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 everyone,

Just thought I'd touch base and report progress in the CosyTiger household. We've been BLW for almost 2 weeks now. Roasted veg still a big hit (especially squash and sweet potato sticks), broccoli extremely popular and the banana with handle trick worked a treat. Morning porridge is also good (sometimes with pear or blueberry mixed in) - DH puts a few spoonfuls down on Cosy Tiger Cub's tray and she scoops it up with both hands and shovels it in. There have been a few hiccups - when DD is tired she is especially prone to frustration when she can't manage to pick things up, although I've become less BLW militant and more inclined to help her. And yesterday we had a celebration lunch out hoping DD might share our food. But it all went a bit pear shaped - the broccoli she managed to pick up had a dressing on it that she didn't like at all and the chips were too crunchy and she ended up yelling and we had to leave. Oh well. (The celebration was because DD has been in a restrictive body harness for a hip problem for 3 months and this week her hip had improved enough for it finally to be taken off - yeay!) I think overall though we've been quite lucky in how well DD's taken to BLW.

Bunny - I go back to work (PT, 3 days per week) in a week when DD is just over 6 months old. I am totally in denial as I can hardly bear to think about it. DD was soooo difficult for the first 12 weeks or so and it's really only now that I'm starting to love being with her, so it's a shame. But I am going to try and keep DD bf as much as possible. I thought I had no alternative but to give her formula in the day even on my days off but a series of threads from about a month ago convinced me I could bf on my days off and even express enough for her to be mainly bf when I'm working. For the last few weeks I've been expressing in the morning (when I have most milk) and building up a decent supply in the freezer - you mght want to try this if you still have a month to go. I'll also try and express while at work. I really don't think you have to worry too much about sterilising at this stage - just think about all the unclean stuff that go in their mouths from other sources!

Cara - so sorry to hear you're having problems with work. Really hope the stressful aspects improve.

Can I jump on this thread - I thought this would be the best place to ask this...

I have posted another thread in 'weaning' cos I'm being driven to distraction by DS (coming up to 8mo) who has gone on hunger strike. I did weaning the old fashioned pureed way, then lumps etc but it would appear to be going wrong. Can I start BLW if I've already gone down puree-avenue? Will it just totally confuse DS? I did offer DS a piece of cheese last night which he ate and then a small piece of wholemeal bread with philly which he sucked at - I was amazed at this as the only thing he'd had over the past week or so was milk!!

Hi backintraining

Sounds very much like your DS wants to be self-feeding, rather than being spoon-fed so yes, I would go down a more BLW route if I were you. I wouldn't worry about confusing him, wouldn't you be introducing finger foods soon anyway? You could continue offering his usual food, alongside some that he can feed himself if you like (although if he's refusing it altogether it might be less stressful just to forget spoonfeeding altogether).

Just offer him some of what the rest of the family is eating, and see how he gets on. Then hang around here and let us know how you're doing, because we're a nosy lot

We had lunch at the pub today, made the most of the warm weather by sitting in the garden. BabySnail sat on a blanket next to the table and we threw food off our plates to her. Was a little bit like feeding a dog rather than a baby, but she was very happy. She's very keen on eating grass and dried leaves at the moment, so I think she was glad to be so near to them, although disapointed to have every handful of grass intercepted before it got to her mouth.

HI
just started BLW at 24 weeks as mealtimes were becoming impossible due to DS holding his arms out frantically and struggling to get to food, crying if I started to eat around him etc. I had been determined to wait the 26 weeks as I feel quite odd about him moving on to something other than me BF, but here we are. Anyway, he's had some plum, apple, broccoli, babycorn and tonight butternut squash as we were having butternut squash risotto.

