losing confidence

[bookswapper]

I have bf ds for 6 months now and have started introducing finger foods for the past week and a half. He doesnt seem to be taking much banana, avocado, pear, the steamed carrot sticks, he likes toast, bread and breadsticks (but I worry about the salt) he has had a Heinz biscotti baby biscuit...(but this had probably too much sugar!)

but he is waking much more frequently through the night - every two hours - to breastfeed

my HV today advocated that I should go down the puree route and teach him to swallow or at least mashed food

so I tried baby porridge and flavoured baby rice and, perversely, he doesn't like the texture and tries to grab the spoon and shove it in his mouth - all very goog BLW credebtials but rubbish for eating and swallowing!

Tonight he wolfed down 6oz of Hipp organic goodnight drink, we believe he was a hungry soul

I am losing confidence. Could anyone tell me if this is normal as far as blw goes or should I try tweaking things/giving up for purees?

Thanks

Purees won't help at all, imho. blw is fab. I have had a few wobbles but it's mostly because I forget that milk should be DS's main source of energy and nutrition until he's 1. There is a 6 month growth spurt - maybe that could explain the night waking? The feeding in the night won't be that influenced by solids, lots of people on MN have verified this already in other threads. your HV doesn't have very good reasons really. it sounds very normal for blw.

DS is loving his mashed avocado, yoghurt, potato etc. I wouldn't bother with labels at the moment, but rather what your DS is happy to eat.

Similarly, if my DS grabs something off my plate, then he can try it (as long as it isn't a curry!)

DD (now 2.4) had a combination of purees and finger food which was mainly what we ate. She is absolutely brilliant at trying new foods, and is one of the least picky eaters of any of my friends DC's. The key, I think, is to be relaxed about it all...

I pretty much did BLW with DS, with the odd panic and attempt to spoon in some mush (usually when my mum was around) and did worry from time to time if I was doing the right thing.

He was a terrible sleeper, bf lots in the night, didn't seem to be eating much in the way of solid food, although would happily take one mouthful of lots of things. Then at about 9-10 months he suddenly started eating, and pretty much hasn't stopped (he's over 2 now). He spoonfed himself pretty early too, and is pretty nifty with a spoon and forl now.

I'm afraid the sleeping took much longer to come right, so I don't think his night waking was just to do with hunger - there are lots of other reasons why they wake up at night.

Hang on in there, it's early days yet and weaning is a process not an overnight thing. Hope you get some more sleep soon

DS1 was rather like this bookswapper. We did BLW and it took him a couple of months to get the hang of food, but we stuck at it and I'm so glad we did. By ten months he was eating everything from lasagne to risotto, all with his hands.

He has the best appetite and the widest range of tastes of all his friends now at almost 3.

He also woke a lot during the night and it does get wearing - I know. As Rhinestone says, it might not be just due to hunger.

However, remember - food is for fun until they're one!

I was just about to start something very similar to your thread Bookswapper!

I tried offering DS finger foods every day from 26 weeks, lots of different foods, times, indoors and outdoors and nothing went in his mouth. At 28 weeks I cracked and have given him some baby porridge (that poncey Plum Organic stuff). He kind of tolerates it more than anything, and like your ds, he loves to chew on his spoon.

I had been thinking of that we needed a "failed blweaners support thread" but now much more seriously I am worried that the theory behind BLW is holding up (i.e. they eat when they're ready) as my (ahem, TMI alert) formerly happy twice-a-day boy now hasn't dirtied his nappy in 4 days. Am going to try and get some fruit puree down him but once he does go to the toilet am thinking of holding off the spoon-feeding.

Am just so of all those ladies whos babies grab food of their plates and take to BLW like a duck to water. My DS is only interested in our crockery and cutlery. And am also about the pressure I feel to get my baby on 3-meals-a-day asap and stop this vaguely disgusting practice of breastfeeding.

My baby is an odd one - will only have finger foods at lunch ao all bit given up on puree and effectively is totally BLW then, but won't touch finger food at tea yet grabs a spoon of puree off me and wolfs it down. I'm just resigned to it being a mix and going with whatever he wants at a given time.

Eirlys, I have sympathy for you and know what it's like feeling the pressure to give purées, but it is worth sticking to your guns. We have had the last laugh with DS1 as once he took to eating he didn't stop and, I think because he eats so well, DS2 copies him and he took to BLW much more quickly.

Food is a funny thing when you think about it. Babies have had just milk for six months and then we bombard them with all sorts of textures, tastes and temperatures and expect them to like everything immediately, but how many times has it taken you to get to like something?

I know it's difficult, but go with the flow and just see what happens. As I said earlier, 'food is for fun until they're one' is a great mantra to remember - babies should still be getting a reasonable amount of milk at the moment so won't starve.

Thanks PigeonPie.

The other part of the problem is that tomorrow we are off to stay with my parents...for two weeks . My mum was a former HV and can't accept that her advice is around 20yrs old...Apparently I should have started giving him porridge at 16 weeks and now I should start witholding BM/giving it from a cup to encourage him to eat food .

Like you say it is a funny concept introducing them to food, and I think that my DS hasn't "clicked" as to what it's there for.

Eirlys - hope you have a nice time at your parents. Totally understand the pressure from your mum - mine has worked with small children for over 30 yrs, plus having 3 of her own. We agree on most things but bf/weaning was one of those things that we had to agree to disagree over. Luckily she mostly tended to bite her tongue.

I do remember going to stay with her when DS was about 8 months old and feeling a bit guilty that he was still bf 'too much'. I think I may have even given him the odd 'secret' feed . As time went on I got more confident tho, and on the same visit DS sat up in his high chair and joined in Sunday lunch with us - savaging a piece of roast lamb with his 2 tiny teeth and razor sharp gums. Roast potato & parsnip were popular too.