BLW: Day 2...

[VerityClinch]

We started BLW yesterday, with our just-turned-six-month-old.

She's been a bit slow physically and can't sit unsupported yet - she just slumps to one side in her highchair and I am loathe to strap her in tightly in case she chokes and I can't get her out quickly enough - so I am feeding her on her boucy chair and sitting on the floor with her.

Anyway, yesterday, banana, which she (a) laughed hysterically at (b) chucked around a bit and (c) mashed into her trousers and a rice cake which she snapped into increasingly small pieces until I took it off her.

Today, another stab at a rice cake, this time spread with philidelphia (on the grounds that without, they just taste like packaging material and I wouldn't eat a plain one myself, so why should she?), some steamed carrot sticks, a toast crust and some chicken.

The only thing that has even gone near her mouth is the chicken, she had a bit of a cursory suck and then threw it away.

Is this usual/normal? I mean, I wasn't expecting her to wolf down an entire roast dinner or anything, first time around, but I can't help feeling a bit disappointed that my laundry load doubled and there isn't even a morsel of food in her digestive system to show for it.

Will try broccoli tomorrow since that seems to be popular. Any other suggestions?

Just give it time. We started at 27 weeks, and my DD picked things up, shoved them in her mouth and bit them, then went completely mental at the sensation of food staying in her mouth. Despite having read about it taking a while in Gill Rapley's book and from loads of people on Tinterweb, I still got pretty despondent over the next ten days, to the point where I made a couple of purees (which was not at all how I'd wanted to do things). My DD just point blank refused the purees.

I then decided I'd depressurise the whole thing and spent a week offering her food at times when she was well-rested, not hungry (had BF about an hour before), and in a good mood - basically dissociated food from mealtimes in order to set up some positive associations with food. We also did a fair bit of cheerleading whenever she bit into something, until she was smiling and laughing when food stayed in her mouth. It worked, and by the next week she was taking food 3 times a day at mealtimes. At 7.5 months something just clicked about food being good for hunger and she started properly devouring stuff (everyone comments on how much she eats). Good luck with it!

I see the probs verity. ALso thumbing the Rapley book.

Don't worry they do get after a while. My DD is 12 months and eats like a horse. She was prem and didn't sit up on her own until 8 months, so I used a bumbo seat with a tray which was great. Plain breadsticks were a firm favourite at first. So was curry (got a bit carried away, but it was homemade and she LOVED it!)

Good luck, BLW is a fantastic way to feed your baby (ooooh the mess!!!)

Day 3. Sunday lunch at the pub. Started with one of those Plum Baby biscuits (as lunch was taking a long time to arrive and mummy was bored). Gummed with much satisfaction and drooling until a bit broke off and she had a little gag/choke/I don't know the difference yet but she looked quite panicked until the offending bit popped out.

Then got stuck in to my roast beef, veggies, potatoes and yorkshire with gusto (gravy on the side as I would imagine that is WAY too salty for a baby?). Again, none of it went down, I don't think, but it did get spread a V-E-R-Y long way over her, me, the table and the floor. She was delighted with it, though, which I suppose is a good thing?

Out of pure curiosity I ate some carrot sticks 'with' DD. She picked one up, went to the mouth, and got a good chewing over but then lost interest by&large. Just 5 mo so not really pushing it but she is sitting up in her Bumbo and defo had a play with it.

Maybe if I focussed on fingerfood for myself I might loose the weight

Nice to think that you could all enjoy a meal out. What did the staff think

I was really keen to go down the BLW route after reading many positive things about it on MN & reading the Gill Rapley book. DH (and other relatives) weren't so convinced about it all and gave me that 'here she goes again' kind of look. However, managed to convince DH it was fine & no DD wouldn't choke etc etc.

So imagine how i felt when today she yet again choked on her food and DH had to grab her out of her chair & pat her on the back to dislodge the offending item! Yep, i got that 'i told you so' look from him & i felt like a right idiot .

She has managed to eat soft food such as mash spud, porridge etc & has even eaten some of my tuna sandwich that she grabbed from me. However, she has also choked on bread & today it was a rusk type biscuit. So i really can't imagine her being able to munch happily on steamed veg or similar without that also possibly choking her?