My query is with quantities-he can't seem to get enough. I've read the book and expected him to just play with his food for the first while as he has had a full BF before each time (only three times so far) he's had solids, but no, tonight it definitely went in, was crushed, "chewed" with his two little teeth and swallowed. The hard bits/skin were pushed/pulled back out. He had about 5 bits of squash and a little (about a teaspoon full in total) risotto off our finger (we presented the loaded finger to him and he frantically guided it to his mouth). He started crying and banging his hands on the tray of his high chair when the bits I'd prepared for him were gone and he had to be taken away crying, although he did calm down quickly.

I assume this means he was ready (yes?), but how much should I offer him at each mealtime? Should I have a pile of pre-prepared stuff just in case, as he will regulate his intake in much the same way as BF? If he takes a lot will this mean that his BF will start to reduce quickly?

Sorry if any/all of this seems a bit dumb...

Hi logrrl Yes, definitely sounds like he's ready Some babies do seem to take loads in the first couple of weeks while its all new and exciting and then it calms down again, so BF will not neccesarily reduce quickly. For us, we started a bit early and dd started eating decent amounts at about 24 weeks too. She quickly dropped one BF, then things stayed the same for quite some time. Recently she seems to have gone off milk completely and needs to be offered to get her to feed (she's nearly 9 months)

Yes, you should let him regulate his intake in the same way as with BF. Have a pile of food ready for him if he's finished all that you offered initially (or just give him a bit more off your plate)

Hello.
We've just started with the BLW, DD is 27 weeks. Today we had our first choking experience which was terrifying. Am I doing this wrong??

Basically I've been sitting her in her bumbo seat or on my lap and giving her food. So far she's had bread and butter/humous, lightly steamed baby corn and carrot, dried apricots, raw apple slices, mango, melon hose organix carrott sticks, and mini shredded wheat. I always hand it to her and she takes it from me with her hand and then puts it to her mouth somtimes she licks it a few times but sometimes she just drops it. But the last few days shes really seemed to get to grips with it and now bites bits off and tries to chew them (so far unsuccessfully) She has two teeth already and has had them for about a week and so the biting bits of is even easier for her!

Today at lunch I gave her some buttered bits of bread with humous on, a dried apricot and then she tried a piece of cheese. She was loving the bread and humous and was trying to chewing the bits in her mouth but then she choked. Two back slaps while she was sitting on my knee didn't work so I had to put her over my knee with her head towards the floor and then another back slap worked to clear it. She screamed for a while after and I felt awful. I'm now so worried she'll be put off feeding herself.

Should I not be giving her bread because it breaks up in her mouth. The only thing I can think to give her which wouldn't break up is raw carrot.

Any advice much appreciated.

thanks greensnail however, in keeping with his "demands" he had a BF about 7.30 am today and then refused any more before breakfast, when he had a whole banana, a plum and two slices of apple . He then had a BF about 12.30 and another at about 5.30pm, refusing any offers from me of more during the day. This doesn't seem enough!

Now I'm feeling very wobbly
-is he cutting breastfeeds this fast?
-should I stop being neuroticrelax and give him a chance to settle into this new way of things?

As an aside, he just played with courgette, broccoli and cheese at dinner (straight after his BF), as I think he was tired. If he makes up for all his missed milk tonight I'm going to be really demented!

GS that's a lovely image of a baby sitting on the floor eating! I did that with BB when we went to see my grandparents.

We had a lovely BLW experience today at a country fair. We shared a jacket with beans and cheese, him on my knee, and I fed him some from my plastic fork (for the sake of not ending up covered in food) and he picked chunks out as well. The dogs caught any scraps, before they hit the floor usually. So simple. He ate quite a lot of my lunch though! Our friends who are due in November were very impressed with the simplicity!

logrrl mine went through a phase where he ate loads at the start of BLW and seemed interested in everything food related, but it did drop off again. He dropped down on milk for a while but at around 7 months he went back up again. Try not to worry and to let him lead the way (hard I know!). At 9 months, BB will have days when he has loads of milk and days when he doesn't have much, particularly if we're out and about and there are more interesting things to do than feed. He does sometimes catchup at night (grrr) but this is lessening.

