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...........

Rachie - we're having the same problem with timings of meals - he's often asleep when
DS1 and I have lunch, and though we all have supper together at about 6, sometimes he's too tired by then to get into it. He's also in awe of DS1, so if he's at the table he tends to gawp at him rather than try to eat. We do all have breakfast together, but he's never that interested in the mornings for some reason.

Like you, I end up offering him bits whenever we have a quiet moment, rather than at set mealtimes. He does sit up with up for meals too, but if he's cranky he usually ends up on my knee while I eat mine with one hand!

I think with BLW, especially at this stage, there's no limit to how many times a day they get offered food, and it doesn't have to be a 'meal' - just one piece of fruit to play with for a bit is fine. That's my strategy anyway

He had some banana and pear for breakfast today. He had a quick chew on both but as suual, wasn't that keen first thing in the morning.

Hope everyone has a good day today

Welcome to Feralgirl and lowrib BTW

Glad it's not just us Jojay! I think you're right about keep offering food throughout the day. I didn't read much more of the BLW book last night because I wanted to watch The Lost Boys (love that film- reminds me of being young).

Ds has had pear for breakfast- it was really ripe so he was able to suck off quite a few chunks. I think, although I don't want to speak too soon, he was doing chewing actions

Hello to all!

Well, we had roast dinner tonight and he has gummed / gagged on : gammon, green bean, sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli and parsnip!

We also all had a picnic in the back garden for lunch and he made a right mess of some cheese and a rice cake.

Not sure but I think some of it actually went down - esp the broccoli! (Cue much checking of poo for the next few days!! ).

He is so cute concentrating on the food - he takes so much care picking it up with one hand, then passing it to the other and then his mouth.

I have just finished the book and it is really good - makes it so clear what you can do and can't do, and the reasons etc. Our first son is such a fussy eater I am determined to avoid that this time round!!

Hi Kirsty- so glad ds enjoyed his food today, so did mine. He had roast chicken, parsnip, green beans, carrot, roast potato. Like you I'm not sure what went in but he is def doing chewing motions. I felt so proud of him

That's great Kirsty - sounds like he's really getting into it

We had a bit of a rubbish day today - he seemed to be asleep at all our mealtimes, and lunch was a bit of a non event for us today anyway, so he had a bit of banana for breafast, and a strawberry and some melon at lunchtime ish, then a rice cake in the garden at tea time which he didn't touch, and that was it.

We're at home more tomorrow, so I'll do some steamed veg again, and some pitta with philly I think - that went down well the other day.

I'm wondering whether he should have vitamin drops. He's fully breastfed and realistically is having next to nothing in the way of food at the moment. My DoH weaning leaflet says breastfed babies over 6 months should have them, and I saw a thing on the news about babies getting rickets - eek!

But it's weird, I know plenty of people who breastfed, but I don't know anyone who gave vitamin drops, and no HV has ever mentioned it either.

Anyone know anything about them?

Jojay - I am asking my HV on Tues re: vitamin drops.

Kirsty - glad to hear everything is going well! Your DS sounds very adventurous.

DS had sardine on pittas for lunch with halves of boiled egg - and some banana. The floor looked like an explosion in a food factory afterwards.

He watched me chewing with interest and seems to be trying to copy me. He also likes his spoons and sucked a bit of dhal off them.

His favourite thing seems to be sucking cigar shaped pieces (like asparagus, broccoli handles) for ages and then trying to stuff more food in. I am not sure when / whether to intervene or to leave him to work it out himself.

I am a bit nervous about tomorrow when my DH will be at work. Mainly because I can't work out the straps on the highchair on my own...

Quick question: Weetabix Oatibix? DD had a good slobber on one yesterday and then popped the whole thing in her mouth She was completely unfazed but I was slightly panicky watching her have a good old suck. I might have got a little over-protective and helped her spit it out I'm half-sure she'd have been fine but it's just a pretty big thing to have in such a little mouth...
We were away over the weekend and at the B&B they set up the high chair with a selection of jars and I got out yesterday's carrot sticks and pepper. She loves carrot!!
FIL asked me yesterday if she was fully weaned yet she's 23.5 weeks!!!!!!
Hello feralgirl

Mornin' all!

