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 to newbies Sydney, Hana and Ash

Brekkie is a tough one I agree. Has anyone tried the porridge pancakes from Aitch's site yet? I haven't, as we haven't graduated much from fruit amnd veg yet, but I plan to give 'em a go in the next week or so. CSWS had a good list of breakfast ideas somewhere, I'll see if I can find it.

As for introducing a cup, I started DS1 with one of these. They're cheap and cheerful, you can get them anywhere and they have no valve so water runs freely when the cup is tipped up. I gave DS2 one to hold today,and he had a tiny sip of water, and he looked very suprised and spat it out again

Glad the broccoli went down well Rachie. Ds2 wasn't too bothered by his tea tonight, he sucked on a carrot for a bit, had a bit of a cough and a gag, carried on for a bit longer then gave up and started moaning. To be fair he was about ready for a bfeed so that's probably why.

Here's CSWS's list of brekkies tried so far (hope you don't mind CSWS)

Raisin wheats with milk
Dry puffed wheat
Mini oatibix with milk (v messy and they do contain some sugar/crap, so only offered once so far)
Pancakes (but obv have egg in)
Fruit/cinammon toast
Eggy bread (err, contains egg )
porridge (on a spoon which he grabs, but he didn't seem to like it)
fruit (bananas, blueberries, apricots)
muffin
waffles

Joyjay & Sydney I've also been giving ds a cup, tommie tippe and some similar but from the £1 shop He's ignored it really so I've held it to his mouth and he's drank a bit. I've given it him with every meal for the last few days and today he actually drank from it himself. So possibly keep trying is the answer.

BTW I don't think he likes water but am not giving juice yet!!

Hi there guys. Sorry I've been absent for a bit, poor little DS been fighting off a virus and refusing anything except milk!

However, tonight he sat at the table in his highchair and gummed his way through some ciabatta at dinner tonight with every sign of enjoyment! He didn't like the pasta much though, kept chucking it on the floor. Or maybe that's my cooking

He also took some water from a cup (mine actually, until he backwashed a load of soggy ciabatta into it ) and although he seemed a bit surprised, he drank quite a bit! (Good job we weren't having wine!)

I want to try the mashed banana on toast mentioned above - he loves mashed banana, he loves toast - should be a hit!

Am waiting for the BLW book to arrive any day now (Jojay - DH not noticed I've bought it yet!!)

Sorry to hear ds is ill Kirsty, great news about the water though and ciabatta. Are you waiting for the Gill Rapley book? Just wondering as I found it so hard to get, ordered from waterstones online and it was out of stock, my local waterstones have sold out too so am now waiting for amazon..apparently it's in stock but won't believe it until it's here!

Morning all. Sorry to hear about your DS Kirsty - but it sounds like he's on the mend now. That's great that he took the water so well. I'm going to try a bit harder with ds today - I've been a bit slack with it so far

Rachie, sounds like your lo is doing well with the water too, and I agree, stick with water for the time being, no need for juice yet.

DS still not that interested in breakfast. I offered him some banana and cranberry wheats this morning, but he just squidged them in his fingers then chucked them on the floor!

He seems a bit cranky generally this morning, he's very snotty and I'm taking him to the doctor later 'cos his skin is really dry and he's got a nasty eczema patch under his neck, so hopefully they'll give us something for it.

So what's on the menu for today?? DS1 and I are having tomato soup for lunch so I thought I'd dip some pitta strips in for Ds2. Could get very messy! Not sure about supper yet, haven't thought that far forward

Well, am I glad I stumbled across this site?! I'm a first timer to mumsnet so hello. Lots of abbreviations to guess at but I feel really reassured by this discussion. My son is 7 mths old today and I've been trying to wean him (on jars) for about 6 weeks. So far he can only seem to manage really runny things without gagging and I was getting a bit worried (never having heard of this reaction before). Also, he will take water from a cup but he seems to keep it in his mouth and then spit it out! Anyway, I'm going straight out to buy melon and mango and phily!! So thank you very much

Hello again Red - good to see you here too.

If you're new to the concept of BLW, do have a look at some of the sites linked to earlier on this thread - there's some great info and ideas around.

Some people here are doing a mixture of spoonfeeding and finger foods, whereas some are doing BLW, with no spoonfeeding at all. Whichever you end up doing, you're very welcome and hopefully we can all share ideas and experiences

Best of luck with the melon, mango and philly - hope your ds enjoys them! My ds got in a right mess at lunchtime, but was as happy as the proverbial pig in s**t!!

