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...........

Hello - please may I join you all? DS is 27 weeks and we started BLW 2 weeks ago.

He seems to have got the hang of it quite quickly - chomps and gums at anything I've put in front of him and is quite good at giving himself a porridge/weetabix/yoghurt face pack. Nappies have changed too and I find myself becoming increasingly fascinated with the contents...

TBH I was dreading it as any kind of weaning seemed like a dreadful faff compared with just wapping out a boob, but we are both really enjoying it. He seems to find the whole process hilarious and we often end up in fits of giggles. He does not like being cleaned up afterwards though and has started growling at me quite menacingly .

Was wondering about the whole salt thing though - especially bread. Can anyone recommend a good low salt one? And I seem to remember that white is better for them at this stage or have I made this up? Sorry if this has been already covered - have tried to read the whole thread but brain slightly frazzled due to no sleep this year .

Thanks Kiwi - if its not tmi then she can get it out but I wonder if she just doesn't like the sensation? Last week it was bf poo with bits in and this week its paste (sorry, I know that's gross).

Welcome Sospan, I was apalled at the level of salt in bread (amongst other things) so I bought a bread maker. I am planning to try it today and am quite excited [is that what my life has become? emoticon]. We had vouchers left from our wedding last year so I only spent £20.

I think I read further up this thread that the Weight Watchers bread is lower in salt though.

My dd sometimes likes the cleaning more than the food (always tries to eat the wipe).

I am at a loss as to what to give her for breakfast today after last nights drama...off to the kitchen to investigate.
Hope you're all well.

God I hadn't even considered salt in bread [bad mother emoticon] Sospan - that's a very good point (and welcome!) To be honest, I don't think DD ever really eats much of the bread, it's more of a vehicle to get the other stuff into her mouth.. but I have a breadmaker so should definitely start making my own. I also tend to buy rye bread, dunno if that makes ANY difference but it's not sliced stuff which does have horribly high salt I think.

Hulla I think DD was similar actually at first - the first few weeks when nappies were just sort of normal but full of bits, but when they start eating more it turns solid (lovely...) and that doesn't seem to bother her at all. I was round at a friends the other day and her DD (formula and puree fed) was making the most extraordinary grimacing faces and going bright red, and she said "oh that's her poo-face, does that every time, doesn't yours?" Eek!

I think there must be a period of adjustment where their little tummies work out how to digest this new stuff, and don't know whether to just pass it out again or break it down - then it all gets worked out!

Hello everyone! I haven't been on here for ages, mostly because there's nothing new to say about DD's semi-BLW antics but also cos I was feeling guilty about not being a purist like I thought I would be DD has porridge for breakfast with whatever fruit I feel like putting in it, BLW lunch of different stuff and spoonfed tea. Believe me, I'm all for BLW but DD isn't - she started well but now she's like a baby bird; just sits there with her arms all rigid, mouth open and grunts...she won't even pick up her cup to drink! I know she can cos she did when she was about 6.5mths but not anymore...[sigh]
So anyway, we make our own bread but like kiwi said it's more like a version of cutlery cos not much goes down.
I made Apricot and raisin muffins yesterday and she enjoyed mashing them into a pulp, mixing it up with some mango and green bean and then dropped it on the floor. It's all about the experience though and she does like making a mess!!

I'm very impressed with all the homemade bread making going on!I barely have time to work the toaster at the moment. Ta for the bread tips, will go and examine some more labels...

Not such a great day here. DS didn't seem that interested in eating today. Lots of prodding and sniffing instead. Gets very excited about drinking water though (weirdo).

Quick question - he is having left-over pork for his lunch tomorrow (it will be his first meat experience). Was planning to give it to him cold but am wondering whether I should heat it up?

Hi chulita I think I have your cheese straw recipe to try this week. I have been meaning to make them for, oh, about 2 months now!

I don't see why it would need to be hot. My dd has all kinds of things cold that I wouldn't go near (steamed courgette out of the fridge - yuk!).

I made a lovely loaf today and homemade baked beans so we had those on toast. DH was impressed and dd just sucked the bean-mush off the toast.

