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...........

Snail Can your DD have a word with mine?? A couple of weeks ago she ate anything and everything - now suddenly particularly in the last week she has no interest in food. If I attempt to offer her a spoon she just hits it away, won't even taste it. I've offered her all of her favourite foods and she just rejects it all. Am a bit and [frustrated and stressed face]. Don't know what to do. She's BFing fine, especially in teh morning when she's having epic feeds.

Dunno what to do. Any ideas??

Kiwi - didn't you say she had a cold? Must be that, and she might have been feeling a bit off before the symptoms presented so that could explain the previous week's disinterest? DS was exactly the same up until a few days ago - was tempting him with all sorts of goodies but he wouldn't even taste them to see what sort of forbidden sugar they contained!

Does she like drinking water? The only thing that slightly helped when DS wasn't eating, was to give him water and ignore him for a few minutes and then he might take a few more mouthfuls. Easy for me to say now that I'm 'out the other side', but try not to worry, she'll eat when she needs to.

Well the good news here is that DS has started feeding himself again - yay! This morning I couldn't hand him the spoon fast enough so we had to have a 2 spoon relay going on!

Sospan Thanks that's cheered me up - that water trick does indeed sometimes work for us though only if we get her going to start with IYSWIM. It's funny though, she doesn't seem "ill" at all, quite cheerful (mostly) whereas usually when she is ill she's a big Grumpalot. Or a little Grumpalot. But I suppose if her head is full of snot she wouldn't want to eat. Might get one of those vaporiser things for nighttime, since DH managed to break the bottle of baby Olbas Oil all over the kitchen floor yesterday. On the plus side, the kitchen smells nice

Thanks for asking, Sospan, the first weekend was great, she's tucked into bananas, cheese, roasted pepper with ricotta (though peppers a bit slippery), breadsticks and hummus - fast becoming a fave I think, she's tried fruits, but the hard ones, apples etc she's not too bothered by, as with no teeth, and not very well-practiced gums yet, she doesn't get much from them. I'll stick to the soft and mushables for now. Pasta bolognese went down a treat at lunch today, too.

I'm still not sure if I'm supposed to offer her a drink with her meal though, so far she's been exclusively bf, and I'm not keen on expressing for the sake of it. When did water start to figure in the equation for you? Thing is, I'm loathe to risk anything lo-cal, as we've struggled with weight gain and she needs the energy right now.

Forgot my hummus recipe has heaps of lemon juice in, oops, poor thing got a little acidity rash on her chin. Do you ever get used to eating bland food with your LOs???

Apart from that, though, it seems such a stress-free way to introduce her to the world of food. The only downside is that she's generally asleep by the time DH is home and ready to cook/eat with us, so he's missing out on all the fun in the week. May have to review bedtimes etc.

Omg, Cara, your MIL really shouldn't be piling on that sort of pressure so early on. Things must have been very different when we were kids, but she has to realise that you and DH are the parents now, and she has to respect your judgement. Haven't had that prob myself, living in another continent, and I can't wait for my parents to come for M's 1st birthday and do some babysitting then

Jumeirah Sounds like a brilliant start! I would definitely offer water with each meal, you'll almost certainly find she just takes a sip or two if at all but it helps with digestion. I also find if DD is eating (when she's eating ) something "sticky" like hummous she wants more water to wash it down with. But it certainly doesn't affect her appetite for BFing at all.

KiwiPanda I definitely think our DD's could benefit from meeting up - I think there's a lot they could learn from each other Sorry she's off her food at the moment. Could she be teething? DD gets snotty but not generally unwell when teething. Might put her off eating if her mouth's sore though.

Jumeirah We started offering water with every meal very early on. To start with she was mostly playing with the cup and the water and drunk very little, but I think its a good idea to get them used to drinking for a cup. DD now always "asks" for a drink about half way through a mealalthough sometimes wants it sooner if she's eating something that's making her more thirsty.