Dotty sorry to hear about your experience, that must've been terrifying. Be absolutely sure she's choking not gagging. My MIL, in the early days of BLW, would say 'he's choking' and be in a panic, but he was gagging and whatever it was would usually come out.

Dotty another thought, in the early days I used to give toast rather than bread as I figured it was easier to manage in the mouth.

Dotty How scary for you. As cara says, are you sure DD was actually choking and not just gagging. With real choking there is no noise - as no air is getting through, and obviously you need to intervene immediately as you did. Gagging is very normal, and part of the baby learning how to manage to move the food around and swallow it safely. It is actually a safety mechanism to prevent them from choking. If they are gagging, you should leave them alone to sort it out for themselves. DD still gags occasionally but is completely unbothered by it, and carries on with her food as though nothing has happenned.

logrrl wow that is a lot of food to be getting through so early on. It will probably slow down though. I hope he doesn't make up for the lack of milk tonight.

DD is still not taking any more milk, but her sleep seems to be improving, so fingers crossed that will carry on.

Hello,
We have started BLW about nearly 3 weeks ago, DS is 28 weeks today. He is definitely just playing with things so far, with only small amounts going in. He seemed to go through a phase of just getting frustrated very quickly, but has enjoyed himself a bit more the last couple of days.
He does seem to be struggling with his digestion again, and his sleeping is pretty dodgy (maybe related to the indigestion?). But I assume that's just the transition to solids, and would be the same whether we did BLW or purees!
We are trying to give him water in doidy cup and free flowing beaker (he has made his views on bottles with teats clear!). It's the water he seems keenest for at the mo.

Just wanted to join in, and will keep an eye out for your tips.

Oooo you've got me wondering now. There was noise in the form of choughing, she went bright red and her eyes watered. I wonder whether it was gagging now but I'm fairly certain it wasn't. I interpreted it as the same as when I've choked on something as I go red, my eyes water and I cough. I understand whatever it was was not completely blocking her airway but you can still aspirate on something small which can enter the airway causing you to cough to try and clear it I'm pressuming this is different to gagging. Should I not help her to clear it, as I did? I did what I did instinctively didn't think about it.

Anyway we've just tried toast this time with banana which was a hit until a similar thing happened but not as bad as she sorted it out herself but she was too upset to carry on.

Cricky this isn't easy!

Okay, update on the water situation. Think DS may be a lot less keen after today, when he must have taken too much in, coughed and it came out of his nose.

Also - TMI alert - I was surprised to see that Saturday's lunch is still coming out in his nappies today. Is that normal?

Hello all
Sorry for being so pants at following this thread. Busy busy busy here!
Feeding still going really well.
Ds2 stayed at my dad's over the weekend, so I packed up some frozen left-overs from past meals for him to have. My dad told me BLW was far too barbaric and I should feed him properly! arrrrggggghhhhhh
I told him that what is important is that this way works for me and most importantly for ds2.

I made chicken nuggets last night. Quite nice, but I was a bit lazy and gave ds2 a potato waffle
Not sure what's for dinner tonight, but today is meal plan day, so better get on with it!

Hello - I've been pretty rubbish at keeping up too. Combination of being away and DS deciding to give up sleeping - ever . But things seem to be back on track now so am just coming up for air!

BLW is going well though. I can't believe how much the boy can put away - he eats more breakfast than me! He's also so much better at spending time in his high chair.

Quick question - can anyone recommend one of those fabric travel high chairs that's good for BLW? I haven't done a great deal of research, but the ones I've seen online seem to be a bit restrictive for little arms. We're off to Portugal in a couple of weeks and want to take something, as nowhere we went in Italy seemed to have highchairs.