She hasn't had any dinner but I have saved her some roasted sweet potato and chicken for lunch tomorrow.

Does anyone give their dc weetabix? I am worried its a bit harsh/salty. Any ideas? DD hates bland stuff. I gave her mild cheese and she just threw it but extra mature stuff she loves [proud mummy].

Hi Chulita and welcome Sospan,

we've always made our own bread in bread maker - too lazy to go and buy it. Have been gradually reducing the amount of salt i put in to see how low it can go and still work. Currently I put in about half as much as the instructions and it comes out fine. DD can happily eat a whole slice of bread at a time

Chulita, if she wants to be spoonfed then that's still babyled i think. She's obviously very clever and doesn't want to work too hard if she doesn't have to!

Sospan, I would probably give it cold too. DD's first meat experience was pork too - she absolutely loved it. She still loves all meat and fish.

Hulla, DD has weetabix sometimes. I soften it slightly with a little milk and she picks it up to eat it. She doesn't seem all that keen on it, but she does eat some of it.

I hope this is the right thread to post in and that I'm not hijacking anything - it's too long to scroll down! DD is 10 mo and exclusively BLW (ff not bf). DS was a mix of finger food and spoon and by now had dropped a lot of milk feeds. DD hasn't dropped any and I must admit I am finding it a real hassle as what with milk and 'meals' she seems to be ingesting something every two hours! I can't wait til I don't have to carry round bottles and formula anymore. Can anyone give me hope... will she drop at least one milk feed soon??!

Hi. My ds2 is 6 months. I started weaning a good few weeks ago now. I was doing/am doing purees, but am thinking ds2 would prefer finger foods. Today he has had a piece of apple (raw, not steamed/boiled) and a cucumber stick.

I would like to offer puree still (mostly because I have a freezer full of stuff I've done) but would like to do finger foods alongside that too.

I hope it's ok to grab some ideas from you guys on how and what to give. I'll prob most lurk, but would love to join you all.

Hello and welcome VandT! DD is younger so not much help, but she certainly doesn't seem to show any desire to drop feeds (she is BF, dunno if that makes any difference). I think maybe she's feeding for slightly shorter times but then she's always been an efficient feeder.

And welcome littleboyblue too! Have you read the BLW book by Gillian Rapley? I think there are some FAQs about combining pureeing and BLW but to be honest it's probably just "Can I?" and "Yes!"...! One thing to be slightly careful about is that raw apple is one of the few things where a chunk can break off and be a bit hard to "chew" so you might want to steam it lightly first (a whole piece, but it just softens it up a bit). I think someone advised me on that lower down on this epic thread!

Hi everyone

VandT DD is only 7 months but seems to have dropped a couple of feeds since we started BLW, she was having 5 feeds a day and one overnight, now has 4 a day, or occasionally 3 and sleeps through.

On the other hand I know other babies of her age and older who are still having as much milk as ever (all the babies I know in rl are weaned on purees). Seems as though maybe it depends as much on the baby as the method of weaning.

Do you think it would be worth offering her a snack in place of one of her feeds to see if you can encourage her to drop a feed if you're finding it too much of a hassle?

Thanks kiwi Yeah, thinking now maybe I should have, but I'd cut an apple for ds1 and ds2 was reaching for it so..........I will in future steam/boil them for a few minutes

Tomorrow I'm going to try scrambled egg and green beans for lunch. he has been having just pureed fruit for lunch, but am going to offer a bit of banana or something with some toast for breakfast and maybe something after dinner

I have a question. It may have been answered earlier in the thread, but it'd take me forever to catch up with 12 pages!

So...........when I put a 'meal' infront of him, how long should I let him sit there for? How long should a meal last. I obviously don't want to rush him, but don't want him to sit there all day.
Ds1 who is 2 is given 25 mins for his dinner. But if he's not going to eat it, you know straight away.

thanks for comments.. good idea re snacks greensnail, have just started to introduce in the last couple of days and I have been able to get away with giving her less milk at the next feed... but its me taking the bottle away from her which slightly goes against BLW approach doesn't it? She doesn't cry for more but i'm sure given the opportunity would drink more. she just loves her milk! Its weird, she can sometimes pack away quite a lot of food but still happy to glug away on her milk.

