BLW Banter Thread

[TheCornishPickle]

I've started a couple of threads lately about our first ventures into BLW with Little Pickle and have had some great reassurance and support on here, often from people in the same position. I've also been lurking for ages reading others' similar threads and was wondering if folk fancied a thread where we can have an ongoing natter about how we're getting on? I felt like I was just coming back again and again with relentless questions all about our situation and I'm sure we could be of support with slightly different issues.

So where I'm at is that I've fallen into the trap of offering fruit and veg in one of those feeding net thingies - yak - but ds seems to love it and sucks away like mad until it's all gone then cries! Problem is that the two times I've offered banana straight into his hand and a tiny bit has gone in his mouth he's retched until it's come back out (the second time followed by a load of sick which I instinctively put my hand out and caught!) Where do we go from here? He's just in the habit of sucking the food through the net and therefore 'drinking' it - how do we move onto chewing and swallowing?

We are two weeks into proper BLW and DD is nearly 29wk. I just give whatever we ate to her. But I'm constantly thinking, maybe I need to find something she could eat! She seems to not be able eat most green veg except broccoli. She has chewed on mange tout, green beans and purple sprouting broccoli, but she can't 'bite' them off and just suck on them. I'm having a wobble and thinking maybe we should cook more root veg. (We don't eat much root veg ourselves). I know I shouldn't worry and it's good practice for her to have more stringy veg.

Answering your question, they learn to chew if you give them practice. And it takes time to learn to swallow the chewed food. I don't think those nets will help him learn to chew harder food. Have you tried the softer fruit and veg? I know my DD can eat plums and pears easily. I think all the root veg are quite mushy and that's why I'm thinking maybe DH and I should eat them instead of greens.

Your DS is a bit younger than mine isn't it? My DD can bite off chucks of bananas at 23-24wks but can't actually swallow them. Chunks were coming straight back down the chin. By 26wk she's definitely swallowing because I can see it from her nappies.

Well I'm thinking of going the opposite way to you - ds enjoyed his sweet potato and banana through the net but didn't like it when the chunk went in his mouth so thinking I'll try something like broccoli next or a green bean where he's more likely to be able to suck and chew without bits falling off straight away. So root veg seems to me to be a step further on from what you've been trying. Your dd will have to deal with possibly larger bits in her mouth. I think the sweeter flavours will be popular though - particularly if you oven roast them.

I'm also, dare I say it, thinking of making up some (not runny) porridge and loading it onto a spoon and letting him hold it and lick it off so he gets used to chunkier textures in his mouth without me having to worry about a big bit flying down his throat. I'm not going to spoon feed it to him so we can hopefully break the idea of slurping and drinking the food. The net is banished!

I'm not in any hurry though as you said, ds is only 24 weeks. He's dead interested but I'm only going to experiment when we're I the house with plenty of time so not today then.

What the recommended BLW way with sloppier things like porridge or yoghurt?

*meant to be italics

Hiya, I'm years since and months from BLWing atm, (DS is 3.5 and DD is due any minute ) but I'm here to cheerlead.

One thing recommended for porridge was to make it quite thick, then spread it on a plate and chill it, so it goes quite solid, then you can slice it. It's a traditional scots thing I believe.
DS always just got tucked in with his hands.
I'd load some spoons for him too, natural/greek yoghurt is good for that as it's quite thick, but not much went in.

My DD ate petite fillou yesterday with loaded spoons. I bought 2 packs because it was on sale, and I was hormonal, back when I was trying to spoonfed her. It's very very messy. She knew the spoons is supposed to go into her mouth, but she can't lick stuff off the spoon properly. The yoghurt ended up all over her face, the highchair tray and the floor too (since she threw a spoon down onto the floor). But it's super cute :) I'm sure she got some into her stomach.

Hello! I was hoping to find a thread like this. My DD is 28wks and we have been doing BLW for about 3 weeks now. She was on 3 meals a day but I cba stopped breakfast as she just wasn't interested. How many meals are your DC's on? Or were they on at 28 weeks ish.

I think like timewasting says you can make porridge fingers (recipe in the BLW cookbook - I can type out later if anyone wants me to, its just my DD has just woken up so no time now) or loaded spoons. My DD likes to take the spoon and bite, sometimes something goes in by accident.

She likes green veg to chew on but gags if she bites something off. She is quite good at bread but I worry about the salt content..

