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Weaning

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

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Original poster

blw- ok to hold the food for dd?

18 replies

gardenshrub · 01/12/2007 21:02

dd is 26wks & was her 1st time of having solids today- she had rice cakes. she sucked & gummed them happily & some definitely went down, so was very pleased.

i know blw is all about self feeding but dd wasn't too interested in holding onto the rice cakes for long, so i held them up to her mouth. Just wondering if i should be leaving her to manage on her own or if its normal to have to help them a bit a the beggining?

OP posts:

ruddynorah · 02/12/2007 12:23

hold them if you want to. but the idea of blw is that you don't. you would take the fact that she doesn't want to hold it for long or can't hold it for long as an indication she doesn't need the food that much. as her body needs more food her ability to handle it will get better. to bypass this you would hold the food or spoon feed.

Camillathechicken · 02/12/2007 12:25

if oyu hold it the food, it is not pure BLW! but do what works for you... if this is her first day of solid food, then don;t expect anything too grand in terms of amounts eaten.

the whole point is she will feed herself as much as she wants. and will pick and nibble at will.

for the first year, food is a complement to milk, and is for fun and exploration, no big hurry to fill her with 3 meals a day

let her lead you....

Original poster

gardenshrub · 02/12/2007 15:00

i wasn't really worrying about how much, if any, went in. just that, how would she understand the difference between food & other things that she puts in her mouth like toys etc if i didn't encourage her to keep it in her mouth? but as you say i suppose its just what works for you, its not as if the blw police are gonna come knocking at my door!

anyway i didn't need to hold the food today as she picked up the rice cake herself & put it in her mouth

OP posts:

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 23:22

i remember just at the very beginning we held onto the food (mostly to help us get over our fear of her choking) but as soon as we realised that it wasn't necessary we stopped (there are no blw police, btw )
and to answer your qu about how she's going to understand the difference between food and other things, she isn't. for a very long time the mouth is one of the baby's primary sense organs, so she's programmed to want to put everything she wants to explore into her mouth. it's a great thing, watching them learn about how toy trucks are inedible and carrot batons are edible...

Original poster

gardenshrub · 04/12/2007 16:25

thanks aitch, makes sense when you think of their mouths as being their primary sense organ & will be fun watching her chomping on toy trucks!

dd has been managing her hold the food herself, apart from a particularly juicy pear which kept slipping out of her hands, so i helped her hold that one!

this might be a silly question but just wondering what you do if/when they drop the food, do you just leave it & assume they r bored/have had enough or put it back on the high chair tray & see if they pick it back up? our high chair tray is still a bit high up for dd to reach easily from her chair so i've been picking it up & holding it in front of dd, she then grabs it off me & puts it back in her mouth.

OP posts:

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 04/12/2007 16:32

well, a lot of the time in the beginning they drop it cos that's the only way to get rid of it, they can't manoeuvre things about yet, so i used to pick it up again.

is she very wee, it sounds like the highchair's a bit on the big side for her just yet. we had dd sitting on our laps a lot in the beginning, grabbing at things.

tbh it sounds like everything's going fine, the idea is that your dd fits in with you at mealtimes so whatever works, works. pick it up if you feel like it, don't if you're eating your own dinner, that sort of thing. it's not really a regime. and there are no police, i did mention that before didn't i?

Original poster

gardenshrub · 04/12/2007 19:03

She's not small at all i think its just our highchair that seems very large! I might try sitting her in her bumbo & see how that goes.

Glad there aren't any police I'm a 1st timer to weaning & after the 1st couple of replies 'its not pure blw' made me worry i was doing it all wrong! Plus everyone else i know is doing the purees thing & i've had some pretty disapproving looks when i mention i'm not intending to feed dd mush. (my mum had me on baby rice at 6 weeks old!)

As you say it is going well, think i just need to chill out about it & what ever suits us will be the right way to go.

OP posts:

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 04/12/2007 22:01

oh but the people who said that it wasn't 'pure' blw aren't rigid types, i can categorically tell you. don't think anything more of it, BLW is supposed to be fun, don't let it cause you any stress.

ruddynorah · 04/12/2007 22:10

oh dear didn't mean to make you more worried gardenshrub. just trying to say you don't need to hold the food. but of course do if you want to..there are no police

leafy · 04/12/2007 22:13

has anyone got some tips for fending off worried mothers/health visitors who are not happy about my decision to BLW?

ruddynorah · 04/12/2007 22:15

what are their concerns?

leafy · 04/12/2007 22:20

MAinly from my mum - she thinks I should be pureeing evything so as to fill ds up so that he'll sleep at night and give me some rest. She probably can't get her head round ds being able to feed himself enough to satisfy him, and can't understand how breastmilk is enough for him

ruddynorah · 04/12/2007 22:22

show her aitch's blog. tell her we've moved away from stuffing babies full so they sleep. we're wanting them to control their own appetites. weaning isn't about feeding hunger, as daft as that sounds!

leafy · 04/12/2007 22:26

So do you think that food does not equal more sleep?

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 04/12/2007 22:29

why don't you post that as a question on here, leafy? now THAT would be something to show your mum... thousands of knackered women yelling 'NOOOOOooooooo, but i bloody wish it did'.

leafy · 04/12/2007 22:33

sorry, being dim. How do I find your blog?

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 04/12/2007 22:35

it's at www.babyledweaning.com, there's a wee forum as well.

leafy · 04/12/2007 22:36

ta! going there now...

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