some questions on BLW (some probably stupid...)

[KiwiPanda]

Hello! DD is 23 weeks and I'll be exclusively BF till 26 but want to get ready/ get my head round it!

1. What do I start with?? How long do I cook it??

1. There's a family history of allergies (DH is dairy intolerant and wheat gives him excema) DD already has excema. How slowly should I introduce stuff and what foodstuffs should I particularly look out for (obviously won't introduce dairy yet anyway)

1. We're going on holiday soon after this - what do I do without my kitchen?????

1. When is the best time during the day to start - we don't really have family meals as I grab breakfast and lunch during her nap times and we eat dinner after she's gone to sleep....

1. As an aside, why does everyone but me ( outside of mn) seem so desperate to start weaning early????)

Hi,

I did a mix of finger foods and purees so am not a purist but here are some suggestions.

First up - there's a book that's just come out which you might want to get if you want to prepare yourself beforehand. It's here

1. Start with anything that's suitable from your plate (you probably should try to stop eating meals separately, your baby needs to see you eating, it helps her to learn the skills and develops the sense of a shared meal as a social part of life). At first babies aren't very clever with their hands, so things that are shaped with a 'handle' are easier to manage - so chop your carrots/courgettes into batons rather than rounds, leave a long stem on broccoli/cauli, leave a bit of rind on slices of melon to help her grip, etc. Just use your common sense, gums can chew quite well but things do need to be reasonably soft for her to cope with. Toast fingers work well - better than bread which gets a bit claggy.

1. Someone will be along that knows more about allergies but it might be worth pointing out that some dairy might be fine and I wouldn't assume it will be harmful and avoid it without trying - try small pieces of cheese or yoghurt and then find out.

1. Order food that she will be able to deal with and give it to her off your plate. Buy bananas, rice cakes. It won't matter if you don't offer her a lot of food, for a while the breastfeeds will still be her biggest source of food.

1. I don't know about best, but I think it's probably easiest to start by having lunch together as you have a bit of time beforehand to prepare something suitable, and then add in breakfast. In our house DS always has his supper by himself as DP & I eat later once he's in bed, but I still have a small snack when he's eating - I found when I was BFing I needed something at that time anyway.

1. Lots of reasons: because they did it with their older child; because they think it might help their baby sleep; because it's the next developmental stage and they want to move on to it; because their baby has swiped some food and eaten it so they think they may as well start; because they've been told to wait but not why; because their health visitor hasn't had the latest training and says go ahead...

Thanks ladybee. Will try to eat more in front of her, it's always been a bit tricky because she's quite a high maintenance young lady and doesn't like me disappearing to the kitchen!

I also meant to ask - how "good" does she need to be at sitting up? She's fairly rubbish at it now, just slumps over or tries to straighten her back... We've got a Bumbo seat but unless you catch her in a good mood she doesn't like being in it and the longest she's ever sat in it is about 10 mind. But maybe this changes a lot over next few weeks / month?

She probably will get better at sitting quite quickly, once she's started and you give her plenty of opportunities to practice. But I think it is quite important that she sits reasonably well mainly as a safety thing - and as indicator of readiness as well.
Can you set up a highchair or her playgym/mat by the kitchen door (or in the kitchen)? I still find that DS (13months) likes to watch me and is reasonably happy to sit in his chair with some plastic bowls to bash while I get things ready.