can i please have some suggestions for blw foods???

[knicknack]

Ds2 is going to be 6 months this week and i have tried for a week and a half now down the pureed route but he's just not enjoying it so thought i'd try blw instead. Only problem is i don't know what foods are ok for this and how to go about it really? Thankyou for any suggestions

Pretty much anything after 6 months, with no added salt or sugar. You'll find loads of ideas on other threads here. My ds loves roasted vegetables, toast with cream cheese or mashed banana, home made fish cakes (tried for the first time today and wolfed!) cauliflower cheese, bananas, pears (I peel the top so he can hold the less slippy bottom bit).

Good luck and have fun!

Have a look here, loads of good advice, recipes and tips DS started off with sticks of fruit and veg, steamed or roasted if they were hard (apple, broccoli, sweet potato, squash etc.), raw if soft (papaya, melon, ripe pears). Watch out for things like large sections of fruit skin as well as the more obvious choking hazards - DS definitely had trouble managing big bits of plum skin in the early days.

Enjoy!

thankyou that's the thing i'm worried about - choking. But with the pureed stuff he only wants it if he can attempt to feed himself so i know he's going to LOVE the blw! anyway we will start with that tomorrow and it sounds as though he can just have bits of the main meal which is great

It is a bit scary initially, as there is often gagging BUT this is not the same as choking - gagging occurs as part of the new experience of learning to move food around the mouth. I seem to remember reading in the Gill Rapley book that at 6 months the gag reflex is somewhat further forward in the mouth, so it's more easily triggered which apparently helps the baby learn to manage food in the mouth safely.

It's probably a good idea to try and take a paediatric first aid course or familiarise yourself with the procedure for dealing with choking, just in case. The Gill Rapley book is a good read, btw, she covers it all in good detail and I found it reassuring.

I found that one of the reassuring things with BLW is that you give them a milk feed first, so you don't have to worry if they don't actually eat much (as opposed to smearing it all over everywhere) at first. You just get into the fun of it all and exploring new tastes and textures.

My DD likes apricot halves, asparagus spears, strips of lamb and slices of avocado (with the skin on). Also toast strips smeared with cream cheese or hummous. And she LOVES cucumber sticks. We are beginners this week though, hence the basic "easily-held" nature of these foods compared to everyone else's suggestions!

re. the choking thing, pleeease make sure you know what to do if it happens before you start. It's really unlikely, gagging common, reflex further forward on tongue and all the rest BUT it can happen. My ds is BLW (for most stuff, I confess I spoonfeed porridge and yoghurt, sorry to purists) and we love it but we did have a choking incident with a bit of broccoli stalk which hadn't been cooked enough and luckily I knew what to do so no harm done and baby continued to self-feed completely unphased by the experience. If you can't get to a first-aid class at least have a look here.

I found the Gill Rapley book really useful not so much for meal ideas but for an idea of what foods could be risky and also for the fabulous table which shows what nutrients are in all the various food types (ds won't eat much meat and this has allowed me to convince dp and other interested parties that he gets enough iron).

As for actual meal ideas, which is what you were really after...the first month or so it's tricky as there are only so many foods you can present in finger shapes! After that, and especially once they get their pincer grip you really can give them just what you are having - just don't use salt. My 8.5mo ds had porridge with prune for breakfast, pasta twirls with broccoli chopped in half with a fork for lunch and will have roast veg and cous cous for tea. It remains to be seen how he'll manage the cous cous as it's the first time.

Better go as he's waking. Good luck and have fun. Get a splash mat it's messy as hell!

Yes to splash mats We bought three cheap fleece throws from Ikea after seeing it mentioned by another BLWer - cloth goes under high chair, gets covered in food, has food shaken off into the bin and then goes in washing machine with whatever else is in there. They dry really fast and only cost a couple of quid each. Also good for picnic-style eating on the floor, which my LO loved.

Hi knicknack - can I join you on starting BLW? Be nice to share ideas/experience - DS is 6 mo on the 15th nd so far enjoying sitting with his 2 sibs in his trip trapp waving a few carrot and banana sticks around and looking puzzled if they go near his mouth! I have the Gill Ripley book. My other 2 children had purees so this is new!!

DD and I begin BLW this week - we'd love to join you in the journey Knicknack & CoonRapids.

DD was eating tuna and noodles within a few months of starting BLW. Risotto, omlette, breadsticks, sandwich batons, cheese.

Whatever you are eating really (within reason). It's good fun, and if you have the Gill Rapely BLW book my DD is in their, on - IIRC - the 6th page of the photos at 9 months, eating bolognaise

Hi Sigur! Bumperlicious, just checked - your dd is gorgeous. How cool to be in the book...

Thanks My DH takes fab pictures too.

My bfing counsellor knows GR. We did some photos for a local BLW leaflet through the bfing group and she mention GR was looking for some photos.

BLW rocks, it just takes some time to get used to as it is very different to pureeing with different expectations. But either way remember 'Food is fun until they're one'.

we have just started BLW this week too - will be good to share the adventure! I did mostly purees to start with with my ds (who is now 3) but it was such a faff i figure BLW can only be easier.. although dd really hasn't eaten hardly anything that i have put in front of her this week, i am reassured by the fab Gill Rapley book that this isn't much to worry about..
thanks for the choking link undressedfordinner - this has worried me a bit so i will look at it closely.

Looking forward to hearing how you others get on too

Hello fellow BLW beginners

So far have tried banana (nice and squidgy to hold - then a bit of a wtf face when it went in his mouth), carrot (first time too small and soft so broke up, second time a good size but not cooked enough I think), broccoli and baby sweetcorn (fascinating to handle). The only thing that went in his mouth for more than a moment was a bit of bread which he looked pleased about for a second before it turned to mush and he gagged it all back out again.

Am I right in thinking it takes ages before they actually swallow anything?

ChocolateMoose, have started a thread asking exactly the same question and the answer seems to be yes & no. From the responses I've had, some babies seem to take to BLW really, really quickly (food to mouth & swallowing straight away) and others take literally months to get the hand of it.

DD is 6.5 months and very like your DS - fascinated by the textures, but showing no real interest in actually eating. When something does (accidentally) go in her mouth she chews for ages, gags and spits it back out.

Have now done some more research and I think we just have to keep going

Pasta with bolognese
Grated cheese
Cooked broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potato, mashed potato, green beans
Variety of fresh or tinned fruit, e.g. strawberries, kiwi, peach, orange, grated apple, pear, banana
Tuna fish (in spring water not brine as less salt)
Small pieces of fish fingers
Eggs (scrambled, boiled, omelette)
Chopped ham
Risotto

Hi all

Am in the first time BLW boat too. Have been giving my 26 wo DD puree's for the last couple of weeks which has been really successful but I'm keen to try BLW as I love the idea of DD eating the same as us and she definitely seems open to new tastes. However, DH is really worried by the idea and is convinced she'll choke if we offer bits of meat or veg. Can anyone advise how big a bit of chicken or ham should be?