To have a lot of questions about baby led weaning?

[lizzlebizzle33]

I have started blw with my 6 mo old, so far he has tried cucumber, pepper, toast and crumpets, eggy bread, chicken, banana and pineapple.
Well when I say tried I mean mushed around his face and hands and dropped on the floor.

I guess I'm just wondering what foods you tried your babies on first? What you found they really enjoyed.

How do you get over feeling they're going to choke on everything?

Do I have to steam Apple for him or is it ok just to give as it is?

And did you find that it was worth it or did you try blw and then end up giving baby food?

I think I'm just getting stressed at how little he's actually eating, whether it matters or not and how much food is being wasted on the floor.

(Well I say wasted, usually whatever he drops is my lunch, I'm circling like a dog 😂)

My grandson's favourite was omelette, cut into strips. He's now 14 months old and ,on the whole,a pleasure to feed . For messy food he has always let you spoon feed as long as he has a spoon too

BLW is easier than puréed. You can make the same meals for yourself and baby, and you can sit back and enjoy your own food whilst baby gets stuck in.

I will say that it can take a while for them to get the hang of swallowing anything though, but DS hasn’t just mastered it at 9 months now (his nappies can attest to this). And there is really very little off the menu which is great.

We started with steamed veggies in handheld shapes (carrots/tenderstem broccoli/ baby corn/quartered courgettes). Bananas and avocado are a great choice as they just become mush in the fingers/mouth. Then we started included strips of cheese, chicken, potatoes, etc. And just introduce other elements of your meals as you go.

Yes I had the same questions (and still have so many about weaning!). Just have fun with it. I'm trying to. I do know that milk should be the primary source until one, so I'm not too worried about making DD have three meals a day. My friends do that with their kids but also admit they are dropping milk rapidly.

This really makes me laugh, how you wean has no bearing what so ever on future eating habits. Once they hit between 8-12 months they all eat the same regardless f wether they ate abit of purée for a month or so alongside finger-foods. Yay, my kids who had purée for a few weeks where swallowing he foods up describe at 7 months even tho they also are purée before that. Honestly this BLW rubbish that people spout about the benefits is hilarious.

YayImALlamaAgain but my son did eat the same as me. Just mushed up. Why do you think that he wouldn't?

I did a mixture of puree and finger food with my girls. They liked salmon or chicken baked in the oven, also butternut squash, plain pasta, cucumber sticks, strawberries and blueberries, banana, kiwi, oatcakes with cheese melted onto them, hummus, potato wedges, broccoli... one of them quite liked asparagus as well. Oh and peas! They loved peas. The best thing is just to try stuff, if they don't eat it don't worry about it - sometimes if you eat it, they will, but otherwise don't make any comment or anything as you don't want it turning into a battle of wills once they get a bit older - and if they don't eat something, wait a week or so and try it again. I also remember reading that kids who taste brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) in the first year of life are far less fussy about them later as they seem to get used to the taste. So if you are going to puree anything, maybe a wee bit of broccoli or cauli.

I tried BLW to start with - I'd heard so much great stuff about it, went to a talk by Gill Rapley which was really inspiring, was fully prepared. But it didn't really work for us. I think the main reasons were:

1. The "eat what you're eating" thing didn't fit with our meal habits at the time - fine for breakfast, but I usually had something small like soup or a sandwich for lunch (kind of ok) and then we had our main evening meal after he went to bed, so I had to make an earlier dinner for him. Couldn't just make ours earlier as DH works late so it would be horrible by the time he got back.

2. I was going back to work at 8.5 months. DS was a staunch bottle-refuser and I was really worried that he would go to nursery and not eat or drink anything. By 8 months he still hadn't really "got" food and would only eat tiny amounts while making a huge mess. He didn't have any teeth until he was almost a year so was pretty ineffective at chewing anything remotely hard. So I figured at least if I could persuade him to be spoon fed I'd know he was getting something in. If I'd had a longer mat leave or been a SAHM I'd probably have been more relaxed about letting him just play with food for longer, but something had to give.