We've done something a bit naughty and started offering DD a cup of cow's milk at tea time. She'd refused a bf mid afternoon yesterday, but drank the milk really well with her tea and seemed to really enjoy it. She'll be having cow's milk once she's a year old and will be staying with my parents one day and night a fortnight while I'm working, so I wanted to start introducing it as a drink now for the occasional drink so she gets used to it. Offered another cup of milk this evening, but she'd had a bf before tea, so didn't take so much of it. Feel a bit more reassured that she'll manage being away from my boobs for a while

Kiwipanda I think our LOs are going through the same thing. BB is weird with food still. Tonight's dinner was corn on the cob, cous cous (with fingers not a spoon, thank you very much), satsuma pieces and a whole prune! Ignored salmon and leftover cheese on toast (from lunch). I think he's getting most of his calories from milk as he seems to BF loads when I'm not at work.

My OH told me not to worry! That is a change as he used to be the one to worry about volume.

Jumeirah I agree with what others have said - BB stuck to BM for ages for his drinks, then gradually started drinking more water. I used to always forget to offer him a drink in the early days of blw.

Anyone seen Hulla online lately?

Thanks for all the supportive comments about BFing/MIL. To be honest, everyone else around me is supportive of me continuing to BF, which is good. MIL is generally happy to agree to my ways of doing things - I think she's just excited about the prospect of having BB overnight. I am also looking foward to a BB-free night, but don't feel ready to do it until he starts consistently sleeping through without needing a feed.

Hi all, hope everyone's well and the babies have stopped being so contrary! DD and DH have both come down with hand, foot and mouth disease. DD seems to be taking it better than DH though, poor DH can hardly eat anything his mouth is so sore.

cara - I'm sure i saw Hulla on another weaning thread recently, so she must be around somewhere!

Oh no Snail, hope MrSnail and BabySnail make a swift recovery! A friend's DD had that and it didn't last long so hope the same is true for you.

DD still being very odd with food. Won't let the spoon anywhere near her, even just passed to her and will only eat things she can pick up one by one. Peas, mainly. She has eaten a tonne of peas and sultanas in the last few days and precious little else. Peas I guess are good but sultanas come out looking pretty much exactly the same as they, err, went in, so I can't imagine there is much nutrition there??

Oh hello! Sorry I havent been back. This and a health one are my two regular threads and I haven't been on either for ages. I've had loads going on. I had an op and dd decided that during my recovery was the absolute best time to crawl properly for the first time so that wore me out.

Now she's standing using the furniture and trying to launch herself from sofa to sofa. I am grey! So I've been posting on the easy threads!

Don't be offended, will you? I've been as bad on FB!

Just posting this and then I'll read thread and post more...2 mins....

GreenSnail I am so sorry I missed your news! Huge congratulations - thats fantastic news! I have spent the last couple of days feeling really, really broody which is funny because I have all kinds of ishoos after dd's birth (but thats one for another thread). Hope you're feeling less tired and babysnail & dh have recovered - that sounds pretty nasty.

Cara (thank you for noticing I'd gone!) my MIL is exactly the same. We went to stay at the beginning of this month and she mentioned that now that dd has teeth I'll be wanting to wean her from the breast. Or once I go back to work I'll need to wean her from the breast. Or in order to stop her being a mummies girl I'll have to wean her from the breast. Its hard because she thinks bf is soley about feeding which its obviously not. I have decided to tell MIL that we plan to let dd self-wean. I know she'll think thats awful but I don't think she'll say anything - she'll just continue with the little snipey comments but I can live with that.

Does BB still feed at night Cara? I know what you mean about a night away. This is a bit embarrassing but dh and I have tickets to see Russell Howard in December but because dd still feeds at night I've had to book two hotel rooms; one for dh and I and one for my parents. We'll collect her when we get back and she'll sleep with us. Its costing me a fortune & the friends we're going with think we're crackers - dd will be 11 months .

Hey kiwi how's babypanda?

You've all put pics of your dc on! What a gorgeous bunch! I'll try and get one of dd on or temporarily link my BLW pics on FB.

