BLW - he puts it in his mouth but it all comes right out again

[Albrecht]

ds is nearly 8.5 months so we have been blw-ing for nearly two and half months. He picks up loads of different food, puts it in his mouth, has the odd chew and then spits it out again.

When I clear up the pile of food left is the same amount as I put on his tray. Also (TMI alert!) his poos are not sold so he is definately not swallowing much.

I'm really trying to be relaxed about this. Please come and tell me he will swallow his food eventually!

The only thing he actually eats are breadsticks and Innocent fruit smoothie tubes (I gave him one in desparation when we were out and he loved it and now cries when they are empty... sometimes I think he'd be happier with puree!)

If you think he'd be happier with puree then there's no reason not to give him some. You could always give him a mix of puree and finger foods, or load spoons for him to feed himself.

i do blw and i agree with ritamorgan, blw to me is not about selffeeding, its about feeding being a baby led process. So never overfeed/forcefeed, but if they want a spoon, its no big deal imo, you're following their lead. Unfortunately (or not) ds wont be fed by me, or rarely anyway, so i just have to have patience cos he also doesnt swallow much!!

Thanks for your replies.

We do offer spoons of some things, like yoghurt. He usually grabs the spoon, up ends the contents on his tray/his trousers and then chews the wrong end. Pretty common behaviour I imagine!

I just thought he would be swallowing more by now.

It doesn't really matter if he's not swallowing much yet :) he'll get there. Quite often 9 months is a turning point.

Thanks Bertie, thats what I need to hear!

I'm a bit of a control freak and worrier and we have some major issues with food in my family growing up so I just want ds to have a relaxed healthy relationship with eating.

I could have posted this OP - DD is 8 months and we've been doing BLW for 2 months now. She's usually pretty enthusiastic about food and happily shoves it in her mouth, but then seems to allow it all to fall out again - after a meal her lap and her bib under her chin are covered in bits and she's certainly never "finished" anything.

But she's pretty resistant to being spoon fed so I don't feel I have much option other than to hold my nerve and trust that she'll get it eventually. The HV suggested drastically cutting back on BFs in order to make her more hungry but I don't think it's not being hungry that's the issue so I'm ignoring that helpful suggestion.

So although I have no advice to offer, hopefully it's reassuring that you're not the only one!

It definately is beancounting The only other person I know in RL doing BLW has a baby who took to it straight away and was eating a lot after just a few weeks.

Agree with you that cutting back bf does not sound good. If he's not consuming much food I want to make sure that he is atleast still getting what he needs from milk.

Here's to keeping the faith.

Have you read the BLW book? She reiterates constantly in there that they are meant to spit food out for the first couple of months - they physically can't get it to the back of their throats until they're developmentally ready for it. It's a safety mechanism so they can't choke. When he's ready, he'll eat the food. Keep reminding yourself that until 12 months, food is for fun/education, not nutrition - that comes from his milk feeds.

Yeah I have the blw book and the blw cook book. I should probably go and re-read it to refresh myself.