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?

Great thread! Really enjoyed reading through it.

DS is 8 months and we've hit our stride with BLW. DS has porridge for breakfast (he 'holds' the spoon and I try not to assist) and finger foods for everything else.

He gags every now and again but has never choked - two hours after a meal he'll suddenly spit out a bit of pepper - I've learned to just go with it. BLW is really fun, particularly as DS won't be fed via spoon, he just hates it.

We were on the bus the other day and another mother was there with her child. Got chatting, and it transpired her son was 1 year old. I got out some apple and kiwi for DS and her son kept eyeballing them so I asked her if he'd like some. He would, she said, she normally fed him mashed food. In the space of time it took this 1 year old to get through one piece of apple, DS demolished 4 pieces of fruit. I was alternately proud, and freaked out ...

Hello. Can I join too? Started BLW my 7-month old DD about a month ago. Has been going in fits and starts, some days v well, some days she's just not v interested. But she's had all sorts of tasty things so far, and her favourites seem to be mango and eggy bread (not together!).

We made the lamb and mint sausages from the BLW cookbook last night and she just polished off a couple. Seem to go down v well, and we enjoyed them too. Have also tried to meatballs and am going to do turkey burgers over the weekend. Thought I might try some drop scones for tomorrow's breakfast - saw a friend's LO wolf some down.

How's everyone getting on fitting in BFs? I seem to struggle to find times when she seems hungry during the day, and she rarely demands feeding between her wake-up feed and teatime, though I offer a few times.

Looking forward to hearing how everyone is getting on - and recipe ideas!

Hi, can I join in? My DS is 8.5 months and we went down the puree and finger food route but has just started getting very upset meal times :(. On occasions I just gave up trying to feed him and left him to do it himself, this seems to work most of the time, anyway my question is.....Is it too late to go down the route of full on BLW? will he get hungry?

Whathashappenedtomyboobs of course you can still switch to full BLW. Food is supposed to be fun until one. Their main nutrition should come from their milk, and so if he's hungry he will ask for more milk. Also, BLW babies should start to really take in the solids at around 9 months and your DS is very close to that. You can also make sure he has foods that he can easily handle. (At 6-7mo there isn't much they can really chew and swallow except very soft food). Can your DS push mince into his mouth yet? If he can there are lots of typical nursery food you can make for him to self feed. For example, cottage pie, rice pudding, mashed potatoes, etc.

Excellent...I think we are converted! tea time was a massive success with a very happy baby eating a lovely sausage from the butcher, roasted veg and broccoli. I should have done this earlier, it was lovely seeing a happy baby chomping away :)

Whathashappenedtomyboobs that's brilliant! It's so nice to see them eating away and enjoying it, isn't it and a much more chilled out way of doing things apart from the mess

spaceal I try to BF about an hour before offering solids but tbh I've noticed DD is less interested in the morning and afternoon feeds and rarely asks as well. I'm a bit worried about dropping any too, and worried she might feed all night to make up for it!

Lazy tea tonight, omelette but seemed to go down well!

I made the falafel from the River Cottage book tonight, served with a sweet potato gratin. It was a big hit with both DD and DH. DH said it tasted surprisingly good coming from a baby cookbook!

I agree with you Whathashappenedtomyboobs it's lovely seeing a happy baby chomping away. I prefer this relaxed way of weaning. I've tried spoon feeding purees and it just depresses me how DD just kept turning her head away and looking crossed.

Oh can i join too!

DS is 7 months old and we love BLW. Most lunch times we have an indoor picnic on a plastic picnic rug. It's really good fun we have lovely chats together and it often ends with a book which is good!

Hi again, ok lunch went well I cooked DS chickpea patties from the BLW cookbook with tomato and cucumber. First time he's had anything with spice and he seemed to enjoy them a lot , as did I :)

Just had tea now and he really was not happy and not interested one little bit in the food (pasta and sauce with mushrooms). So I've taken the food away and now his dad is giving him milk (he's FF now)

So now I'm worried that he hasn't had tea...what do I do? Do I need chill out and not worry?

Whathashappenedtomyboobs I honestly wouldn't worry about one missed meal - he's having his milk which is his main nutrition anyway and sounds like he ate really well at lunch

I need some advice/reassurance from you ladies - as I mentioned before don't eat meat so don't have a clue really. I have made up burger patties and meatballs. First attempt to cook bit of a disaster (DP's getting burnt burgers for tea ) but ran out of time for DD to have them for her tea.

