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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

6 mth old today and first day of BLW-anyone want to start BLW journey with me ?

306 replies

fakeblondie · 31/12/2010 00:18

I`ve never done this before even tho dc 4 !
DD1 18yrs
DD2 15 yrs
DS1 7 years
DD3 1/2 !

Totally breastfed to date and very content.
Allowed her to help herself to my plate tonight where i ensured she could reach soft green beans if she wanted to.
She loved it-made a mess-squashed it and mushed and and ALMOST sucked it !
Well thats my experience so far !
Am about a quarter way thro eading the BLW book and very confident that she`s totally fine just breastfeeding for quite a while yet as omly have to look at her to see that nature is working wonders x
Bit scared about the whole lumps bit tho but willing to give it a good go x

OP posts:
Original poster
fakeblondie · 05/01/2011 22:58

mylifeischaotic- how about thick porridge mixed with dc usual milk-the blw cookbook i have has a recipe for porridge fingers ??? Do you want me to find it and post it ?

Also what about weetabix or oatabix-just put a really small amount of usual milk on and let it soak in-then leave with hands in bowl to have fun and MAYBE get some in mouth !

OP posts:
MyLifeIsChaotic · 06/01/2011 09:55

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MyLifeIsChaotic · 06/01/2011 09:57

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HelenLG · 06/01/2011 10:47

Can I join in?

I think I just had a heart attack...

Me and DS were sitting on the floor having some apple (I was eating and he was sucking a finger on it) when he suddenly off a cm size chuck of it, skin and all...

We then continued to sit there calmly for about 20 minutes whilst he sucked, gagged, sucked, gagged, sucked, spat on the skin, sucked, then rolled over to go and play with something else.

I was totalled panicking that he was going to choke and wanted to dive straight in and hook the apple out, but I left him to it. I check his mouth afterwards and just took out about a 1/4 of the chunk at the end cos he wanted to go off and play.

Was I suppoed to do something different? Next time I wont leave the skin on me thinks...

MyLifeIsChaotic · 06/01/2011 11:09

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putthekettleon · 06/01/2011 11:30

MyLifeIsChaotic - I'm a veggie and it's my understanding that while quorn won't do babies any harm it's not an ideal food for them as it is low fat and high fibre, so quite filling- good for adults, but babies need more fat at this age. See this page DD1 is 2.8 and I still only occasionally give her quorn.

Was just nosing for ideas on finger foods for DD2 (6 months) but thought I'd answer your question! She's on purees but I'm contemplating giving her some chunks of food to suck. What do you do with toast? Chunky fingers with butter on?

MyLifeIsChaotic · 06/01/2011 12:10

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applejelly · 06/01/2011 16:24

Hello I'm about to start a sort of partial BLW as DS (6 months) really not interested in being spoonfed! So will be watching this thread for support as I'm also a bit worried about lumps/choking.

Going to give him some toast in a minute - will report back Grin

catdoctor · 06/01/2011 20:43

Another newbie here

Started BLW a few days ago - was dithering which route to go down, messing about with baby rice in the mornings - bab just STARING at my food, so I've just gone for it and it's HILARIOUS!

So far gummed with enthusiasm - carrot, squash, broccoli, pepper, pear, apple, cream cheese sarni, oatibix - seen various evidence in nappies!

My bab isn't 6 months till next week but he was 13 days overdue and he seems physically very ready for this to me - is even managing to get the right end of a loaded spoon in his mouth - though most of the contents drop off.

First strop today - given melon pieces - eyeballed the quarter melon on my plate and not happy till he'd had a chance to gum that.

This all seems very natural to me - anyone had any problems except for the gagging?

What comments are you getting from friends/family?

bsmirched · 06/01/2011 21:41

Hello everyone!

Another one new to it all here! DS has just turned 6 months and has so far had a go at clementines, banana, cheese, toast with butter, kiwi, roast potato, carrot, bread sticks chicken and ham.

Toast seems to be a huge favourite at the moment.

My mum was very sceptical, but after seeing him suck on a finger of cheese and really chew on a bread stick, I think she's coming round!

Gherkinsmummy · 06/01/2011 22:15

Hello everyone,

Another newbie here. We were sort of giving DS (6 months tomorrow) bits of food but today I gave him slices of banana, apple and bread and he had lots of fun mushing it all up and chucking it on the floor. He's had parsnip, grapes and satsuma as well. Do you leave the skin on satsuma segments or take it off?

