Anyone just started, or about to start, BLW? Care to join me?

[Jojay]

DS2 is 27 weeks and from last week, is now joining us a mealtimes.

I tried spoonfeeding for a few days but he didn't seem keen, so I tried him with some roasted veg and he was well away. So BLW it is for us.

But I did purees for DS1 2 years ago, so BLW is new to me.

So far he's had roasted sweet potato, carrot, aubergine, courgette, sweet pepper, some lightly steamed apple and pear, banana, mango, and a chip.

When I say 'had' I mean I've offered it to him. Some probably went straight on the floor, but I've found some lumps in his nappy, so some is definitely going in.

The mango was the biggest hit - he loved it!

So tell me what you're doing and how it's going...........

Hi all, sorry for intruding hope you don't mind. I don't think that what I'm doing is strictly BLW (started DS on purees but in the last few weeks have scrapped them & now just give him whatever we're eating) I pop the food on his highchair tray & just let him go for it.

I just have a few concerns/questions I was hoping someone could help me with?

First/main I'm worried DS isn't really eating much, I just pop whatever we're eating on his tray & let him play around with it, he will put a few small bits in his mouth & eat a very small quantity but mostly it ends up on the floor/being mushed into the corners/being squished in his hands/being fed to the dog lol. Is that ok? Will he be getting enough to eat? He still has his formula (he's only 10 months) & water so he's drinking ok. I really don't want to have to start making purees again.

Like now, dinner tonight is sausages, mash & baked beans, he's mainly strewn the baked beans about but I think I saw 1 disappear into his mouth, the mash he has enjoyed squidging between his hands but a few mouthfulls have gone in & he's had about 2 chunks of sausage, he's now squirming & moaning to get out of the highchair - surely that's not much of a meal? Is that ok for him to eat that little?

(I hasten to add not all meals consist of quick easy things to cook I'm just being lazy tonight lol)

Also he will usually have a yogurt after dinner so do I feed that to him or just let him get on with it?

Sorry to waffle on - TIA for any help

JoJay Thanks for the apple tip, I'll steam it for a few minutes tomorrow am for her brekkie. I think I oversteamed the carrots a bit - there's a fine line, isn't there, between soft enough to mush/swallow in mouth (not that she's there yet!) and firm enough not to dissolve instantly in strong little sticky paws ...

Another question from me - with soft fruit like mango, do you leave it on the skin like with banana? DD is not dextrous enough to eat it without some kind of handle/ something that doesn't fall apart. And what other things can you use to spread soft stuff on? I'm wary of bread just because she has excema - and DH has it too, and his is mainly exacerbated by wheat... I want to give her some stuff like mushed lentils and whatnot for protein (we, and she, are vegetarian) but presumably she'd need something to suck it off!

I aim for set meal times but don't always achieve so this morning, she had too much of a breast feed, was not hungry for breakfast so had it about 11.30. Dinner / tea is at 5.30 - 6.00.

On BLW, another backward day - polished off the ready brek which was spoon fed but at dinner, swept majority of offerings off her tray and only ate a rice cake and a bit of cucumber then happily ate the spoon fed fromage frais.
HELP!!!!!!

Evening all .

normaSknockcers I have been spoon feeding yoghurt until this week when DD has started commandeering the spoon and insisting on feeding herself. Most yoghurts are fairly high calorie so as long as he's eating something and putting on weight I wouldn't worry too much about how much.

KiwiPanda we're ex-veggie so still eat a lot of veggie food and have been making lentil rissole type things - basically lentils and bits (onion, tomato etc) bound with egg, dipped in flour and shallow fried - which are easy to pick up

ilovespagbol I think they have food hungry and boob hungry days tbh, certainly seems that way here! Also DD will BLW happily until she is bored/tired or very hungry and wants to eat as efficiently as possible when she will lean forward and open and close her mouth like a little fish until someone feeds her . I think that if the baby wants to be spoon fed occasionally then that is still baby-led iyswim.

Goodness I seem to have made up for my previous lax posting with an enormous post and still haven't managed to tell anyone about our trip to a cafe today where DD grabbed my friends chocolate cake off her plate and shoved it in her mouth with both hands. I was and !

