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
Can I join you? DD is only 21 weeks and I did not BLW DS (28months) May be a little early too satrt but she has now started waking at 5am having slept through from 6 weeks.
How early did you start?
Also which high chairs are good? I have a stoke for DS but would like one with a tray.

Have read most of the thread- some great ideas so off to buy some melon, peaches and mango.

simmo we have this chair for DS which I think is ideal for BLW as he is sitting right up at the table with us, so no need for a tray as you can just put the food on the table if you like - I had a cheapy plastic BBQ tray which was really big which is perfect for putting lots of things on.

We have started breakfast now. DS is loving canteloupe melon and yoghurt - I guess we aren't purist BLW's as he likes the yoghurt from a spoon but he did put his hands in some today and eat it.

IMO if my DS wants me to feed him some from a spoon, or at times likes me to hold the finger food in front of him then that's what I will do as he is still deciding he wants it that way. I think he sometimes gets frustrated that he isn't more efficient with getting it in!

Lunch was pitta and houmus, cucumber sticks, carrot and asparagus.

Does anyone else's DC like putting stuff on the floor? Anything in DS's right hand gets chewed on and then carefully dropped on the floor next to him . Anything in his left hand gets held onto for dear life until I eventually remove it.

simmo sorry I forgot to say this is the chair we have

we have a fisher price booster seat for 26wk old DD. Our dining room is tiny so we just strap that to one of the chairs. It's very easy to clean and we take it with us when we visit the parents cos it folds up.
www.preciouslittleone.com/acatalog/FPBOOST.html We didn't buy it from there, someone gave it to us, and ours is a minging maroon/brown but it still does the job!!
feralgirl - please can I have your breadstick recipe?
DD's had porridge and banana for brekkie, had a good old whinge at lunch so had a biscuit and grated apple and looks like she might be hungry for tea too...where did this appetite suddenly come from?

Just marking my place - will be back later to catch up

Hi everyone - I've been away for the weekend staying with my Mum and enjoying the sunshine, but we're back now, so here goes.....

Well we fell off the wagon a bit too - mostly thanks to my Mum! I took DS1 to the park for a bit and left Ds2 with her. When I got back she said 'He was a bit cranky so I gave him one of Ds1's fruit purees' To be fair I hadn't really had the BLW conversation with her, so she wasn't trying to undermine me or anything.

Anyway, she said that he loved it, so the next day she gave him some porridge which he also wolfed down.

TBH I'm quite pleased. I fully support the principles of BLW and think it's great to get babies eating real food at the earliest opportunity, BUT I'm conscious that I return to work in a couple of months. DS2 won't take a bottle, (and short of starving him into submission, I've tried everything) so if his milk intake may not be great, I need him to eat!

I plan to continue offering finger food at every meal, but seeing as he seems to now enjoy spoon feeding, I may do a bit of this too.

I feel a bit of a traitor now.....

Jojay you aren't a traitor - just not a purist!! I am the same, DS has had melon and yoghurt for breakfast the last few days but I don't know how he was going to eat the yoghurt (as he's not interested in holding/eating from the spoon) so I spoon fed him it when he wanted it. As long as you are not shovelling it in and they actually want it then I think its fine!

Anyhoo - at least you aren't trying to poison your DS - I gave DS left over sunday roast, broccoli florets, strips of chicken and toast and I just took the chicken and broccoli straight from the fridge. That's how I would eat leftovers but I didn't even think that I should reheat it for a baby.

Still - he seemed to like it.

My DS loves porridge and also custard - although I usually offer him the loaded spoon, I admit sometimes I just pop a spoonful in there too - he loves it so much, and he gets frustrated at not being able to feed himself quickly enough. DOn't worry Jojay we all do it . I think as long as you follow his cues as to whether he wants it or not then you could still argue he is taking the lead....

I have found that DS loves coco pops stars and moons (courtesy of elder brother putting things on the tray when I'm not looking....

And he really loves sausages!

Glad I've been forgiven

We had a very messy breakfast time this morning - I gave him some baby porridge, some of which I fed him, and then he was grabbing the spoon so I gave him loaded spoons. At that point porridge was going all over the place, but he was very happy!

