***Just about to start Baby-led Weaning*** Join Me to share experiences !!

[FluffyFrog]

I have a 20 week old and am planning on starting BLW around the end of May ish. Have been reading the Gill Rapley Book but would be great to get some ideas from others and share a few experiences. We will probably start in the next 4-6 weeks. Is there anyone else around starting at the same time that wants to join me on this thread ?

Yes, sounds like a great start MFM. We use a doidy and DD loves it. She does drink from it but it mostly ends up down her chin tbh. She will take a bottle but last time I left her she wasn't so keen so DH tried some ebm in the doidy. She wasn't happy with that either as she is only used to water from it but your DS might be different.

We use rice cakes as an alternative to bread. I will have the same topping but just in bread. As crikey says though, if you make your own bread [bows down in awe emoticon] there shouldn't be any issue with salt.

DD loved this at the weekend. She is really enjoying her food at the mo - today she has scoffed pancakes with blueberries and plums, mackeral & philly on rice cakes, a kiwi fruit, an aprioct, roast chicken with root veg and chickpeas and pruney yoghurt .

She is working hard on her pincer grip and her bottom teeth have started to come through so there will be no stopping her soon.

Hi, not posted on here for a while as I was visiting my parents...

Similar to others recently I've also had the frustration of everyone preaching about weaning and telling me I'm wrong. I seemed to spend the whole visit and every meal time defending BLW luckily DD is a show off and loves playing up to an audience and helpfully shovelled everything away put in front of her

Now I'm back home, I'm struggling to get back into a routine. Despite DD eating lots she doesn't seem to want to reduce her milk feeds so as Angeldog said what with naps, feeds, meals and cleaning up associated mess, I don't seem to be able to find the time to do anything else!

DD is now 7 months and her coordination and pincer grip are improving daily. One thing we have started to have a problem with is food sticking to the top of her mouth - we can now tell when she has food stuck there as first she starts rocking then rubs her nose furiously and then grabs for her sippy cup. No amount of water seems to help and I usually have to poke the offending lump out whilst Dd tries out her new bottom teeth on my finger!

Any ideas on how to stop this? Chicken seems to be a particular problem... DP has had great fun suggesting my food is too mushy/dry/lumpy/indigestible

Pork steaks grilled with a cheese, tomato puree and pesto crust - she loved it! Not sure if she swallowed any of the pork, although I tried in vain to put all of the bits back together afterwards so maybe she did eat a bit of it. She sucked and slurped at it for ages and definately ate the topping. She's not so keen on porridge anymore - that's the only thing I spoon feed her with, so maybe she's just resisting being fed. She loves the doidy cup. Again, I couldn't say how much goes down, but she does get very excited when she sees the cup and laughs when I offer it to her.

Sleep has been rubbish recently due in part to a cold, and I have to keep reminding myself that they aren't meant to eat much at this age (nearly 7 months), as my mum keeps telling me that DD must be hungry... On the whole mum is very supportive of blw now though, so mustn't grumble.

hello

not been on for ages and i really appreciate the welcome, advice and baby first taste emails. so thank you!

my baby is 6 mths today and this week she has tried

banana
broccoli
carrots
courgette
hipp organic banana and peach breakfast cereal (i handed her a loaded spoon)

she really enjoyed exploring all of them except for the baby cereal funny enough! She went mad sucking on the veg and managed to bit a few mouthfuls off with her mighty gums (no teeth yet) moved it around a bit looking a little shocked gagged, spat it out and started again.... it was very entertaining to watch think she swallowed some banana and carrot by accident but that was about it.

she loved her doidy cup and really enjoyed slurping water from it.

cant imagine her just eating away but i guess one day at a time, tomorrow is only day three and i was going to try tinned apricots and steamed peppers (separate meals)

do you use unsalted butter, would you offer a sandwich at this stage cut into fingers? bread can get a bit gloopy?

Bobby99 - my little one has a cold too and i seem to have got a second cold in two weeks... better get into bed! she is feeding more from me too.

Hello ladies

So pleased to find this thread, About to start BLW bit really worried about chocking. How likely is it and are there any foods to avoid in the early weeks?? Bread worries me??

devotion yes to unsalted butter. I didn't give bread at first but did offer toast with various toppings. Bit firmer so it was easier to hold and she could have a good suck before it went too soggy. She can manage a sandwich now though (coming up to 8mo).

Welcome ttbmp2 we had quite a bit of gagging in the early days. DD would be quite happy sucking but would only swallow by accident and then gag because she wasn't expecting it. Only one choking incident involving pineapple so would maybe avoid that. She is fine with it now though. The thing to remember is that gagging is them learning how to deal with the food so it is best to relax and let them deal with it themselves (easier said than done sometimes). Also, don't overload them with food as my DD has a tendency to shovel it in sometimes which can lead to gagging.