DD had potato/smoked haddock cakes for brunch today - not a good idea, her hands stink of fish and she wanted a drink and now my boob smells of fish [yeuch]. She didn't really like it anyway so just mashed it into a pulp and swept it off the table with great panache and then eyed DH's full english
Weetabix went down well, spoonfed with some plum mush. I must get her some yoghurt, I keep forgetting the stuff exists!
Kiwipanda have you tried rye bread? It toasts really well so you could spread stuff on that without the wheat worry.
I'm trying to settle DD down into a few meals a day, until now it's been as and when I feel like it but she's sleeping really badly and I'd like to try to get her a bit more settled. Perhaps more food will help?... I agree on the milk/food days, sometimes DD is not interested at all in solid food, other days she barely blinks at boob - keeps me on my toes!

Chulita Oh good idea, will get some rye bread, I like that too so we'll both win..

Did anyone else find that the start of baby weaning was accompanied by the grumps?? DD has been in a terrible mood all afternoon and also, I don't think she's had a dirty nappy since we started with apple and banana. I'm pretty sure she's eaten a few tiny tiny bits but would that be enough to give her a bit of a tummy ache???

Hi all, just wanted to congratulate pushmepullyou's dd on her excellent chocolate cake grabbing skills, bet she was pleased with herself! My dd was very eager for a pink french fancy yesterday, but i had to draw the line at that and it was moved out of her way.

We're looking forward to DD's 6 month birthday next week, but have finally given in and relaxed the no wheat rule a few days early as she's been trying to get to bread for a while and seems a bit bored of rice cakes. Weetabix and cheese on toast went down very well today, so i think she's going to end up as much of a wheat monster as her parents

I'm a bit jealous of everyone whose baby will allow some spoon feeding. DD loves spoons but has to be in control of them herself. She can manage a loaded spoon of yoghurt quite well now, but its still a very messy process. She's not so keen on picking up food herself if i'm sat next to her now though - will hold out her hand towards me when she's ready for the next thing. I tend to hold a couple of things up for her to grab so she can then choose which one she wants, but if i pop out of the room, she will quite happily pick things up herself

Oooh, and thanks for the baby stock cube tip. I get a bit anxious when i'm cooking if i haven't got an emergency stock cube handy just in case i need it

Greensnail - DS2 didn't allow me to spoon feed him at all for a good few weeks, but quite likes it now if he's in the mood.

Obviously it's not compulsory but if you wnat to be able to spoon feed her too, try every week or so and she may surprise you

temperamental little buggers darlings they are!! My DS keeps me guessing whether he wants the spoon or finger foods every meal - I tend to make a bit of both now. Soup and toast fingers are a safe combo.

Finger food tip - potato cakes are great, they are easier to eat than toast, especially if like my DS your LO doesn't have teeth. Waitrose and Sainsburys sell them.

Can I join you all, please? Am about to start offering food to DD2 this week. DD1 was a puree baby but looking forward not to have all that mush around.

Have not read all of the thread yet but will do to get ideas of some first foods to offer.

Well after my post things seem to be picking up DS ate really well at all 3 meals yesterday!! He sucked the toast moastly at breakfast but devoured the strawberries grinning the enire time! Lunch was pasta with some tuna, a majority went on the floor but he seemed content with what he had eaten & dinner was roast chicken, peas & few chips - he almost cleared his tray . I know it's daft but I am so pleased with how well he's doing, it's made life so much easier, he's relaxed & happy, I'm relaxed & happy & I'm fully converted to BLW! Only wish I'd done it sooner!

Can I be classed as a BLW mummy if I started out with purees? Probably not

Hi all, and welcome Dysgu (and anyone else i haven't said hi to!)
We've just had a bbq (in the rain ) DD spent ages chewing on a spare rib. Looked extremely cute and i have some fab photos.

Jojay - i'm not desperate to spoon feed her but just would like to be able to help her when she's struggling. Last night she was full on screaming at her peas as they weren't doing what she wanted them to! Had to pacify her with chips

Hello all. What a nice sunny day. I'm ever so proud of DD - day three of BLW and she's definitely eating something, I found lumps in her nappy this morning. And we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, she was sitting on DH's lap and grabbed and gnawed away at tortillas with frijoles... so sophisticated

Ooooo snap greensnail we had a BBQ today - DS was incredibly excited by the homemade burgers

Oh, a question from me - I had learnt over the last few days that the bibs I have for DD are woefully insufficient to deal with the mess that is created...! Her clothes seem to be coated in a light veneer of rapidly-browning banana. Nice. So, does anyone have a kind of bib they recommend?? The cloth ones I've got are quite short which also gets in the way a bit, so I think something longer and perhaps even with arms??

