Formula fed baby and baby led weaning - can it work?

[Holymoly321]

DS is 23 weeks old and is formula fed. He's a big baby - 19lbs and I'm thinking about weaning him soon. I've been looking through the threads here - god I love MN!- and I'm really keen on baby led weaning - seems to make sense to me to let the baby lead the way rather than force spoons of puree down him. Also, it seems like more fun for him and as I'm not in any hurry for him to be having 3 square meals a day, it seems a good way of easing him into eating solids. But, I'm concerned as all the babies who've been weaned this way seem to be BF. Also, I'm concerned that it could be a good few months before he'd be eating red meat and what that would mean for the 6 month start of his iron levels depleting (hope that makes sense!). What do other MN'ers think? Any formula fed BLW babies out there?

I don't see why this wouldn't work.

And you can give red meat pretty early, and easily, with baby-led weaning. DS2 took to red meat pretty easily, and although he was initially just sucking the blood out (rare steak), I'm sure that helped with his iron levels.

(And anyway, the iron thing isn't that clearcut. Their iron levels actually start going down from birth, from what I know. How were your iron levels in pregnancy?)

DD1 was bottlefed and we did baby led weaning w/her. We just waited for her cues. She started watching us eat intently, so I'd sit down in front of her w/a bowl of something and eat to see her reaction. She started trying to grab the spoon, so I gave her some mashed banana. She was about 5.5 months old. She also started making eating motions w/her mouth and tongue, like not pushing out w/her tongue so much to suck.

It can be done! Is he giving you cues that he's ready to eat? Try sitting him at the table w/you or holding him on your lap whilst you eat and see what he does.

I think the loss of iron is a v gradual thing. And you'll still be giving him formula between meals and that's fortified with iron. You wouldn't need to wait before giving him red meat if he was happy to eat it (maybe stewed meat is easier to digest?).

I don't think there's any particular connection between baby-led weaning and bfing, unless in a kind of ideological, lentil-knitting-lifestyle kind of way that goes along with cloth nappies and not using dummies etc.

My iron levels were a bit low during my pregnancy - I had to take iron tablets. NQC - did you lo really suck the blood out of rare steak or are you pulling my bells? RE the cues - whenever I eat or drink he stares at me and follows the food or drink going into my mouth. He can sit up for short periods unaided, he's started waking up during the night again (in fact we recently have had to start doing a dream feed at 11pm - only 4ozs but he had previously been going from 7pm to 7am without an extra feed). How do I start? Just put one type of veg in front of him or a selection?

I think the main consideration would be to make sure that your baby was getting enough water as formula is food and breastmilk if given on demand can quench thirst app. There is a blw group on yahoo which has lots of info, a thread from the 14th of feb has a link (sorry I don't know how to do links).

Yes, DS2 sucked the blood from rare steak. I would give him a chip-shaped bit of meat, and he would suck on it.

(I think most people don't believe in giving rare meat to babies, so you may not want to do this.)

If you want to go for full-blown BLW, you might want to wait until he can sit on his own unaided for a while. Also, can he pick things up well?

NQC, he can pick up things quite well, but I think if I go down the BLW route I'll wait until he's 6months - which is only a couple of weeks away anyway. Could you advise on how I would start? Do I just put one type of veg stick in front of him or a selection? Is it a good idea to start him on lumpy puree type food first which he can just try and shove in his mouth or just go straight to the sticks? Also, should I start to give water too? If so should this be in a tommee tippee style cup? How much and when? Sorry to ask so many questions but this is all very new and daunting!

I would be inclined to offer sticks of steamed veg (carrot is good), although really, anything reasonably soft and chip-shaped is a good start.

Do you have allergy concerns?

You don't really need to worry about water until your DS starts actually eating the food, which may take a little while. You can offer water, in a bottle, tommee tippee cup, or open-topped cup. (Actually, my DS2 took to sports bottles of water really well, and still uses those lots.)

You can try offering lumpy puree too, but that will be guaranteed to make a giant mess, and be harder for him to eat than sticks, I think.

Chicken breaks up naturally into strips, and is a nice food to offer, too.

Ds was formula fed. I didn't set out to do baby-led weaning but he made it clear early on that he wanted to lead! I gave him pureed carrot as his first food (actually offered baby rice first but he refused to eat any). Then he grabbed my hotdog roll and had that as his second food. He was just under 7 months (or 5.5 months if you count from his due date - he was a bit premature). He could sit up if supported by his slightly reclining high chair (couldn't sit unaided till 10 months so glad I didn't wait for that!).

I can't remember the actual figures but I think if he had one or two bottles of follow-on a day that pretty much gave him enough iron, given that they get a bit in food anyway. And ds did baby-led drinking too - not keen on water at first and then got enthusiastic; how much he drinks is directly related to how much solid food he has had (rather than yoghurts and mush). So I think he knows when he needs to drink.

Give it a go. You can always do a bit of both. I think the main thing is to have him at the table, and eat your meals at the same time. If your family meal isn't something that can be cut into sticks, you can blend/mash it and spoon-feed. Although that is a bit later when he has got the hang of it - be prepared for a couple of months of playing and mess before he actually starts swallowing the stuff. Ds is 12mo now and I still sweep up at least half the meal afterwards.

Thanks NQC - no allergy concerns that I'm aware of. I think I'll give the steamed carrots a go and work from there. I know with puree you try something new every three days or so - how often should I try something new with BLW? Also, any tips on other good foods to try him out on. Many thanks in advance!

The whole "wait three days" thing is all about avoiding and detecting allergies. Allergies are much less likely if you wait until 6 months or thereabouts.

Frankly, at 6 months, you can give pretty much any food. You don't want to give anything too salty, and you might want to avoid seafood, nuts etc, or you might not.

I would be aware of when you introduce the big allergens (egg, wheat, dairy, nuts, seafood, strawberries), and keep an eye out for any reaction, but really, give whatever you like. Fingers of toast are nice. Big pieces of pasta are popular (penne, fusilli, initially your DS will just eat the bits of pasta that stick out of his fist).

NQC - when you say pasta, do you mean the pasta that we have with sauce on it (I normally make bolognaise from scratch when we have pasta or something with pesto).

Yeah, the same pasta you have, with the same sauce. Nothing different.

That's one of the great things about waiting, you can just move them onto normal family food asap.

Wow - this sounds too easy - what's the catch?

THE MESS!!!!!

Oh yes, the mess.

Also, your child will probably really take to self-feeding, to the extent that you can't eat anything around him, that you don't want to share. And if he's anything like my kid, he will be nearly impossible to feed - DS2 has never really tolerated me spooning anything in his mouth.

DS2 is 16 months now. He's great with a spoon, and really loves his food. But I can't really have beer or wine around him. And he sees any food, on anyone's plate, as a snacking option.

But he travels really well! He liked watermelon and chilli in Mexico, and ate well in every restaurant.

How old was your lo when you started weaning him? Did you ever give him baby rice or puree or did you just dive in with the carrot sticks? Sorry to keep asking you all these questions!

I started at 5 months and 3 weeks or something. I tried offering purees and he didn't want any (well, he was willing to eat a dahl I made, finally). He really preferred finger food, so I just gave that. One of my local friends weaned her last two DDs this way, and it looked easier.

I think the first thing I actually offered was a bit of sweet pepper. I think the first thing he actually ate was a bit of chicken.

Cool - thanks so much. Think I'll just give it a go and see what happens! Wish me luck!

I do, I do.

Oh, don't be surprised at all if your baby gags a bit at the start. Solids are a surprise to them, and gagging is different from choking (when they gag, they're still breathing. Nobody ever died from gagging).