Gagging incidents are very rare now and only when she breaks off a big piece of food and it goes down by accident.

Good luck, it is much fun.

welcome ttbmp2
i would echo PDog's thoughts. Difficult to watch gagging, but they are dealing with it themselves so try to relax and don't intervene. Choking is the silent, going blue thing which is extremely rare. Familiarise youself with some baby first aid if you are worried.
In the early days i found peel (apples, pears etc) would cause gagging. Also, make sure anything spherical (cherry tomatos etc) is cut in half.
good luck, keep us posted on your progress

hello

right now dd is trying out toast fingers with philidelphi spread, i never would have given my other two this at 6 mths but dd is really enjoying sucking it off, she also loved cucumber last night.

still only swallowing bits by accident, gags then spits out all surprised and starts again.

cant imagaine her chewing and swallowing yet... think i'll avoid the hv's until she starts eating properly

did anyone babies actually eat anything other than exploring before 8 mths?

i guess i just keep offering food throughout the day after feeds and eventually she'll get it?

she's having fun anyway and already when i sit her in her chair she gets all excited.

i was going to try cod cooked in milk tonight and potatoes.

how ia everyone else doing?

HI Devotion, it's good fun isn't it? My DD is just 7 months and although it looks like she doesn't swallow that much the nappies tell otherwise! Surprising how much she eats. It does depend what I give her - soft fruit, steamed apple/pear and casseroled veg go down the best, and she sucks tonnes of philly off rice cakes. Not so good with dry things/meat/cheese etc but they still get a good sucking!

My HV actually recommended blw so you may get a better response than you expect.

Was rather taken aback to meet soome puree mums who are dropping milk feeds at 5 months and shovelling in the purees... Each to his own I suppose. They are missing out on so much - I've been amazed at how quickly DD's hand/eye/mouth coordination has developed and how easily she uses her fingers now. There was a glimpse of the pincer grip this week, and she manages slippy things much better now. She rarely gags now. All good.

Hello all. I've just spent a week on holiday with my church and DS (almost 7 months) loved all the different sorts of food we had, including onion bhajis, onion rings, braised steak, chicken and deep fried whitebait. The only exception was lamb curry, but he was overtired at the time, so I don't know whether it was that or the spices which led to the tears!

It has been huge fun watching him develop. He used to put food in his mouth by flinging both arms wide and then moving his hands to his mouth. If he needed to readjust the way it got to his mouth, the arms would be flung out wide again. Now he just readjusts the food right in front of his face. He can pick up much smaller things like raspberries too.

He has been 'properly' eating right from the start and now he seems to pack it away like nobody's business. When he runs out of food on his tray he bangs it with both hands until we give him some more. No sign of reducing milk feeds yet, though.

DS has four teeth now which are used to good effect, including on whole cherry tomatoes which he adores. He gags a bit still, but a lot less than he used to, and it rarely seems to bother him.

tryingtobemarypoppins2, I avoided bread at first too and just gave toast / rice cakes, but DS has had quite a lot of bread this week and seems to have been fine. I do tend to give him the crusts for preference, though, as they're less 'claggy'. Some people have found that raw apple can be a bit of a choking hazard.

PDog, thanks for the link - I may have a go. I must get cooking soon.

Has anyone had success with porridge pancakes? Mine have always been too gloopy - any tips would be appreciated.

Forgot to ask too, my dd is 6 mths and bf, i feed her 7-8 times a day. is that similar to others with babies the same age?

we're having a roast today but dh refuses to not use salt on roast potatoes so i'm going to just give her boiled potatoe witg veg and piece of chicken.

porridge pancakes sound good, will look out for the recipe?

devotion my DD is coming upto 8mo and it took a couple weeks for her to get the hang of swallowing on purpose. We have ups and downs really - last week she was packing it away and getting very impatient with me when I took too long to reload her spoon with yoghurt. The last few days she has been stuffing everything in her mouth and then spitting it all out, throwing it over the side of her high chair and leaning over to look at it . Very frustrating. She had prawns for lunch though, which she sucked on for ages. Roast chicken and veg for tea.

If by a day you mean 24 hrs, then we are on about 7-8 feeds. 5 during the day and 2-3 during the night (4 last night ). At this stage, they still need quite a lot of milk. I think it is at about 9 months when they realise that solid food cures hunger and then start dropping milk feeds in favour of food (or at least that is what I am hoping for).

AngelDog at your DS banging for more.

Porride pancakes - not much success here. Think I need to make them thicker and cook for longer as they are always soggy in the middle. DD hasn't been impressed so far anyway.

Getting off the subject, how long did it take for your DS's teeth to come through. DD has about quarter of a tooth at the bottom and the one next to it is just poking through. They have been like this for about 2 weeks though. Her top teeth are also coming - probably why we have had so many disturbed nights recently.

