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?

Thanks lilham I really appreciate it. Just cooking some meatballs in tomato sauce for tomorrow so will let you know how they go down.

Quite enjoying this cooking lark now I've got into it!

Haloflo how did the carrot muffins turn out? I know what you mean about wondering how much goes in but main nutrients come from milk anyway so I wouldn't worry and their tummies are only tiny anyway.

One thing I have noticed is that mealtimes can take ages! Is anyone else finding this - lunch was an hour today and everytime I thought she had finished she grabbed another bit of food!

Please can we join in too? DS is 27 weeks & we have started on BLW for a week or two now. It's reassuring to hear others with the same worries & concerns. I feel that i'm not giving him enough to eat or enough variety but a lot of mealtimes he doesn't seem that bothered - does anyone else have that? He does gag but seems to sort himself out tbh.
I have the BLW cookbook but not really looked at recipes yet (best get reading!)

Mimmee I have no patience and never let DD plays around for an hour. I set a time limit of 20-30min only. I think I really should let her take more time over it.

Gulp since my update last week I've barely fed poor DD. I've been beating off blocked milk ducts and mastitis, plus had been practising bottle feeding DD, so food has totally fallen by the wayside. Reasuring myself that most nutrients come from milk etc, but she has seemed quite frustrated and probably would have quite liked some food!

I'm finding it really hard to get myself organised to give her 3 meals a day. It was ok last week, I just gave her breakfast and lunch, but we didn't leave the house each day until well after 2pm what with prep and clearing up. But if I've needed to do anything I have to cut out her meals. I know the whole point of BLW is that they eat what you eat, I think I need to follow the cookbook and get us eating healthier meals.

Great thread, DD is 28 weeks, I'm not exclusively BLW but I love the concept and have been doing a mix. (I mixed breast and bottle too, I like to keep all my options open ). So far i've done some fruit and veg, porridge fingers and have also started on the rice cakes and toast this week. A favourite so far has been baby courgettes.

I'll be thread watching with interest and will put a link on the postnatal April group as there are quite a few of us doing BLW weaning in one form or another.

SmugisaDrug if you aren't the cooking type, try to make simpler things? A lot of the recipes in cookbooks are for when you want to make the effort. It'd be really hard to make them 3 meals a day!

I usually only for one proper meal a day. For breakfast we are doing mainly fruit and rice cakes/toasts. She get pancakes in the weekend when DH makes them. I do have a cooked lunch everyday, even before weaning DD. However I rely a lot on the freezer stash for cooked lunches. So it's definitely not cooking from scratch everyday. But it'd be easy to adjust to sandwich type of food. Like a slice of tomato or avocado? An fried/scrambled egg will take slightly more effort but not much more. Or how about boiled/steamed carrots and courgettes? You can also serve leftovers from yesterday's dinner. For example, DD will be having leftover roast potatoes and steamed carrots tomorrow lunch.

smugisadrug it can be hard to plan and prepare and I'm definately no cook! But what I have been doing is making a few things in the evening/weekends and putting in freezer which helps me feel a bit more organised.

Also if we'll be out at lunch I tend to take some food with us in a cool bag, just dead easy things like slices of fruit, steamed veg, drop scones, rice cakes etc bit like a picnic.

Definately don't put loads of pressure on yourself esp if you've been unwell though x

Hi I'm another part time BLWer! DS is 25ish weeks, god I can;t remember we are now in week 2 of weaning!

We have mainly been on fruit and veg. But have added toast in the last few days. Very ripe pears seem to be the front runner in food he eats him self along with mango and melon. He's a bit meh about veg, brocolli just gets smeared all over his face. I spoon feed him poridge in the mornings with some broken down banana or stewed apple. Then I try to give him what we have at dinner. Tonight it was baked potatoes, just with a bit of cheese for him folled by pear mango and a left over bit of banana. I'm not doing lunch just yet, mostly because he sleeps a lot in the afternoons. I'm not actuly sure he is swallowing anything when he feeds himself, but he really does like to play and smush everything into the highchair tray!

