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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

Confused about baby led weaning. Can anyone explain in s i m p l e terms?

29 replies

bubblejumping · 18/01/2008 18:29

Confused ?? Dont quite get it. Do you give any food stuffs and hope you dont choke/kill your baby??? weaning ds2 5mths with puree. do I need to try this?? I dont know enough, please enlighten me.

OP posts:
FlllightAttendant · 18/01/2008 18:30

Watching this with interest as I have no idea what I'm doing either!!!

FlllightAttendant · 18/01/2008 18:32

If it helps I have been letting Ds2 have bits of anything I'm having, with a few exceptions! He is now (after only a few weeks) not gagging any more, or rarely, and today ate a sandwich of wholemeal bread with hoummous, which amazed me as he is still mostly just having milk.
He grabs my food furiously now.
He is 7 months and a few days.

HTH a bit!

lulumama · 18/01/2008 18:33

BLW site

you are led by your baby
when they can sit up and grab food, chew it and swallow it , they tend to be ready for solids , usually around 6 months.

you give real human food, not puree or mash

the blog is exceptionally useful

FlllightAttendant · 18/01/2008 18:36

Oh thanks Lulu!

Might help if I looked at the instructions, lol!

Btw Bubble. mine choked more on mush than on say, cheese or bread.

Gingerbear · 18/01/2008 18:39

I started with BLW, but must admit that I have zapped up a few 'sunday lunch' purees as sometimes it is easier to shovel it in - especially if they are hungry or you are in a rush - like today, DS had a late nap, woke up hungry and I had 15 mins to leave the house to pick up DD from school.

IAteRosemaryConleyForBreakfast · 18/01/2008 18:40

If you do it the way I'm doing it, you throw some of whatever you're having onto the highchair tray and see what happens ...

Obviously as he's not officially 6 months until next week we've been sticking to fruit, veg and ricecakes but it's been a fortnight since we started and bananas, pears, melon, mango, peppers, broccoli and carrot have all been found in the resultant poo

Weaning the lazy way

mesaloca · 18/01/2008 18:41

I keep reading threads on MN about the rules of BLW which seems a bit odd really as there are no rules surely, you just give your baby the food you are eating if it is interested in it.

Gingerbear · 18/01/2008 18:42

DS didn't get the hang of blw until 7 months btw. At 6 months he was chasing carrots around his tray and throwing most of it on the floor.
Now he is like a human dustbin and will eat almost anything you put in front of him (I wish it would last until he was 5 or 6, but alas I fear, he will have his own likes and dislikes by then)

DD was the same, but now wont eat anything 'wet' (huh???)

Tipex · 18/01/2008 20:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

emiliosmum · 18/01/2008 21:05

hello - can i join in please? we have just stared blw with our six month old ds - do you offer them food every time you eat or do you introduce it slowly one meal at a time? I have been doing one 'meal'a day but hardly anything seems to get swallowed,should i be worried!?

Original poster
bubblejumping · 18/01/2008 21:07

I would think that they dont eat very much this way - is that fair - its just I have a very hungry little boy, and dont fancy being up all night because he is hungry.

OP posts:
ruddynorah · 18/01/2008 21:14

do it how ever you like, whether it be just offering at one meal or every time you eat.

i did it the every time i ate way. so for breakfast she'd have a bit of my toast, or a few bits of cereal. then lunch some sandwich maybe, then tea some veg, later fish, pasta, whatever.

they can't overfeed themselves because they physically can't eat much. they don't need to eat much, they need lots of milk still. total opposite of the method of dropping milk feeds etc. it's not about weaning to get them to sleep or whatever. it's about introducing them to food in a healthy way.

chankins · 18/01/2008 21:17

My ds eats loads this way bubblejumping ! I guess it depends on the child though, and their attention span, as ds will just sit in the high chair and eat and eat....
Started at 5 mo leting him suck and chew things we were having, as w
he was desperately trying to grab them, then properly at 6 mo, just putting things in front of him and letting him get on with it.
He is 8 mo now and eats anything. Rice, pasta, sausage, chicken, all veg, banana, peach, apricot, beans, toast, salad etc, I haven't have him refuse anything yet.
To start with it looks like not much gets swallowed, but if you took what did and mashed it up it would prob still be the equiv of a puree. Its a lot more fun, and great when you eat out !