So, todays menu for ds was...

Breakfast: raisin wheats with oat milk. blueberries. piece of cold cooked parsnip (!!)

Late morning snack: pear

Lunch: macaroni with dairy free pesto, half a carrot (in a single stick), peas, babycorn.

Dinner: Cottage pie and asparagus.

Hope that your ds is brighter today Kirsty.

Wow, it sounds like your Ds is doing really well CSWS. Does he actually 'eat' much do you think? I know it can be hard to tell.

My Ds kind of chews and sucks on things. I'm finding a few lumps in his nappy so some is going in, but he's not eating any sort of amount yet.

I keep telling myself this is fine, but I have wobbly moments! He is only 27 weeks after all, we only started this last week! I think I'm probably expecting too much, but then you hear stories of babies wolfing down three course meals

Gotta keep the faith!

Err, yes, he eats loads! His poos have been totally solid for a while now, not just a case of bits!

Dd hardly ate a thing until at least 11 months, so it's quite a revelation for me to have a good eater.

Oh, and he had pitta strips with philly for lunch again - I was going to dip it in soup but he was asleep when DS1 and I had ours and i was too lazy to heat up soup again - followed by melon, then broccoli, baby corn and a chip for supper, and a bit of steamed apple for pud

I'm not convinced a whole lot went in, but he had a go at everything.

Belle Is it the big day tomorrow? What are you going to start with?

Did you do BLW with your DD too?

Ds2's poos are definitely still milk poos, with the odd lump thrown in.

Give me some wise words of encouragement, please?

We did blw with dd from 7 months, when she started to refuse anything on a spoon.

It's early days yet jojay, so make the most of the fact that he's not eating you out of house and home yet! You'll probably find that it will suddenly click one day, and you won't know what's hit your food bill you!

Rachie - I have just received my GIll Rapley book from Amazon so they do have stock! Am halfway through it already and it is really brill!

DS is all better now thank goodness (rashes appearing all over his body were freaking me out - but his immune system won!)

Today he has gummed some toast and scrambled egg. Some toast went down I think - much to his surprise! and he had a good suck on a fistful of egg. Couldn't be bothered with drink today as he had milk just before and I'm lazy .

Yesterday I went to pub for lunch with a friend (yay social life ) and the little darling tried to pull a 10oz ribeye steak off my plate! Cut him off a fistful and he gummed that and some chips, although didn't eat much. Never mind - it's fun just watching him!

On another note, do your DH/DPs understand BLW? I have told mine loads about it, and yet today he asked when we were going to give him another jar of baby food....?! Good to know he still listens to me!

Hello Jojay et al.

I started with strips of mango and avocado & halfs of banana and pear. He picked em up, examined them, put them in his mouth and turned up his nose and threw them away. No gumming. On the plus side I am going to go way over 5 a day because I ate all the scraps.

I know that this is perfectly normal but I always dream of having a baby gastronome I suppose I should give it time. I got some good pics.

Slipperiness is an issue - how do you deal with this? Especially in mangos. I tried leaving a bit of skin on but no joy.

Also, how much do you put in their hands or do you just leave them to pick things up?

We are having roasted veg & dhal tonight and we are also popping down the health shop for low-salt stuff.

Kirsty, my DH is really supportive - he hasn't gone crazy and read the book or anything but we have spent as much time discussing weaning as we discussed names and childbirth. He is a real foodie and adventurous eater but also had many dinnertime battles as a child that have scarred him (get out the violins!) and he was determined to do it differently so I am glad we discovered BLW.

Hello all- didn't get a chance to come on MN yesterday so just catching up now.

Really glad ds is all better Kirsty.

Hello Belle!

My Gill Rapley book came today (yay) haven't had a chance to read much but am planning to tonight once ds is in bed.

Ds didn't eat much yesterday, maybe because I repeated melon for breakfast and then broccoli for lunch? I also left dh some orange pepper to try with him for tea (went out ) but apparently he didn't seem that keen. Today he had some toast with sweet potatoe puree as a dip then we tried youghurt for lunch that didn't go down to well.

Evening all - we have definitely noticed a change in poos over the last few days. Been going nearly a month now and it suddenly seems as if he's eating as well as playing and throwing around. Had picnic in park today with friends and they were astonished at the way he just grabbed everything and stuffed it in.

DH is very supportive as he's a real foodie and he loves seeing his son tucking in with gusto.

Re slippery things - yes, I leave the skin on things like mango/pear and he just grabs and sucks.

