BLW

[thefunnybird]

hello! My son is 7 months old and I have been doing BLW since he was 6 months. He picks up most of the foods I give him and puts them in his mouth but never actually swallows anything. He either spits it out once he's bitten a chunk off or sometimes has a bit of freak out gaggingand then crying because he's scared himself - it's definitely just gagging and not choking. Is this normal? When should he actually start swallowing anything? I spoke to HV and she said to sit him down for meals three times a day instead just feels futile as he doesn't actually eat anything and I struggle to find three periods of the day where he is happy enough to try and feed and not either hungry/tired/just had milk... Any other ideas? Am I expecting him to be learning to swallow too soon?

Mine mainly sucked and gummed on stuff for the first few months. Some went down, most went on the floor, I just assumed thats what was supposed to happen.

They still get their main source of nutrition from milk, so anything extra is a bonus, and tbh its more about exploring food than ensuring they have three lots of food shovelled in at regular intervals.

I used to just put a bit of my food on their plates at whatever time I ate. If I was eating something unsuitable (McDonalds!), id just shove a brocoli floret in the microwave steamer and grab some pre cooked (by me) chicken breast strips from the fridge and a few sticks of cucumber

I completely sympathise.

DS used to be the same. I used to be so confident feeding my child, but nothing prepared me for weaning!

so what we did was this:
when he would push things out like cooked carrot/broccoli/potato, we would absolutely boil the little buggers to death so they were as mushy as possible. that helped a bit and then he would have a yoghurt with fruit purée for pudd to fill him up a bit.

he coped much better with very sloppy foods of course. fish pie is a favourite, or spaghetti bolognese, macaroni cheese, mild curries ect ect...

Is did BLW with DD1 and am doing it with 6mo DD2. I did 3 meals a day with both right from the start unless they are sleeping. Basically they get food whenever I do. You don't have to wait till they are an hour after milk etc. The idea is just play and they might learn that it is food. I'm not sure comparing with other babies are useful. DD1 was eating quite well by 7mo. I remember her demolishing a veg and cheese muffin at a soft play. DD2 I already can see food in her poo from 27 weeks. Tiny things like the seeds in the bread she gummed.

Actually I'm a bad mum and I give chips at the likes of McDonald's. My take is a BLW baby eats so little it's unlikely to reach the daily limit anyway. As long as the chip isn't covered in salt! Same with a strip of bun from a Big Mac.

Thanks for all your comments, feel a bit less disheartened! Will try sitting him down with me abut more and maybe see how he goes with some of my dinners rather than just fruits and vegetables on their own. I'm not worried about his weight or anything, just want him to start to eat something so I know we're heading in the right direction!

Spag Bol was my favourite - Id chop the spagetti small and mix it with the ragu and just plonk a bowl infront of dd and let her mush it with her hands. Some went into her mouth, some her hair, up her nose

The main perk of BLW for me was being able to eat my own dinner while it was hot.

We were mainly milk and food throwing until about nine or ten months. Sounds like you are on the right track.

It's worth the wasted food, I'm so glad we did it

I decided that one of the plus points of baby led weaning was not worrying as I knew DS was getting enough nutrition from milk and any little thing getting into him was a bonus.

It was more about the texture of food and the idea if getting it in/near his mouth (and me sitting down eating in peace with him!)