IAteRosemaryConleyForBreakfast · 19/01/2008 11:46

The way I look at it, bubblejumping, is that cavewomen didn't have access to Moulis and Annabel Karamelwotsername hadn't been invented back then, so babies would just have started to eat when they were physically capable of putting the food in their mouths. They obviously managed OK because we're still here!

Milk is far more nourishing than solid food anyway, so the 'but they're hungry' argument doesn't hold water. More milk, I say! [slothful]

Aitch · 20/01/2008 15:56

s i m p l y d o n ' t w o r r y a b o u t i t, d o w h a t y o u w a n t.

it's just food, give them some, if they like it, great (then give them access to milk) - if they don't, no sweat (then give them access to milk)

TiddlerTiddler · 21/01/2008 17:54

Flight attendant - thanks for letting us know that your LO has stopped gagging after a few weeks. I had been giving toast and steamed veg sticks etc(in addition to our food zapped in the musher) but meeting with LOTS of gagging on any finger food. It was really starting to knock my confidence. And under pressure from DH to stop offering as "he clearly isn't ready for food that size" when the gagging happens. Our first guy wasn't a gaggy type baby but this LO seems to be. I was wondering how long it would last... hopefully just a few weeks then? (He is 6 1/2 months)

MesaLoca · 21/01/2008 19:18

The gagging can go on for yonks but it isn't anything to worry about, as long as it is the baby picking up the food and trying to eat it and not the adult shoving it in.

DD was at least 9 months before the gagging, coughing and eye-watering drama stopped!

Aitch · 21/01/2008 20:18

they're all different, i'd say from what i've seen a couple of weeks is about average and a few months is not madly unusual.

BumperliciousIsOneHotMother · 21/01/2008 20:34

Oh god, DH sits and watches DD like a hawk with the gagging! But she doesn't do it much now (7months) and if she does it's usually because she is trying to stuff too much in!

Although, aitch (or anyone) if you are still around, what do you do if you offer them some of what you are having and they aren't interesting? I usually desperately hunt around my fridge for something I know she'll like.

Aitch · 21/01/2008 20:41

at that age i used to keep some steamed carrot etc in the fridge to zap in the micro, because it kept her occupied while me and dh were eating. now, i'm afraid i just let her down from the table and offer her milk later. sometimes i guess she's just not that hungry, and i've always believed very much in 'adding up' the food she eats on a weekly rather than daily basis so i was never worried.

BumperliciousIsOneHotMother · 21/01/2008 20:44

Thank aitch, good idea about the steamed veg, I think I will do that. Nectarines and pears always go down well and are quick but they have about a 5 minute window of ripeness

Aitch · 21/01/2008 20:46

pears are my nemesis... grrr. the AMOUNT of money i waste on pears that never get ripe.

BumperliciousIsOneHotMother · 21/01/2008 20:53

Glad it's not just me then! DD loves them though.

We had a bit of a choking incident today, Bubble I don't mean this to scare you, more to reassure you that babies are very robust. Gave DD some banana while I was washing up (she was in the high chair in the kitchen with me) and she must have tried o swallow too big a piece as I looked round she was proper choking, no noise, v upset. Now I am very chilled about the gagging thing but I was straight their, getting her out of the chair, but within a few seconds she coughed it up, and I don't think it was anything I did. So the lesson is don't leave them on their own, but they are survivors and their instincts kick in very well. And as much as you think you will freak and not know what to do, I was very calm and efficient at that moment!

She cried for a minute then looked like she'd rather be back in her chair finishing her banana - but that was enough drama for one day for me!

Aitch · 21/01/2008 20:55

well done for being calm and efficient, bumper, their amazing little bodies really are built for survival, aren't they?

BumperliciousIsOneHotMother · 21/01/2008 21:01

Yeah they're fab! Good luck the rest of you - it's so worth it. When we go to baby groups DD sits eating her non-mushed banana looking around nonchalantly as if to say "I'm so grown up me, sitting here, eating my real food, oh look are you eating mush and you're older than me?" LOL

Seriously though, she really enjoys feeding herself, and I enjoy that I get to eat at the same time!