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...........

dinky DD not bothered by mushrooms either. Something about their texture, I don't blame her as I'm not super keen either!

Her favourite food at the moment is this scrambled egg with tomato that DH makes her in the morning. She absolutely loves it. Mind you she didn't eat much of anything yesterday - I thought she was teething but she's fine today, no sign of any teeth yet...

I don't know if my ds2 has a favourite food He hasn't refused anything I don't think.
Right now they are having ham and asparagus with pasta for lunch and are both loving it.

BB has eaten raw courgette before; he grabbed a chunk out of my hand when I took it out of the freezer!

Current favourite food is corn on the cob...yes, still on the cob. It keeps him entertained for about half an hour

He now has three teeth with no sign of the fourth one yet. I thought they always came in pairs?!?

did you see this? webchat with gill rapley tomorrow at 8pm babyledweaning.com/forum/index.php here.

Hi all, I'm back

BLW on holiday was great fun, dd got to try lots of new things and show off her eating skills to lots of new people. Her favourite meal of the trip was mussels - she just couldn't get enough of them, tried distracting her with prawns and scallops but it was definitely the mussels she wanted. Obviously takes after her mother as they're my favourite too.

I'd always intended to train up my children to like foods that i didn't like so i didn't have to share, but it doesn't seem to be working out that way.

Morning all
Does anyone have any good ideas for breakfast? Think ds2 is getting bored of scrambled egg and toast! Don't really want to do anything too 'wet' iyswim

Porridge for breakfast today. But not much success eating from a loaded spoon - we buy the giant oats so it stays chunky and she managed a couple of fingers full.
lbl Try a fried beaten egg it comes out like an eggy pancake.

Ooh thanks Aitch I'll follow that. I have a few questions for her but not sure I'll post (and look like a fool...)

Welcome back greensnail - feels like you've been gone for ages! Nice hols?

DD isn't keen on egg in any form so her breakfast today was fruit toast, mini weetabix (sucked the remains off her bib so I think she enjoyed them), a plum and a pear. Then she shouted for a bit of my toast too.

We went walking in thr Dales yesterday. DD woke at 6am and DH got her up, gave her breakfast and then we left. I offered her milk (bf) before we left but she wasn't bothered. We did a couple of hours walking with dd in the sling and stopped for brunch at 11.30am so I offered again but she still wasn't interested but stuffed her face with tuna sandwiches and peach. She didn't have any milk until we left at 2.30pm. I have never been so uncomfortable! So my lesson is not to try and feed her somewhere food is served. I should have tried on a bench outside or something. Has anyone else noticed their dc taking less interest in milk if food is around?

Some friends visted on Saturday and dd showed off her avocado eating skills. They were so impressed (they don't have dc) and said BLW made total sense to them. It was very refreshing plus lovely to watch them be so entertained by dd's avocado covered chops!

So today, I think I might make some fruit toast seeing as dd and dh have a big thing about it at the moment.

I am still struggling to be inventive for lunch. I feel bad giving her a bread-y lunch after toast for breakfast.

I need to get thinking and make a little list. I am going food shopping later anyway so I might menu plan when dd naps shortly. I'll let you know if I come up with anything interesting (unlikely).

Hello everyone, I wonder if I could join in? DD is 6 months old this week and we started BLW a few days ago. It's going OK so far - big hits have been broccoli florets, roasted squash and sweet potato (with garlic as it was our dinner!), nectarine, pear and plum. Have also put down mushy porridge on her tray for her to pick up - boy what a lovely sticky mess that made, soooo cute. It's definitely going in - we have had real grown up poos and eveything (eek). Only real problem is that she gets very frustrated and grumbly at not being able to pick things up, especially when they are slippery like the nectarine. It's so tempting to try and help her - would this be such a terrible thing to do? Or should we just let her find her own way?

Welcome DrCosyTiger I think that's fine. Sometimes I'll hold a really slippy piece of fruit and dd will hold my hand and guide it towards her mouth. I think that counts! I don't put it in her mouth, just hold it up.

She's better with slippy stuff now though - digs her fingers in or puts it in her palm.

Are you enjoying it?

Veg Will give the egg pancake a go
Hulla I was the same about bread for lunch after toast for breakfast (especially because of the salt content), so I tend to give rice or pasta dishes for lunch. Today they are having ham and asparagus pasta with onion, garlic and lemon juice. It's left-overs from yesterdays lunch
They also like rice with raisins and some chicken.

What's fruit toast and how dod you do it?

Hi DrCosy I think it's fine to help them. It all depends on how strict you want to be about it. I spoon feed my ds2 yogurts. Helping them will do no harm if you think it's needed.
My ds2 is 7 months. He grabs massive handfulls of food, spreads it all over his face, I think, hoping some will find it's way into his mouth! lol Some things ae obviously trickier than others, but she'll et the hang of it too, practise, practise, practise

I was thinking as well for breakfast maybe making some muffins or something too?

