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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. I think I need some support here......

19 replies

beatie · 19/03/2006 21:47

DD2 is 26 weeks old tomorrow The time has sped past :(

Anyway, the past few days I've sat her in her high chair and she's been handed a crust of bread, a piece of banana, a piece of sweet potato, a piece of apple and a baby rice cake. She's sitting up well and I'm amazed that within 2 days I see signs of her chewing AND swallowing food.

But, as she's dd2, and dd1 was weaned at 4/5 months on purees, BLW feels odd. It's a lot of fun and so much easier but at the same time I cannot shake the feeling of being neglectful.

So, I could do with a bit of guidance and support. Is it really OK for her calorie-wise to be given small scarps of food on a sporadic basis? For how many weeks/months?

When do I progress to feeding her more? How much should she be eating? What are the foods that I can't/shouldn't give her at the 6 month stage?

I feel fairly confident about the BLW approach but since I don't know anyone in real life who has done this and don't have a book on the subject, it all feels a bit experimental. I need to feel 100% confident about it to ward off the strange questions/looks I am going to get from family and friends.

OP posts:

Original poster

beatie · 19/03/2006 21:50

BTW - I recognise the irony in my post. Baby-led weaning means it is led by the baby so of course no-one can tell me precisely what and how much she can eat. But I need some kind of benchmark here.

OP posts:

hoxtonchick · 19/03/2006 21:54

we have done this with dd (also 2nd child), who's now almost 9 months. it's worked fantastically. tonight we went out to a vietnamese restaurant with friends & she happily ate mange tout, rice, noodles, chicken, tomato & mushrooms (most impressed with those last ones as i don't like them!). it's so much easier than messing around with purees.

i am still bf her on demand (altough she goes to nursery 2 days a week where she has formula), & she feeds a fair amount, 4 or 5 times a day probably. and at night too. until babies are a year, milk is their main source of nutrition, solids are a bonus really.

i weaned dd at 6 months, but she wasn't terribly interested for about 6 weeks, so don't panic if this happens with you too.

i also think it's a lot easier for you, as you can give both children the same things to eat. dd sometimes eats more than her 4 year old brother...

good luck!

CorrieDale · 20/03/2006 08:09

DS, at 9 months, still isn't a big eater. BUT he's a very adventurous one! BLW is working really well for us. He ate v. little in the first two months and then he started to get a better appetite. Now he's started dropping his daytime milk feeds , which I'm hoping is just a temporary thing, and eating a lot more at each of his meals. My family thought I was barking, and my RL friends thought it was odd that I could just sit and watch him gag without jumping to the rescue. But now most people think it's great that we can just give DS what we have ourselves, within reason. Last night he had gnocchi and spinach/mushroom sauce, followed by blueberry pancakes and natural fromage frais. Followed by yet more fromage frais (coz he started to cry when the plates were taken into the kitchen). It's a really lovely way of weaning - I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Original poster

beatie · 20/03/2006 08:52

Do you do any spoon feeding i.e. breakfast?

OP posts:

bamboo · 20/03/2006 09:30

I started blw a fortnight ago but ds has been poorly for the past week so I've abandoned solids for now. I joined the blw group on Yahoo. I found it not that "user-friendly" initially but I think it would be pretty good if you have specific questions. Also had some good links.

\link{http://www.hallpublications.com/title2_sample2.html\This one} gives guidelines on which solids to introduce when. It's aimed at the "allergic infant" but is a good starting point.

CorrieDale · 20/03/2006 10:15

Well, we use a spoon for weetabix porridge and yogurt. I load it, he grabs it and smears the contents into his mouth. It's a messy business but he's a lot better at it now than when we first started. And at least 3 spoons are required because he flings them around and likes to have one in one hand while feeding himself with the other. As you can imagine, we NEVER have any food requiring spoon use when we're out in public!!!!

hoxtonchick · 20/03/2006 10:23

dd thinks spoons are evil. unless they have yoghurt on them. but i still can't guarantee she'll eat it. toast fingers & fruit work well for breakfast.

ruthydd · 20/03/2006 15:07

As bamboo says the yahoo group is useful. When I got around to signing up I found the documents section useful.

