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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Stupid BLW problems

66 replies

StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 09:07

I've been doing BLW for about 5 weeks now. Started with just vegetable sticks on an evening then when he was 26 weeks gave him a bit more variety, chicken, bread, pasta etc. My problem is that I can only be bothered to give him one meal a day, as otherwise I feel that by the time I've prepared the food, he's eaten (very little) of it, I've cleaned him, the chair and the floor, it's time for the next meal! I don't really know what advice I want, and I know BLW is messy and time consuming. When should he be on more than one meal a day? Am I causing any problems by doing this? He still has as much milk as he ever did, is putting on weight and sleeping well.

OP posts:
frostythesnowmum · 13/11/2007 09:12

I did fruit puree for breakfast
veg and meat purees for lunch with a pudding and then BLW in the evening for exactly the same reason

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 09:17

hmm, that's interesting. Might have to do that, but at his age (28 weeks) does he need more than 1 meal a day? what are the benefits?
I have a friend who fed her dd while she (dd) was sat on her cream sofa
DD was on another ocassion fed by her grandma at a party, grandma's party clothes stayed banana free. I think I'm jealous!

OP posts:
dooley1 · 13/11/2007 09:18

I think if you've decided blw is the way to go them you have to prepare yourself for the mess tbh

littleducks · 13/11/2007 09:20

i didnt put dd on three strict meals for a while i think, but when you eat could he not just have something suitable off your plate?

as he starts to eat more of what you have prepared at a sitting you wont feel like this im sure!

and puree can be very messy, its lovely and clean while baby lets mum put it in but soon the learn how to spit blow raspberries so you have a shower in it! i have watched this more than once, is very funny if you dont get hit!

ImBarryScott · 13/11/2007 09:21

I'm sure that one meal a day is absolutely fine, health wise. It's the milk that matters.

We have some shortcuts in our house though.

Fruit for brekkie - takes moments to slice a banana/segment an orange.

Lunch - DD has what I'm having with me. Normally stuff on toast, fresh tortellini (cooks from frozen in 5 mins!), sliced omelette. Reckon each of those is 5 mins max. So then there's only dinner to think about.

And I only clean the chair and floor properly once a day . By this I mean big chunks get swept into dustpan and brush right away, and the scrubbing of chair/floor waits 'til the evening.

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 09:25

yes, i'm maybe making life hard for myself, bought melon, mango, nectarine the other day, all juicy, slippy and messy!
I did think banana on toast might be an easier breakfast, good idea about a bit of what im having for lunch.

OP posts:
CantSleepWontSleep · 13/11/2007 09:28

No, no, no, no, no!
Don't prepare food just for him! blw is the slattern's option, as all you have to do is lob him a bit of whatever you're eating! Yes, there might well be mess to clean up, but the cooking part should be a doddle. If you're just giving him veg sticks at the moment, then you could also make life easy by cooking a load and then freezing them, then just dunk them into hot water when you want to use (not done this myself, but is a tip from Aitch's blog).

And one meal a day is fine. There's really no rush. My dd didn't start eating properly at all until she was 11 months, and she's as healthy as anything.

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 09:32

I do have the frozen vegetable sticks (and chicken) which is why the evening meal is easy.
i think what's making life difficult is that we don't eat particularly healthily, and we're about to move so we're eating up stuff rather than cooking new stuff, pasta with jars of sauce, pizza, might need to have a rethink

OP posts:
Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 09:33

eg for lunch i have cheese and ryvita a lot, or a tin of soup

OP posts:
CantSleepWontSleep · 13/11/2007 12:39

Well then give him some sticks of cucumber and cheese in that example, and pasta without the sauce (or make a bulk load of sauce from some blended cooked veg and freeze) in your other example. When you have pizza you could do eg toast with tom puree and cheese and mushroom/sweetcorn.

ruddynorah · 13/11/2007 12:46

yes you need to re think your whole family diet, otherwise what are you going to when your dc is 8, 9, 10 and so on..keep making lots of different meals? you need to get clever at easy peasy things like pasta and pesto, omelettes, things you can just make in 5 minutes. no need for any meals to take ages. make him and you a sandwich for lunch for example, or reheat some of your meal from the previous night if you eat later than him. in the early days it should really be about you making food for you, and just giving him bits. so if he doesn't eat much it doesn't matter cos you'll eat it anyway.

DirtyGertiefromnumber30 · 13/11/2007 12:51

my dd (BLW) was eating 3 meals by 6 months (she is a little porker though!)

Generally I find BLW much less time consuming. She eats at the same time as us (and the same food) so I dont have to bother fannying around with spoon feeding.

If she does eat at a different time I just pull the high chair into the kitchen and she can munch away happily whilst I get on with washing up etc.

It does become less messy as they get the hang of it and the benefits definately out weigh the negatives. My DD is one now and totally self feeds without much mess.

I also wouldnt worry about the amount he eats at each meal, as you say, he's putting on weight so he'll be eating all he needs. But personally I would be giving him more than one meal a day by now.

Good luck with it all!