Feel a bit silly 'cos I have just done a little dance around the room - his nappy had MASSES of broccoli, parsnip and what I think might be sweet potato!!

Only problem with this BLW malarky is that as we use cloth nappies there are some very interesting things going in the washing machine.....

Here's to lunch!

No nappy action yet but he's an irregular kind of guy.

However, first mealtime without DH was very nerve wracking. DS kept swallowing great chunks of toasted pitta, going about his business and then coughing them up with great drama. I thwacked (gently) his back once - more for my benefit than his TBH. He seemed to handle it OK and kept wanting more when I was hoping he'd say 'enough' so I could get my blood pressure down to its usual heights.

Maybe I focus on the choking fear too much. He dealt with the lumps and seemed to really love the eating and also took a few sips from his doidy. However I think weekday lunchtimes will be mostly softer fruits and veg for the time being.

Evening all - well we had a better day today.

Ds2 had pitta with philly for breakfast and got very into it - it was covered in philly at the end and how much went in is anyone's guess but he had a lovely time!

Lunch was pitta again ( must get more imaginative....) but some with hummous and some dipped into tomato soup. Both went down well, but the soup ones were really good as the pitta went kind of soggy so he had a good suck on them.

Tea was steamed veg - sweet potato, carrot, sweet peppers - and a couple of chips. He had a good go at everything, but we'll have to wait for the nappy to see what went in! i then spoon fed him a fromage frais, against the rules I know but I don't mind him having the odd bit of spoon feeding.

Day 10 and still no luck getting him to take a bottle A friend came round today and she had a go, but she had no success either.

Hope you all had good days

I'm all up for a bit of spoon feeding. DD holds the spoon and pokes herself in the eye most of the time but she enjoys herself and that's the point right? DD had porridge for tea cos our gas was turned off so the carrotsticks were ruled out. I don't like microwaved carrots so I didn't want to try them on her and peas are a little beyond her I reckon. Pittas are a good idea, waiting til she's a bit older before giving her too much bread but in another 3wks or so I'll be going down the pitta/hummous route!

Morning all- ds had cheese yesterday and really liked it. I'm still not convinced he's eating much but he's enjoying trying.

Am horrified by salt levels in food. I know I should have been before the birth of ds but I never really paid much attention My bread has 0.48g salt per slice, this seems huge for one bit of bread! Like Jojay says I'm not too worried as ds doesn't really eat much yet but am going to do careful shopping from now on.

Hana- would you mind sharing your houmous recipe? I love it and was going to try ds on it but am now thinking the shop brought will be too salty.

I've just done my Tesco order and the Weight Watchers pitta bread seems to be a lot lower in salt than some of the others so I've bought that instead.

I made bread at home in the breadmaker and add just half a teaspoon to a large loaf so I don't think it's too bad.

It's a minefield though, isn't it?

Thanks for the lo-salt tip Jojay - would welcome more...Biona do salt free rice and corn cakes.

Had an eventful morning - spectacular poo just before lunch, absolutely FOUL smelling and full of bits. We both needed to change. I am going to miss those sweet BF poos - I know they are not exactly Jo Malone but at least they didn't make me gag.

Yoghurt (greek full fat - I have followed the petit filous thread with interest) and banana for lunch. Went everywhere. I let him feed himself with the spoon. However my friend brought her traditionally weaned baby over and I was so envious of the neat little puree scooped in the mouth. The puree itself (an organic shop one, really weird ingredients like blackcurrant and sweet potato) looked revolting - not something I would eat.

At the clinic we had the TALK because DS has 'dropped' a centile range - he's actually about 100g under his usual line and I am not worried at all. Neither is the HV but she still had to go through all the questions for protocol. I didn't mention BLW but just told her what he'd had and she was fine and made some more suggestions.

I asked if he needed vitamin drops and she said "do you think he needs vitamin drops?" - she's one of those. Basically as long as you're breastfeeding and he's weaning and not on a restricted diet she said he would be getting all he needs. HTH

Useful to know about the vitamins, I was going to ask my hv abut that next week, than ks Belle .