So we ended up introducing mashed food and spoon feeding at about 8 months. Fortunately by that stage his swallow was co-ordinated enough that we didn't have to go back to completely smooth purees and could start at stage 2. He's now 19 months, feeds himself most things quite happily and seems ok, so I think it's worked out ok. I still get very antsy around BLW evangelists though, because they make me feel like I/we "failed."

Oh, and re. the apple question, I didn't give him raw apple or carrot because they can break into bits much larger than the child intended to bite off, which can be a choking hazard.

I started with blw which worked fine. When I introduced meat she wouldn't touch it at all so did do some mushed up (not pureed). Turns out she became veggie at 4 and hasn't really eaten any meat since.

We did BLW with DD, although I always offered a spoon with things like porridge or yoghurt. She wouldn’t let it near her mouth for the first few months so I don’t think purée would have worked for us at all. She loves feeding herself with a spoon now at 12 months though.

It was a good few months before she ate more than what went on the floor, although from what I remember her nappies changed within a few weeks - it looks like they aren’t eating anything but the evidence says otherwise! I really wouldn’t stress about the amount.

We started DD off with steamed carrot and broccoli. She loved banana. I avoided apple until more recently as like a PP said there is a choking risk with bits breaking off.

Gagging is scary but it reduced quite quickly for us. I just tried to remain calm on the outside so as not to frighten her, and she always dealt with it pretty quickly.

The benefits to us were:
-Convenience of her eating the same as us
-She’s never been fussy with new flavours or textures (I’m aware that could just be her nature)
-Convenience when eating out - she would just eat from our plates
-Cheaper. I’ve never had to buy a specific baby food product (I know it’s possibly to wean with purees without buying separate baby food but most of the products for around 6 months are geared towards traditional weaning eg baby rice, jars and pouches)

The only negative I can think of is the mess. Having said that though, while my floor would be horrendous, my friend’s DD who was purée fed always required more cleaning up than DD. It can be a bit disheartening seeing the food chucked about as well.

Personally, if you’re starting weaning at 6 months I can’t see the point in purees. They are necessary for early weaning but at 6 months they don’t need them. I appreciate there are some babies / parents that just aren’t suited to BLW though, and that’s fine.

I can see the sense in the theory that it’s harder to over feed a baby with BLW (not that all traditionally weaned kids will be obese of course!), but otherwise I don’t believe that it makes a difference in the long run and all the angst about how to wean really isn’t worth it. Do what suits you. In a year or two you won’t care how you did it.

I tended to eat with a baby on my lap anyway, so when they got close to 6 months I made sure that my food wasn't salted, and when, at around 6 months old, the DC started grabbing food off my plate as ms eating it, I let them. Once they were actually eating a significant amount they moved to a highchair, but the early weeks we always on my lap with my food.

I find it really odd when people seem to think that anyone who isn't "doing" BLW, must be making all these weird time-consuming purees and putting them in ice cube trays?

Most people I know in RL did what I did: Mostly offered table foods (as long as they had no or hardly any salt), and either let them self feed or spoon fed them depending on the situation. You can add jars or fortified cereals when you are eating food that is not suitable for sharing with babies--contrary to what the BLW book claims, not all meals are suitable for this.

I always spoonfed mushy and runny foods for quite a while because I don't want my kitchen redecorated in porridge etc. Steamed veggies or boiled potatoes etc. they can have a go at feeding themselves, though I often mashed up a bit and helped them out if they were having difficulties. Meat I tended to hash up with a fork and help them with.

In traditional societies, carers pre-masticate food and feed it mouth to mouth--not suggesting we do that, obviously, just making the point that squishing tougher foods up and actively helping babies eat is for most people a very natural and instinctive behavior.