V&T Ds2 is like that, he loves his milk. Ds1 on the other hand hated it and by 9/10 months was only having the bedtime milk feed.

I sometimes wonder if I'm overfeeding ds2, but now I have just started BLW (have been pureeing for about 6 weeks) I am more confident he will know when he's had enough.

littleboyblue I think the answer to your question is probably "as long as you have time for"! At the beginning DD got very grumpy after about 10 minutes, now she seems happy to sit in there (sometimes) all day chasing slippery bits of banana around the tray. I usually stop when she stops putting everything in her mouth so enthusiastically, and just starts playing with it IYSWIM

VandT is she demanding milk at those times, or do you offer because that's when she always has her feeds? If she's asking for milk, then yes not giving it would be against principles of BLW. If you're just giving it because she usually has it, then it might be worth trying without it. DD will usually take milk whenever offered, but if left to ask for it then will feed 3-4 times a day at present. To be honest though, if the principles of BLW aren't working for you as a family then, if it were me, I would adapt them to make it work. Its not an all or nothing situation IMHO.

littleboyblue my pfb is limited to an hour for meals, but think that most people with older children have to limit them a bit more than that.

Thanks guys.
Is there anything I really shouldn't give?
Can a 6mo have breadsticks? I have a freezer drawer full of purees I want to get rid of so was thinking breadstick dipped in and he could suck it? Or should I stick to pitta bread?

As you can prob already tell, I am a self-doubter and never really know what I want to do. Well, I do know sometimes, but always find myselkf checking. Crazy isn't it?

I think breadsticks would be fine. I use toast, or pitta bread, or ricecakes as dippers for runny stuff. Or even a spoon that she feeds herself (sometimes I keep my hand on it until it's in her mouth just because otherwise she has a tendency to catapault it into my face/ the bookshelf...)

I'm wondering if I'm actually feeding DD milk more than she really needs. I just got so used to feeding her roughly every 3 hours that I still do that and perhaps she doesn't really want/need it. At the moment she's in a real grump and has been for days and there are times when I BF her just to get some non-crying peaceful time ! The "trouble" with BFing is that she'll always take it - has never once in her entire 7 1/2 months turned down the opportunity - but that doesn't necessarily mean she actually needed it. Agh. I just seem to have having a crisis of confidence about what she wants at the moment, she's so grumpy!

DD is demolishing a breadstick right now- she loves them. The ones we have contain 0.1g salt per stick though, so I don't give her too many. Great for dipping though

KIwi I'll give it a try with breadsticks then. I had to hold ds1 upside down once or twice when he was weaning so am prepared!
I know now that he can manage toast, so if breadsticks don't go well, he can have toast.

I'm like that with ds2 re milk feeds. I'm ff though. He has always fed 3 hourly, and now I find myself feeding him when he cries when the problem is probably something else iyswim.
There's only 18 months between my boys so finding the right balance of attention is hard.
I'm not really sure what to do in regards to milk feeds though.
I don't want to over-feed him, but \i don't want to make him go hungry. I don't want him to be too full to try new foods either. It's not easy is it?
Yesterday afternoon, when he got miserable, I gave him a cucumber stick which seemed to calm him for a while. Only about 20mins though and I ended up giving 5oz of milk

Oh yeah, salt. Just looked at pack and it says trace, so that's ok isn't it?

don't feel bad kiwi - i've just shoved boob at grumpy dd too so i can carry on on mn! don't think you should ever feel bad about feeding your baby and bm is th best thing she can have - she's not exactly overweight is she? if its helping her get through a grumpy patch then that's great

I wonder if you can buy baby-friendly breadsticks?? Might examine the labels in the supermarket today.

Now there's a business opportunity - food products for BLW-babies. Completely unecessary and pointless, as all the most profitable baby products are. Salt free bread & breadsticks, pitta... There's my first million sorted then.

trace means less than 0.1g so that's fine. can i ask what brand they are - i got the unsaltiest i could find in sainsburys