And today we had a bit of success with water in his tommee tippee so I'm relieved about that.

Also today at tea time he started getting all fretful like he was hungry although he'd had milk an hour before and I think he might have wanted food as he calmed down once plonked in highchair. We are still on the same amount of milk feeds though so guess he's not eating enough to drop one yet.

Glad you decided not to leave CSWS as I remember you from antenatal thread and 5 months sleep hell thread!

Evening all - nice to see everyone here!

CSWS - I know it's early days really, just need to keep trying I guess I re-read some of the Gill Rapley book last night (sounds like she's making good money out of us lot ) and what he's doing is very normal, I'm just impatient!

Kirsty - Sounds like your DS is doing really well - lol at the steak! My DH took a while to get his head round it, and also asked things like 'when he he having his baby rice today?' but he's got the hang of it now and thinks it's great. Repetition is key.....

Belle - isn't that typical, a bit of an anti climax! I'm sure it's not uncommon though, he'll get the idea soon enough. It is difficult to know what to do with slippery things. Leaving skin can help, but I think it's something they have to learn. When DS had a bit of mango once that he was really struggling with, I did hold it for him for a bit and he held my hand and guided it into and out of his mouth, IYSWIM? Purists would probably say you're not meant to, but he was getting SO frustrated, nad most things I leave for him to pick up himself. I do hand him the odd thing, especially to get him started, but once he gets going I leave him to it.

Rachie - enjoy your bedtime reading!

Sydney - that's great with the water. I MUST make more of an effort to get going with this. I must, I must... The poos changing must be a good sign too, things are obviously going in, hurray!

DS2 hasn't been so keen today. I gave him toast for breakfast, which he didn't touch, but he was cranky anyway and tired (got up too early grrrrr). I gave him some of my cheese on toast for lunch which he held but didn't put in his mouth, followed by a strawberry which he did chew on for a bit. We had curry tonight so he didn't have tea with us, but I gave him some banana and some melon that he was quite keen on.

It's fine though, it's still early days and we're keeping it nice and relaxed. He'll eat when he's ready.

Hope it goes well for everyone tomorrow, nad enjoy reading those books

I like to get around a bit Sydney . How is your non-sleeper now? Mine is still rubbish, though marginally less rubbish than at 5 months!

Crinkle cutters ladies. You might like to invest (about £3) in one. Makes some foods a bit easier for them to grip. I still left mango until last week for him to try because of its slipperiness, but other things that have been a bit difficult to hold on to (eg beetroot) I've used the crinkle cutter on, and he has def found it easier to grip.

Dh gets blw, thankfully, but then it is his second time through it. He reads MN too though, so has prob learned a bit directly and a lot via me.

Don't worry about repetition rachie - it's a good thing at this point. I think ds probably thinks that carrots are a staple food by now! They just can't be relied upon to be hungry at the right time yet, and if they are tired then they are also less likely to eat IMO.

Today ds had pancakes for breakfast (we'd run out of blueberries!), baby gnocchi (as in small, not as in designed for babies!), carrots, peas and parsnips for lunch (we had nice trashy faggots too, but I was horrified at the salt levels in them, so couldn't offer more than a teaspoon of it to give him a taste), and a banana (I offer this still in the skin) and a bite or two of a fruited bun for tea (we were out so needed something handy and transportable).

Hey hey, can I join? And hello Chulita and Hanaflower

DS is only 23 weeks but we're gearing up for BLW by having him sit on my lap and squish my food about in his hands. He's gummed a few toast crumbs (homemade bread) and smushed some banana about but hasn't really eaten anything yet which is fine.

Have bought a mango which is going to take aeons to ripen so maybe he'll go for that next week.

Can't wait to get started for real, we're planning the six month birthday meal already!

Starting BLW in about 6 weeks so watching with interest

CSWS- I think you're right about tiredness. It's difficult to know when to feed ds as I don't do solids and bottles at the same time, tried and it doesn't work. I now offer him something everytime I eat but sometimes that doesn't time well with him being sleepy. At the moment it's hard to eat dinner together as dh doesn't get home until nearly 7 and by that time ds is winding down into bath and bedtime mode. I normally offer him something about 5ish but make sure I sit at the table and eat something too so he's not alone.

Looking forward to tomorrow as SIL and her dp are coming over for a roast so we can all eat together. Dh did make me laugh today though at Sainsburys. I picked up a chicken for 4 people and he said "that won't be enough if ds is eating"- high expectations that he will eat an adult size portion! It will be his first taste of meat so I'll be happy if he just licks it