Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

BLW: grant me the serenity...

10 replies

PollyParanoia · 07/02/2009 19:24

Hello, is there some sort of 12-step program AA styley for blw, because I definitely need to get with the one about serenity and acceptance.
Have been doing it with my third-born for about 2 weeks and it makes total sense to me and other people's "oh my baby was just starving at 3 months and was having four course meals by 4" sounds like utter nonsense. And yet I have a couple of problems. No, not the gagging thing, but:
a) she doesn't eat anything, well nothing that I can see in her nappy anyway. I remember with dd1 being amazed by how quickly the poo transformed into smelly yuk and so this time did a little mourning in advance of losing the yeasty bread nappies, but lo, they keep on coming. She is now at the very bottom of those curves, has nice plump legs and does all she's supposed to but you know how those charts tyrannise.
b) she doesn't sleep. I mean really doesn't sleep, wakes five or six times a night, sometimes stays up.
She picks it up, mouths it, throws it around etc and it's very sweet, but this sleep thing is so awful that I'm tempted to try any number of possible solutions including trying to bung her up with some gunky puree. Think too I maybe have issues about feeding my children, in part because my first born was way too skinny and in part because all women do (cue angst from those who can't bf).
Anyway, what I need is some cheerleading from proper blw apostles. Especially from Aitch who I am developing intellectual crush on. Maybe intellectual wrong word, nutritional?

OP posts:
PollyParanoia · 07/02/2009 19:26

Meant to preview rather than post that message as it doesn't make much sense in places (that will be the four hours sleep a night then). When I say "very bottom of those curves" I mean 4th centile or something on those weight charts. HV very chilled as am, theoritcally, but you know, a bit of weight gain would be a comfort.

OP posts:
MrsJamin · 08/02/2009 06:19

2 weeks is so early on. DS didn't really eat any quantity until about 3 months in - then there was no stopping him! The main thing early on is for them to learn to eat, not to eat for eating's sake. It takes them a while to build up the trust in the food by handling it before they put it in their mouths and actually chew and swallow. As long as your LO is getting lots of milk then they don't need any calories or nutrition from food for a good while. So - stick with it, it's so worth it.

beforesunrise · 08/02/2009 06:49

polly, i have much sympathy for you, the lack of sleep is absolutely horrible. i have no advice for you, i am doing BLW (i suppose) but not by choice, dd2 simply has a spoon phobia- so i put away my blender and started offering finger foods instead. similarly she eats very very little (although that's getting better all the time), and her sleep is not great, though i don't know whether it has got to do with food or not.

just one thing though... purees aren't the work of the devil you know? would it be the end of the world if you tried offering something, homemade, not "gunky" (why are purees necessarily gunky?), and see whether she likes it? surely if that;s what your baby wants/likes that's in the spirit of reading her cues and respecting her wishes?

please don't get me wrong, i don't want to dissuade you from doing what you want to do, just to say that, as with most things, if it's not working for you, you can and should adapt it to you and your family's needs.

good luck whatever you decide to do!

PollyParanoia · 08/02/2009 12:43

I did try a bit of puree at the beginning and she razzed the whole lot out, but you're absolutely right about purees not being the work of the devil. Maybe she's just not that into solid food generally yet and I should respect that. There is something quite satisfying about seeing a lot of food go in, but I suspect that whatever way I chose to feed her that wouldn't be the case.
MrsJ, reassuring to know that you had a bit of a turnaround later.
I will stay calm, I will stay calm...

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 08/02/2009 12:49

i did purees with ds1 who was horrible sleeper - made eff all difference
ds2 also abominable sleeper but i co sleep and so get lots of REST if not that much actual SLEEP

and at least i don;t have to spend the day liquidising sweet potato
i get to eat a proper meal
he has been blw ing for about 3 weeks now and stuff is starting to go down - the nappies have changed for sure
i find soft but firm things eg baked banana, baked apple, baked potato, crust of bread etc are best for actually getting eaten, as they don;t fall apart when he holds them, but are soft enough to slurp up with his gums

good luck - maybe persevere and then ditch in a month or so if not working? meanwhile, more milk

and if you search on "treasure basket" i believe this style of play develops fine motor skills, which will help with the blw

FrannyandZooey · 08/02/2009 12:51

actually it is 4 weeks
so there you go, it takes longer than you think maybe?

FrannyandZooey · 08/02/2009 12:51

plus post on blw forum - nice bunch on there

right will stop coming back in to say just one more thing

Isaidno · 08/02/2009 12:54

my dd is nearly 34 weeks, so we have been blw for 7 weeks.
Still not alot going in here, but getting better. I don't think anything went in for the first 3 weeks. I think she is eating more as her hand control improves - she is only dropping it on purpose now, as opposed to because it is too small /slippy / etc. The poos are now becoming stinkier, with recognisable bits, but this has only really been for the last 2 weeks.

Hang on in there and be patient. Food is not a magical sleep aid and weaning will only improve sleep if the reason for her waking is hunger.

FairLadyRandySlut · 08/02/2009 13:01

I think it is important to remember that in the first year of life milk is the main nourishment for a Baby, and that any solids are just for tasters, etc....

PollyParanoia · 08/02/2009 14:10

Yes you're all right of course but I just need to hear it. With dd1 I did solids at 5m to help with the sleeping and it made eff all difference and then I was stuck with the palaver of pureering. God I hated it so blw is as much about me as about dd2.
I'm not sure she is waking out of hunger because often it's right after I've fed her.
It won't last for ever, it's just that I start work again soon so I'm a bit panicky.
thanks again for all these wise words.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page