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 KiwiPanda - I wondered where you'd got to! Hope you're feeling better soon. A bit unfair to get mastitis when babyPanda's still feeding that much. I've had a few blocked ducts recently which I think have been caused by babySnail's reluctance to feed during the day. She's dropping feeds all over the place at the moment, then wanting to make up for it at night. I've managed to convince her to have 2 breastfeeds so far today, hopefully I can squeeze in another one before bedtime!

welcome you sounds like you're getting on great with the BLW. No advice about the sleep I'm afraid - dd was sleeping through at 6 months, but is now waking again!

you I think BB started to drop feeds around 7.5 months, but to be honest he sometimes goes back up again! He used to always wake twice (or more) at night for feeds, but in the last 3-4 weeks has begun to sleep through until about 4.30am (phew). Though not every night. He turns 9 months tomorrow.

kiwipanda sorry to hear about your mastitis When was your LO born? I think ours must be close together. Mine was the 18th Dec.

Hey all! Well, things much the same here. We have moved onto noodles, dried figs (very popular) and homemade fruit bread (lovely but pricey). LBB I bought the first loaf. Warburtons do a yummy one fruit loaf with orange. I spent £3 on dried fruit and it lasted for one loaf! I could buy cheaper bread in Harvey Nics!

GS DD is dropping feeds now too - yesterday she fed before she woke at 6.50am and then wasn't tempted again until the afternoon. I posted about it and Tiktok said to view it as a nursing strike but she made up for it last night so i'm not sure. She's definately less interested in milk and positively guzzled water from her sippy cup at lunch time (broccoli & cheese pasta).

Kiwi hope you're feeling better soon.

you welcome! Sounds like you're doing great already. Can I ask how you made porridge pancakes? DD doesn't really like sloppy porridge but pancake form may work. Read that aibu thread earlier. Thought your posts were really good and balanced. I'm far too scared to post on aibu! [coward]

Hi all
Meant to be doing some work but wasting time instead!!!

Hulla BB went through a phase of dropping daytime feeds and then feeding all night, but he's gone back onto daytime ones now. except when I'm at work that is!
What's aibu?

Hulla oh that's interesting that Tiktok said to view it as a nursing strike. Part of me is interested to see how long she would last if I didn't shove a boob in her face but I don't think i can cope with the resulting night at the moment. I managed to get 3 short feeds into her today, but she didn't ask for milk at all. On the other hand, its reassuring to know she'll be able to cope without milk for a while when I go back to work. The making up for it at night isn't going to work though - as I'll be working nights.

cara babySnail was born on christmas eve - so very close to yours too

greensnail I have thought the exact same thing - I am curious about how long she'd actually go but I don't want to test it. I offer before her meals & naps but she doesn't seem as interested - doesn't even want to feed to sleep anymore, she just snuggles into my arms and drifts off now. Such a change. I was planning to let dd self-wean but I hope this doesn't mean it'll be really soon.

I have heard that babies will adjust their feeding pattern for when you're around so babySnail may tip the balance of her milk feeds back the other way. When do you go back?

My boss has asked if I want to go to a conference next month but it would mean dh taking the day off to look after dd and even though I know now that she could last at least half the day without milk I don't want to try it yet. I'm ashamed to admit this but I couldn't tell work I was still bf. I felt as though they'd judge me.

Chicken casserole for dinner tonight. DD was completely uninterested and just ate bread dipped in the casserole. Loved yoghurt though - made "nom, nom" noises all the way through!

cara aibu= am I being unreasonable? Have you seen it? Terrifying Fascinating stuff! you didn't start the thread, just made some great points imo.

Cara does your ds have many day feeds now? How do you work bf & BLW now you're back at work?

hulla that all sounds so familiar. babySnail hasn't been feeding to sleep for a while and I really miss it. I was hoping to let her self-wean too. My mum told me my brother and I both self-weaned a few days before our 1st birthdays, but I was hoping we'd carry on longer than that.
Sorry you felt you couldn't tell work you're bf. This past month I've started to feel like people are judging me for still bfing. DD's a big girl and looks much older than she is and I've started feeling a little uncomfortable feeding in public. Its crazy that we should feel like that though, isn't it.
Back to work in november, although my mat leave finished next week, then i'll be on annual leave. Its all a bit scary, and I haven't really got my head around the fact I'll be going back to work yet.