Spoonfeeding some foods depending on texture and situation is much more practical (obviously some babies will not take a spoon no matter what, but it is worth persisting as much as you can).

For a start, some foods are messier than others and sometimes you have less time to sit there for God knows how long and then have shitloads of mess to clean up (if your baby smears food everywhere and rubs it through their hair, it will take 10x as long to clean up as spoonfeeding would have taken, trust me). It is nicer and less stressful when you are out and about, if your baby will accept food off a spoon when necessary--it's awkward if a baby is flinging food everywhere in public or Aunt Marjorie's house.

And as mentioned above, it is a Godsend if your baby will not take a bottle (very very very common in exclusively BF babies)! Mine would not bottle-feed no matter what I did. But it was OK, as we started giving porridge and mashed bananas etc. from 4.5 months--that plus a little EMB and water from a cup/spoon and there was no need for bottles, super easy.

A friend of mine who was super hardcore about BLW had difficulties as her son mostly just played with food for months on end and wouldn't accept a bottle either---it was very difficult to leave him for evenings out, cinema, hairdresser etc for a long time. Would not have suited me at all.

My DD is nearly 7 months. I guess I do traditional weaning, in the sense that she gets spoon fed the first part of her meal, usually some kind of purée or mashed veg, and then I give her some bits of finger food. So far she’s eaten everything I’ve offered, although half of it goes in her bib or side of the high chair. We haven’t progressed to throwing it yet. She’s my second child though, and I did the same with my eldest and he is a great eater now at nearly 3. I think I’m more relaxed with her though, having been through it before. I feed her at the same time DS eats, so it’s handy that she will just feed herself so I can get him sorted too.

I never gave my DS raw apple before he was 1. I think with DD I might try her with it sliced extremely thinly. Same wth raw carrot. Probably not for another few months though.

I love blw. My lg loves feeding herself and her fine motor skills are fab :)

Theres nothing wrong with finger foods /purees - i thats what traditional weaning is all about. More people doing blw means that thats got lost a little. (Please dont shoot me down )

Yes theres mess. My lg feeds ger self porridge etc and can be abit endless. I figure shes going to learn at some point so the mess is inevitable. I give things as the are or how i would have. E.g porridge, yoghurt, mash potato. I know some make porridge fingers etc which helps with self feeding and mess but ibcanr be bothered with faffing.

No whoke nuts before 5, no honey before 1. Marshmallows are also a chocking risk before 5.

I grate pear into porridge. Apples etc i would steam first just to soften. Just be aware of hiw things are cut etc. I would say its took a couple months for her to eat a decent amount.

There are good groups on facebook that offer good advice. If you would like a copy of gills book , i would be happy to send it to you, just pm me.

I did puree’s/spoon feeding with first two DC, the BLW with the third, and I loved both versions. They are all good eaters, but the youngest is definitely the most adventurous, and she is far better at self-regulating. Even if it’s something she is really enjoying, like chocolate or ice cream, once she is full she will stop eating, whereas the eldest two wouldn’t with food they loved. It could just be coincidence, but if I had another child I’d definitely do BLW again; it feels more natural and is really convenient (just stick a shower curtain under the high chair and try not to think about how much is going in; the first year of feeding isn’t about filling them up-that’s what milk is for, it’s far more calorific than carrots & brocolli-it’s about learning skills and exploring tastes)

Either way of weaning is easier if you wait until the baby is ready. In the old traditional way when you started at 3/4 months you needed smooth purée then at 6 months you would start just mashing or roughly chopping food and adding finger food.
Waiting until at least 6 months means you can lose the purée altogether and start on chopped/mashed and finger foods.
I found DC2 and DC3 naturally went the BLW route, and never needed spoon feeding. My other DC were hungrier and got frustrated when they couldn't get the food in them quick enough so spoon feeding was required.

