Do BLW babies really eat the same as you do? If not, how do you cope?

[Jules125]

Hi, am going back to work soon (3 days per week) and wondering generally how I will cope with everything.

DD is nearly 13 months, has never been great with solids (still wants to BF most of the time) but will eat 2-3 meals a day and a reasonable (but not great) range of solids - mostly fish, some pulses, some sandwiches, some cereals, some fruit and veg.

However, I've never really been able to make life easier for myself by just cooking the same things for DH and I. DD is just too fussy and won't eat most of the meals I cook for us adults (things like stir fry, pastas, spag bol, chilli con carne, shepherd's pies - all often tried and consistently refused).

I'll need to give the Childminder 2 meals a day for DD so will do one sandwich (she's a bread lover) and try one other meal (fish and veg maybe).

But I know it will seem so much work to get organised and keep preparing separate meals for DD to take with her. Has anyone else had this problem? Or maybe she'll just be less fussy with the CM? Any suggestions for very simple veg/cheese/fish recipes I can batch cook and freeze?

Thanks for any suggestions

Yes DD eats exactly the same meal as us. She's 9mo only so I tend to pick low salt but flavourful food, eg curries, roasts. Stir fries are out but i do them the chinese way and I can't see how to skip the soy. I never worry if she likes them because she gets milk as a back up. But honestly she loves everything. I hear they go fussy but only when they are toddlers and being difficult. Your own food sounds perfect tbh for a baby. It's like all the nursery favourites!

Thanks - yes I've tried curries and roasts too. Your DD couldn't be more different to mine - she's always been very fussy and I started around 5.5 months. Sometimes wonder if I did something "wrong" with the weaning but probably my DD was always going to be a poor eater.

DS eats the same as us most of the time - he's 9 months - but I have adapted what I cook for him. He's not really fussy, but turns his nose up at pasta as he doesn't seem to be able to chew it. Big hits have been meatballs/burgers/fishcakes, pizza (you can make salt-free bases and freeze) and risotto. And I find adding a generous amount of cheese to any mash potato makes it more popular .

I'd really recommend the Baby Led Weaning cookbook - I consider myself a proficient cook, but was often at a loss what to make before.

Thanks again MrsW. Yes adding cheese / cheese sauce to anything seems to help! And DD also loves fishcakes and pizza - both of which are not too difficult to batch make and freeze. She will eat risotto sometimes.

I've not tried meatballs yet so I'll try that one too soon - you never know.

I'm definitely not a great cook but have tried lots of BLW cookbook meals and it gets a bit disheartening when you keep spending time on meals that are refused. I think BLW is easier than "traditional" weaning but there is no guarantee that you'll have a good eater as a result. Ho hum - at least she does eat a few things. But it must be a lot easier with an unfussy baby :-)

Have you tried risotto with pesto? DD loves it. And yes my DD is cheese mad. She isn't fussed by cauliflower, but if it's cauliflower cheese, she can't stop eating them.

MrsWifty what pasta are you using? We give De Cecco fusilli and she hasn't got any teeth, but can eat them. And we do adapt our food to DD. For example, we don't do spaghetti because DD takes ages to eat them. We also think about if there's anything DD can eat in the meal before we cook them. It's getting very easy to find things we all can eat though now she has a pincer grip.

Jules I think the difference is BLW actually encourage you to eat the same meal. It's not supposed to be like purees where you cook a separate meal for your LO. I can totally understand why you get disheartened. That's why I can't handler purees. At least atm, I am not fussed at all if DD doesn't like the food I serve up. She's actually very variable btw. In the weekend she didn't like the tomato pasta with aubergine and ricotta we served up. Yesterday, same meal and she wolfed it down so fast.

Good luck. And maybe she'll be less fussy at the CM.

I'm still determined not to have a fussy eater, but if I'm honest it isn't unusual for DS to turn his nose up at our food. He's 21/2 now, and a bit better because you can negotiate with him ("you can have seconds of sausage when you've had two mouthfuls of mash" etc), but when he was just over 1 I felt a bit cheated by BLW as I still had a fussy eater!

Can I suggest that to begin with you give the CM meals you know your child is likely to eat, but then later move to more variety. If children are hungry, they will eat, if they're not hungry, especially if it's not their favourites, they won't and that's okay. My DS eats at nursery during the week, but at the weekend I always try to do one meal I know he'll love - usually pasta - and one meal that is 'leftovers' from one of our meals to try and get him eating what we do. It's hit and miss - the other day he surprised us by eating beef stroganoff with rice despite having never eaten beef or mushrooms or rice before!

Have you tried stews? Or pilaf-type dishes (like risotto but using normal rice so a different texture)? DS seems to prefer dishes where elements are separate (irritatingly the complete opposite of us!), so fish fingers or fishcakes or sausage with mash and beans or peas is always a winner.

Yes snap - DD will only eat food where all the elements are separate (and it works best if they are even offered one food type at a time!) - again the complete opposite of most of what we eat. Likewise, fishfingers, fishcakes etc never refused.

I've not tried stews (not something I usually cook) or ordinary rice (DD loves couscous) but will give both of those a try sometime.

Your suggestions make sense and so far (DD has done some settling in session with the CM) I've only offered food I know she really likes.

Thanks again. I'm a bit disappointed with BLW too but will just keep plugging away with this.

we always gave dd whatever we were having but always had some foods we knew she liked (mashed potatoes with cheese, pot of yoghurt/fromage frais, rice) so we could give it to her if she didn't manage to eat what we had or didn't like it as much.

ds3 15m, definately becoming more fussy but inconsistently, is also one who will reject a meal one day but eat it another. I am trying to continue serving our family meals and not worrying about him or trying to over accomodate him. My theory is he will grow to be familiar with them and will eat a balance over time. Ds1 also became very fussy at this age and I constantly tried to find the 'magic' ingredient that would get him to eat - different recipes, different plate etc - he continued to reject and more so - at the lowest point he would only eat dairylea sandwiches and fruit...