Hope all and babies are well.

hello all
Things are not going too well. I'm wondering if we are too early and to try again in a couple of weeks, but by then DS will be nearly 7 months. He is gagging on everything that goes into his mouth. In desperation I tried very mashed avocado and spoon fed it too him and this was all gagged up again.
This am it made him sick up some of the milk I'd just given him, so we are actually going backwards! He does get a bit upset after about 15 mins in his chair. I don't want to scare him off eating. What shall I do?
Even Gill Rapley doesn't seem so sure about preterm babies. Can anyone link to aitch's website?

bunny Sorry it's not going too well atm. How old is ds and how early was he?
Tbh, milk gives them their nutrition for the first 12 months, so I wouldn't worry too much about him not having as much solids as you think he should.
I started ds2 on purees, it wasn't going well, so I took a break from it for a few days and then went back, then did a bit of puree and finger food, then just dropped the purees as it was a PITA and ds didn't really like it.
Is there a food that he likes but doesn't gag on?
How many meals a day are you on?
I'd be tempted to drop down to one meal a day and stick to something you know he can manage just for the practise iyswim?
Obviously feel free to ignore as I'm no expert!

Hello all! Greetings from sunny Berlin. Hope everyone is good. I finally got round to putting some pictures of BabyPanda on my profile including one of her getting stuck into a dish of hummous (well, the dish, anyway..) if anyone fancies seeing a very messy baby...

Bunny as LLB says, milk is the main thing so don't worry about how much your DS is eating - gagging at first is totally normal stage, almost I'd say a good thing as he's clearly trying to work out how to swallow! Also, my DD used to get bored and irritable after 10 mins in high chair at first too, she's much better now that she can really get stuck in (she's 9 months BTW)

Sospan I have one that I bought from JojoMamanBebe but haven't to be honest used that much as most places here in Berlin have high chairs. Seems fine though!

Hello LBB and KP,
Thanks for the reassurance, I feel a lot better and will keep plodding on. I have been trying 3 meals a day, just giving him a bit of what I am eating ("meals" might mean just a bit of toast or a piece of fruit for breakfast and lunch) so it is not too much hassle. He had a good chew on a rice cake this afternoon (with a bit of help from me as is grip is not good yet either) but pulled a v. unhappy face when a bit stuck to his tongue! I think I would be unhappy with rice cakes though, they taste pretty boring.
Gave him a drink of water from a cup for the first time which seemed to go down well.
KP, love the photos of BP, she looks very cute.
LBB DS is 27 weeks old today and was just under 8 weeks early.
It wasn't so much that I was worried he wasn't getting nutrition, just that he seemed to be really unhappy with the process. As you say, I might just try 1 simple feed a day for now to avoid overloading him.

bunny what about spread an apple puree or something on the rice cake? Make it a bit more interesting?
I think it is just practise though, and am sure negative association doesn't kick in just yet so try not to worry too much about that either.

Sorry to gatecrash, but can I just say hi to those I don't know and, Wow! I'm amazed this thread is still going!

I started it months ago when I started BLWing DS2 and I've just seen it pop up in active convos now - yay!

For the record DS2 is now nearly 11 months and is the most brilliant eater. He's still not got any teeth but he happily chomps through practically anything.

He properly started eating, as opposed to experimenting / sucking / flinging on the floor, at about 8-9 months and he's never looked back

He's allergic to egg and raw tomatoes but apart from that I can genuinely say I've not come across anything he doesn't like.

So long live BLW!

Best of luck to everyone on here. Keep the faith in the scary early days and you won't regret it I'm sure

Hi Jojay! You're not gatecrashing - its your thread

Glad DS2 is doing well with the BLW, can't believe it must be almost 5 months since this thread started, where does the time go to?

Hey Greensnail - I remember you!!

How's your, er, lo doing

She's doing great
She'll be 9 months on thursday and eating loads, will try absolutely anything and everything. She learnt how to pick tomatoes off the plant and apples off the tree this week at my parents, so was very pleased with herself and I dread to think how many tomatoes were eaten, and what the effect is going to be on her nappies!

DS2 was helping himself to blackberries out of our hedge in the garden the other day - he was purple all over! And the nappies were interesting too