All my NCT buddies are pureeing, so its nice to have an alternative viewpoint. Plus when I tried DS with some baby cereal he smeared it everywhere and then cried. But happily ate a grape when offered. QED!

alfonzo · 06/01/2011 22:37

I'm loving this thread! So timely - my dd has started BLW this week. It is nice to see that other MNers are having a similar experience to me - a lot of sucking, gagging and perhaps only bits and bobs going down? Does anyone know how long it takes for them to get the hang of it? So far she has had: cucumber (a big hit as nice and cold from the fridge for teething, and also the skin keeps it intact so she could just suck the soft bit), cheese, toast soldiers, carrot, banana, pear. The only food she majorly turned her nose up at was broccoli! She will put EVERYTHING in her mouth (food or toy), but with the broccoli she just screwed up her face, squished it in her hand and smeared it on the highchair a bit!

HelenLG · 06/01/2011 23:20

As far as I've got into the BLW book, it suggests that they should start to get the hang of it by 8 months, but each baby is different.

MyLifeIsChaotic · 07/01/2011 08:28

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applejelly · 07/01/2011 11:30

Well toast was a success although DH & I were watching on tenterhooks and not really enjoying it at all! Hopefully we'll relax about it soon as DS seemed perfectly happy & there was no gagging.

I was going to ask about cucumber alfonso - skin on or off? DS has 2 bottom teeth so he could chomp the skin I suppose.

We tried loaded spoons of ready brek this morning. What a mess Shock But I would say roughly 1/3 went in the mouth which is more than I was expecting.

alfonzo · 07/01/2011 11:38

Hi applejelly
I cut the cucumber into a stick and kept the skin on because it enabled dd to get a good grip, and then she just gummed and sucked the soft bit. None of the skin went in, but she's got no teeth yet! The other food item that was similar to this and easy for her was slices of pear. I think the whole skin and then soft pulp combo is good. Am going to try roast pot and parsnip tonight, poss with a bit of chicken.
Loaded spoons aren't really working for us yet, maybe it's because I'm a bit OCD and find it hard to sit back and watch the mess!

Quenelle · 07/01/2011 11:44

Just a quickie about the gagging/choking worry; our local SureStart centre ran a first aid/choking course which I did just before DS started BLW. It definitely helped me relax about the risk of choking. It was only £3 for a half-day course, absolutely brilliant.

TheWaterHorse · 07/01/2011 12:07

Good to see more people joining the thread and to hear what other babies are eating (or not!).

We've carried on this week with various roasted vegetables, toast, porridge fingers (from the BLW cookbook), pear and banana. We do seem to have gone slightly backwards though - when I gave dd odd bits a couple of weeks ago she would play with it, smear it around, gum it etc. Now she doesn't seem to be interested in most food - she doesn't really do anything apart from hold it or ignore it.

Think I need to try some different foods to tempt her again! Still, it's early days and like the book says, it can take a while to click.

HelenLG · 07/01/2011 12:55

Tried apple again today, but took the skin off.

He shoved the whole chunk into his mouth along with most of his fist. He then chomped it into three pieces, but then I got freaked out and took it out...

I must learn to relax and trust that if he can get the whole piece of apple in his mouth he can either eat it or spit it out again...

Quenelle · 07/01/2011 13:11

I used to put apple wedges in the microwave for 20 seconds or so to soften it a bit. It makes it smell delicious too. Left the skin on though.

MyLifeIsChaotic · 07/01/2011 13:41

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HollyFP · 07/01/2011 14:14

Hello can I join? DD is 6 months in a week or so, we have tried just a few bits of food this week as she's practically begging to eat with us at dinner times Grin

She's loving banana so far, and courgette went down well (hopefully in both senses Wink), today I gave her some avocado which she gummed very happily, although was v v v v messy! Anyone got ideas for how they can eat soft foods like banana and avocado more easily? It slips through her hands and lands on the floor a bit too easily for my liking :)

Quenelle · 07/01/2011 14:21

And soft, juicy pears go down very well too. Although the skin can be hard and chewy, they spit it out though.

The easiest way for them to eat banana is to break it into large pieces. It goes slimy if it has too many cut edges. Or try mashing banana or avocado and spreading it on toast or a rice cake.

Quenelle · 07/01/2011 14:22

In fact if in doubt with any food, spread it on a rice cake Wink

angelbabe1982 · 07/01/2011 14:34

Hi everyone my DS is 2.11 and we were going to do purees with him - he had other ideas. My DH was eating a banana (whole not sliced) while holding DS who was 19-20 weeks at the time, and DS grabbed (yes really) the banana and shoved it in his mouth! He never choked and the 'evidence' was in a nappy the next day.
We never did do purees except yoghurt and he now eats everything, except beef Confused
I never even heard of BLW til he was 1yr, our HV reckoned he wasn't eating but playing, until she saw one of his nappies! lol
I think that babies will just get on with it - especially if you give them bright coloured food, they are way too nosy not to try it!