Baby Led Weaning - I am struggling .... help please

[KarenHappy100]

My baby is now 8 months old. She sat up at around 7 months and I started BLW then. She is having milk every 3-4 hours (usually 3 though). She sleeps through. I really struggle to find things for her to eat with BLW as she just picks the food up and throws most of it to the side of her high chair, onto the floor. I was with a friend this week who didn't do BLW and she told me to be careful as my baby likes her milk feeds so much, she may never want to eat. Am I expecting too much having only been doing the BLW thing for just over a month? I did the traditional weaning with my older children but I just love the idea of BLW. Any advice would be appreciated.

Some babies do take a while to get going. Does she put any in her mouth?

Yes she does put some food in her mouth but it's really hit and miss and she doesn't always get much. She doesn't like bread much. She will sometimes eat a rice cake. She loves mango and actually managed to pick it up the other day as she used both hands. She is very happy to be spoon-fed though or to have chunks put in her mouth (I have done this when she is frustrated and clearly wants to eat the food but can't get it into her mouth herself). Lumps are not a problem.

Sorry but that advice from your friend is hilarious, she thinks your baby will only be drinking milk when they're an adult?!

Don't stress it, at this stage food is another game; keep offering lots of different foods, fruit etc, some will eventually end up in the right place

It helps if you eat at the same time, so they learn from watching you.

If she wants spoon feeding then it's baby led then!

But I'm not a purist!

I would feed her bits but give her the option to help too

I was with a friend this week who didn't do BLW and she told me to be careful as my baby likes her milk feeds so much, she may never want to eat

Don't think that's true at all! Of course she will eat!

TBH it sounds like you're doing really well - especially if she's sleeping through the night [jealous emoticon]

AFAIK at this stage it's more about exploring and her milk will provide most of her nutrition.

If you are concerned you could always get her weighed - I didn't think my DD was taking in much food but found she had gone up a centile and I do feel a lot more relaxed about it (she's 8 mo too)

What has worked for me is not putting too much on her tray because she finds it a bit overwhelming and lots gets chucked. Also giving her time to explore, sometimes she'll faff about with something for 5 mins and then suddenly put it in her mouth.

Don't worry - I'm sure there will be posters with much more experience than me who would say the same.

Don't worry about her actually getting any food until she is past the age of 1. Milk should still be her main source of nutrition and food is just a game/hobby/interest.

If you spoon feed her she 'might' get a bit lazy about doing it herself though and practising her coordination.

Don't think my dd actually ate anything until 10 months but boy did she have fun until then. Her first meal was a Toby Carvery

Karen not much help but you could be talking about my 7 month old ds. On the odd occasion he will eat a bit but mostly just waves food around & feeds the dog (who loves BLW!) He loves his milk too. My HV told me to cut down on milk & to alternate feeds with solids & milk. We just keep repeating the 'food is fun until they're one' mantra as we too love the idea of BLW. I will be watching to see what others have to say - there is a support thread on here too which I use (sorry not sure how to link on my phone.)

Thanks so much for all of the above! It's really helpful. She gains around a pound a month and I think that must be due to her milk.

PS how do I find the support thread tootssweet?

Have you noticed my difference in her nappies? I found that it seemed dd was chucking all her food on the floor at first but her nappies told a different story.
BLW was slow to start for us until I introduced ripe pears, bananas, soft peaches etc. then dd really got the idea and weaning took off. Just keep doing what you've been doing and introducing a wide variety of foods. It will all fall into place

My son took a while to 'get' food too and preferred milk - about 9 months he seemed to start eating more rather than just playing. Now he's nearly 13mo and eats LOADS!

I did spoon feed some things too though, like weetabix, porridge, yoghurt, so I guess not pure blw. But quite early on he would 'help' guide to spoon to his ear mouth. Now he holds the spoon and attempts scooping things from his bowl.

He loved mango too, and any ripe fruit, adores bananas. Rice cakes, toast fingers, sweet potato wedges went down well iirc.

Oh and yes, the nappies. You will know when food is going in (blurgh)

Hi Karen sorry to have posted and ran - was out at DN's party all day yesterday! The thread is www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weaning/1319159-BLW-Banter-Thread and there are a few of us who are in the same boat as you but there is a lot of sharing ideas of what to feed them (veg flavoured muffins seem to be popular - but not been brave enough to bake them yet as I am sadly not much of a domestic goddess that way!)

As an aside I hope the link works as its my first one!

It's worth thinking about the timing of meals and milk feeds if you can as well - where possible I try to leave about an hour after a milk feed before solid food, so my dd isn't too full but not starving hungry and wanting milk either, and this seems to work. I don't see there's anything wrong with offering food on a spoon if you're doing BLW, as long as the baby decides whether and how much to eat and you're not just shoving it in for them. My dd likes having some food off a spoon sometimes (she loves things like yogurt and soggy weetabix) - I'll load the spoon and hold it out for her and if she wants it she'll grab it and feed herself, if not that's fine and I leave it. Really soft food is easiest to eat, like ripe pear, mango or melon - and it's easier to pick up and hold onto if you cut notches in it as 'handles'. I wouldn't worry too much, a month in is early days and she'll be getting good nutrition from the milk anyway.