Bit confused

[nightandthelight]

I have always planned to do BLW from six months mainly because waiting till six months is recommended for gut development but also because I am lazy

My understanding of BLW was that at six months DS would just have what we have (obviously not adding salt or sugar). This really fitted in with what I wanted as I don't want to have to do separate meals etc.

However I now get the impression that even with BLW you start off with just offering veg, chunks of cheese etc rather than meals. Is that correct?

Yes. They can't handle a full meal when they first start weaning and even if they could their main nutrition should come from milk. Food is an added bonus.

So if you made fish and veg, you would give the baby a little bit of fish and bit of veg to play/eat

A meal like spagetthi bolognese you can give them a small portion but don't count on them eating all of it if any at all

So by that I mean, you don't have to do several foods, the baby can still eat what you are having, curries and lasagne and whatnot but it would be a lot more of a smaller portion and the baby wouldn't actually eat much of it straight away anyway. Just prepare for a lot of mess. They tend to prefer throwing it on the floor and smearing it in their hair to actually eating it

Hi need thanks for replying :)

Completely understand that he won't eat much to begin with and will still be offering milk feeds as normal. From what you are saying though if I make a meal for DH and I then I could offer him suitable bits of it rather than feeding him entirely separately. Is that correct?

Sorry X post! That's what I thought it would be so thanks for confirming :)

My cats are so excited for food on the floor :p

Also, depending on how strong your baby's gag reflex is, they may vomit up unfamiliar food/textures. I think I just have a very vommy baby though.

Thanks for the warning lules

I would really recommend getting the book, and getting your DH to read it to. My DD is now 9 months and loves meal times. She still doesn't eat massive amounts but loves to try everything we have. I've found if you are making things like a curry or spag Bol with bits of veg in to just make it chunkier so they can pick them up more easily. Bit of trial and error to see what size pieces they can manage. And all babies are different, some happily wolf down loads from the start and others just enjoy playing with it. But they'll all get there.

I must say I'm a total convert to BLW, and can't imagine spoon feeding her purée, and all the faff that goes with it. I know it's not for everyone but I love it!

Oh and my top tip for equipment is the £15 ikea antilop high chair, with a tidy tot tray and bib, then nothing goes on the floor, much less waste and baby can play as much they want!

Is that the Gillian Rapley book disco? Thanks for the tip about the size of the veg, have already decided on the antilop as everyone raves about it :)

When doing curry how much spice can a baby take?

You may have to adjust what you eat a bit to make it suitable (lack of salt has been a bastard for me) and you may find that you offer some foods in shapes that make them easier to handle, or cook them a bit more than you would usually, but yeah, it's basically just offering what you eat when you eat!

We're at 10 months now and my boy eats like an absolute gannet, but I do still find myself cooking the pasta a bit softer and leaning more towards meals that he can eat more easily. I'm looking forward to him learning to use cutlery so I can have more soup!!

Thanks Sian I see that there is a cookbook by Rapley so will get that so I can be sure our family meals are suitable :) Will have to deal with slightly bland food for a while.

I see the cookbook has info on BLW. Does anyone know if I just buy that one or will I need both the cookbook and the information book?

The cookbook has plenty of information at the start so I would just buy that rather than both.

Yes! They can eat what you have but leave out salt and add at table to adults portion if wanted. Some specific things you can't give at all to babies but they are a bit weird and no one would give anyway (like honey and some pretty unusual types of fish like swordfish!)
Otherwise family foods they can pick up themselves and self feed. Some babies loive it, some don't, you can mix and match and do purée by spoon too. Don't have to be purist!

We just give our daughter what we are having and have done some from six months. Soup we serve from an open cup and she really enjoys it. We also had a wee bit of a mistake this week when I served sweet and sour chicken but didn't realise how spicy it was, poor thing it was one of those slow to warm up dishes. But she's eight months now and loves meal time not just for the food but also the social aspect.

Thanks everyone. Have bought the cookbook :) Can't wait to start now!

With curry we made it as usual and added plain yoghurt to dd's portion. Also helps to cool it (as in thermal wise) quicker as did has always been desperate for food as soon as it is cooked!

Good tip thanks tea :)

witha ll of ours we started with veg and fruit and graudally worked up to other things - pretty bland at first and none of our ate a huge amount - sometimes only one bite - but it takes time. don't stress over it and pay attention to your kid - they will show you what you like and help set the pace/