Has blw worked for anyone?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I'm starting weaning with ds2 and I'm confused which approach to take.

I hated weaning ds1 it was soul destroying preparing mush and him point blank refusing it.

Realistically though what can I give him? I'm a bit skeptical about it. So far as I'm not sure what approach to take, I've given him baby porridge, mashed sweet potato and butternut squash. He refused all 3! I've put soft chopped pear on his tray and also a finger of bread. He just looked at it like wtf is that. Didn't even pick it up.

Has this approach really worked for anyone?

We did it and I really rate it. The Little Grazers website is great for ideas. DD is a fabulous eater, tries new things easily and moderates her own intake according to whether or not she is hungry. We have had no battles over food and she can use cutlery pretty well aged 20 months.

It's crazy to expect a 6-7 month old baby to self feed enough to nourish themselves.

Well yeah but that's not the point of BLW...

We've been doing it about a fortnight (DD is 27 weeks, we started about a week before she turned 6 months). She seems to be really enjoying it. So far we've done toast, crumpets, drop scones, pasta, green beans, cheese, carrot, lettuce, pear, apple... You get the idea!

If your DS isn't interested in feeding himself there's nothing to say he'd be any more interested in whatever you might manage to spoon feed him. The way I see it, all babies are different - you wouldn't force them to roll over if they couldn't do it by a certain age, for instance.

BLW isn't going to be right for everyone (and I think tbh my DH isn't as convinced as I am - he definitely "helps" her more than I do, holding bits out to her etc), but I feel pretty positive about it.

A 6-7 month old is supposed to still be getting many nourishment from milk, so doesn't matter if they eat very little solids

It worked brilliantly for us once I stopped obsessing over whether he'd eaten anything or not. Somebody told me the saying "food before 1 is just for one" and he was getting plenty of milk and a little chubster putting on weight so I relaxed and let him get on with it. I would definitely do it again.

We did BLW and it worked well. DS took to it quite quickly and was keen to try lots of different tastes and textures. And rather than spending time pureeing, all you need to do is make sure you put something down to protect the floor.

We did blw with dd1 and it went really well. She didn't eat much at first but practice makes perfect and it all started to click at around 7 months when she learnt how to do the pincer grip and got better at actually getting the food into her mouth. By 9 months she was having 3 regular meals a day. I noticed a big improvement in her hand-eye coordination not long after starting too. Not sure if it's directly related but I'm sure being able to touch, see, smell and taste the food in its proper form helped.

We've just started with dd2 and I'm sure she's taken in small amounts but she's not eating much at the moment which is fine. It's a learning curve for them.

I personally wouldn't do it any other way. I don't believe it's all hype at all, blw has been around for years and years, it's just got a name now.

Its just practice anyway as long as they are getting plenty of milk. I used to just dump a little of whatever we were having on ds's plate and let him eat it with his hands. It got messy as he'd squish it and rub it in his hair, but after a while he started putting in his mouth and eating it too. Blw is fab, its such a pita spoon feeding them mash. (Did that with my first).

I love BLW & am so pleased I found out about it before I started weaning my daughter. It just makes so much sense. 1 meal for all the family with everyone eating together. No stress. Well that is my experience. My daughter ate quite a bit from day 1 (no teeth till 11months, not a problem at all), was able to use a spoon independently from 8 months & a fork from 12 months. She started a furry phase just before turning 3 which I think is more to do with asserting her Independence & won't try anything new (even things like marshmallows) but she eats most fruit & veg so I'm happy.

My son was teething when we 1st started so he wasn't as adventurous & didn't eat much except tomatoes, cucumber, green veg & yoghurt but he's now a year & will eat almost anything you put in front of him. However he's a lot more boisterous than his older sister & using cutlery hasn't come as easily but I think he's doing well.

So yes, it really has worked well for us.

Follow your son's lead & don't force the Issue. It's all about exploration initially, discovering what the food looks & feels like. If you as a family decide BLW then try TW, there is no 1 size fits all with weaning. Although once you decide to do TW you can't really revert back to BLW.

Good luck & have fun whichever weaning method you (or invasions baby) choose

I did a mix and it seemed to work for me. DD was a few days off six months.

I made some batches of purée and tried her with a mixture of those and also baby led weaning at the same time depending on what we were eating / how much time I had. It was very messy but good fun.

After about six weeks we were entirely doing BLW. Particular favourites were big tubes of pasta, cheesy omelettes, broccoli and jacket potatoes (cut into wedges).

By 18 months old she was eating whatever she was given with not too much mess and now at just turned three everyone's comments on what a great eater she is with good table manners. She isn't fussy and uses cutlery really well.

It sometimes feels like the one thing I got right or got lucky with!

I did it with my DD. Yes it was a bit slower going at first than mush/purees and spoon feeding as they need to get used to the idea but by 9/10 months she was way ahead in terms of self feeding compared to spoon fed babies.
I don't think it stopped any fussiness as she got older. It did get the messier stages out the way earlier on.
It worked for my child and I liked the approach as I did and still do feel slightly uncomfortable about spooning food or popping bits of food into a baby's mouth.

Jw35, I think you're right that it's all hype. The babies I know all love chewing on pieces of food, but few could have feed themselves before they were about then months old.
I think the easiest way is to feed purees and give pieces of fruit and veg and bread for baby to chew on. If you go down the blw route, don't expect your baby to drop any milk feeds for a while. Unless you're fine with that, I'd give a mixture of purees and finger food.