Kiwi I have bought the two-pack of long-sleeved bibs from John Lewis for DS1, who hopefully will be starting BLW next week

here you can also get more 'girly' ones too these ones

They look like they should cover all relevant areas HTH

Kiwi Tesco sell some plastic ones that have long sleeves but they are a nice light material, I bought one from mothercare but it was too stiff so DS was a bit restricted in movement.

Also this bib from Kidapotamus is really good, although DS still always needs a top change after eating!

Glad it's not just DS who needs a change of clothes after eating lol!

Can I ask what do you ladies do when eating out? Do you just let DC make their usual mess & then just clear after them or do you try & contain it? When I'm at home I just let DS enjoy himself & whatever ends up in his mouth is a bonus, do you think I'd get frowned upon for doing that when out?

Let him make a mess! We just left our local pub this afternoon with organix rice cakes all over the floor. Adults will spill food sometimes and I'm sure they are used to it. Plus, they have to clean anyway!

Hello

Been reading your thread as my twins are 5 1/2 months and I was dreading the pureeing etc that I did for DS1. One thing I am not clear on - for foods that really need spoons (e.g. yoghurt) how are you supposed to deal with that under BLW? what do you mean by 'load the spoon' (sorry to be dim - can you give me an explanation)? and at what age should I start on spoon-type stuff - straight away or once the hand-held food is having some success?

Thanks ever so - will keep on reading until we actually start

Another poor eating session with DD whatever I offered her, she hardly considered, picked up then put down and edged slowly off her tray with her hand until it landed on the floor. In some cases, she did not even pick up the offfending article, just edged it over. The only acceptable articles were rice cakes, melon and the spoon fed yoghurt, the yoghurt she enjoyed so much she cried when it was finished and it was a bigger one than the usual mini pots that I buy, do you think ths is OK? (her having a larger yoghurt that is!) Not sure what is going on. Think will have to resort to some more spoon fed stuff, worried she is not eating enough. Having three breastfeeds a day, still seems keen on them, even when she has eaten, ie after her weetabix. Any pearls of wisdom anyone?
Norma when we have been out, I let her make a mess and have made a half hearted attempt to pick up stuff off the floor on a couple of occaisions where it looked like a health and safety hazard....

oh, and kiwi we had some cotton long sleeved bibs which we still use but found you need a constant supply so supplement with muslins round her neck, bandana style, a plastic mothercare one but agree with choco, its a bit restictive or failing all that, no top at all Iif it warm enough) for her evening meal as she has a bath soon after anyway!

Fabby - I shall carry on as normal when we go out to eat then I'm amaed how quickly DS has taken to it, although I guess he is that bit older at 1 months, but we've gone from gagging on literally everything (even the smallest of lumps) to eating a roast dinner in a week! It has made such a difference

Lentil soup for lunch, we'll see how that goes down.
The worst food to let LOs eat when out and about is banana IME. DD left most of one smeared over the highchair with big chunks on the floor (it was a milk day so she wasn't interested in solids). It was already browning by the time we'd had our coffees so I made a half-hearted attempt to wipe the chair down and then legged it. I'll make sure DD wears a wig next time we go there, maybe they won't recognize us
MG72 I think load the spoon means that you scoop the stuff up but your LO grabs it off you and wipes it wherever they like. I think most of us on this thread have spoonfed because our LOs have gone through phases of not wanting to feed themselves. I started with a mixture of finger food and spoon food. DD didn't want to be spoonfed at all for the first month or so but in the last week she sits there like a little bird waiting for me to shovel it in! HTH

Popped out this morning & got DS these thought he'd look super cute but stay slightly cleaner then normal when out lol!Chulita I shall take note & make sure I don't take any bananas out with me LOL @ putting a wig on DD

Anyone know if it's ok for DS to have sour cream?? We've got jacket spud & grilled chicken for lunch today & I often dollop some sour cream on mine but wasn't sure if that would be ok to give DS or not?