BLW - how many mals a day?

[paddypants]

Am on second week of BLW with 7 month old DD after a month of failed attempts with purees and baby rice. My question is how many meals should I be attempting to give her a day? I usually do two, never manage three, sometimes only manage one. She is picking up and chewing but only swallowing a very little and any swallowing is not intentional I don't think. It's pretty time consuming - an hour for each meal at least - but I am wondering should I be making more of an effort to try and do three meals a day (and never leave house again!). Am concerned that very little progress made so far. Should I be trying for more meals or just relax a bit?

Sorry -'MEALS' a day, not mals.

think how you describe your experience is exactly how it's supposed to be? they pick up and chew - any food going in at first is a bonus!

it was all about experimenting at the beginnnign for us - she tried whatever we were eating (within reason) - and gradually the volume increased as she got the hang of it and we worked out what she liked.

personally - would give her something every time you eat, plus try a few little snacks - but i would also relax - sounds like it's all going to plan!

I agree with hatsypatsy. Just offer food whenever it is around.

The first few weeks are about baby experimenting and gaining an interest in food. DS didn't really seem to 'eat' anything for what seemed like forever but he then got more and mroe interested.

He will now try anything and at 2.7 the only thing he won't eat is rice pudding (but think that might be because I overdosed on it as a craving during pregnancy.

Try having some foods around that you can offer at different times - pieces of toast, roast vegetable fingers, chunks of cheese, chunks of meat etc. I wouldn't worry too much about 'meals' for a while. Your DD will still be getting her nutrition from milk.

I am in this boat too, given up on purees. 7mo DS just won't open up but happily shoves solids in. I'm going to swot up on BLW meal ideas tonight and just offer food when I'm eating.

I presented dd with food at regular mealtimes, trying to make them vaguely meal-based, and having similar stuff myself at the same time.

Also took a couple of opportunities to give her a snack each day, though she was still bf too, during the day until 10.5 months.

The BLW 'bible' says that they may not clock on to food and what it is for (and hence not 'eat' as we know it) until 9 months, or possibly even slightly longer. So don't worry - just keep offering it.

When you say you don't manage 3 meals what is it you are finding hard. The idea of blw is it fits in more easily than spoon feeding as you are not so tied up feeding them. So I would advise offering food when you eat, even if that means bread sticks in the car seat/pushchair, and if a meal takes her longer to eat than you just get up and tidy round the kitchen while she carries on.

Also agree with hatsypatsy. We did 2 meals a day from the start cos breakfast was too much effort, then varied between 2 & 3 depending on my mood. At 11 months we do 3 meals but no snacks yet (but he's bf, so doesn't need them yet).

I'd relax too - give her 15-20 mins to play with the food (or as long as it takes you to eat yours) and then clear up. It'll probably be a while before she's swallowing, but that's absolutely fine. It's all about feeding curiosity at this stage rather than feeding hunger, despite what some HVs may tell you.

It's not just the BLW book that says that not eating solids till later is okay - I have an old (pre-BLW) baby book which says it's not unusual for some babies to refuse all solids till 12 months, and that's fine as long as they're having plenty of milk plus the usual vitamin drops.