Have a good day everyone

And I forgot to say, Simmo - Ikea Antilop is the best highchair with a tray, IMHO - cheap and cheerful, comfortable, easy to clean and you won't feel bad about spending a fortune when you revert to your Tripp Trapp in a few months time

There are two things that impress me at the mo - 1. DD manages to poo out raisins 3 days after she's eaten them, 2. she fits a slice of apple and a toast soldier in her mouth at the same time.
Baby corn is brilliant for little fingers but I should probably give her something that'll actually fatten her up. Veggies are all very well but she's never going to gain weight on them!!
Anyone else find their DH has no patience when it comes to feeding/watching LO eat? Mine gets all frustrated at the mess

Hello everyone, glad to find some reassurance on this thread! My DS is 29 weeks now so we've been BLW for a few weeks... so far not a lot of action! He is interested in his tasty toys but apart from the odd bit of tomato in his nappies things are much the same!

He's not terribly dexterous (sp!) and just plays... food is fun until they're one apparently so it's my mantra! I know no one who has done this so people think I'm crackers! Actually everyone, HV included, found it quite strange that I waited til 26 weeks as well.

I don't really have any tips to share except DS finds mango very slippery too so I leave the skin on and take a couple of tiny bites out of it to give some indentations (mmm mango for me too!). And big bananas seemed too wide and heavy for him and our Tesco does these teeny weeny bananas ('bananitos' they are dinky) which he finds a lot easier at the moment. Plus they are sweeter so he likes them!

I'm going to look through my recipe books to see if I can find some low salt/sugar muffin type things to make for brekkie.

I must say I am eating a lot more healthily with this BLW lark!

Hello again . Hope people remember me - I've been awol for a week or so. Great to hear about all these noshing babies .

Agree with Jojay re the Ikea Antilop. Ours is really good for DD as she is very small and doesn't fit into most 'normal' high chairs.

DD has really come on with eating over the last few days and has started banging her high chair tray and shouting her head off for food. So cute!

This week she has had among other things: purple sproutung broccoli, asparagus, baby corn, carrot, houmous, much yoghurt, mash, baby biscuit, rice cake, toast, pitta bread, scrambled egg and a disappointingly large amount of my turkey salad sandwich this lunchtime (I had her sat on my knee and looked down to find her chewing the other side of my sandwich as I was eating it ).

She has also started reaching out towards anyone she sees eating and opening and closing her mouth hopefully. V cute when it's me and DH - slightly embarassing when its portly business man in motorway caff .

She has also put on half a pound in a week

Oops, sprouting obviously . I previewed and everything!

Hi everyone!

I weaned my two girls onto mush at 4 months as was the guidance in my area in those days, and my little boy has just turned 5 months. We were fully intending on waiting until 6 months, but he's huge, sits up unaided (in high chair or on the floor) and while we were on holiday this week, we had a couple of buffet meals. He nabbed a chunk of cantaloupe melon from my plate and sucked it like his life depended on it, and then gummed a peach slice to death. I'd class this as the baby taking the lead

So.. I'm very tentatively starting the path to BLW. I have to say the gagging thing is rather scary, but on the whole BLW seems so sensible.

I'm a big fan of following my own instincts (with appropriate research) as a parent and am trying to not get too tied up in the rights and wrongs of BLW. There do seem to be rather a lot of rules though. Like can I hold the chunk of melon for him to suck if I don't shove it in his mouth? He yelled when I took it away but it kept slipping out of his hand. And stupid question, but what's the problem with leftovers out of the fridge? Why do they need to be reheated? Is cold chicken dangerous for babies?

Glad to be joining you on this journey, I think!

Carmen I am also interested in the answers to your questions - sometimes my DS wants me to put food/hold food by his mouth so he can push my hand in - I don't know if this is "allowed". Although in the BLW book it says you can load spoons for them so surely this isn't dissimilar ? I have been giving DS cold leftovers from the fridge but am now reheating any meat - I think that's right??

DS had courgette, chips and chicken risotto for lunch today - all leftovers. This BLW stuff is so messy but cute!

