I have just a couple of questions about BLW before I start

[VamPesha]

I am planning on starting very soon and I've done quite a lot of reading about BLW but I'm still not completely sure about everything.

Do I start with just 1 meal a day like 'traditional' weaning or do I offer him something at every meal? Or is it just do whatever I want?!

And are there any foods we should avoid till later? I really cant remember what I did previously, I know alot was after 6 months which is obviously fine now but what about meat and things? I found this schedule but some of it seems abit strange like pasta not till 8-9 months or pork not till after 1 year. Is that really right??

TIA

I'm soooo excited!!

Hae you checked out Aitch's blog (www.babyledweaning.com, I think)? There's lots of info about the early days on there. When I started with ds2 I just gave him bits and pieces to mess with whenever we were sitting at the table eating. I started with softish stuff, like pear, ripe banana, peeled plums, cheese, well cooked pasta, shreddies soaked in milk, potato, cooked carrot sticks while he got the hang of things, then added toast, chicken, omlette, skinned sausage once he got the hang of chewing (or gumming, really, I suppose). We don't have any allergies in our families so I just gave him anything, tbh. The only things I really still avoid at 9mo are apple and raw carrot because they are so hard.

How's the bf and HV situation going? Did you see the paed?

We saw the paed 2 weeks ago (thanks for asking ) and she went on at me to give him formula and generally talked out her arse at me! I asked he to refer me to see a dietician which she has but not heard anything yet and he had a load of blood tests but no results till we see paed again presumably which is next week. So at the moment we're still exclusively bfing.

A week or 2 ago I was very anti weaning still but just the last few days I've started feeling like its time to start, not really sure why but I have decided its an instinctive thing!

I had the HV round today at paed's request to observe a breast feed. This was a different HV and she was actually very nice, didnt mention ff once and had heard of and approved of BLW!! She was very keen for me to start him on solids now, he is nearly 24 weeks, but very happy and supportive of me doing blw. And I figure if he's not ready then he wont eat it will he, thats the whole point of BLW isnt it?

I have looked at aitchs blog, its where i've got most of my info but theres so much there that i got a bit lost on some of the basics!

I can't believe you have lasted to 24 weeks exclusively breastfeeding with the amount of pressure and negativity that's been forced on you. It's amazing. Without being patronising, I think you've done brilliantly .

What a shame the paed wasn't more helpful but hopefully the bloods will rule anything serious out and the onset of weaning will quieten the critics down.

Even with BLW, it's easy to give really high cal, high fat foods. Cereal soaked in cream, real butter on toast, slices of avacado or banana, rich creamy sauces on pasta will all get lots of calories into him, even if he only swallows a little bit. More than 3 teaspoons of apple puree would probably!

It's good the new HV is supportive and understands about BLW, can you see her all the time, rather than the muppet one?

that's a really hard-core schedule, imo, although worth a look. stefan's a cool guy, but i didn't stick to half of that...
start here and think steamed veg, tbh. there aren't many restrictions, just the usual stuff like peanuts to avoid. it's up to you what you cant to de about gluten, citrus, eggs, kiwi/strawbs and other fairly common allergens. veggies chip-shaped to start, about the thickness of your pinkie finger and meat cut into baby fist-sized hunks for them to suck on. honestly, it's that easy.

oh, and you can do whatever you want re timings, but it can be a bit frustrating for them if they're actually hungry so just think of it as playtime to start. i think we used to give dd some food to muck about with at the highchair at lunchtime but give her bits and bobs if we were out.

Ahh thank you Olihan, it has been difficult, without the support and reassurance from MN we wouldn't have managed it I'm sure. In the last week he has for the first time started to seem hungry and unsettled in the evenings when he normally cluster feeds before bed and has been grumpy and not gone to sleep till much later thannormal. I had been thinking that formula might be the only answer but am now hoping that the solids will do the job.

Its abit hit and miss with HVs at my surgery, I think the one who came round is 'my' HV but I cant recall ever seeing her before They have changed how they do the baby clinic now so hopefully I will see her more, or at least being able to say that I have discussed weaning with her and she agrees with what I'm doing should help.

"Cereal soaked in cream, real butter on toast, slices of avacado or banana, rich creamy sauces on pasta " - Can I do BLW on myself!!

Thanks Aitch I am tyring to be abit careful as there is quite a big family history of eczema (sp? I can never remember how thats spelt, have total blind spot!), hayfever and asthma on both sides, although nothing chronic, and my grandma had coeliac disease. But I think advice for that is just to wait till after 6 months for gluten and things isnt it?

So we started yesterday and he had some steamed broccoli and cauliflower but only a little. Then when I was bfing him I started to eat a banana and he grabbed it and demolished most of it himself! Very slow and very messy and he needs help holding it but he loved it! And then he had the best part of a steamed parsnip for supper and has had most of another banana today!

Its abit tricky as my highchair isnt here yet so he's either on my lap or in bouncy chair which is fine but means if he drops it he loses it iyswim but we're both having lots of fun!! And its so much easier to fit in with feeding the older 2 dc aswell.