Who is bf'ing as well as BLW & going back to work? Are you worried? (lilham Isn't your DD a bottle refuser?)

haloflo yes im also bf and going back to work in a month. And yes she's a bottle refuser and now spoon refuser :( Her nursery is close to my work so I'm planning to feed her at lunch time. Also hoping she will take bottles at the nursery. I haven't asked the nursery about blw, and am going to talk to them about it on our settling in session.

I'm doing 3 meals mainly so DD has lots of chance to play with food. I'm pretty lazy with breakfast. If I have toast she has toast. If I have cereal or porridge, she has rice cakes with spreads. I have used cream cheese and peanut butter so far.

Hi what a great idea for a thread! We're about a month in (DD is 7 mo) but I had a bit of a wobble and went onto purees and finger foods but am really wanting to make a good go of BLW.

I do seem to lack inspiration about what I can do for her, I don't eat meat and neither me or DP are much cop at cooking - but we're trying!

Things that have worked well for us so far -
Steamed/roasted veg (mainly root veg think DD will turn into a sweet potato soon!) also courgette is very popular
Fruit - pears/mango/apple - I tend to steam the pears and apples to make them a bit softer might be worth a try Cornish?
Scrambled egg
Drop scones
Avacado (messy!)
Toast with anything spread on - fruit purees/cream cheese etc
Porrige fingers
mash potatoe/root veg mash

can't think of anything else at the mo but I also do loaded spoons for greek yogurt and breakfast sometimes.

I'm also doing 3 "meals" but more to get into the habit of it but I don't stress if we miss one because she's asleep.

FWIW DD has gagged which is alarming but always managed to deal with it either by swallowing or spitting out- it bothers me much more than her!

Well we've had a day off the food and just had lots of lovely bf's - really appreciating every moment of that these days, both the simplicity and how calming and just general lovely it is. Funny as I'd been so excited to start BLW plus had a rocky start to getting bf up and running. Now I've just got the wobbles about the whole weaning thing and just want to keep ds a tiny bfing baby as long as poss! But onwards and upwards.

I'm going to try some loaded spoons just to tickle his tastebuds and get him exploring some different textures in his mouth so he's not freaked out by things going to the back of his tongue and so I can be more relaxed and build my confidence up. I'd love the 'recipe' for the porridge fingers or whatever they're called please?

Mimmee - that sounds like loads of variety! I'd eat that diet happily I've heard that risotto/rice can be nicely formed into sticky balls for easy handling - also low choke risk surely?

Is the BLW cookbook worth buying? I had thought that since the point was sharing meals with the baby the recipes would just be ordinary recipes but minus the salt etc...?

I've bought one of those 360 spoons as thought they may make loading easier if ds can get it near his mouth without everything falling off!

mimmee Look good to me, your DD sounds like she has taken to it well. Pasta has been popular here, at least to hold, gum, spit out & then push around the highchair anyway!

cornish How old is your DD? I was really excited about starting weaning but now miss exclusive feeding (although she still bf's as much as before - I am always feeding this girl.)

lilham Lunchtime feeding sounds ideal. My DD will be 9 mo when I go back, i'm hoping she will be ok on a morning and evening feed and will have stopped feeding all night by then.

The porridge fingers recipe:

In a bowl soak 3 tbsp porridge oats in 3 tbsp milk until they are mushy, then press the mixture into a flat bottomed dish or bowl using the back of a spoon. Cook in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Cut into fingers whilst still hot.

I like the BLW cookbook so I would recommend it but i'm not much of a cook and thought it would be a safe book to buy as it would all be baby safe. Maybe your library would have it if you want to take a look at it?

Hi Haloflo - we're really only at the very very beginning, ds is only 24 weeks but was showing all the signs so thought I'd offer a little play with some fruit and veg. Now I think I'd be best to even give it another week as although he's dead keen maybe he's not quite up to the swallowing required! I do feel mean now when he's watching everything we have - maybe porridge fingers would be a compromise - I wouldn't be so stressed and he'd have something to be getting on with.

Tbh the idea of 3 meals is also quite daunting - that's loads to think of isn't it! But babies don't know that's how it's meant to be so I think we can tale our time with building up to a routine.

Hi all

Haloflo I agree. I also have the BLW cookbook for exactly the same reason - I've never really cooked at all and DP and I eat totally different stuff. It's really good for ideas as well when you're unsure where to start. Also a big section at the front with lot's of useful info on BLW. I think maybe if your kind of person who has always cooked from scratch maybe you wouldn't need it?