To be honest i'm scared by the whole BLW thing now & not really sure what to do. DD is 25 weeks & is def ready for food, showing all the usual signs, to the point of getting upset if i don't offer her something while we're eating.

Don't want to go down the puree route but don't know if there is a happy middle ground? Thought this would be easier second time round!

Was she def choking or was it gagging?. If there is noise, that's a good sign and you should leave her to bring the food up on her own. I was worried too so went on a safety course - they told me that the vast majority of serious choking incidents are from household things (esp coins) rather than food. Just going on the course made me feel better though.

DD still gags sometimes now, but usually because she's trying to swallow a moo-hassive piece of food.

Bread does sometimes cause problems because it gets soggy and sticks in their mouth, toast is much better at first. Also raw apple is often difficult to swallow at first, and we had problems with potato skin too. Don't want to put you off though, it has been fantastic and DD eats really really well. Christmas dinner was a joy as she happily sat in her highchair for the whole meal, and scoffed her own body weight in turkey

This is so useful to hear. I've just started trying a sort of BLW approach as I was doing purees for about three weeks, then DS suddenly won't let a spoon anywhere near his mouth despite loving it previously. I like the idea of BLW, so I thought I'd try that, but was also worried about choking/gagging and the fact that very little of it has gone in his mouth yet!

This morning DS had buttered toast, which was mainly pulled apart (although some made it into his mouth, which made him pull a very unhappy face) and banana pieces, which got mushed and thrown on the floor.

How big are the chunks or sticks when you start? Does it matter?

It doesn't really matter what size, but large sticks are easier for them to pick up at first. I think Gill Rapleys book recommends chip shapes. I found that as DD got older, if the pieces were too big she would tear them into smaller pieces herself, clever really!

It's helpful to have the sticks a good bit longer than their fist - at this age they can't really open their fist up to get at the food inside, so eat the stuff at the end. It's like the food has a built-in handle . So if you cut it too short, they can't actually get at it IYSWIM. We started off cutting things into sticks about 2 or 3 inches long.

I tried some pieces of banana (long thickish bits) this morning with DD sitting on my lap at breakfast. She had a good play/squelch/some gnawing. Very slippy though but defo making the trip to her mouth. She is just 5mo and sitting in Bumbo.

I figure having a play even if it is just before the '6mo' advice should be ok?

Is this what we're looking for in the first instance?

I'm so excited - DS seems to have become interested in food!
He has been refusing to open his mouth for a spoon for just over a week, so I decided not to even bother with purees for a few days. This morning I offered him toast (which got to his mouth, but was then ripped apart and thrown away), at lunchtime we tried a few slices of pear (don't think it was quite ripe enough, though) and then at tea time he spent quite a long time sucking/munching at some sticks of roasted pumpkin (cue me with pompoms dancing in the background). After that I broke out the petis filous (?) - mainly because I was looking forward to finishing it off - and he had a few spoonfuls of that too (granted this is not BLW, but neither is it in Annabel Karmel's book).

This stuff seems much more interesting than just cubes of (usually orange) mush. Roll on tomorrow foodtimes!

Hi Notso - yep dd was def choking. She was doing that horrible silent, wide eyed, mouth unhinged kind of thing that makes them us panic! Decided not to let it put me of though & she has since had some toast, fruit scone & even some rice & chilli! Think the chilli may have been slightly to spicy for her though - she didn't spit it out but did give me a funny look .

Spoke to my HV today about it - was plesantly surprised to get some positive feed back & real encouragement from her. Was expecting a bit of a lecture about not offering purees etc etc but she was lovely. She said i can offer her pretty much anything now so feel a bit more relaxed about it all now.

Also noticed today that DD has cut her first tooth (explains the excessive drooling!).

Scary about the choking, poor DD (and you!), but brilliant for sticking with it. My MIL thought I was some sort of mad hippy for not spoon feeding, but now she thinks its great too

Day whatever-we-are-on-now-maybe-five-or-six?

A big thumbs down to avocado. Likewise pasta. Picked it up (excellent pincer grip action) piece by piece and deposited on the floor. Looked very pleased with herself once she had cleared her tray and got VERY cross with me when I put some more on there.

