Ahh confussssssed !!

[Flasks]

I've been trying to wean DD for around a month now (she 6mth) started purée , then mashed and now want to start BLW however ,
I'm not sure how much DD needs now along with milk, she already has 2 solid meals a day / do i increase this ? I've heard they may not eat as much as spoon fed so how do I know she has had enough?
I'm soo confused 😩also...They say to try finger foods one example being bread .. In the next breath is you can't give salt - bread has soo much salt so this contradicts advice ?? Yes ??
Sorry I'm just one confused mama !! Xx

You shouldn't be adding salt to cooking, or giving really salty food. The maximum recommended is 1g a day, so a little is allowed. Baby won't be eating that much bread, I'd have thought.

I would be offering food 3 times a day. I think they are supposed to have 500ml of milk if ff. If she's hungry, offer more milk.

I just looked at my bread, it says 0.43g of salt per slice. Baby won't eat anywhere near a slice so will be well under the recommended limit, and even if they do, you can still give other salt containing food, so long as you keep an eye on it.

You'll know she's had enough because her main source of nutrition should be her milk. Weaning is more about exploring taste and texture rather than filling them up.

I wouldn't increase the number of meals at this age. The current advice is to wait until they are 9 months before offering 3 meals a day.

You can offer bread, but not very often. You are right that you should watch the salt levels but its impossible to avoid it completely.

If you want some inspiration for finger food the BLW website is good. I borrowed this book from our library when I was weaning dd and got stuck for ideas.

Have you read the MN weaning info? Its very good and might help to unconfuse you

Ahh thanks guys I never thought about it like per slice as I have no idea how much they would have !
I'm hoping she may have a taste for more savoury food the BLW way as she doesn't ATM
Thank you x

X-posted with noble

Is it 9 months, Jilted, for 3 meals? MN weaning page says 7 months. Just checking as I'm currently weaning a 6.5 month old and was starting to think about it!

For savoury, have you tried lumps of cooked potato? DD has great fun with those. Also babybels are good.

I see it as spending 6 months getting them used to the mechanics of eating -- holding stuff, getting it to their mouth, swallowing it, using a spoon and drinking from a beaker. Whether anything goes in is secondary!

I didn't know about the recommendation being only 2 meals a day but I find it easier to feed DD something when I am eating -- to be honest though sometimes I forget one of the meals if we are out and about.

It is confusing as like everything with babies yours doesn't necessarily do what it says on the packet .

Things like eggy bread were a big hit with our dd. if she refuses savoury I wouldn't offer anything else at this age. The milk will be enough to keep her going. Agree with noble if you are ff the minimum is 20floz a day until she's one if you are bfing just keep feeding on demand

Just seen your post on number of meals its on the NHS website and on kellymom. It is only a recommendation though and if Lo is taking enough milk and you are happy to offer more solids I don't think she'll come to much harm

Brilliant thanks for your responses , yes DD is ff
I have tried sweet potato she like it initially but no longer and I do keep offering the same foods on different occasions
I think I will keep to the 2 set meals then and just see if she wants anything when I eat as you suggested
If any of you have any foods which proved popular with yours then do share

Jilted, that's good news because I was dreading adding breakfast as we need to get out of the house on time. I'm happy to leave it a bit longer! :)

My DD enjoyed strips of omelette last night (well, some of it, a lot landed on the floor - blw is really messy). She also had Philadelphia on toast cut into triangles (sucked it till it was soggy, then that too went on the floor). Going to try oatcakes today. I seem to remember my DS really liking plain rice cakes, or you could put toppings on those too. If you give pasta, fusilli is easier to grip I think.

With BLW you are supposed to be able to just give them a bit of what you're having, but I want to give her stuff she will find easy to hold first, before cracking out the spaghetti bolognese.

In my house we have switched to twirly pasta or penne instead of spaghetti (like noble giraffe says!). 7.5 months DD sucks the bolognese sauce off, chews the pasta enthusiastically then spits it out.

She likes cucumber batons, pepper strips, chicken strips (think chicken fajita without the spice), wholemeal pitta pre dipped in tzatziki or houmous. strips of roast dinner meat to suck, carrot batons, skinny sausages (bit salty so in moderation)

Banana and egg pancakes (blend up one egg, one banana, spoonful of baby rice and spoonful of baking powder then fry the result as little pancakes)

just try loads of stuff - particularly if you are having it anyway and see what happens. I supplement with pouches if I am lazy or having something totally unsuitable like hot chilli or curry - although DH tends to suck the sauce off and give her bits anyway! Oh I think she might have had spicy poppadoms and some Naan bread from the DH too thinking about it. He does like to share!

If using a boring pouch I hand her a rice cake or oatcake to throw around eat (she likes something to hold and do herself)

Its fine to add things like natural yoghurt if creme fraiche if you think the food you are eating is too spicy for Lo adagio

noble you are lucky with the rice cakes, both of mine kept handing them back to me with a "where's the flavour?" look.

flasks another thing to try is roasted veg. You can make add things to it to make a meal for you and dd might just like the sweetness. It will keep for a few days in an airtight container.

Well I will be trying all these I'm sure !
Adagio - I'm glad you've tried peppers as I was wondering if they were allowed
So basically they can have anything ? All I'm moderation of course watching the salt sugar fat content etc ..

No honey, no whole nuts, anything else is good to go. Cut grapes and be careful with anything that might be small and hard enough to be a choking risk.

If you leave skin on fruit/veg it makes it easier for them to hold.