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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

BLW Beginner! Top tips please!

134 replies

Somersaults · 27/05/2012 19:44

DD is 6mo and we're heading down the BLW route , hopefully in a nice, relaxed manner!

Any top tips/advice/ideas greatly appreciated.

What can I give her that's healthy but piss easy to prepare?! Also any advice about when to introduce the dreaded wheat/dairy/eggs etc. we have no known food allergies in the family so do I really need to be so careful? Or can I just charge full steam ahead and five her anything? What about strawberries and tomatoes too? When should I start giving her meat and fish?

Sorry for so many questions! I've read a fair bit online and short snippets in books but nothing I've read answers all my questions. I walked down to the library last week and they had not one book about BLW. All the weaning books that referred to it (and most didn't!) suggested it was a new crazy fad and then said nothing more about it!

So to the combined wisdom of MN I turn. C'mon, share your best tips and advice with me!

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Original poster

Somersaults · 29/05/2012 22:39

I just made cheesy vegetable nuggets!

I used those steam packs of broccoli, cauliflower and carrot and made up a few of the quantities as each bag weighed about 5oz. We also ran out of cheese halfway through my grating so I had to grate 5 Babybels to make up to the right amount. I also I think I made them a bit too small and didn't realise the oven was turned up way higher than it should have been until most way through their cooking but despite all those things they still taste yummy! And that's coming from someone who doesn't like broccoli or cauliflower!

Can't wait to see how DD takes to them tomorrow.

She had some of my cheese and tomato tortelloni tonight - didn't really know what to make of it! She sort of sucked on the pasta for a while and got a right shock when she broke into the filling and a different taste filled her mouth!

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GodisaDj · 30/05/2012 06:34

it was the other site with a million likes but I was convinced that one was your page from a link you've previously posted, how strange.

I have now 'liked' your page and look forward to reading updates from you - I love the recent pics you've posted, especially the breastfeeding woman in a builder uniform

Original poster

Somersaults · 30/05/2012 18:52

Can I just say I'm loving how easy this BLW business is so far! I went out with the in-laws for lunch today. Took a couple of my veggie cheesy nuggets and a babybel with me. Sat her in the highchair there which she loved so much I'm tempted to take my posh mamas and papas one and see if they'll do a straight swap for their cheap plastic thing!! I put her nuggets and cheese on the tray and them gave her the cucumber from my salad and some of my Cajun chicken and mozzarella panini and she says happily shoving stuff in her mouth and throwing it on the floor for nearly an hour while we had our lunch. And I kid you not, no fewer than seven people approached us in that hour to tell us how clever she was and how well she was eating.

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Original poster

Somersaults · 30/05/2012 18:53

*she sat

Stupid phone autocorrect.

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GnocchiNineDoors · 30/05/2012 18:56

I am looking forward to dining out wiht my BLW baby. Am excited for her trying stuff while out. The most she's had 'out' is some cucumber off my Starbucks salad t'other day.

Astr0naut · 30/05/2012 20:04

Eating out's definitely easier. With ds I always had to plan in advance and take a whole range of plastic containers, bibs, spoons etc. With dd, it doesn't matter where I end up, as long as there's some bread somewhere.

FredFredGeorge · 30/05/2012 20:11

Astr0naut Interesting that everyone seems find bread great, DD eats virtually no bread, will leave it almost all the time, has done from the start (she's just coming up to 1) but yes it's very easy to eat out. We do tend to try and have some raisins or similar if we're going out to eat so she has something to eat whilst waiting for the food to be served.

GnocchiNineDoors · 30/05/2012 20:49

At 6 mo, i offer DD lafrge items, such as fingers of pepper, but when do I downsize?

FredFredGeorge · 30/05/2012 21:25

GnocchiNineDoors we gave DD what we ate, so if we had peas in a meal, she got peas on her high chair, it was winter when we started, so we tended to have a lot of chili, shepherds pie and similar stuff so it was quite sticky so she could scoop it up, but she could eat peas with a hand scoop within the first month - although a lot of course were dropped. By 8months or so she had a pincer grip and could eat anything, at 11.5 months today she stole a banana, managed to peel and eat it, so I hope she's about ready to start preparing her food aswell as eating by herself.

Certainly initially we picked or cut shapes of food from what we were eating that were good for her - so we cut carrots not as rounds but as batons when preparing for example, or gave her the potatoes that were a handy shape or squashed down a bit.

Original poster

Somersaults · 30/05/2012 22:51

Oh and I forgot to mention...

Yesterday at lunchtime I gave DD strips of avocado with the skin on. She gummed them for a while but didn't seem to get much.

THIS MORNING when she wasn't feeding very well and seemed to keep gagging on it, having never gagged on milk before, I checked her mouth and found a 1.5cm square piece of avocado skin in her mouth!

I guess I need to watch a little closer to see what actually does go in, and maybe check her mouth after the meal (depending on what we've had!) to check she's not saved any for later. I didn't notice it (and I'm pretty sure she didn't either!) all afternoon yesterday or at all last night, even through her long pre bed feed. I was amazed!