Thanks Hulla, it does feel like i've been away for ages which is great, but it also felt really good to be back to just me and dd this morning, and back to our own little routines

She seems uninterested in milk if there's anything at all around at the moment - she so distractable and will quite happily go all day without milk if i let her, and then makes up for it at night, when there's no other distractions. I'm not at all impressed with these arrangements so have been trying to encourage daytime milk intake by any means possible. I'm going back to work in a couple of months and will be working nights, so definitely need her to ditch her nighttime milk habit.

littleboyblue DD will only eat egg as egg mayonaise sandwiches. Breakfast at the moment is usually cereal (either dry, or dunked in a little milk to soften it) fruit and a bit of toast.

Welcome DrCosyTiger Sounds like dd is doing great for a few days in. I used to help DD with slippery things - I would hold them and let her bring my hand to her mouth, or she would bring her mouth to my hand. She's 8 months now and won't let me help her with any food!

Grown up poos already DrCosy! You must be so proud! I'm excited to see the odd fig seed.

Hi again all and thanks for the advice!

Vege - the grown up poo was a very proud (and rather unexpected) moment! I think it came as a result of the porridge yesterday which was a huge (but very messy) success.

Hulla - I've surprised myself by how much I'm enjoying it. I'm a bit of a worrier and control freak and I thought I would be more stressed out than I am. It helps though that my LO is so obviously enjoying it. Seeing her yesterday giggling as she scooped up handfuls of blueberry porridge from her tray and tried to get them in her mouth was soooo sweet.

Today's delights were more porridge for breakfast and roasted aubergine and avacado for tea. She managed to pick up the aubergine herself but I helped her along with the avacado as it just kept sliding out of her hand.

Hello everyone, I've been following with interest over the past couple of nights and wonder if I can join in?

My baby girl is approaching 6 months but we have been trying out flavours in the morning and at tea. As I had been told that before 6 months babies are unable to move food from the front to the back of their mouths, I have been mushing food and spoon feeding. . I'm going to ask the health visitor to come now, (she wouldn't before as she said I had to wait till 6 months :-/) but would love to pick your brains on a few things if that's ok?

How do you start, is it as they recommend for mushing with root veg and fruits? How bigger bits do you give? After how long should food replace milk? I find now if she's had a couple of cubes of food with a couple of tsp of baby rice she won't have all of her bottle (I try her again after about half an hour, sometimes it works). She is also taking more milk in volume at night (she takes 3 - 4 ounces at day time feeds but has 5 at around 11pm and 3-4 am) which I hope will stop by Dec as I return to work mornings. Do babies that sleep thru have full bellies?

The reason I started was not because she's hu gry but because she was really interested in our food and couple times tried to get my fork from my plate, she also had a crust of toast once!

Welcome Nia. You might find the Gill Rapley book of interest, she explains baby-led weaning from a developmental angle which really makes sense. Although she does lead you (or me at least) to believe that your dd will be sitting down to exactly what you eat right from the start. I'm still mostly giving her separate food from us, anything that she can handle herself really. Yesterday long strips of roasted carrot and roasted potato - easy to hold, and a roasted tomato - not easy to grasp but fingers went in dd managed to get a face full (not a mouthful, just a face full!) I guess until she gets the hang of eating rather than playing I will be doing some separate stuff for her. I don't think it matters at all what you give but easier to hold stuff tends to be more successful.
I'm not sure about the milk thing as dd is not yet getting enough food in to impinge on her milk appetite so is breastfeeding as usual and we're really lucky as she sleeps from 6.30 to 6.30 without feeding, so I hope that stays that way.

Nia Hi
I started off spoon feeding my ds2 mush as weaning started at about 5 months.
He is now 7 months and eats exactly what we do. I cook a meal and split it 4 ways (me, dp, ds1 and ds2) He has had pork chops, stir-fry, shepherds pie, spag bol, meatballs, burgers, chicken, loads of stuff. I just putit down for him and let him get on with it.
If you want to cook seperately (I can't be bothered), roasting veg is a good way to really bring the flavours out. I do carrot, parsnip, potato, yellow pepper, and sweet potato, cut them into chip size sticks, stir 1tsp of dried cumin into 2/3tbsp of olive oil, brush oil over the veg and bake for 20-30mins.
You can freeze them too.

As for milk, my ds2 has 3 solid meals a day, plus snacks but also has 4 7oz bottles too. One in morning, one midmorning, one mid-afternoon, and one before bed and he sleeps through, but has done since 3 months.
Ds1 came off his milk very quickly and by 9 months was only having 1 7oz bottle a day because he just wasn't intersted in it.
I'd just take lead from your dd, she'll let you know what she wants

Weetabix is a hit with ds2, but not ds1, shock horror

When I give weetabix to a 7mo, does the milk still have to be formula or can I use full fat cows milk? I can't remember if it was after 6 months that you can use regular milk with food?