We did a mixture of purees and finger foods, and quickly moved to finger foods and lumpy food (by maybe 8mo?). Essentially from 8 mo on he ate the same as us. I'd cut meat up, but not eg carrots. He's been using the spoon on his own since 11 mo. He loves eating, which is why I'm glad we did at least some purees as well, as he really enjoyed them.

We did mostly druit and veg early on, boiled to be soft. We only stared offering chunks of meat, raw carrots etc once he had teeth. We have not given him bread, porridge, pasta etc until 1, because I wanted him to get more nutrients and flavours and not just bland carbs.

You could tey cooked apple, pear, satsuma, berries (cut in half), grapes (the same), watermelon, peppers, boiled carrots, potatoes / sweet potatoes / squashes cut into wedges and roasted or boiled, avocado, courgette...

I’ve said this before but it still makes me laugh.

As I was lecturing my (long suffering) mum on the various different feeding methods and trying to decide which one to employ, she looked at me and said “oh darling, in my day, we just called it ‘feeding the baby’”. .

I instantly relaxed and did a mix of both.

However, having resuscitated a BLW toddler in my job I have always erred towards puries.

I often puried what we ate so I’m a bit confused by the people who think only BLW allows you to share your diet .

I liked BLW because I thought it was more useful to get DS used to the mechanics of eating early, (so the picking up, holding, chewing etc) while it wasn’t so important he was getting a lot of food in as he still had so much milk. Then when he needed to be increasing his food intake he was a pro! I was lucky that as well as taking to it he decided he wanted to spoon feed himself though by 7 months so any yoghurt/porridge/squishy foods he could feed to himself (in a slow messy way but he was determined) can’t say he eats a varied and vast range of things now at 3 and tends towards the bland but he will always eat some veg and fruit and protein and carbs so he has a balanced diet. I mainly liked it because I could hand him his food and do the dishes etc while he played with food so it freed up some time for me which would have been spent feeding.

Best thing we did but my daughter got it really quickly and she has always been very independent. She wouldn’t take a spoon so BLW was sort of forced on us. I don’t think I’d have been as happy if she had got to 9/10 months and wasn’t eating anything though. There are some evangelists who take it too far. When BLW works it’s great but it won’t be for every parent or every baby.

What I liked was the flexibility, lack of faff with a blender and the fact she was enjoying different textures and seeing what food actually looked like. What I didn’t like was the initial mess. It also takes quite a bit of effort to stay within the salt guidelines so I didn’t really do the eat what you’re eating thing.

I’d say BLW was harder at the start because of the mess but easier later on.

Easy to say after two children but don't worry about it. Dd1 I blw. Mashes were put on a veg stick or handed to her on a spoon. Starting nursey at ten months saw her not eating at at all, or have any milk - a combination of illnesses picked up and teething - and she lost weight and worried me. She is a great eater now but up until she was about 15 months barely touched a thing.

Dd2 was just 'fed'. I tried her at 5.5 months but she wasnt interested (unlike dd1 who ate well for the first month or so from the same age) and then at just over six months she really took it it. She loved feeding herself finger foods but would chomp big pieces of food and then struggle to deal with them so lots of her things were mashed. Small cubes of cheese were a hit and strips of chicken. She also liked green veg mashes and white fish which could be mushed a bit on a spoon or picked up. She held the spoon herself or I fed her on her lazy days. She eats a lot more finger food now at 12 months.

I don't think the method matters for things like fussiness. Just steer clear of too much sugar, salt and then see what your baby prefers.

i probably mis-interpreted blw... or mutated it ,into-if appears to not like\want it-dont force it.. ..there was also the dog biscuit incident.imho the best anti-panic invention is www.google.co.uk/search?q=baby+food+anti+choke+net+bag&safe=strict&rlz=1C1OKWM_enGB774GB774&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD8byD4vraAhUQKewKHSXPByUQ_AUoAXoECAAQAw&biw=1366&bih=637#spd=18176282290250062205