So shall I mention weaning now? DD is a bit hit and miss this week. She polished off butternut squash risotto for dinner - she couldn't grab the spoon fast enough. I made sweetcorn pancakes today and she seemed happy with them so I made extra for tomorrow.

Has anyone started giving their dc's apple yet? I am going to make apple pancakes so that she can try it but I am a bit scared of giving it to her in slices etc.

JumeirahJane I offered a sippy cup of water with meals from fairly early on and dd (8.5 months) now happily sips water with her meals and has even stopped chucking it on the floor . She still gets wet but I suppose thats how she learns?

Ok, this is huge so I better just post.

Cara I was thinking about starting a support thread in breast & bottle feeding for bf 6-12 months. I think there is an ebf support thread and definately and extended feeders thread but I don't fit in anywhere there. I don't have huge questions worth starting threads of my own but I could still waffle about my bf issues.

If I start it will you join? I am scared I'll end up talking to myself

Er...went a bit overboard with the pics...

Hi all, welcome back Hulla. Hope you're recovering from your op ok. I will join your thread, although I suppose I should really join the pg and bfing one - wonder what MIL will make of that when I tell her I really need you to tell me how you got DD to stop chucking her cup on the floor - its driving me mad. She knows how to put food down nicely, but the cup always gets thrown and its driving me crazy!

KiwiPanda sorry DD's still being odd - maybe try beans for a bit of variety on the picking things up - or sweetcorn, although that also goes straight through.

We've had a good food day today, DD's gone a bit banana mad, has had 3 huge bananas today. Had lunch at the swimming pool and DD ate hers all up, there was hardly a crumb on the floor - I was so proud.

Oh apples Hulla - DD's been eating them for a while and manages fine. I slice them fairly thinly and watched her like a hawk the first few times. She seems to really enjoy them (maybe because I had major apple cravings when pg with her!) which is good as we have hundreds from my parents' garden to get through

DD is much better, thanks everyone for asking, DH is still feeling a bit rotten, but it always takes him a while to get over things as his health isn't great generally, so hopefully he'll start to feel better soon too.

Hulla I can't see your pics - is it my baby brain? where are they?

gs I added you all as mumsnet mates and made my pics visable to mn mates. Do you have to confirm?

Oh I had apples cravings, that bodes well! Will try dd tomorrow.

Will check my settings again....

bf thread I mentioned

I think I have worked out the pics problem - I think you need to login to "my mumsnet" (using your email not username.

Let me know if that still doesn't work & I'll link fb or something.

Apple pancakes this morning - yummy & easy. 50g self raising flour, 1 egg & an apple (peeled & chopped-ish). Throw it all in a food processor (apple, then egg, then flower), spoon into a hot pan, flip when the top bubbles. No sugar required!!

Hulla I want to see your photos but I can't! Do you need to add me as a friend to? Please do please do!
Am also going to check out and join your BF thread, really good idea.

DD still being really picky. It's actually really upsetting me because for 3 months she ate ANYTHING and in amazing quantites. And now for the last few weeks it's just been peas, sultanas and the odd bit of something else... I really really hope it's just a phase because I do worry about her. I guess it's an issue for your BF thread as much as anything, Hulla, ecause what worries me is that if she doesn't eat more she will NEVER drop any feeds and I will have to bring her to work with me full time and feed her uder the desk

I added you last night kiwi. I must be doing it wrong. I might post a question in geeky stuff.

How old is your dd kiwi? My dd has suddenly become really interested in milk in the day and is a bit less fussed on solids. I wonder if its partly teething and partly a growth spurt...it's hard to tell though isn't it.

Do you co-sleep? I know that dd catches up at night and I doubt she'd feed as much as she does if we didn't co-sleep. That's mainly why I don't mind how much she has in the day.

Got to dash. DD hysterical for some reason.