Maveta · 13/11/2007 13:28

Hey SPB! I´m finding it more boggling than I thought it would be aswell.. I give N porridge with fruit for breakfast but he´s been known to have toast with butter and some scrambled egg aswell.

So far for lunch though I can´t seem to move beyong veg sticks, it must be so boring for him. I did try plain pasta the other day but he was not impressed. And I can´t think of what else to give him! we eat a LOT of homemade soup in winter which I am not going to try and attempt to let him self-feed

asampras · 13/11/2007 14:44

I don't mind the mess, but what i find really difficult with BLW is how little of what i give my DD she actually eats!! I read of all these fantastic foods other babies are having on this forum and on babyledweaning.com and i've seen the photos and even the video clips on youtube.com and my DD just doesn't eat like those babies. I gave her a homemade egg mayo sanwich for lunch cut in to fingers and some dried organic apricots and she nibble the corner of a finger of a sandwich and seemed to really enjoy it but within minutes she was bored and it all ended up on the floor and down the sides of her chair, she put the apricot in her mouth rolled it around a bit and eventually dribbled it out. I gave her a new potato she nibbled the top then that ended up on the floor. She moaned and was really uninterested in the food. She's 7 months old, is this everyone elses experience with BLW, do they eventually start to eat more, if so how long did it take?? i need a boost to keep me going, puree's have become a battle, this is my last option!

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 14:47

Yes, to everyone who says you need to rethink diet!!
Well we've both had pitta, hummus & cheese for lunch, then some mango and banana
Now i need to pull myself away from mn and clean the high chair!
MAVETA, is the soup chunky?...you know where im going don't you???
apologies for typing and shouting

OP posts:
Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 14:48

asampras, snap.
i'm happy that he tries everything, but it is a pity to pick up ALL the bits!
How old is your LO?

OP posts:
Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 14:49

btw that was me needing to rethink diet, not you lot

OP posts:
asampras · 13/11/2007 15:04

Hi StealthPolarBear, she's 7 Months 3 weeks. I find how little she eats really alarming, i have upped her milk feeds but she has still noticeably lost weight, i'm going to have her weighed on Thursday but i wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she has significantly lost weight.

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 15:08

assuming there's nothing wrong, which I hope there isn't, why not join us on this thread
Surely she shouldn't be losing weight because of not eating? She would make up the calories with more milk??

OP posts:
ruddynorah · 13/11/2007 19:09

aveta- why the plain pasta? i'd be pretty fecked off with plain pasta too! cheese sauce? tomatoe sauce? pesto? sprinkling of cheese? or even full on spag bol as 'whomovedmychocolate' iirc did as a first weaning food!

and soup is no problem either- dip bread in, put bread on highchair tray and there you go! you could even be brave and put pieces of bread on the tray, pour soup over the top, sprinkle a bit of cheese over that, and let baby pick up the bits of bread.

Maveta · 13/11/2007 19:36

oh that does sound brave! lol but yeah i know, I think the idea is slowly sinking in, this thread has given me a couple more ideas actually..

I don´t know why but I had an idea that tomatoes should be introduced later on. I´m not sure now why I thought that. I gave him pasta with cheese sprinkled on top but it was the wrong kind of cheese so it kind of clumped together and the pasta remained pretty plain it wasn´t on purpose..

oh well, we´ll get there I think personally I get caught up thinking it has to be a ´proper´ meal and forgetting he can have cheese on toast or omelette or something.

ruddynorah · 13/11/2007 19:50

yes there is something about tomatoes. i only just started giving dd (18m) raw tomato, but she's had them in sauces since probably 7 months. i have also avoided strawberries until very recently. half the time it's guesswork. she ate 10 strawberries in one go the first time she tried them, loved them so much.

AitchTwoOh · 13/11/2007 20:38

don't forget the blessed pesto, maveta... i don't know what i'd do without it. and some peas, directly from the freezer, instantly cool it down so it's ready to eat. (poor dd thought every meal came with peas in it for a while).

asampras, that is worrying about the weight, i didn't have dd weighed but i saw that she certainly lengthened and took stretches. thing is, at this age they should be getting calories from milk as norah said, some mashed carrot wouldn't be providing that anyway. i hope everything is okay when you go to the HV.

and stealthy, i reckon it took me about four months to get onto 3 meals a day, every day. i couldn't be bothered/she slept a lot/it seemed like everything would be about bloody eating/she ate lunch in the buggy or park very often etc etc. it always struck me that if i'd had an HV breathing down my neck to get more food into her our dining schedule would have been relentless.

Original poster
StealthPolarBear · 13/11/2007 20:59

Phew that's a relief, as long as I'm not committing some sin that no-one's told me about by usually only giving him one meal a day
Pesto - can it be the stuff in jars , or does it have to be home made? I know, I know, it's probably really easy but I buy jars . I just assumed the jars would be salty?

OP posts:
AitchTwoOh · 13/11/2007 22:31

i always use the jarred stuff. if you have a terribly allergic family you could think about the pine nuts but i just went ahead. salt-wise, i wasn't too fussed, they don't actually eat that much sauce, iykwim? but also i would cut it by adding more olive oil and some cream or mascarpone (if i had it in the house).