Think she did swallow some banana at breakfast, because when she vommed her milk up about an hour and a half later, some banana seemed to come with it.

She had some babaganoush yesterday at the posh cafe (bad mum: I don't even know exactly what goes in babaganoush other than aubergine, but it is an organic cafe so I figured it would be ok) which got the thumbs up for spreadability and mushing into her (white - what was I thinking?) trousers but again I don't think she swallowed anything.

God, but this is a SLOW process, non?

And my mum thinks I am mental. She "gets" the "eats what we're eating" thing, but keeps offering to puree it for me...

Yes, you're definitely talking about weeks rather than days before you see lots of progress in properly eating, although there was a definite acceptance of the food about 2 weeks in. But it's better to know that beforehand rather than stressing about it, I think. Your mum will get there once she sees your DD chowing down! My mother was suprisingly supportive but obviously had some quiet concerns, and my MIL thought I was unhinged (as usual - she thinks I'm cracked because I BF ) but they both think it's fantastic now and spend every mealtime with my DD oohing and aaahing and laughing away about how clever she is (read - how clever they are for producing such a grandchild...)

handbags when my LO was first doing BLW I spent ages making sure I knew what to do if BB choked, then kept the early meals to lunchtimes when OH and wasn't around, so he wouldn't panic! MIL used to panic as well when he gagged so I kept him away from her too.....

Verity my LO wouldn't touch pasta for ages and I was very disapppointed as I love it. At about 11mo he got it, and now wolfs down loads of it. Except spaghetti, which is for flinging. I think he eventually realised that it's a case of 'pasta or starve' in this house, especially midweek

Also, my MIL gave BB jars on her days with him which he vey quickly learnt to reject! He did allow her to spoon feed him for a while, but now (12mo) insists on feeding himself, even weetabix. Once they get it, they like to be in charge!

I totally agree, Cara! I was a bit concerned about how our nursery would feel about it, but they've been really positive and every day someone comments on how much she's eaten and how independent she is. I worried that they would try and spoon feed her, and I think a girl covering from another room tried one day but DD grabbed the spoon out of her hand and showed her how it was done, so there's been no more of that

Hello! I too am 'day two' of BLW, and need some reassurance about the good old choking issue. DS was tucking into a rice cake with gusto, but did bite off quite a big bit, then proceeded to go watery-eyed, and gag quite a lot. The same thing happened with a piece of banana. My heart's in my mouth, as I try to remember my baby first aid course, and what to do if they choke.

I have the Gill Rapley bible, and keep rereading the bit about choking, but need further reassurance!

YAY! ACTUAL BITS OF CARROT in the nappy today.

And some other odd looking things which may or may not have been bits of broccoli and toast.

Her poo has suddenly got really, really grim, but I cannot help but be completely and utterly fascinated with it.

And there was me thinking sucking bogies out of her nose was as low as I was going to stoop...

I am trying to BLW my little one at the moment, have the Gill Rapley book.

I have found that my lo munched away on broccoli, not keen on carrots or potatoes. Tried Sweet potato sticks and roasted parsnips.
Quite likes pink salmon on sandwich fingers. Enjoys strawberries and last night sucked the strawberry until I was left with the stalk. I did hold this fruit concerned about choking.
She tried a bit of pineapple tonight (I had to hold it for her) sucked away on it, hasn't got teeth yet, waiting for them to pop out.

They mainly play with their food, she sat and played with a boiled egg tonight.
However, she surprised me with munching pieces of roast garlic chicken the other night and enjoyed sucking a piece of cheese and garlic bread. She obviously is going to enjoy garlic food !!!

BLW theory is for the babies to enjoy the food and playing is apparently the first thing that most babies will do. It isn't until 9 months that the babies will start to eat more food.

It is huge fun. Also gave a 'safe' chicken bone that was sucked to bits. Roast veggies rock.

I agree on the poo issue...as I have posted q's about it before. Let us just say courgette made it aaaall the waay.

verity you made me LOL

Saw you x posted on another thread verity. Sounds like things are going well. Just to say roasted courgette went down...and through a treat!

BLW here we go.