Also FWIW my DM went back to work when I was 8 mo and said I was fine with just a morning and evening feed (hoping DD will be the same when I go back!)

Cornish I know what you mean about feeling a little sad about exclusive BF ending and you're right there's no rush at all.

We did bolognese last night, but I was so paranoid about the meat being cooked properly I broke up the mince far too much and she couldn't pick it up! Poor thing was really trying so she did get some help with that! So think it's better to leave some of the meat in lumps. She did enjoy it though - didn't do spaghetti with it so that's the next thing.

Also made some tuna croquettes last night (from BLW book) so will let you know how that goes down!

Mimmee have you tried forming the mince into burger patties? You can have bolognaise with meat patties (ie spaghetti with flattened meatballs iyswim). There is a meatloaf recipe in the BLW cookbook iirc which you can probably adapt for it.

I cook a lot, so I haven't found the BLW cookbook inspiring. But the intro chapters are better than Gill Rapley's other book. I've also got the River Cottage baby and toddler cookbook. I've made the blackberry muffins from it and it's quite good. It's a lot less sugary than my normal muffins, which is great for a baby, and for us adults too!

Also, I found it quite difficult to not add salt in my normal cooking. I don't know who says, just add salt at the table. It doesn't work for a lot of dishes. For example a stir fry needs a marinate first and then a sauce at the end. Adding salt at the table just won't stir the salt in properly. I also have a batch of really bland burger patties. I'm spicing it up at the table with a big bottle of ketchup but it just ends up with sauce on the outside, and a bland blob of meat in the middle! For this reason, I've earmarked a bunch of things to try in the River Cottage book. I think I need to relearn to season food without the salt (and soy sauce, fish sauce, anchovies, ham, bacon etc).

So we are all learning here!

Oh there's in fact a meatballs in tomato sauce on the opposite page of the meat loaf recipe in the BLW cookbook. It looks very interesting with balsamic vinegar. I think I will have to try that. (My normal meatball recipe without salt is gross)!

I'll have to retract my word about the BLW cookbook.

I'm going to buy one cookbook to start with which should I get? River cottage or Gill Rapley? What makes the intro to the BLW one better?

Hi there, this thread caught my eye because I am new to BLW myself. I have been offering food to my DD for a few weeks now (she is 28 weeks).

She seems to love playing it in her mouth and has progressed to the stage where she is digesting a little.

I read the BLW book (not the cook book) and felt very reassured that I could give her most things and not to worry that she wasn't going to be eating properly for the first few months.

I still quite feel unorganised about it and only really offer what I am making anyway. We've been out a few times and I've picked out bits of cucumber from my plate. Almost to keep her amused while I am eating. Yesterday, she even had a bit of steak and she kept it in her mouth for ages before I retrieved it - yes I was worried that she would choke.

I guess I also need a bit of moral support. I've got a DF who's baby is 7 weeks younger than mine and she is contemplating going down the baby rice, puree route and I've tried to explain that now my DD is 6 months and can take the food on her own so I am going to let her try. I think we'll come to a point though that her DS will be eating more in quantity than my DD and questions raised.

We are having mince and tatties (I'm scottish!) tonight for dinner (well DH and DD1 is, I am veggie) and I make it with reduced salt gravy and leave some mince in more grippable portions. For the uninitiated its minced beef, gravy, carrots and onions, served with mashed potato.

It will be good hearing everyones stories on this journey. I love it because it makes my life easier. I am a vegetarian, DD1 is a picky eater and DH is on a restricted diet and can't eat loads of vegetables, cheese and other things. The last thing I need to be doing is another dish!

I'd like to join this thread although am not doing 100% BLW as am mixing it up with puree's.
My DS is 7 months and has been on solids since he was 6 months. I'm always looking for new ideas for what food to give him. I know it's supposed to be the same as the rest of the family eat but the thing is I don't really cook for my husband and I - we mainly eat ready meals and takeaways

TheCornishPickle in the BLW cookbook, the intro chapters have guides on how to serve the different type of food to make it easier for LOs. Like grilled meat is harder and tougher than slow cooked or patties formed into fingers. Or you should serve melons with skin. Or you should microwaved your apple first to make them softer. Also it has a table that list a progression of eating skills with age and what kind of food they can handle and what will challenge them.