So I have frozen them uncooked because I wasn't sure if I can cook and then freeze but then realised they have an egg in there - not sure if that matters?? It was fresh mince bought today not frozen btw. Is this ok - and then I can just defrost and cook when I need them?

Thanks !

Hi folks - have been out of circulation for a couple of days and have also backed off on the BLW a bit. When I read the updates on here I feel so inspired by all these fab ideas and tales of successes - and yet I have a boy who loves sucking and chewing on a loaded spoon of porridge but who freaks out the moment he gets the slightest lump in his mouth! He's so keen that he grabs the spoon from my hand as soon as he sees it and gets it straight to his mouth but have had lots of gagging and 'choking'. How do you get to the stage where they can handle exploring things that end up in their mouths?? Love the sound of some of these recipes and can't wait to be making the meatballs and croquettes but can't even see myself offering fruit and veg confidently. Feeling a bit about it all considering I was so excited to get started. Don't want to be stuck spooning gloop into his mouth but he seems to really like that!

Mimmee I have always store frozen patties cooked. But I can't see why you can't freeze uncooked ones. They will taste nicer if you freeze the uncooked ones because you will be essentially cooking fresh. I'm just lazy since I serve them as quick lunches.

TheCornishPickle you can always spoonfed him purees. And offer him finger food alongside when he is 6-7mo. He probably has a more active gag reflex than average, but he will be able to learn to deal with it if you give him chances to practice. Gagging is very normal when moving to lumpy food but real choking is rare. Baby has a very front triggered gag reflex to protect them.

Thanks Mimmee after his milk we had a little cuddle on the sofa and he had a couple of apple flavour rice cakes so least he had something.

Hi TheCornishPickle I think it's great that your little one is spooning food into his mouth...we are no where near that stage! My little one also freak if I feed him mush with lumps but is happy to chomp away onthrow aroundlarge bits of food- odd! I don't get it either! I'm sure we'll look back and wonder why we stressed so much!

ha my strike through didn't work MN amateur!

whatshappened I'm glad you asked this, my DD sometimes misses meals if we are out, she sleeps at the wrong time or we get home late (her goes to bed at 6 as we can't keep her awake any longer) I think when they refuse (which of course is different to a disorganised mummy) you just stay calm and try again another day. Lunch sounded good, well done. I might try them next week.

mimmee Aww bless you, I?m sure they weren?t a disaster taste wise. No idea about freezing I?m afraid.

TheCornish Your DS is still very young but you can do purees and still be on this thread! All babies need finger food though but that?s from 6mo and your DS is only just that age. Maybe see if your children?s centre run a first aid course that covers choking? If it is going to happen maybe you would feel better with some training. I?m worried about it too but so far my DD has spat out anything she doesn?t want. I think soft foods seem easier for them to eat at the moment. E.g. grilled courgettes seemed to almost melt in DD?s mouth. Or ?hard? foods like rice cakes or meat which they pretty much have to suck at this age. I?ve found even at this age a week makes a big difference to how they eat. Let us know what you decide.

hazchem Indoor picnic sounds lovely!

cubiks Wow that?s really good to hear.

lilham Thanks for the recommendation. (I have the river cottage book too)

spaceal My DD still feeds loads day and night so I can?t help there. I am more worried about doing too many!

Not a great day food wise here but DD had a temperature and was a bit out of sorts so I just offered simple stuff.

Can I and DD join too?

I would love to be doing full BLW but started on purees slightly before 6 months as she was pre-term, but I introduced finger foods as soon as she was comfortable in a highchair, which was shortly after 6 months. We do a combination of me feeding her and her feeding herself at each meal.

Added to that, my husband is currently in hospital (has been since the beginning of the month) and we are emigrating back to New Zealand in 3 weeks time, so having some element of spoon feeding and processed baby food has been incredibly practical and I am trying not to feel too guilty.

Today went like this:

Breakfast
Eggy bread with fruit puree spread on it and some greek yoghurt

Lunch
Fruit puree - bad, but we ate at hospital with her Dad and she loves this and I now will eat a lot of it.

Afternoon Tea (not normal, but my friends had planned a tea at a hotel as a surprise!)
Rice cakes
Baby biscuit
Cucumber sandwich
More cucumber cut up very fancy by restaurant
a little bit of scone
Some roast beef from sandwich

Dinner
Lentil and vege mash

She is a massive fan of cucumber. Plums have also been a winner and a tomato went down well the other day. Also roast chicken was quite good and she managed scrambled eggs pretty well twice this week. We haven't really done much meat yet.

