Getting started with BLW

[LentilMoussaka]

So we're starting solids tomorrow (gulp) and I don't have a clue when to start. DS has bfs at very approximately 6,9,12,3,6,7 so I'm thinking maybe 10 or 11 ish depending on when he sleeps (which is still very random)?

Also we're doing blw so I'm assuming at the first attempt there's likely to be more playing, throwing and smearing than eating. Do I still just offer food once a day to begin with (as with conventional weaning) or give him another play/eat in the afternoon if not much has gone in?

I should have found all this out a lot earlier but I've been in denial about the whole solids thing and now I'm starting to panic a bit....

No need to panic, weaning is fun albeit messy!
I would just offer food when you're eating - that way you can eat and they have something to do, but they can copy you and learn what to do in a sociable way. I would suggest you have meals together at 7, 1 and perhaps a 'tea' at 5? I normally sit with a cup of tea as it's too early for us to have a proper meal at that time. I offered food 3 times a day from the outset as there's no risk in them eating 'too much' food all of a sudden as they have such small quantities to begin with.

Yes, I'd definitely encourage you to offer him food when you eat. It is after all a social issue.

Until they are about 1 all their nutrition should still come from their milk so the food experience is all about exploration. Don't worry about how much they eat at this stage just encourage the play.

Good starters are well steamed brocolli and cauliflower.

Have fun

erm that should be activity not issue

Thanks! Although, if I've understood it right, the main point of blw is that you don't need an instruction manual it feels quite scary not having anything along the lines of an Annabel Karmel meal planner. This is where mumsnet comes in very handy....

I think a blw book has just been published come to think of it. Not sure who the author is, Gill Rapley possibly. I haven't read it though so can't vouch for whether its useful or not though.

the BLW book is out now - it will at least reassure you on the ideas behind BLW even though it's not a meal planner type guide. In terms of meal planning, just plan your meals and then you can always think which bit of it may be suitable for them to eat with you, or the next day heated up?

The butternut squash went down very well las night, more than I'd expected at the first attempt. DS did eat quite a lot by rubbing it into his bib until it was mush and then sucking the bib in a kind of baby led puree style! Carrot and brocolli not quite such a hit this morning but he seems to be having fun.

I know I probably should go and buy the book but I was hoping to get some advice about other vegetables. I'd love to try and keep him on fresh seasonal veg but at the moment that would be things like sprouts and leeks. I'm guessing these are too chewy right at the moment but when could I give them to him? And will he need teeth?

sounds like you're having fun from the outset! great stuff.
other veg in the early days are things like roasted veg sticks, so carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash, courgette, swede, parsnips, (and turnip?!) covered in olive oil and rosemary and roasted. I would have thought sprouts are easier than leeks to begin with, I haven't really tried either with DS yet.
your DS won't need teeth, their gums are very hard and should manage most foods without teeth.

Thanks