The carrot muffins turned out ok. They didn't rise as much as I thought they would and don't look that great. They do taste ok though. A bit bland maybe but perfectly pleasant. DD had a little of one last night plus a bit of our rice pudding.

I cook lunch maybe once or twice a week (this always does 2 days each) and can often seen reaching for fruit/toast/rice cakes/cucumber sticks for ease. Otherwise I plan mine and DPs dinner around what she can eat. If we want a naughty meal she gets veges and bread/rice cakes.

Still not doing breakfast but she is really stretching my patience at night at the moment so I can't be faffed with it knowing she probably won't be interested.

Mealtimes take about 15/20 minutes here. I call it a day when DD tries to eat her bib.

Glad there are lots of people on this thread. Looking forward to hearing how others get on and what recipes work and which don't work.

Can I join in too? Even though I've not read the whole thread yet!

Ds was a purée at 17wks due to extreme hunger and took to it like a duck to water with a huge appetite.

Dd tho is very different. Waited till 23wks and started an purée. It's going ok but she's not super keen and hasn't eaten a lot really. We gave her some carrot and roast parsnip on Sunday tho and she loved it! Wolfed it down (huge chunks in nappy). :) same again yesterday and the look of lee on her face when dh pinched a potato off ds' plate was a picture - compared with ds who suddenly wanted that one!

So how do I do this?
She's 26wks Friday so in assuming its game on for anything then.

Blw is very new to me!

Hiya,

I've been advised to come here after I started an unsucessful BLW thread!

My son is 23 weeks and I want to start him on food but all my others were weaned with puree, so I genuinly have NO idea how to get started,

what should I give him as his first BLW food?

thanks x

Hi All,

Well I have to say, I'm glad I switched to BLW, DS seems much happier and I've actually learnt to cook some new things. I've made Spinage and cheese muffins, spicy lamb patties, chickpea patties, broccoli quiche, mediterranean roast veg tart :)

DS tried them all, I think the patties and quiche went down the best. I have no idea how much is going in mind you, but not stressing about it.

Sloth I'd suggest steamed carrots, pears, sweet potato or butternut squash for the mo. Good luck x

I made the spinach and onion tart in the river cottage book. It's yet another hit with DD. I cheated and used ready rolled pastry. She loved the puff pastry and also ate the spinach that's stuck on the pastry. She cant pick up cooked spinach yet normally.

Can I ask about drinks? DS is EBF - did take a bottle in the early days but now refuses. I am trying to get him to take some water but all he really wants to do is fling the sippers around - any advice?
Not had a v good day here as full of cold so just a rice cake & dippers today.

Thanks for all the tips guys. I bought some rice cakes today and have just boiled some baby courgette and babt sweetcorn for tomorrow's lunch. Going to start with hummous too.

Hi all.

Had a bit of a wobble today. Made the meatballs for lunch and DD loved them BUT she rammed a huge bit in her mouth and had a bit of a mini choke.

She's gagged loads of times and normally there's a bit of coughing and she sorts it out herself often laughing while she does it and doesn't seem at all concerned.

But what got to me today is that she looked really frightened and it was definately more than just gagging. The good news I suppose is that she did deal with it herself but tbh it really freaked me out. Fortunately my DM was with us and calmed me down.

I know it's a phase they have to go through but the look on her little face was awful and really scared

But am perservering, have made some carrot muffins tonight so we'll see how we get on with them!

SlothAttack and Whenisitmysleepytime hi! Yes anything goes from 6 mo - meat/diary/wheat etc all ok. DD first food was banana which she loved (although won't eat it now? ). I agree with starting with fruit/veg. Root veg are good and steaming gets them nice and soft to begin with. Stick shapes prob work best because they are easy to hold. Or just give them some of what you're having (minus salt obv) and see how they get on!

tootssweet DD wasn't really interested in her cup at first but I just kept offering it at every meal and she's really "got" it in the last few weeks and looks around for her drink when she's eating now. I do help with it and hold the cup for her to drink out of because she can't quite do it herself. So I think the key is just to persevere with it.

