Aaaitch, oh aitch, put the baby down a minute, lovely as she is, VS and Scorpio need you!!

[VictorianSqualor]

So. That magical age has arrived.
Scorpiolette is nearly 24 weeks and Squalorite has just turned 24 weeks.

I'm all clued up on the baby gut 17-26 weeks thingy, and know what goes on blah-de-blah.

But we have a couple of questions.

Will they really not eat the food we give them if not ready? So does that mean we can start now?

We've both been reading the blog (shameless plug) but somewhere it says you didn't give babybear tomatoes, why is this?

Cheese? Can we give it grated?

glad its going well Peachy

A friend's DS has a really bad reaction to tomatoes -- if he eats any he gets a terrible nappy rash (the eating-through-skin-on bottom type).

Tried DD on venison + carrot + parsnip yesterday -- she seemed to like all of them, but still don't think she's swallowing much. Still, that makes for more pleasant nappies...

(P.S. have you read the bit about cheese in the Month 1 section on Aitch's blog? She talks about different textures of cheese and how to present them. With cheddar I've just given LemonPip chunky chip-sized pieces)

I'm not Aitch either but DD must have read the blog, because at about 24 weeks reached onto her dad's plate, grabbed a green bean and started chewing it. the rest - as the say - is history!

Yes, she gagged a few times (or choked if you believe my DH/MIL/FIL etc. ), but a calm pat on the back and she was fine. At nine or ten months I finally caved whilst out for a meal with ILs and tried a free pot of babymush supplied by the restaurant. I was so proud of DD when she pulled a face which screamed, "You've poisoned me, you evil mother", and spat the lot out, whilst nonchalantly (sp) reaching for one of her dad's chips.

Go for it - it's fun, messy fun I'll grant you, but fun all the same!

Tomatoes - allergies.
Cheese - a nice big piece is easier for them to hold and sucks/chew on. The resulting dribble is quite vile though. DD favoured a piece of extra-mature cheddar until we found out she was milk protein intollerant and took her off all dairy for a year. Now she's back on dairy she won't eat cheese unless it is cooked and cunningly hidden.

INAB...
DH and I both atopic (him hayfever me eczema) so let DS go wild with the veg from 26 weeks and introduced any potential allergens one by one and waited for three days to see if anything happened (though TBH wasn't really sure what I was looking for I figured I would notice if there was a reaction) He's now three and a half weeks in and eating pretty much anything from lumps of rump steak (the only thing that made him cry when he dropped it on the floor) to greek yoghurt (surprisingly good at sticking to a spoon even while it's being waved around) I wouldn't rush though because I found once DS had had food a couple of times there was no way he would let us eat without having something!

Oooh and forgot to say gagging - DH gagged A LOT at first I got so used to it and also did the exaggerated NUM NUM thing - it just struck me yesterday that he doesn't gag anymore not sure when he stopped - maybe a week ago?

I have read the bits on Aitch's blog P&L yes, that's where (I think) I saw her say she wasn't doing toms.
I think I'll not do them for a while then, they are one of DD's favourite foods though, and DS1's so hopefully DS2 will be the same.
DD has asthma/eczema/hayfever so I want to be extremely careful on the type of things that can cause allergies.
What are they?

VP, Glad DH has stopped gagging, not a good look for a grown man

PMSL! One day I'll learn to read my posts first - actually now you mention DH does gagg when he empties the bin sometimes - sensitive soul my husband.

Things I introduced one by one were -
Dairy
Gluten - did oats first for three days then did wheat at a later date
tomatoes -
Eggs
Haven't yet done fish, strawberries, raspberries, nuts of any description or kiwi. I used that Dutch site that Aitch's blog links to as a guide to what was considered a possible allergen but didn't stick with their time scale

"I'm aitch, and so is my wife"!

Just to be safe, I did eggs, dairy, wheat and strawberries one at a time with a day or so between each one, just in case we had a reaction. No problems here though.

DS started at around 23 weeks with pear and brocolli, (we'd leave it on the tray as he sat up to dinner with us since about 20 weeks) but has only just, at 8 months, really got the hang of it, with the exception of the odd meal where he just stuffed himself. He's currently sucking on a bit of reheated roast parsnip for his lunch, some carrot, and butternut squash mixed with philly on rice cakes. We'll probably finish off with a mango wedge

Get on the BLW forums, we're very friendly and you'll find other babies at the same stage there, as well as recipes etc.

My main tip is just to keep trying - offer the same foods in different ways, and don't be afraid to let your LO use a spoon (mine is obsessed with cutlery)

gluten / dairy I would suggest a weeks gap minimum, as some people with intols find they're ok with one, or more items of dairy then reach overload (lactose intol often like that)- you'd want to be sure of the cause

Kiwi, strawberries, citrus, gluten, egg, dairy, tomato, nuts, shellfish (have probably left something massively allergenic off the list). Possibly fish?

Honey, obv.

I ave already given Bas salmon with no ill effects, but of course all babies differ

Oh good timing starting this thread.

My little Florette is 23 weeks and I've been meaning to remind myself what he can and can't have and when he can and can't have them.

Broccoli, was florette born in April?

End of April, yes. 3 weeks to go to 26.