life too hectic for BLW but purees being rejected

[yentil]

who successfully weaned a baby with puree?

BLW sounds fantastic but to be honest i am barely having meals myself much less peparing them for baby to 'join in'. I am really busy and a working mum and not really having a healthy diet at the mo (i will work on that later).

However.....DD won't take spoon feeding so feel in a catch 22. i really want to persevere though. anyone been through anything similar. she is drinking 34oz of formula a day should i try to cut back on that and offer food before bottle??

really scared of her losing weight now.

I would really appreciate any advice

Yes, how old is she?

I weaned DD at six months by which point she was quite adept with her hands so after the first couple of weeks of baby rice/pear puree spooning we moved quite quickly to introducing finger food as well.

I never considered that I did BLW as such but rather a mix of spoon feeding and self feeding. I think it's possible to overthink BLW, just going with trying out new (age appropriate) foods regardless of how they get into the baby - or don't! - is much less stessful IMO.

yentil, have answered on the other thread

BTW she is 28 weeks

thought it might be useful if i wrote down our 'routine'...any comments appreciated.

between 6-7am 5-6oz
9ish nap (i have been trying to give before or after ready brek after nap with success till last few days??)
11 5-6oz
12-1.30 sleep
2-3 5-6oz
5ish puree - rejected
6-7 5-6oz
bed
wakes anytime between 9 and 11 5oz
sleep
1-2am 3-5oz
been waking 5am ish but i refuse to feed till at least 6 but sometimes crack.

having said all this today its all gone to pot because last night she wouldnt settle all evening but her gums look white so maybe teeth coming through

she was EBF till 22 weeks

We're blw and I see feeding as an activity in itself. Have you considered asking your child carer to do it - I am assuming you have childcare as you say you are a working mum?

If you are short on time to prep food then buy good ready food i.e from healthfood shops or Innocent ranges, Food Doctor range etc. Or try minimal prep food such as pittas, hummus, cucumber, cherry toms, malt loaf, good fish fingers, ready cooked chickens etc.

My other blessing is the layered steamer. Chuck in salmon/chicken at the bottom, then veg in each layer as appropriate ( can be ready cut veg) Switch on, leave to do other stuff that needs doing and dinner is ready less than 10 mins later.

I was paranoid about introducing food for littleun as she was quite hit and miss as to whether she would take a milk feed sometimes. The important thing is don't try to give them food when they want, and need the milk. Try to get them to eat when they are not hungry. Remember blw means they actually eat very little at the start. Most of it gets chewed and spat out or dropped.
It is about exploration for them at the start so it will be a while before you see the milk intake drop but they will reduce what they take on their own.

It is easy to get yourself uptight about what food they are actualy 'eating' but as long as you offer a range of food they will sort it all out themselves - there were times when I despaired at her not actually seeming to eat any food but rather playing with it..........

Blw does need time, littleun can take 30-45 mins to eat dinner and 20 mins for lunch. The clearing up after takes a bit of time too but invest in splatter mats and its much easier.

Sorry if I'm babbling on....

I think the idea behind BLW is that they can take a bit of time to learn about food while still getting all their calories from milk. DS is 7 months and I'm not doing the 'joining in with family meals' thing at all, just one session of about half an hour where he plays with food - when he's not tired or hungry. He's just got the hang of eating it after 2 or 3 weeks. First thing he really took to was cucumber sticks, and he also likes steamed courgettes, dried apricots boiled up to rehydrate them (but you can buy 'soft' ones in a packet). Also baby teething biscuits. Just discovered sweet potato roasted in 10 min in the oven. So not a huge range at the moment, mainly soft veg which is holdable (banana too difficult). All quite easy though! Asking your child carer sounds like it might be a good idea, daytime may be better than early evening for not being tired.