Weaning isn't supposed to replace milk though, at least at first.

Weaning with purees can cause problems for some, as if they eat a lot it fills them up on less calories than milk. So you get babies who go back to night waking for milk etc as they aren't getting enough calories in the day. They shouldn't be dropping milk feeds for a while once you start weaning.

My mother will be looking after DS from 5 months and I know she'll do a cracking job.
I was keen on blw but am not going to be the main person doing it. I already know her main worry will be choking, and she's a very cautious person by nature.
Apart from doing a baby first aid course to know what to do in the event of an emergency, and avoiding breaky-offy things like raw apple, has anyone else any thoughts on that aspect?
I want you all to say that babies have some magnificent gag reflex and all will be well.

villainousbroodmare the first aid course is useful beyond the choking. I did mine with the Red Cross.

Honestly not all of them choke or gag. I did BLW with my two and neither gagged. They are both spoon refusers however and are both very good at picking up food into their mouths.

Oh, HeadDreamer, of course it is, certainly. Just was specifically thinking of poor Mamó worrying about the child choking.
Incidentally I've been giving fluoride drops and iron/ vit D supplement daily since 6 weeks on paediatrician's advice, and I reckon the result of that will soon be a spoon refuser.

I hate when people say it's all hype. It's not, it's just a different way of doing things.

Yes I did it. It was fine and I just gave them food that we ate with no faffy purees (hurrah!).

My second child didn't really eat anything other than milk until she was 8mo. My first was happily grabbing and self-feeding at 5.5mo. DD never gagged, ds did a bit but only if he put something small in his mouth and tried to swallow it whole.

My only advice is don't give them tiny, tiny things that they might choke on. Give them things they can hold and shove in their mouth to gum and gnaw.

My DS was ready at 5.5m and had a mixture of finger food and purée, but at 1y he now has all finger food except things like cereal, yoghurt, etc. My friend did purely BLW and her DS wasn't ready until past 7m - he couldn't coordinate putting food in his mouth, whereas mine could. But at 1y he is a really great eater and she is now beginning to offer him a spoon for himself. My DS will feed himself a pre-loaded spoon, but loses most of it! The biggest difference is that he is still having a good few milk feeds, whereas my DS is on one a day. But who knows whether that is down to diet or just the babies personalities?
Don't stress! Try a mixture.

Neither of mine were particularly interested in food until nearer 8 months, but played with bits from 6mo. I tried giving ds a yoghurt and spoon and he made it very clear that me feeding him would be much more sensible, so I did, but he also loved chunky sticks of meat, roast potatoes, and chunks of veg by 7mo - was lovely sharing meals in restaurants with him! Shame he suddenly stopped eating most things when he was nearly two... Dd is still wonderful at eating, years on.

Babies' gag reflex is triggered further forwards than adults. Ours is very far back. If you're gagging, you're in the region of choking. Babies' gag reflexes are only about halfway down their tongue because they have less tongue movement. Hence when they gag, if they are sitting upright, the food falls straight out of their mouth.

If you feel nervous about gagging and want to see what it looks like while knowing that you're watching something which 100% ends well, search youtube for "BLW gagging". You can see lots of babies demonstrating their excellent gag reflex, being totally unbothered, and continuing to eat.

Real choking is silent. So never ever leave a baby alone to eat, especially if they are reclined. (Don't let them self feed if reclined. In fact avoid eating in reclined seats ever).

The small items thing is correct but should in theory self regulate - they don't develop pincer grip until later which allows them to pick up small items like peas. They can't physically pick them up at 6 months. I would think that in-between sized items, like quartered cherry tomatoes might be problematic as big enough to grab in a fist and shove in but small enough to try to swallow whole. So stick/chip shaped things are best at first. Raw apple is a pain because it tends to break off in chunks. Slice paper thin or give them a whole apple, if they have front teeth. Or steam slices (I found life was too short for this and just waited for teeth). Oh for the self regulation theory, don't pick items up and put them in the baby's mouth or allow them to take bites from your hand. That's also a choking risk for that reason. And I assume you know about round objects being disastrous.

Oh I forgot to mention one thing - bread can be a bit "claggy" in that when it gets wet it gets sticky, so it can stick in the roof of their mouth and randomly turn up hours later So would avoid untoasted bread until they have the hang of BLW a bit.

It was my post with the small things. It started when he was about 8mo. Prior to that he had been fine. Most of my friends had similar and it led one neurotic more cautious friend to insist her child was spoon fed by an adult until he was 18mo. She's fine now though, she had another baby and chilled out :)

DD would spoon herself food from 9mo. Now she's 3 she obviously won't feed herself 90% of the time or use cutlery when she does feed herself

I would never feed a baby that is reclining any solid food. Milk feeds only.

Thanks, BertieBotts

I did BMW with both of mine. I now have DS1 who loves his food and will eat anything. He has even been know to ask for a carrot for his pudding
...and then we have DS1 aka The Boy Who Doesn't Eat. He is extreme the other way and has seen the GP/health visitor/dietician about his extreme fussiness. At his worst he all he ate over about 3 days was a single piece of dry toast

Oops *BLW!