Also, I can see this thread starting with tons of 'I'm not Aitch but...' threads

[scorpio1]

What do you do about the gagging thing? that would really freak me out.

[LittleMyDancingForJoy]

DS only gagged a couple of times and it was over before I could get panicked. I didn't put the harness on his high chair so I could haul him out and turn him upside down easily, but never had to really.

I think you can tell when they're really in trouble. And if you're careful with using soft food to start off with (steer clear of raw apple unless grated) there's very little chance of them choking.

They get good at the chewing thing pretty quick.

Raw carrot a bit dangerous as well, if they've got teeth, so I always steamed until really soft.

[ruddynorah]

i'm not aitch either but..

the tomato thing is to do with it having high potential for allergy. a lot of the time this is nothing more than a rash round the mouth. a lot of people can only tolerate tomatoes cooked.

a lot of people also avoid strawberries and kiwi for similar reasons.

i avoided all these until dd was 1. it wasn't a big deal though, i think she possibly did have a strawberry sooner. just had it at the back of my mind.

cheese, yes grate it if you like. might be tricky to pick up though. a stick of it would probably be easier. better still cheese on toast. cheese in a lump can be quite claggy.

apple yes grate it, again, may not be able to pick much up for a while. best give it in a big pile rather than scattered iyswim, better chance of grabbing a handful.

have you looked on youtube for babyledweaning btw? lots of good videos to give you an idea of what to expect.

enjoy!

[scorpio1]

Mimi is still gummy.

[cmotdibbler]

I seem to remember that miniAitch1 reacted to tomatoes in a blotchy way.

I just chucked lumps of cheese at DS and he would gnaw at them.

Big pasta shapes are better than little ones as easier - the sort that look like wheels are good, as are the tubes.

DS also loved a ripe pear - I'd do the one bite and hand it over thing

[ruddynorah]

with the gagging yes you must expect it for a while while they're learning.

i used to do big exagerated chewing faces going nyam nyam nyam at dd iyswim. reminded her what to do kind of. and forces you not to have a panic face which then panics them more.

[cmotdibbler]

Oh, and I never grated apple - but you do need to give big pieces, not slices - that way they just scrape bits off with their teeth

[scorpio1]

will they not just shove the whole pasta tube in their mouth though?

thanks all btw

[ruddynorah]

i didn't give whole apple until past a year. and then i gave a whole apple, not pieces. so she really could only scrape at it.

[ruddynorah]

yes they probably will scorpio and then pop it out again probably...if they even manage to pick up such a slippery thing. fusilli is easier for them.

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

It's worth knowing the difference between gagging and choking tho - if they seem to be having trouble breathing, go pale/blue etc, then it's choking and you need to remember your basic first aid stuff.

Mostly however, it will be the red in the face and retching, which although a bit scary the first few times, is just a natural reaction. DS still v occasionally does it now, mainly when he's tried to deep throat a banana.

[ruddynorah]

baby eats pear

[ruddynorah]

apple, see how they scrape?

[scorpio1]

fusilli is twist, yes?

i am a 3rd time mum but have never blw (or bf) before so may as well know nothing anymore!

i read somewhere dry weetabix, i like the sound of that. toast ok? scrambled egg? no allergies in family.

[ruddynorah]

very early days, see they drop lots and a lot pops out

[scorpio1]

oh yes, i see the scrape thing, sort of suck scrape! thankyou

[ruddynorah]

i'd add a little milk to weetabix. dry is just vile surely? don't make it to wet or they'll never pick much up.

toast fine.

cooked egg fine if no allergies, it's another that some people avoid until they're one.

main thing is no salt added. and add fat where you can. you don't want them having a ton of fibre either. so add cream or marscapone to things.

[cmotdibbler]

Yep, shove it in, gum it, pull it out, look at it, gum it some more....

The tubes are bigger than a twist, so are easier to pick up at first as they can grab it with the whole hand, rather than twists which disappear into their palm

Toast, scrambled egg (just leave it extra lumpy) both good. Really, anything the rest of the family eat if no added salt - you'd be amazed what you can eat with your fingers. That includes yogurt and custard btw