Thanks vegemite, I have ordered the book and will try some roasted veg tmrw. Tried banana today but too slippery to hold, she liked the idea tho so that's good news.
Thanks littleboy I have stopped being paranoid about what she's having and today we had much more success at meal times. I did breast feed so I understand that she'll tell me what she wants, I adopted the same attitude when we changed to formula so have adopted this attitude again. Mad how i get myself tied up in knots about feeding, she's always been okay ;0)
I'll keep you posted on our progress!

Welcome NiaElsie30 You might find your dd gets on better with banana if you leave some of the skin on - makes it much easier to hold. Just peel the top couple of inches of the banana and cut this skin off so it doesn't get in the way. She can then hold it and eat it like a banana lolly! I now have to peel bananas fully as dd gets too enthusiastic and eats the skin too, but we always half peeled them in the early days.

littleboyblue full fat cow's milk is fine with food from 6 months, just not as a drink until 12 months.

Nia I get myself in a flap about everything so you're not alone in the paranoid club . When people I know ask me stuff about their dc's it's so easy for me to tell them to just relax etc etc, but when it comes to your own, it's completely different isn't it?

Just to share, we had a great meal last night. We had turkey breasts in weetabix crumbs mixed with paprika and oregano (put them in a bag and crush) with paprika coated potato wedges (paprika, mixed herbs, garlic clove mixed in olive oil, chuck potatoes in to coat). Ds2 loved it!!!!! It was the longest time he has sat in the highchair to eat, and was that desperate for it, he even managed to figure out to just eat out of the dip in the bib

Greensnail Thanks for that re milk. I'll get some full fat milk today. I know it sounds silly, it's just that he has 4 milk feeds in 24hrs, so I put the other bottles away so will be easier washing and sterilising wise to use proper milk

Greensnail that's a great tip about the banana, will try that later today.

Also just wanted to report a success last night. MIL is staying with us, so was a bit nervous about the whole BLW thing but my Cosy Tiger Cub was ace. She picked up broccoli florets like a pro and scooped up a portion of our plum crumble with both hands. Breakfast less of a triumph as we're still struggling with slippery fruit but at least we showed it's not a completely ridiculous idea.

Hi all, been at work Monday and Tuesday - had to lie in until 9.30 this morning! It was my second week back so a bit of a shock to the system. Luckily BB was on my wavelength and quite happy to lounge in bed 'til then.

littleboyblue that's great about the chicken! BB will pick favourites out of the bib as well. There's very little dropped on the floor these days as most of it ends up on his lap.

cosytiger I used to hold pears for BB in the early days, but you will be amazed how quickly they get it. By 7 months he could hold mango etc. At around 7.5, I found out by accident that he had a pincer grip, opening up a whole new world of food possibilities - raisins, blueberries, cornflakes etc. Good news about your MIL, mine has been converted to the BLW way by watching him. She thought I was crazy at first and kept buying me jaras, doesn't bother now. And BB still loves broccoli!!!

Nia I have tried so many things to get my baby to sleep through and have concluded, in his case at least, that the sleep/food thing isn't that closely connected. For example, last night he slept until 4.30am, despite eating virtually no food during the day and having very little milk (I was at work). I've tried dream feeds, formula before bed, early weaning...nothing works. I now co-sleep when he wakes up, which is sometimes once a night and sometimes twice (he's breastfed). I figure he will sleep through in his own time.

Heeello

So... guess I belong here then! DD is 6 months this weekend and we started BLW on Monday. So far she's had, roasted peppers, aubergine, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, tofu, avocado, banana, prawn, strawberies, cheese sauce, mango, apple, figs and porridge pancakes.

And it's actually going suprisingly smoothly! Have been dreading it for a long time but now I think I was just being a big baby . Had our first gagging incident this evening when she decided to stuff her mouth so full of veg that I'm suprised she could breathe, but other than that she seems to be swallowing and chewing just fine!

Favourites so far have been the mango and aubergine I think, the only thing she didn't seem that keen on was the avocado for some reason.

How long do you think it is before you start to notice a difference re: milk feeds? May's a tiny but hungry baby, between the 9th and 25th centile, FF, but takes about 7-8 bottles a day! And still wakes up twice during the night- so desperately want someone to turn around and say I'll be getting 8 hours by 8 months lol

Hello all,

you I'm still waiting...my DD even smaller than yours (between 2nd and 9th, so yours sounds big to me!) and still loves her milk (is bf though so maybe also comfort thing). She's 9 months, eats loads and is yet to drop a feed and also feeds twice at night. Sob... So hopefully yours will not follow that example!
Definitely a sleep issue with her rather than food tho, at night that is.

Hope all's well with the BLW babes. Am in Germany wth no wifi and recovering from mastitis so not posting much at mo!