Mimmee have you done an infant first aid course? What you can do to help is give a good whack between her shoulder blades. That'll help food to fly out if it's stuck in her throat. Many sure start centers do them.

Funny you should say that lilham I'm booked on one next week!

I'm hoping it'll give me a bit more confidence. I've read up on what to do and was feeling a lot more relaxed about it....until today

Hi all. I'm trying to find ways of having a better range of things for snacks and occasional meals for my DD and thought I might cook up batches of stuff from the BLW cookbook (e.g. chickpea patties, tuna croquettes, lentil wedges) and freezing them in portion sizes. Would freezing, defrosting and reheating be all right with all of these things? Anyone got any experience? Obviously carefully frozen/defrosted/reheated.

Also my LO doesn't seem to do too well with dairy at the moment - anyone tried the BLW cheese & lentil wedges without the cheese?

Thanks!

Quick question

Sorry - couldn't seem to delete 'quick question' there - stupid iPhone.

We're doing a mixture ATM. Pear purée was a hit for breakfast, broccoli not so much at lunch. But she ate some of ds' left over pear and munched away on that.
We also did some rice cakes while at the supermarket. Half went on the floor but some definitely went in without any choking. :)

She's also managed to release her tongue tie in the last few days so has been sticking her tongue out like mad! that should mean she's less likely to spew at every lump like ds did. That would be a huge relief!

Hi Spaceal I'm pretty sure everything in the book can be frozen and re heated.

Made Spanish apple cake today from BLW cook book I'm just having some now, it's lovely! I used veg oil instead of olive and it turned out smashing....and a bit cheaper than if I used olive oil.

Mimmee hope your nerves have settled after the other day.

We're also 2 weeks into the BLW journey. Big hits so far are halved baby courgettes, asparagus, brocolli, cauliflower, banana, melon and mangetout. He also loves rasping away at raw apple and chunks of carrot.

26 weeks tomorrow so all systems are go with toast!

Does anyone know if I can give him a prune to play with? !

Whathashappenedtomyboobs thank you, I am feeling much better about things. I just keep having to tell myself that this is how she will learn, and looking at it on the positive side - she dealt with it herself so that's got to be good?

That apple cake sounds lovely, I'm going to attempt that at the weekend. I made the carrot muffins this week which turned out well (first ever baking attempt ), bit bland but DD seems to like them which is just as well as I made loads!

Have also discovered a crinkle cutter which has been fab for slippery things (eg, mango, avacado) and makes them a bit more grabbable!

fraktious hi, I'm sure I have read that you can give dried fruit as a finger food although I haven't myself yet. I'd be tempted to soak overnight (unless you're using the tinned ones) and maybe cut in half?

spaceal I have done the tuna croquettes and froze them fine, also burgers/meatballs so don't see why not. Certainly saves a lot of time!

Signing up for this thread - it's already given me loads of ideas :) We've also been part time BLW with 7-mo-old DS, but now tempted to switch to full time as he's getting the hang of it. Think I will be using all those puree ice cubes as dips from now on ...

Great tips about patties and the crinkle cutter, will be trying that out.

Interesting that people have said they cb to do breakfast - I cba not to, as it keeps him occupied while I make and eat mine! He just nibbles on banana first as it only takes seconds to prepare, then another fruit once my tea's brewing, then some of my toast.

One question if anyone might have an idea? DS has just started refusing his evening meal. I'm going to try shifting lunch earlier, but wondered if anyone else had experienced something similar? It's the only meal he eats on his own, and up until tonight the only one which was purees ('real' food tonight made no difference though). It's at 6pm, followed by bath at 6.50pm and asleep by 7.30pm. I have also started offering formula instead of boob at bedtime so DH can take over, which he also is refusing, hmph. Sure it's just a phase, but wondered if anyone had experienced similar?