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...........

bunny my little one does those unhappy faces and can get really frustrated. He also likes the cup of water at the end, and seems to do much better with the doidy cup than the one with the lid and spout - bizarrely less mess! I wrote a very similar post to yours last week in another thread, as I thought BLW just wasn't working.

I'm just trying one meal a day - I do try to give him a "proper" meal by which I mean three different things to try, so maybe rice-cake, roast parsnips and some pear.

But yesterday I just gave him a bit of my lunch (a ready meal , but I checked it was okay for him to have), some roast parsnips and some cucumber sticks and that seemed to work much better with me properly eating at the same time - I hadn't really done that before, just nibbled on some of what he was having to give him the idea.

Rice cakes went down much better this week when I spread some fruit spread on it. Those St Dalfour ones have no added sugar, and taste better than regular jam imho. He loved it, and Granny enjoyed watching him!

If it helps, DS seems to have got on best with carrot sticks (microwaved), roast parsnips, avocado pear (not too ripe), cooked chicken, breadsticks, toast fingers and the ricecake with spread on. He enjoys strawberries and tomatoes (in quarters), but the acid seemed to give him a rash round his mouth.

Hello all.
My ds2 has been on 'proper' meals for a while now. He has a pretty big appetite and can really pack his food away! The boys (7mo and 2yrs) are having tuna pasta with peas and sweetcorn now for lunch and I'm cooking chick pea, cauliflower and courgette curry for their dinner tonight.
Our local children's centre do a play session on wednesdays from 3:30-5pm where we all take our dc's dinner in (or snacks, whatever) and they eat there all together. So am going to make the curry now and just warm it up later.

Good tip for when cooking a family meal......We all eat together as much as possible here, so when I start cooking dinner, I put 4 plates in the freezer. When dinner's ready, I put my dc's dinner on 2 of the frozen plates and put the other 2 plates on top. By the time ds1 has washed his hands, the food is nice and cool for them while mine and dp's is still nice and hot.
Just thought I'd share that

Great to read everyones tips, I will definately try some puree or spread on the rice cake. A cheese straw was picked up and put in mouth today and sucked for a while, so there is slow progress!

Kiwi - thanks for the tip re travel high chairs. A friend has lent me that very one so I will give it a go and report back.

Bunny - any more progress?

LLB - will try your freezer-plates tip tonight!

Hi all
This week has been all about the curry! He loves it.

On a less positive note, I am stressing that BB doesn't move around enough....
I know I shouldn't compare him to others but it's hard. He just sits! No crawling, walking or bum shuffling. Put him on his front and he just lies there helpless and cries. grrr.....

Hello all,
Still not much progress; DS can suck things when I hold them to his mouth, and can hold things when I pass them to him, but can't actually pick food up off his tray or put them in his mouth whilst holding them. So true BLW is still a bit of a far off dream for us. He did enjoy sucking on some asparagus today though. And there was some skin (?pear) that emerged in his nappy, so something has gone in at some point.
Cara, I know what you mean about how hard it is not to compare development. Everyone does say the best time is when they are sitting but before they are moving though so maybe best to make the most of it!

Cara BabySnail is only just trying to crawl, but still seems happiest sat on her bum! I'm just making the most of it - life will be much busier once she's moving i'm sure!

We're in teething misery here, poor DD. Can see her top front teeth about to break through her gums. DD very unhappy and has cut right back on food and is bfing like a newborn again. Part of me's feeling pleased that she's feeding more though - i was missing it a bit

bunny remind me how old your LO is? In the early days, i used to hold things for BB to suck (pears were a favourite then) and then we progressed to handing him things. You will be amazed at how they progress within a month or two.

Whenever I go all comparing crazy, I just say to myself 'he can chew and he can pick up raisins'!! Then I don't feel so worried.

GS that's exciting about the teeth! But yes, it is horrible when they're in pain. With BB's first lot, he wouldn't sleep before midnight for a week, would only have BM and no food and would only sleep in our bed. He then when back to normal as soon as it cut through.

Cara one has broken through this evening, and she immediately started grinding it against her bottom teeth. I had to leave the room as I can't stand that noise so I hope she won't make a habit of it.

