BLW isn't going too well, I need advice - sorry LONG

[naturelover]

We started BLW 3 months ago when DD reached 6 months old. She is still breastfed.

Initially I just gave her fruit & veg, bits of rice cake, toast etc. She tried everything and eventually I could see she was eating plenty.

The problem is she now seems to enjoy throwing stuff on the floor more than anything. She will still eat toast, rice cake, banana, broccoli and one or two other things, but most sticks of veg are flung aside. She's now constipated, I think she needs more fruit & veg and I'm starting to contemplate purees just to get this into her. The only thing I give her on a spoon is yoghurt which she takes readily. I'm concerned her diet is not varied enough (too much wheat and dairy, not enough fruit & veg, little or no pulses or meat). If I mash, say, butternut, and spread it on toast, she'll eat it, but a stick of butternut will end up on the floor. I don't want to give toast all the time!

Right now I feel this is labour-intensive and disheartening. So much ends up on the floor and is wasted (well, goes in the composter), and it doesn't seem very varied.

Reassurance needed! Did your LOs throw a lot on the floor, and if so, was it just a phase?

I wouldn't worry too much (easy to say - I posted almost exactly the same thing on aitches blog last week). This is the advice I got.

It's a phase!

They have just learned cause and effect at this age, and discover that 1, when you drop food over the side of your highchair gravity makes it go splat on the floor, and 2, mum gets really stressed when that happens

How many breastfeeds does she have? Constipation can occasionally be due to a lack of fluids rather than fibre (especially when it is warmer weather) and if she only has 2 or 3 bf's a day she may need some extra water.

Dont' worry unduly about the food. Once the novelty wears off she'll start eating again. Try eating sitting on the floor (on a mat if necessary to contain the mess!!) or in the garden. That way she doesn't have the reward of food being splatted on the floor.

If she does throw food just remove it, say "no throwing food" and do something else. Give it back if she seems like she wants to try again.

It will pass!

Oh yes, I meant to mention the water to help the constipation too.

does she eat meals such as shepherds pie, fish pie, spag bol etc where you can hide lots of veg in?

Sometimes it does seem as though most of the food goes on the floor but they will eat what they need, really they will.

At 9 months, shes really ready to be eating whatever you are - have you tried sitting her on your lap and just eating off the same plate ?

Mine was a sweeper onto the floor until he could sign all done. We bought a bokashi composter...

I offer her water at each mealtime. She has three meals a day plus about FIVE breastfeeds, actually SIX because last week she began waking in the night for milk again. Do babies have growth spurts at 9 months old??? She is huge by the way, always has been.

I like the idea of eating on the floor. The only time I've done this is at people's houses where I couldn't bear to mess up their houses.

I gave her bolognaise sauce once with pasta twirls, she loved it, but I've no idea how to get fish pie or shepherds pie into a BLW baby without spoon feeding - or should I just use a spoon? In which case I could give lentil soup with grated carrots etc I suppose.

I'd love any ideas for meals (preferably easy-to-prepare). At the moment I'm starting to think purees would be LESS work. Please talk me out of it.

They will just grab handfuls of fish pie or whatever - I used to leave slightly bigger chunks than usual, and theres nothing stopping you loading up a spoon and letting her put it in her mouth.

What do you normally have for dinner ?

Mine loved sausages, roast sweet potato chips/ roast carrot/potato wedges, omelette, sweetcorn fritters, noodles, pasta (any sauce, and DS likes the Rotelli pasta), and rissotto balls at that age in particular.

Nah, don't make life harder for yourself!!

At that age DD3 was eating the same as the rest of us - shep's pie, curry, roast dinner, spag bol, fish with jacket potatoes and salad etc. Most of it she fed herself with her fingers but I gave her a spoon, I had a spoon and if necessary I assisted.

My interpretation of BLW is that you can help with spoon feeding but you're giving them 'normal food', and aren't spooning purees into a young baby. At 9 months she may surprise you if you give her a spoon or a small metal fork (not plastic). By the age of one my DD3 was pretty much feeding herself with a spoon and fork!

I suppose I could give her what we have if I started cooking without salt, the problem is we eat at 8pm! She could have it reheated at lunchtime the next day.