Today he's not had so much, think he was a bit hungry when I had lunch so that didn't help.

He did make a mess with some broccoli and toast, so we'll have to wait and see whether any went in. (Odd mixture I know but not much food in the house!). I also gave him a handful of the highly nutritious and not at all salty pot noodle I was having, although I don't think he did anything with it other than decorate the table!

Bit odd today, he really wanted his banana on a spoon - he keeps trying to take my cutlery - and so I mashed it slightly and put it on the spoon, which I then gave to him. He managed amazingly well, mainly getting it in his mouth and then sucking the banana off. I wasn't expecting that!

Thanks Hana- I'm going to have a go at making it. Spent ages looking at bread today and the salt content, managed to find some with substantially lower salt- it was co-op's own.

Ds had breadsticks and sweet potato & carrot dip for lunch (formerly known as puree- I'm trying to use them up after going all Annabel Karmel at the start and filling the freezer with ice cubes of food ), he also ate a bit of toast for breakfast and sucked a cornflake. No real change to the nappies yet, I've seen a few tiny weeny lumps so he must be getting something in him.

Belle- sorry to hear ds has dropped slightly but as you say it's nothing to worry about, there have been a few weeks when my ds has done the same. We're off to clinic on thurs so it will be interesting to see what he weighs.

I have a question re: Doidy cups - how do you actually train them to use them? My idea would be:

1. Put a v small amount of water in them.
2. Drink a bit myself to demonstrate how it's used.
3. Put it to his mouth so he can take a sip.
4. Allow him to try and pick it up himself.
5. Walk across room and pick up Doidy from wherever he's flung it. Pick up cloth to mop up water on the way.

Repeat steps 1-5 at every meal until he is at university drinking it himself.

Any advice would help - I am too shy to start a separate thread

Hi everyone

Sorry about his weight Belle - I'm sure it's only a temporary blip though. 100g isn't loads is it.

The change in poos is a good sign that food is going in though. My ds's poos are still very much milk poos, with bits in
I still get excited when he does a poo, and have a good peer at the contents,

I bought some vitamin drops the other day but I've forgotton to give them to him so far Must get a grip...

He did really well today. He had toast fingers with hummous or philly this morning - the waft of garlic across the breakfast table was a bit much for me, but he seemed to enjoy it.

We had MIL and her friend over for lunch, and he took centre stage demolishing pittas dipped in tomato soup, and sticks of cucumber. They were both really positive about him feeding himself ( I didn't call it BLW) nad he had a lovely time.

Steamed veggies for dinner went down well too - he's been really keen the last couple of days.

Must go now, DH says supper is ready

With DD and her Doidy we're taking it very slowly cos I have no idea how you're actually supposed to do it. she grabs one side and slobbers all over the rim but hasn't got the hang of tipping it yet. I tend to hold the other handle and tip a bit down her face, I'm hoping she'll learn that she can actually get stuff out of it at some point. When I just let her hold it she just chews it upright and then drops it.
Tried broccoli for the first time tonight and she really enjoyed sucking all the little leaves off and then spent about 30mins spitting them out. I swear she'd stored the whole lot up in those massive cheeks! Don't think anything went down but we'll see tomorrow!

Gah, internet has been broken for days!

CSWS - my rubbish sleeper got better... but then he got bad again. And so I stopped bf - had kind of planned to as was supposed to go back to work a couple of weeks ago (but postponed it til aug) and I really really hate to say it but now he's on bottles the sleep is a LOT better. I guess that's because he doesn't need to spend the nights building my supply. He's not great but he's better than he was. I like my sleep but I do miss the bf...and I have to worry about water intake too!

I do have real crises of confidence from time to time about BLW - does anyone else? He woke 3/4 times last night and I found myself thinking that he needed more solids although I kind of know that's not the case. Does anyone else feel like that? Especially days when all they seem to do is play with food?

Nice to have so many people now too! Today we have had a smorgasbord of stuff - pear and raspberries and avocado v popular.

Saltwise - I'm trying not to get too worked up about it. I mean, he's not eating A LOT of anything yet..