BabySnail has taken to swinging all food around like a lasso before she eats it. Very funny to watch but can get very messy when she lets go!

Hi peeps, have found a sleep related thread which has given great advice, the usual of course that all babies are different and that they find their own way and will lead us. Am waiting the arrival of the BLW book as suggested so hope it comes by the weekend so i can try stuff and let you all know what happens! Have been far more relaxed and babe can obviously feel that as she is too. Catch up with you again soon!

Hi guys. All this bf'ing/blw'ing/back to work talk is making me queasy at the thought of it, I don't have to go back until March and am already feeling anxious. I'll read with interest how you get on and will be thinking of you. Have visions of DD still doing more smooshing than eating at that point - but am just about to head off to MIL's for the weekend and am anticipating some resistance to BLW so that could have something to do with my state of mind at the mo.
Have a great weekend everyone.

I'm sadly envious of the babes who won't feed to sleep - DD won't sleep without it and has so far today had 4 feeds as well as breakfast... Oh lord....

Am deeply in denial about going back to work in December...

Oh and DD is one day younger than yours, Cara, born 19th December!

yes, all this back to work talk is making me anxious too, and I'm lucky that i'll hardly be away from dd really during the day. I think i'll go back to burying my head in the sand (but would love to hear how its working out for you Cara)

4 feeds already? wow, i've managed about 2 mins of feeding after breakfast. Definitely think babyPanda and babySnail could do with learning some tricks from each other!

We had roasted aubergine again yesterday and pitta with tatziki which went down beautifuly and got everywhere. Hve some awesome photos already!

Kiwi ah well looks like I'm in it for the long haul then although the last 2 nights now she's only woken for one feed and up for the day at 6-7 which is a massive improvement on this time last week . I do think she still needs the milk though tbh, she drains the night bottles completely. I suspect she's trying to work her way up through the centiles still as she dropped 21% of BW going down to 0.2nd centile and seems to be slowly going up. Esp since I'm 5ft 10 and DH is very tall, I was expecting her to be a chinky monkey!

Have heard a lot of babies are doing what yours is though greensnails by sleeping through and then changing their minds. Fingers crossed for you it only lasts a little while. At least we haven't had a full night's sleep in 6 months (9 if you count the crippling hip pain and bladder the size of marble) so we don't miss it as much.

Hulla to make the porridge pancakes I put some oats in a bowl (about half a cm ish) then cover with water or milk, and blitz in the microwave for a min or so. You can then put that in the fridge and it makes one big pancake but I tend to mix it up again and puy three dollops on a plate then put back in for 20/30 seconds. I think I got the recipe from Aith's site actually. You can add raisins/ grated apple/ whatever to the mix but it does fall apart a bit easier so I added fruit puree this morning whih worked well. I'm trying to remember to do it the night before so it sets really pancakey but if not a 5 min stint in the freezer does it

Ah yes... that AIBU. Really should stay away from there really but I somehow get suckered in to the ff/bf threads, God knows why because they really get to me

Erm, chunky monkey that is, rather than the quite racist alternative

Hello all,
Back from our hols and our first week of BLW!
I'm very impressed by the list of foods babyyou has been eating. We have tried pear (which seemed to be favourite so far), apple, nectarine, banana, toast, carrot, green bean, cheese and ham. Not convinced much, except maybe some juice has gone down yet and no change in poo.
My main worry is that, whilst totally prepared and happy for not much eating to be going on yet, DS doesn't seem very happy about weaning. I have held e.g. a slice of pear to his lips and he sucks on it really enthusiatically but if I try to give it to him or leave it on his highchair tray he cries after a few minutes and seems frustrated. I was reading the other thread about this with interest.
I think if he was full term I would be more relaxed but I am worried he is just not quite ready developmentally but still needs the nutrition especially iron to start quite soon.

Hi bunnybunyip, how early was DS? My dd was born at 36 weeks, but soon got the hang on BLW. I think babyyou has been doing especially well for just starting BLW, most babies take a little longer to get going. If DS was very early and you're concerned then maybe you should discuss it with a doctor. Otherwise try to relax and trust that he will get the hang of it in his own time. Maybe you could give him vitamin drops if you're worried.