As for the recipes, I think it depends on what you like to eat. Both books have look inside on amazon so you can have a look at the index to see if it's something you'll eat for dinner yourself. The food in the river cottage book is more foodie. For example, some of the recipes I've marked out to try are falafel, spinach & onion puff tart, fish & fennel pizza, brussels sprout gratin. The BLW cookbook feels more normal food. The most adventurous I can see is a thai curry.

lilham that's funny - burgers/meatballs are my next experiment!

It was actually only the second time I have ever cooked red meat before in my life so it's very much trial and error at the moment. Any other meat ideas would be great!

Ulysses my BF's DS2 is 8 weeks younger than my DD. She weaned DS1 traditionally and is doing the same with DS2. She is quite skeptical about BLW.

BUT when she saw DD eating her only comment was "gosh she's really good at chewing". So you may be surprised at how your friend reacts? Either way try not to worry or compare!

Mimmee a tip about meatballs are they freeze really well. With 500g minced meat I make around 20-24 little burger patties. I freeze them cooked and defrost/reheat in the microwave until pipping hot. Takes 2 min in mine. It's really good for serving meat for quick lunches. You can also use the same recipe for beef, pork, lamb and turkey.

Ulysses I am worried about my DD's intake too but its early days yet so I keep repeating "food is for fun, until they are 1" over and over. I don't actually understand how you move on from purees to solids? Maybe she will struggle when it comes to getting her DS to eat proper food.

mummmy We too ate a lot of processed food, especially since having a baby when cooking was the last thing on my mind for ages! Even now I ignore recipes with loads of ingredients or that I think will take too long. If you are having something like pasta its not too hard to make your own sauce or grill/steam some veges on the side. With something like stir fry, I cook DD some chicken and veg separably so the salty sauce doesn't go on her meat.

lilham Thanks for the meat tips. I used to be vegetarian and don't eat much meat now. I do now eat chicken and fish and so far am making sure DD has those plus lots of green veg for iron. If I do introduce red meat those patties sound brilliant.

mimmee How did the tuna croquettes go down. My DD ignore them and ate the green beans I served them with. They were a bit squashy though and maybe a bit big. I'm sure I'll get better with practice though!

Today my DD "ate" soft cheese on toast and halved cherry tomatoes for lunch and grilled courgettes for tea with yoghurt for pudding. She loved the courgettes, I'm sure some was chewed and eaten!

My DP was going out so I cooked myself a pizza once DD was in bed. Tomorrow I will make sure she has some meat or fish.

Thanks for that lilham - I've been stressing about what meat I can give her but that's given me loads of ideas!

haloflo once we got past the first WTF face that she pulled (very funny), the tuna croquettes went down really well. Mine were a bit mushy when they came out but I added some more breadcrumbs and popped them under the grill.

I made them the night before and left them to cool and they really firmed up. I warmed them up in the oven because in the microwave they fell apart! I think next time I'll use stale or toasted breadcrumbs rather than fresh and hopefully that'll work better?

Courgettes are a big hit with DD too - funny isn't it because I always think they are quite dull!

Ooh - I'd like to join this thread. We just started BLW on Sunday when DD was 6mo. The first 2 days were great - so exciting and rewarding and cute! But now it is really me on my own feeding her it is a bit scary when she chokes, and a massive hassle to prepare and clean up!

I'm trying to make us have a family breakfast every morning, as DD is in bed when DH comes home. So it is good for her to have one social meal a day.

I feed her in her bumbo chair on the table. I let her sit on my lap for lunch when I was having rice the other day and she splated both hands into the plate and swiped all the rice all over our carpeted floor! So will keep her on the table for the time being as it makes clearing up easier.

So far have just given her fruit and veg. Am plucking up the courage to give her mean and fish - which is good for iron.

She 100% loves it though - she gets so excited when she sees her bumbo chair and dives in with gusto to any food within reach. She is still chewing and spitting out. I'm almost worried about the swallowing stage, as I can see she's not too ready for it yet.

MIL was mega against BLW when I told her about it, but when she saw DD tuck into all the food she couldn't believe it - also couldn't believe how cute she looked chewing on a carrot.

Scary moments so far: Gave her avocado with skin still on - a massive pointy bit of skin broke off in her mouth and stayed there for about 1hr until I could pull it out. She was sucking on baby sweetcorn like she was sucking her thumb - really hard. Baby sweetcorn is brittle and if a bit broke off it would have shot straight down her throat. eek took it off her as soon as I could.