BLW basics...

[CoralRose]

DS is 4mo, and I'm just starting to notice some weaning 'cues'.

I'm really keen to try BLW this time round, but don't know anything about it other than 'just give them a stick of carrot'

Wondering if any kind MNer's could give me some pointers?

Do you have to wait until 6 months?
What food, how often?
Porridge, with what milk?

TIA

Coral glad you are keen for your babies next stage but 4 months is way too early. The current advice is 6 months should be the earliest. This is for lots of reasons, his gut will be more developed etc.

There is some info here on when its best to wean. It is aimed at bfing mothers but the advice equally applies to ffers.

Here is the info on why its best to wait until 6 months for your DS and here is the NHS info.

While you are waiting it might be worth seeing if your library has this book or this book and take a look at this website.

Hope you can wait until 6 months, it will make your life so much easier if you can.

Oh OK... I know 4 months is way too early, but want to start getting my head around it in preparation for when he is ready. I did think that he didn't have to be exactly 6mo though, will have a good read through those links, and will wait (I'm in no hurry for my white walls to be covered in spag bol!).

Is there another equipment that I will need?

What about drinks? I'm EBF and don't have any bottles or sterilisers. What milk should I use for mixing with food? Is cows milk ok?

Part of the beauty of BLW is that you don't need any special equipment at all so don't worry about that.

The best thing to do if you are ebf is to feed DS an hour before offering solids and to offer water with all meals. I just used a tommee tippee sippy cup.

Website is fab - thank you!

You can use cow's milk in food, just not as a drink. I do the same as jilted, offering some sips of water at the end of a meal from a sippy cup or a doidy cup. The only equipment I think you need is a high chair that's easy to clean with a good lip round the tray to keep things from accidentally slipping off the edge - we have a cheap one from ikea that's brilliant. Oh and a splash mat for the floor if you'll be feeding her in a room with carpe

Oh yeah, forgot to answer the bit about milk. Agree with diy, you can use cows milk in food, like porridge, custard etc. Don't do what I did with DC1 preMN and buy ff or try to express

Cheap highchair from Ikea and a splash mat sound about right too. My carpet cover thingy came free with a magazine.

Cheapo shower curtains are great splash mats - much bigger, you can shake them out the back door and then just chuck them in the washing machine.

Look at your own diet now. If you eat healthily then it won't be long 'til you just give him small amounts of what you eat e.g. cooked veg at dinner, bread and cheese at lunch, some sort of plain cereal at breakfast. When teaching your dc to eat solids you just want him to eat what you eat. If your diet contains a lot of processed foods it might be time to switch to more home cooking now.
Raw carrot is tricky to eat until much older - cooked carrot is easier .

Ah, shower curtain is a good idea! We bought a length of pvc coated fabric at 2.99 a metre that does the job too.

Thank you everyone.

We have the Ikea Antilop (best highchair ever), and we have tiles in the kitchen/diner. I've ordered a crinkle cutter after reading info on the website linked to (makes it easier for them to grip?) and also the book linked (amazon) as well as the cook book by the same author, so thank you.

Thank you for saving me from hours of expressing by clarifying the porridge/milk thing!

We eat pretty healthily... soup featuring quite a lot for lunch as it's the only way to get veg into my 2yo (hence trying a different approach to weaning this time round!), so I suppose I could just reserve some veg before I blitz. We eat alot of 'stuff in sauce' with rice/pasta/noodles...I could adapt though!

Hi coral rose I'm just starting BLW too for the same reasons as you..fussy 2 year old weaned perfectly on Annabel Karmel but now won't go near a sweet potato or courgette.The Gill Ropley book is great.One thing that I didn't do which seems obvious in retrospect is to sit the baby in the highchair supported by a cushion at your mealtimes and when you feed your toddler,way before you expect him to grab or eat.I had mine on the floor or in a bouncer until 2 weeks ago, he is 6 months exactly.He loves being up at the table with us all and I wish I'd done it much sooner.

Poundland do the best bibs for BLW (that I've found anyway) - they're white with sleeves and velcro fastenings, and they just go in the washing machine when you're done. I've had others with sleeves but the plastic backing on them cracks and falls apart. These ones don't.

'Stuff in sauce' is fine - you'll find DS probably manages to scoop some up and get it to his mouth, and by about 8mo the pincer grip will have developed so he can chase peas around the highchair tray!

Sillybillyz bibs are the dogs. They have full sleeves and have a fleecy front rather than shiny, so stuff tends to stick/soak in rather than just skite down it. Machine washable and tumble driable.

Btw, would still recommend shower curtain/mat even with your tiles - saves on a LOT of floor washing! Also there tends to be a lot of dropping/chucking for a good while, and I felt less guilty about picking stuff up and handing it back when it had fallen on a clean mat rather than the floor.

Ikea has some really nice long sleeve bibs too. They go in the wash and has a lip at the bottom to catch all the stuff going down the bib. Iirc it's £3.50 for 2 so fairly cheap.

Hi, does anyone know if anywhere apart from ikea sells the antilop highchairs? I don't live anywhere near ikea and they don't deliver these particular highchairs.

Have looked on ebay but again, none available near me at the moment.

Thanks

We did it and loved it. We used to put old newspaper down and then just shove it in the bin. Roast lamb went down a treat at the start, as it was tasty to suck and chew for ages

Don't know of another shop Nan but have you checked out the Nearly New Board on Netmums, Preloved and see if there are any NCT Nearly New Sales in your area and you might find one in your local paper too if you are lucky. My SIL just uses a portable highchair that comes with a tray. I think she got it from Argos. It was quite cheap and they can take it anywhere.

Are there any foods that should be avoided at first? I've heard eggs? and tomatoes?

Thanks for the tip downpipe. He sits in his bumbo on the table at the moment, he doesn't like to miss out! I'm hoping that will help!

Coralrose the list of food to avoid is in your NHS birth to 5 book. It's really short once you get to 6mo. Iirc it's honey, nuts (chocking hazard) and runny eggs.

I used a roll 'n' go bib over the top of a long sleeved one so that if DS dropped something he could pick it out of the scoop bit and have another go. There was nothing more frustrating, for him and us, than to watch him labour over picking up a chickpea, only to drop it on the floor when it was within inches of his mouth.

The other reason for having a floor covering is so that you can pick up anything he drops and give it straight back to him, rather than having to throw it away and waste it.

Hi - am trying to get my head around BLW after anticipating I'd follow Annabelle Karmel. Have ordered the BLW cookbook today but I guess what am confused about is how you can get DC to eat what you're eating when a lot of what I cook involves stock cubes - which I know are too salty for babies. Apologies - the book may explain this (or equally my post-baby brain may just be asking silly questions...)

Try kallo low salt stock cube. I believe marigold bouillon has a reduced salt version as well.