We had chicken risotto this evening, which went down extremely well. DD managed to make a huge mess even though she wasn't able to swing it around, but she ate masses. Then she said "mum" for the first time while I was cleaning her up - so proud

Hi all
Hulla that aibu forum has cheered me up tonight! I can see now that my floods of tears tonight over a work thing are completely normal...I never used to cry before I had a baby!

Work is fine, once I'm there, but the thought of it makes me stressed. Sundays are still a nightmare. I am clashing big time with my boss (I joined the school, worked 8 weeks and then went on mat leave so never really built up a working relationship with her). I literally have sleepless nights because of her. We fundamentally disagree on issues to do with teaching, and she is a micro manager. Apart from that, work is fine.

BFing-wise, it's been OKish! I only work two days a week and have been experimenting with expressing at different times. If I feed him first thing (6.30am) and then get home around 4.30, it's fine. Any later and I have to express at work or it's uncomfortable. When I'm not there, he has whatever expressed milk I've left, and then the rest is formula. They have been OK about me expressing, although it's made me late to meetings so I'm sure there will be comments soon (see my earlier note about my boss). I keep thinking that I should give him daytime bottles but I really don't want to, silly really.

Apologies for the length of the post. I have found it such a big change going back to work. I cried in the car on the way in the first day. But, despite that, once I'm at work I do feel happy to be 'back in the saddle'.

On a lighter note, it's lovely that our LOs are all close in age

And a lovely BLW day, involving lentil bolognese scooped up with intent concentration and the slurping of pancakes with various fillings.

Not at the same meal...

Just wanted to share a baby friendly hoummus recipe! DS tried a taste of a bought one and liked it but they're salty so I made this one which is made with milk instead of the usual oil and was very nice:

2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2tsp groud cumin
130g drained chickpeas (about half a tin)
60ml milk
1tsp tahini
2tsp finely chopped fresh corriander (didn't have any - fine without)

Blend all ingredients and serve with breadsticks. MMmmmmmmm

DS managed raisins this morning!! Yay pincer grip

Hi Cara, sorry you're clashing with your boss. I'll have a new boss when I get back so don't know how that will be, although because of my hours I won't really have to see her much, so I suppose I'm lucky (she seems very supportive, and has been great letting me have what hours I need anyway). Good to know how its working out for you, and glad you're enjoying the actual work anyway.

ooh, i'll try that houmous recipe. I usually just mush a tin of chickpeas in the food processer with some olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. If I do it your way, i'll be squeezing a bit more milk into DD which has to be a good thing at the moment!

It's quite yummy - I had it in a sandwich with some beansprouts (leftover from stirfry) and grated carrot! Mmmmmm

Hi Greensnail,
DS was 8 weeks early. We are giving him vitamin drops but I am a bit worried about iron. We are seeing his consultant again a week on monday so will ask about it then.
It is scary reading about going back to work, I have exactly a month to go now. I was thinking that actually expressing to give to DS, with all the sterilising etc will be too time consuming, but as I want to continue bf on my days off (am working 3 days a week), might try hand expressing to avoid engorgement and keep supply up, but do it into the sink (there is a private sink!). Sad to see all that lovely milk disappear down the plughole but I think the alternative would be to give formula feeds in the daytime everyday. Anyone tried this? Does it sound ridiculous?

Hi bunnybunyip In that case I would definitely ask the consultant, but try not to worry too much in the meantime - although there is not so much iron in breast milk, its in a form that is very well absorbed I believe so he's probably getting plenty there for the time being.
Also, DD managed surprisingly well with meat early on so it might be worth giving him some red meat for the iron to see how he gets on. Even if he's not swallowing it, he'll gets lots of nutrients from the juices while its mushing about his mouth! Beef stew is popular here - dd loves picking out the tender pieces of meat

Giving formula while you're at work doesn't sound crazy at all, but I'm not sure how much you need to worry about sterilising at this age if you want to express at work and keep this milk for him. Might be worth asking for advice on the feeding topic - there's lots of experts around!

bunny my BB is 9 months old and I express at work, and/or at home that evening, to relieve engorgement. I store what I express and he has it the next day, along with formula for the rest of his feeds when I'm at work. I work two days a week.

I don't sterlise the pump anymore, although I do take it apart and wash it by hand in hot, soapy water. The bottles go in the dishwasher.