She doesn't seem to lick her fingers. She is pretty good at picking bits of food up and putting them in her mouth, but she wont lick sauce off her hands for example.

Am going to try her on some pasta this week - any recommendations for shapes?

Fantail don't feel guilty! It sounds like you have an awful lot on and you're doing amazingly well. Hope your DH is home soon. I'm going to try pasta this week too - I have got some bow shapes (not sure what they're called Farfale??) as I heard they were good?

Cornish sorry you're feeling down about it. I had a big wobble too and decided that I was going down the puree route because I found it so stressfull watching her eat and gag. Tbh I do spoonfeed some meals if she's tired or I've been a bit disorganised and I don't see any reason why you can't do both (BLW purists might disagree!).

Is your DS 6 mo yet? We didn't really get going with BLW/finger foods till then anyway so there is time. DD is 7mo and she does gag but honestly it is loads less than she used too and she has always managed to deal it and doens't seem in the least bit bothered at all.

My DM reminded me (when I was stressing about that) that it is a skill like any other and in order to get better at it they need to practice. Just start really slowly with things you're comfortable with - soft steamed veg for example and take it from there?

Hey just wanted to update you all, DS just smashed toad in the hole (BLW receipe) carrots and mash! He gagged a few times but I stayed calm and he sorted himself out. I cut the sausage length ways and left the skins on and he sucked the meat off the skin.

Fantail I have given DS ravioli (one from the fresh counter) and he loved it. They are quite big so really easy to hold.

Ravioli sounds like a great idea.

We have a bit of a failure today due to me being a stupid mum. We went shopping and had lunch at nandos. Any sensible mum would have ordered a mild chicken to share with her baby. But no, this one went with her normal hot chicken burger. I gave DD a bit of the tomato from the burger. She put it in her mouth, then cried. Stupid mum then realised she forgot to pack DDs sippy cup. Nothing to wash her the chilli sauce off her tongue. But the potato chips are a hit.

I made roast carrots for dinner but they turned out too hard for DD .

lilham I Always used to forget things wipes, zippy cups, clothes, muslins....your not the only one. I'm gradually getting better now.

I tried roasted carrot with my DS he couldn't eat them either, he had steamed ones this evening and they where a big hit!

I was in a right grumpy old mood yesterday wasn't I??! Thanks for the reassurance. I've decided to just relax and follow whatever Little Pickle and I are enjoying - I am dead impressed with his enthusiasm and skill at grabbing spoons and getting porridge into his mouth! I'm going to continue with breakfast and then try soft finger foods again in a week - there's no point in trying to get him to do things before he's ready and if I'm finding it stressful, he'll pick up on the negativity.

Haloflo - love the description of the WTF face - perfect. Captures that quizzical 'what on earth are we supposed to be doing here?' expression perfectly. The boy just looks at me as if he's humouring me trying to get him to do something very silly indeed.

I really love reading this thread and all the things your babies are having - so inspiring. But yet again this weaning lark is another thing where the babies certainly haven't read the book so they'll take the lead and we just have to follow I suppose!!

TheCornishPickle yes, the skill at grabbing spoons. That exactly describes my DD. I've always said she's a spoon refuser, but it's not exactly true. She is just very very skilled at swiping any spoon that goes towards her mouth! She'll put said spoon into her mouth herself, if she's in the mood. For example she'll self feed yoghurt. But the mess! DH describes the spoon as a food catapult. (That's the reason why we try to stay off mushy food).

Well I have carrot muffins in the oven after a naughty shop bought lunch of cheese scone (no idea of salt content!) and a fruit pot. I forget to grease the baking tray so I hope they turn out ok.

My DD also likes to spoon grab, its what put me off puree led weaning as I knew i'd be wrestling with her constantly.

DD hardly ate anything yesterday. She will get enough iron from the odd green bean, courgette and piece of chicken won't she? I think i'll make those patties this week, they sound ideal. Thing is its hard doing lots of cooking when things just get thrown on the floor.

lilham quick meaty question (again) please!

Have made some more burgers and meatballs. I have frozen some uncooked and some cooked - when you reheat the cooked ones how do you do it? Do you defrost in microwave/overnight or cook from frozen?

[clueless emoticon]

Thanks so much - am paranoid I'll make DD ill with badly cooked meat

For the cooked ones, you reheat from frozen in the microwave until pipping hot. This is what you'd do with a frozen ready meal too. You don't defrost first.

For the uncooked ones, I will defrost in the fridge then cook as usual. Microwave can cook the meat far too easily and it doesn't taste nice.