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GnocchiNineDoors · 30/05/2012 22:53

See, I need to jig round dinner times, as we eat our evening meal after she's gone to bed as DH gets in 5.30, plays with her for half an hour, bathes her feeds her bottle and hse's asleep by 6.30.

spaceal · 31/05/2012 16:19

Someone might have said this already but if do I've missed it...

Try porridge fingers (BLW cookbook) or just porridge lumps - normal oats not baby stuff prepared to a consistency that means you can put it in lumps/fingers to be picked up. My DD loves these - I tend to make them with fruit purée and make more than needed for lunch so we can use them for mid-morning snack too, kind of like soggy flapjack. Doesn't sound appealing but they do go down well.

Original poster

Somersaults · 31/05/2012 18:07

Porridge fingers sound... interesting!

She's discovered a love for tomatoes today! I've never seen her eat anything so fast. She's put things in her mouth and chewed on them before and ended up swallowing a few bits but she absolutely devoured a quarter of a tomato in about two minutes. Amazing.

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GnocchiNineDoors · 31/05/2012 21:00

We went out for a pub tea tonight so dd had a mix of stuff....bread carrot cucumber and a chip :-)

Was all lovely. Then MIL dunked her dummy in caramel and shoved it in her mouth I got ready to protest but DD got there first, spat out the dummy and did a big 'yack' face with her tongue out at MIL

zambooloo · 01/06/2012 15:25

Hi I won't bore you with details but was recommended by health visitor to wean dd early - she is 5 months. I really want to do blw but is 5 months too early? What would you recommend?

hardboiledpossum · 01/06/2012 16:47

I didn't d BLW but if she is having trouble with a tippy cup can you try one without a lid? When my HV said at 6 months DS should be using a cup I didn't realise she meant one with a lid so he has always had one without a lid and he managed to get the hang of it within a few weeks. At fist he did spill lots on himself.

JaffaSnaffle · 01/06/2012 18:02

Oh, have lots of fun!

DD had lots of veggie sticks (cooked) If you can get a crinkle cutter (something with an edge like this ~~~~~) it helps them massively to grip.
Big flakes of salmon
Steak in finger sized strips (she used knaw on them until they went grey and rubbery)
Dippy foods or soup with either a preloaded spoon, toast soldiers, or bread sticks
Bananas, I used to chop in half, peel back a quarter so there was a skin bit to hold and a bit to bite on, sometimes I would cut off the peeled bit.

It wasn't long before we could order child's roast dinners for her when we went out!

Good tip for eating out - you can buy cheapo paper table cloths (work out about 20p each) in in supermarkets. If you put them under the highchair, it is really easy to clean up afterwards, waiting staff appreciate it, and means you don't spend the whole meal flapping about what has gone on the floor. In fact, you know you can hygenically pass back what has landed on it.

Original poster

Somersaults · 01/06/2012 18:10

Ooh that's a great tip for eating out!

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all4u · 01/06/2012 18:11

They are all different - DS loved my milk and I finally weaned him at 10 months - slightly delaying because he had a bug
DD simply decided CBA and gave up herself at 7 months - ust when we had gone to my mum's for Christmas sans breast pump! So that NY began with mastitis
Now DD loves all things milky and DS only has milk in tea and cornflakes
As ever as long as they get their colostrum everything else is flexible

umboo · 01/06/2012 18:20

i'm sure you have got loads of tips on here but i just wanted to say how much fun you and baby are going to have with BLW. dc2 isn't even here yet but already me and dh keep saying that we can't wait til we get to do BLW again

LizMcB · 01/06/2012 19:01

Some really interesting tips on here. I'm just starting out and originally was planning to go the Annabel route but she freaked me out a little with her perfect hair/teeth/cleavage thing and also some of the ideas made me gag (pureed chicken salad - really?!) so planning to do a combination of some purees but mainly finger food while sticking to the BLW 'food for fun' ethos. Where I get a little stressed is iron. Will they really get enough iron and other nutrients from sucking/gumming strips of meat? And how do I give them to my baby? Do I roast a chicken breast/piece of meat then cut them into strips? And how big? Also how do I then convince my baby at some point that as much fun as eating with your hands is, he's going to have to use this boring stuff called cutlery? Sorry for so many questions. I want to do BLW, I'm not bothered about the mess, but guess I just need reassurance it will work out!

Clarabelle77 · 01/06/2012 19:17

Hi there. I'm BLW with second child and spoon fed my first. What a difference!! Life seems so much simpler with BLW. So far I'm just giving what we are eating in a version he can eat. He had cottage pie balls tonight and loved them. As for cuttlery I think they just learn from watching others eat. My first ate with his hands for a long time despite being spoon fed. Anyway just wanted to share my love for BLW. It's amazing to watch

Clarabelle77 · 01/06/2012 19:19

Also for sizes of meat or finger foods start chip sized. Basically you want them to hold it in their fist with some sticking out at the top. Hope that helps.

Flisspaps · 01/06/2012 19:21

zambooloo

Why has the HV recommended weaning now?

Is your DD showing the signs of readiness to wean?

CMOTDibbler · 01/06/2012 19:30

Liz, you really don't need to stress about iron too much. As long as you don't drop milk feeds drastically while feeding an iron poor diet, you'll be ok.

Just cut long bits of meat and your baby will suck them at first, then chew more and more.

Seed their tray with cutlery, and they will start using it at some point

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