Hulla still can't see your pics, want to see your gorgeous little girl

KiwiPanda when are you back to work again? Its such a worry how they will cope away from the boobs isn't it? I keep thinking how much more laid back I would feel about it if I didn't have to go back to work next month. I'm sure your DD will start to eat more soon - its got to be a phase surely.

DD seems to be eating more here, which i think may be due to a drop in my milk supply. Went to see GP about my pregnancy today, all feels a bit more real now!

That's very exciting Greensnail! My niece changed her feeding habits quite dramatically when my sister was pregnant again (which as she was feeding every 2 hours at night, at 18 months was a very GOOD thing!) I'm not back at work until January so it's a long way off yet I guess, so I shouldn't worry too much.

Hulla No we don't co-sleep, DH is a very light sleeper and could never co-sleep with us three in a bed, so it was never really for us. The other night he had some weird dream and woke me up shaking me and pumelling me and the next day had NO idea what was going on. so a very good thing there was no baby in the bed too!!

Oh, and your apple pancakes sound lovely, am going to make them soon! For me, probably, as unless I stuff them with sultanas and peas DD will probably turn up her very cute little nose at them

I'm hoping her current feeding form is a combo of her age and development stage, and teething. She's learning so many things at the moment - she's suddenly waving all the time, is getting really steady on her feed and is now a seriously speedy crawler!

Ha, we have a waver here too, she'll wave at anyone and anything at the moment its so sweet

I'll change my settings tomorrow then. What a pain! I've been a bit secretive about MN since I found a friend posting on another baby site - pics, full names, work address - everything! It was very odd and graphic at times!! On my phone at minute, dd very unsettled tonight. I popped downstairs and came back to find her crying & crawling around the bed .

Greensnail a doctors appt is exciting! Does it feel like ages since you were there pg with dd? I am so broody. I've made an effort to shave my legs wear nightwear that says "take me now" and not "I'll be breastfeeding until dawn" and dh said told me to hold the thought until tomorrow, he's off to his mates to watch the football. Feel a bit silly now we've only attempted it twice since dd was born. So you see, not much chance of an accidental pg here!

Kiwi, the pancakes are good with a cup of tea (for you not dd). Dd had pasta with cheese sauce tonight. Carrots and green beans were ignored. I am a bit concerned about her veg intake actually.

Talking of cute things, a baby toddler over to my dd at baby group today and gave her a hug and a kiss! Then me! He couldn't leave my dd alone!

Hi
It's great to have some stuff to read! I have been at work all week, and last week as well, covering for my job share partner and doing a couple of hours work after BB has gone to bed as we are mega busy at work at the mo, grrrr

This forum gives me some downtime!

Hulla yes I'll join a 6-12 month BF forum. I'm having some interesting experiences with BF at the moment, as I am suddenly at work so much. Managed just two feeds (am and pm) on Monday and Tuesday as I was at work all day. And I didn't express until he'd gone to bed. (hate expressing at work) But today I was just in for the morning, and BB fed at 5am, 1pm, 4pm and 7.30. The boobs really do seem to respond to the situation.

Night feeds - helpfully, BB has pretty much stopped feeding at night since I've been back at work. He usually feeds around 5am, hen falls straight back to sleep. As do I. Does anyone else find BFing makes them sleepy?

Apples - I've given large chunks of apple to BB since he was about 8 months, with no issues. He nibbles at them!

GS how many weeks are you now? I kinda miss being pregnant! I guess you forget all the bad stuff.

lol at "I'll be breastfeeding until dawn"!!!! I am on my second lot of PJs since BB was born. I never bothered with them before, but I seem to have spent 5 months of the last 10 in PJs.

Cara I'm always told that BF makes you sleepy but never seems to work for me, alas! DD also has a feed around 5am like yours - but I always struggle to get back to sleep after.

Hulla Just made those pancakes - lovely!! DD ate some and is now rubbing the rest into the coffee table. Lovely... I did have to add a splash of milk though as it came out really thick - did you find that? I might try them with pear too as we've got tonnes of pears from our delivery box to eat.