Blw starts next wk, any do's and dont's?

[plannedshock]

Going to give porridge with expressed milk (tried this wk, loves it) can I just give her everything we have? I know she will just be having a play to start with but can she have bread/rice/pasta? What about cooking with milk? Does it always have to be her milk or cows milk? I'm not worried about her getting lots or 3 meals a day quite happy to keep feeding and let her have a go, any blw foods you found good/easy? Anything I must not do? Eg: honey, or any books I should read because I haven't read anything! Thanks!!

Be wary of salt. So don't add salt to food baby eats and keep an eye on hidden salt eg in bread/cheese.

I interpreted BLW as foods for baby not my dinner but they decided how to eat them. Which was easier as both of mine couldn't have dairy or soya anyway.

Aaahh ok, so salt in bread, what's too much? Should it be white or brown? I wouldn't season her food, so it's not just give them what we have? I think I need a book!

Gill Rapley's BLW Cookbook is excellent. You can buy baby stock cubes in Boots. Pitta bread is lower in salt than ordinary bread.

Avoid:

• too much salt
• refined sugar
• whole nuts
• honey

And don't stress. Remember that food is just for fun and it doesn't matter how much they he. Variety and quality matter more then quantity. As long as you give them breastmilk/ formula then that is were they get most of their nutrition

Buy a large oil cloth for the floor, get plenty of sleeved bibs and tommy tippee bibs with the lips, and be prepared for lots of fun and have the camera at the ready, we,ve been doing it for a month now and it's great.

Get a dog

Bibs with sleeves are your friends.

Yes you can just give them whatever your having ASSUMING you don't have massively salty food yourself

Rda salt for under 1yo is .1g over 1yo is 1g.

I would recommend weighing it out and looking at it. It's more than you think.

River cottage baby and toddler cook book is pretty good.

Things dd loved at the beginning if our food adventure;

Steak, yes seriously she would suck on a slice of medium steak for ages.

Potato wedges (cut from actual potatoes and oiled but not seasoned)

Cheese (mild is less salty)

Omelette in slices

Smoked salmon

Steamed carrot / broccoli

Mashed potatoes (she developed a incredible scooping technique for this)

And if you feeling down and need a laugh, noodles

We put newspaper down each meal and then just chucked it in the bin

Remember your camera, blw makes for vv cute video

Try adventurous stuff. My kids loved roast lamb with rosemary and garlic, hacked into chunks for them. They sucked the juice out. Yum!

With the bread, it is pretty salty but in practice, she's unlikely to eat much of it for a while. As long as you're aware of it being salty and don't give it too often, I really wouldn't worry.

Either white or brown is fine. We just gave the bread DH and I eat (wholemeal) as I figured there'd be loads of waste if I bought special bread for DS. Just avoid giving wholemeal everything as they can't cope with too much fibre, so if you're giving wholemeal bread, use white rice and pasta.

You can use cows milk in cooking and on cereal, just don't give it as a main drink.

And I second others' advice to be adventurous and offer all sorts. DS loved sucking and gnawing roast meat despite not being able to chew it properly.

Don't get too hung up on it.
It is ok to spoon feed your baby if you're not force feeding them.
You can do both.
Relax :)

HerrenaHarridan!! You're so right. My dog LOVES baby feeding time!!

Do I just give it in baby sized chunks?

Get an ikea antilop highchair. I did, based on recommendations on MN, and have never looked back. It is sooooo easy to clean!

Buy the Gill Rapley cookbook.

As said above, cow's milk is fine in food, just not as a main drink.

Chunks that are thin enough to fit in their mouth but long enough to go through their fist (or they get very frustrated when they suck it into their hand and can't get it)

Relax and enjoy, we used spoons for certain things (mostly yoghurt) a 2 spoon system worked for us. Ie I would dip one spoon in yoghurt (the thicker the better) and hand it to her, when she was done I would dip the other one and while She made a grab for the new spoon i would make a grab for the old. I became pretty ninja at catching spoons that flew through the air.

Really don't be unnecessarily dogmatic, dd granny always spoon feeds dd when she thinks I'm not looking. Doesn't matter.

Dd is 19 mo now and eats everything, mealtimes are very relaxed. I have never been able to stress about how much she's eating (because its very difficult to tell )

You need to do a lot more research and preparation. This is such an important time for both of you and should be something you enjoy.

I also believe that it DOES matter what food you give, blw doesn't mean you can just put anything in front of babies. You should still be making sure that you're introducing good groups slowly and looking out for possible reactions, and introducing a taste for healthy food and choices as well as independent eating.

I followed a mix of traditional weaning and lots of finger food from very early on so always felt confident my DS was getting nourishment as well as fun exploring food. I planned exactly what food groups to introduce and when.... Its not hard as there is so much information available. He is super healthy and has a fantastic attitude to food now. I don't think you should be aiming for her to "eat what you eat" for several months (unless you want to eat salt free baby recipes) simply because her needs are very different to yours and you may not have as healthy a diet as you think or would like DC to have. DS eats far better than me and far prefers the healthy food I've always made him to sweet or processed alternatives. I didn't realise how boring and often poor my diet was until I started to cook for DS.

I echo avoiding bread and processed food, remember DC cannot decide what's good for her, only what goes in her mouth. You're responsible for what goes on her plate, she does the easy bit!

This is a crucial time for both of you, blw is not a miracle way of skipping the hard work and it's worth investing time in preparing food yourself so that both you and your DC have a healthy approach to their nutrition in the long term.

Good luck... Tommy tippee plastic bibs and feeding aprons are your best friends! xxx