BabySnail's other achievement of the day is that she's worked out how to pull her bibs off. Luckily the clothes she was wearing were already stained

Hiya lovely mums, BLW book arrived and is facinating! I roasted root veg in chip form and babe kinda gets the Idea tho more than anything likes squashing the chips in her fingers which is great fun. Yesterday I did a bit of a mix of lumpy avocado n pear purée and roasted parsnip n carrot chips so we used a bowl n spoon too. She really enjoyed getting handfuls of lumps, some went near her mouth but not much, however she managed to use the spoon, which i help her load up! Really great fun for us both which is what it is all about! I'm gonna eat with her tonight, hubby not in til after she's in bed. He's gonna try to eat with her at breakfast. So far so good!

Hello weaners!
I've been lurking, but expect I'll soon lose my shyness as I get down and messy with the veg sticks and hummus with you all. DD turns 6 months in 7 days and seems to show all the right signs - suddenly has got the hang of sitting upright, and has lost the tongue thrust all within the last few days.

A question to those seasoned blwers. We eat alot of rice, usually plain, or pilau style, but always with identifiable individual grains - how to offer this safely to DD? DO the grains pose a choking hazard and initially best avoided along with nuts?

Any tips most welcome, thx in advance, and see you around

Welcome JumeirahJane I wouldn't worry about the rice being a choking hazard. DD manages it fine, had some this evening. She may find it quite difficult to pick up initially, but she'll soon learn how to do it I'm sure. DD scoops up rice and shovels it in!

JumeirahJane Hiya
I agree with greensnail rice should be fine. My ds2 eats loads of it. When I use flavoured rice, like pilau, I often mix in some natural greek-style yoghurt which calms the spice down a bit but also clumps the rice up iyswim. But he mostly eats rice with curry of chilli so I just mx it all in together.

JumeirahJane hi, don't be shy about posting - I post all sorts of rants as you will see.....
I like rice too but BB didn't 'get' rice until about 8 months, when he worked out how to scoop it up. Now he loves it. I just use normal basmati rice. I wouldn't worry about choking with rice as it's so small.

Anyone else having poo issues? BB is only going about every 5 days and really upsets himself. He'll have a poo day where he does about 4 in one day. He seems to hate pooing and cries throughout the entire process! MIL has a legs/tummy rubbing method and I sometimes sit him on a potty to help.

Sorry to anyone eating their dinner

Hello all,
I spoke to the consultant about our problems with gagging etc yesterday and she said maybe its a bit too early and to leave solids off for a month or so and try again (she said wait until he was picking things up off our plates). He is 6.5 months old, which was why I was getting impatient to start, but only 5 months "corrected" age (for prematurity). I am quite happy to give it a break now she has reassured me it is OK. No need to give iron apparently.
So I may leave you to it for a while on this thread and look forward to joining you again in a few weeks! Have fun!

hi bunnybunyip
that sounds like good advice from the consultant - nice to hear she's not saying to shove puree down his throat! Must be a relief to know its all ok.

No doubt i'll still be hanging around this thread when he's ready to get munching, so i'll look forward to hearing how you're getting on.

What age do you think I get chucked out of here?

bunny that sounds good. Pleased you've had your mind put at ease over it.

greensnail I was wondering the same? What age do we stop calling it weaning?

Hello all! Back from a month away and feeling a bit to be home alone again . Well, obviously with DD, who is currently causing havoc and destruction by climbing on everything in sight. Hmmm.

Greensnail I think we'll still be here in about 18 years, proudly posting about how our little ones have made their own supper! Not microwaved! We'll call it student-led weaning.

Lol KiwiPanda I think you may be right. Welcome back Have to admit I'm a little jealous of climbing babyPanda. BabySnail has only just worked out she can get across the room if she rolls more than once - I seem to remember your DD has been doing that for months!

Well yes, she's a hyperactive little thing, but believe me, I'm seriously envious of anyone whose baby will stay where they are put for longer than 2 seconds. DD HAS to be constantly on the move and that includes not being in the pushchair unless it's moving. She also still won't sit. She can, but just doesn't see the point!

hmm, does sound exhausting. Ok I take it back. Do you tie her up so you can get on MN in peace?

I'm working on the baby straitjacket...

She stands up holding onto the coffee table and attempts to bash the keys of my laptop when I'm on MN. I think she's trying to type "don't believe anything my mum says! I'm an angel really! Look at me? Do I look like I could be trouble?"

I put a picture of her on my profile by the way. Have you got one of BabySnail? I want to see!

aww, she's lovely. will try to put a photo on later. bfing at the moment, so not enough hands for anything complex!

photos on my profile - including some BLW action

Aw bless!! That middle pic is great, she looks very cheeky!