I feed DD porridge cos she likes it but there's no way on God's green earth she'd ever get it in there herself. And today she'd so covered her carrot sticks in Philly that she threw a tantrum cos she couldn't pick them up so I held it in her mouth while she gnawed on it. The carrot sticks were cold leftovers from yesterday but she seemed to enjoy them...
I think if they want it and they eat it, it's BLW even if you're holding the spoon!!

I was worrying about holding food for them etc last week and it was pointed out to me that I am feeding my child and can therefore do what I/she wants!

I think that the main thing to avoid is popping pieces of food into their mouthes as they then don't have control over what they are eating and there is a higher choking risk. I often hold food, particularly fruit for DD as she gets very frustrated by the slipperyness of things and otherwise would be mostly eating toast and biscuits, which isn't the wide variety of foods I'm hoping she will embrace

mouthes? mouths!

Hello to all!

I don't know about the reheating meat thing, but I did give my DS some cold meat from the fridge last week (left over roast gammon) and he just licked it then ignored it. However, he was quite violently sick later in the day so I am wondering if it had anything to do with the meat? Anyhow, I am not going to give him cold leftover meat again just in case 'cos he got through 5 days' worth of clothes in that one afternoon!!

I have held some food for him when he can't get a good grip but I try to hold it with him as well, so he uses his hand to guide it to his mouth. Not sure how 'allowed' it is but he doesn't seem to care so neither will I!

Tonight he sucked garlic bread like his life depended on it. Spaphetti still confuses him as he wraps it around his fingers and then wonders where it has gone but he had a bit of the meat sauce.

MrsMotMot - great idea about the bananas, I will try that as my DS also finds them a bit too big.

Hi all and hi to new posters I've missed. We're back off hols and it's really reassuring reading your posts. Still blw but ds still isn't eating loads. Have to say it was very easy to feed him/include him in meals on hol. He's sucked tonnes of aubergene, tasted a chip or two and loved breadsticks with tatziki (sorry prob misspelt). I'm just a bit concerned that now a month into it he's still not really eating lots. However we have had good days, yesterday he actually chewed on some roast chicken for ages, the first time he's happily accepted meat. I'm hoping that now we are home we can get into more a feeding routine.

Went to clinic today and he's put on weight but it's slowing. HV explained this is normal because he's so active now, rolling, sitting, doing some wierd attempt at starting to crawl. I talked to her about food and she said to offer a spoon at points. So tonight we gave him stir fry veg and pork, sucked and mostly played with and then a yogurt on a spoon which he ate a lot of. He would only eat it if he could hold the spoon so I guess it's still blw in a sense. HV also said that I'd have to drop a milk feed at some point so that he would eat more food. Does this sound right? I assumed that he would drop a milk feed when he is ready. Am reluctant to drop one for him. It's all a bit confusing but am sticking with blw as he enjoys feeding himself so much and am hoping that like the case studies in the Rapley book at some point he'll just start eating it all...

Hello BLW-ers new and old. Still following thread with interest (and for food ideas - DS is sometimes a bit sick of rice cakes and yoghurt).

Rachie - I thought/hoped they dropped a milk feed of their own volition? My monkey would be very vocal about no milk (mind you he is still on every 1 1/2 - 2 hours at 28 weeks ) but it's up to you. I think he sometimes wants more feeds to quench his thirst now he's eating. I give him a loaded spoon too! Did you go to Greece - I am looking forward to going to Sicily shortly and introducing him to proper Italian food.

Anyway, he had his first ice cream today - my SIL asked if she could give him a bit from her dessert and I thought it wasn't worth the debate for a tiny little spoonful - he liked the spoon more than anything...he had some brocolli later so I'm not a complete terrible mother

Broccoli

Belle I AM a complete terrible mother, allowing DS to eat some of my berry pavlova and baked cheesecake today . It was only a TINY bit - but now I am worried that tomorrow he will refuse all good foods. He literally screams if I eat and don't let him have any. On the other hand, rather than ordering the rather delish sounding fish and chips for lunch I had the chicken breast with bean casoulet so he could eat some if he wanted.

Oh dear - I let DD have a couple of chips from my F&C . No salt on them though so not all bad [hopeful emoticon]. They were home made jackety ones as well!