We started BLW 2 weeks ago (ds2 is now 28 weeks). Initially he ate things like broccoli, carrots and toast but has rapidly progressed on to family meals. e.g. pasta, risotto, cauliflower cheese. Its really lovely to watch his co-ordination improving every day. Yes its messy, but its also great fun.

Can anyone recommend ways of flavouring food without adding salt ? e.g would it be ok to add some spices or will it give him a sore bottom ?

oops · 20/03/2006 15:13

i started with ds2 about 1 month ago
it is a bit mad i think, but i love it
it does leave one hell of a mess
today he ate a banan and a slice of toast at the cafe.
my friend's baby, 10 weeks older ate 1/2 a jar...but she def looked alot cleaner by the end of it.
He loves it

as far as how much to give him...i just keep passing stuff to him until he gets bored...
dunno what else to do
hth, it is nice to hear lots of other BLW stories, my mates think i am a bit bonkers in the nut too

Mazzystar · 20/03/2006 15:18

what is the definition of baby-led weaning?

can there really be any other kind?

ruthydd · 20/03/2006 15:32

Is spoon feeding from a jar baby-led ? depends if you have to play trains to get the food in or not I suppose.

I know what you're getting at, but to answer your question BLW has come to mean no spoons, no purees because of \link{http://www.borstvoeding.com/kleintjes/rapley_guidelines.html}\this} research

ruthydd · 20/03/2006 15:34

damn - my links never work

.... \link{http://www.borstvoeding.com/kleintjes/rapley_guidelines.html\try again}

Mazzystar · 20/03/2006 16:11

thank-you for that...

its kind of what i imagined actually, and kind of what we ended up doing by default because ds was having none of being spoonfed. you could practically see him thinking "I'll do it MYSELF thank-you", grabbing any spoon, rejecting most lovingly-created purees. i felt like i was doing something wrong for ages as all my friends little ones sat obediently opening their mouths like little birds.

Original poster

beatie · 21/03/2006 08:28

I'm still feeling torn about it. :(

Anymore positive stories?

OP posts:

PiccadillyCircus · 21/03/2006 10:47

Hi beatie . DD is doing some BLW and some not. Although when she is being spoon fed she grabs it half the time and gets it in her mouth.

I too feel a bit as if I'm not doing enough.

Will write more later some time (when not feeding one child or another)

oops · 21/03/2006 12:32

we are really enjoying it.
Ds2 at a banana yesterday and toast and today he had some parsnips and pasta and grated cheese.
Not a puree in sight.
He launches himself at the plate, and seems to really enjoy mealtimes
I can also eat with the kids and spend time talking to ds1, so it is a sociable event.
Now don't get me started on the mess tho'!!!
ds2 also had a 1/4 potato the other day, and green beans..it is so easy

Original poster

beatie · 21/03/2006 13:34

Oops - I have to put food directly on her tray else she picks up the plate/bowl and tries to eat that! It is messy but so is spoon feeding.

Yesterday I gave her banana and she coped well. Today I mashed the banana, she grabbed the spoon and most of it ended up on her. She was less keen to chew ans swallow what came off the spoon than what she could bite off the banana her self.

I will persevere. Iguess it will get easier when she masters the pincer grip. Grated cheese was beyond her!

OP posts:

Rhumba · 21/03/2006 13:36

hi beatie, just getting to grips with this myself. DD is nearly 6 months so on purees at present but keen to move on. Tried a carrot stick the other day but with no sucess.

When folk are saying about giving them things like risotto and gnocci in sauce do you just chuck it on a plate and let them shovel it into their mouth?or is it prtly spoon fed.

Also at 6 months how do you introduce meat ie consistancy and when?

ruthydd · 23/03/2006 08:35

beatie - if dd managed banana you're doing really well! We found it a bit too slippery and mushy.

grated cheese worked well with pasta for us only because it sticks to the pasta so ds ate it by default.

rhumba - the rissotto was just placed in front of him. the veg was in large pieces which he ate and bits of rice went in because it was stuck to the veg a bit like the grated cheese with the pasta. That said it was soooo messy, so it isn't high on my list to try again.

We haven't tried any meat yet. I thought it a bit unfair to give him a chunk of meat when he hasn't got any teeth. He had a fish finger the other day though. I have mixed feelings as to whether that was a good idea (re salt), but he seemed to enjoy it.

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