A lot of the time we eat stir fry, chilli, stews, pasta, risotto, that type of thing.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I went through exactly the same thing. You just need to add more meals to your repertoire. Check out the recipes section on the linked I posted.

For example today DD and I both had carror, cheese and cumin pitta breads, grilled on the george foreman, yummy! And DD had leftover spinach and cheese pancakes. I made them yesterday it took no time. 3 tbsp milk, 3 tbsp of plain flour, 1 tea spoon baking powder and 1 egg. Mix it up and add whatever you want, cheese and spinach (frozen blocks are great for chucking into load of stuff without being obvious). Grating carrot or courgette into sauces, pasta or risotto is also a winner.

For pinics on the floor we bought one of these, the lady bird one. It's expensive but gorgeous.

Don't worry, I echo all this great advice.

Next day left overs for her are great that way you aren't preparing so many different things which always makes you feel worse when it ends up on the floor.

Our LO's are great at stressing us out at mealtimes but they won't starve themselves as long as we stay calm. The mess is a pain but just remember how much fun it is for them! It is a phase which is soon over.

I would just keep offering a wide variety of stuff with big chunks where possible give her a spoon and try to eat at least one meal a day with her at the table, they love to copy and she will soon be eating with cutlery like you. The other benefit of this is that anything from your plate is always more tasty even if it is just exactly the same thing!

Really no need to go to pureed stuff, that really is hastle you don't need.

Good Luck

yep yep yep to what everyone's said. it's a phase, she's growing and learning, she needs lots of water as well as food, feed her what you're having and see how she gets on, help her if you think she really needs it, don't if she's just on a learning curve etc etc etc...

most of all, if it's stressing you out and you want to spoon her some puree to make yourself less stressed... DO IT. she can self-feed, you've given her that opportunity already, so she's never going to be all passive about it in any case. remember to put you and your baby first, imo, it's what you two want to do that's important.

yes, keep a portion of your previous night's meal ready for her lunch. keep it quite chunky and let her get on with it. much more fun for her than boring chip shaped veg!

you can do soup either by keeping it chunky too, or pouring it over bread chunks she can pick up. also, you can pour soup on to potato, think of it as a baked potato filling.

with regards to feeding her sheps pie / fish pie etc, I just put it in front of her with a spoon and a fork and just let her get on with it. They are very resourceful. The less fuss / help you give them the quicker they learn ime. I did this from 6 months and she was a whizz with a fork and spoon by 8 months.

The food dropping is driving me crazy as well. Mind you, I just scoop it up and put it straight back on the highchair. I tell myself it's good for his immune system and it's not just because I'm a slob

As for switching to purees, why do you want to be talked out of it? If you really think it will be easier then do it! BLW isn't a badge of honour, it's simply a great way of feeding kids if it works for you. I know many people here will disagree but as far as I'm concerned purees are a perfectly fine way of weaning kids. There are no adults who only eat mush, everyone learns to eat properly in the end - you just have to pick whatever method is going to cause you less stress.

Oh I agree Tinkjon - you have to do what makes life easier for you - I just think making purees is so much more work (and I am fundamentally bone idle so BLW really works for me )

(I am also a scoop-and-return mum LOL)

Definitely save what you have for dinner for lunch the next day.

Dd1 is autistic and very particular about her food (she eats everything in sauces, so spag bol, curry, etc). There is no way I am cooking separate meals for dd2 so, that is what dd2 eats. she picks bits out of the bowl, and I spoon in a bit more around her, and it works brilliantly.

Bumperlicious, I just tried those pancakes and they were easy-peasy and DD loved them! Thanks. I agree those frozen spinach nuggets are very versatile - I used that and some grated cheese and they were delicious. I will definitely try everyone else's meal suggestions too. Thanks!

Totally with Sidge, I hate pureeing.

I did it with my 1st, won't be making that mistake this time around!

Another thing to add. Babies need mostly milk in their first year whether that be breast or bottle so all this weaning up to 1 year is mainly about playing and experimenting not nutrition as such so worry not about what goes down her throat as long as she is getting lots of different tastes and textures that is all that really matters.

It sounds like she is getting plenty of milk so just chill and let her play.

That's great naurelover, they are so easy aren't they? You could put lots of different stuff in them. I've kept them for a couple for a couple of days and reheated them.