I'm so pleased to have found this thread - am new on here and never posted! Have been doing BLW with DD for 2 months now (she's 8 months today!) and we're all absolutely loving it, but feel a bit isolated as none of my NCT group are doing it, and all other friends, family etc seem to think we're insane.

Right from the outset she took to food really well, we adjusted our breakfast and dinner times to all eat together as a family, and lunch is a bit of a free for all! It's so amazing to watch her eat pasta, meat, bread, fruit, vegetables - and as others have said I'm sure her motor skills have developed really well - she now does the pincer grip and can pick up really tiny pieces of food. She also absolutely loves mealtimes - her little face lights up and there is just no stress whatsoever on my part!

We've never had any choking episodes, and she's only gagged three times - each time we've just leant her forward and she's coughed out whatever it is. She eats virtually everything, and has done from the outset. I guess the main thing with BLW is to be really patient - especially for the first 6 weeks - and if you're not worrying about how much is going in (like a lot of my puree-feeding friends) then it doesn't really matter if it all ends up on the floor.

My only uncertainty now is when to cut down breast feeds - she currently feeds 4 times a day, doesn't ever cry for milk but will always drink loads when offered. With BLW I know the process is slower, but as she seems to be eating so much I don't know at what point to experiment with cutting out a feed. Any advice?

Hi all

Wow lots of posts since I last looked . Welcome to new people!

Devotion - my DS is also BF. Seems to be having 6-7 feeds a day at the mo plus 2 meals of solids although eats more some days than others. Fed on demand. Showing no sign of dropping feeds, in fact think he has actually increased but has had a growth spurt recently. He started eating bits on day 2 but I was pretty shocked as didn't think it would happen so early.

Jcee - also having the problem of food getting stuck to roof of mouth. So far chicken and lamb. If DS gets annoyed will see if I can get it out without wedging further back obviously. Bit tricky. A lot of the time he eventually deals with it himself.

ttbm2 - been going about 6 weeks here and only had one major choking / gagging episode where DS clearly couldn't shift the food and was going a bit pop eyed. I did a quick baby first aid course so knew what to do. In hindsight I probably could have left him but it was quite early on and was on my own so panicked a bit. Have found fruit skin cause gagging more than anything(now just leave enough on for DS to be able to pick fruit up and he seems to be able to deal with a small amount like that)

pdog - hope you get some sleep soon and your DD's teeth come through properly. No sign of teeth here.

Also finding getting milk feeds, naps and solids in tricky. We're only doing breakfast and lunch too at the mo. When did you all start 3 meals. Also find now that if DS has bf immediately before solids he's not very interested. Anyone else?

Thanks... noticed this thread after I posted my msg.
So we have just started BLW and I am looking for some other mums to chat to. I don't know anyone else doing it.. all the other people in my antenatal group seem to have started with mush. anyway it seems to be going well so far.we've tried pear, baby sweetcorn, toast, chicken and a few other bits.
slightly nervous about how long it'll takefor babe to be eating/ dropping any daytime breastfeeds but am not due to go back to work for a while yet so there's not too much pressure!
any advice for someone new to this gratefully received!

Haven't checked in for a while, hi to all

DS is now 8.5mo and cutting his first tooth, so not really interested in food much at the moment. He's bf on demand as well, and I really couldn't tell you how many feeds he has a day (and as for at night, it's probably better for my sanity that I don't try to count!).

I've noticed in the last few days his pincer grip is coming on a pace, so now he will chase peas and sweetcorn around the tray and pop them in his mouth one by one.

Watermelon is a great help for teething babies we've found.

I also made these cheese and lentil wedges that went down very well with all of us.

Having a bit of a wibble this week as DD is eating nothing but fruit. She plays with savoury stuff, puts it briefly in her mouth and then either squashes it on the tray or throws it over the side without swallowing.

I know I should trust her but I feel like she should be eating more by now and it seems like we are going backwards. As soon as the fruit or yoghurt comes out though, she is fine and will happily munch her way through it and ask for more. I am worried I am developing her sweet tooth, although we have had sweetish savoury dishes iykwim and she just plays with them as well.

She starts nursery next month and I really would like her to be eating more by then and making less mess.

Any advice?

hello hello

haven't posted for a while - we had a weekend away, DS got sick - throwing up everywhere and then i was exhausted from all the night feeds and we had a bit of a crisis as we were all so tired! fter the illness DS went off solids entirely and went entirely back to bfing all day !

anyway, a week or so later and we are back on track. i went cold turkey with the night feeds after some shocking nights at the weekend. didn't pick him up at all and just said - its night time go back to sleep - he just sort of went uh, what no cuddles?? uh? no milk?? uh wail wail uh... snore snore! that was it! some minor complaining five times the first night and then second night slept for ten hours straight hallelujah! (sp)! i just couldn't do it anymore - he had ten months of feeds cuddles whenever he liked 24/7 and it was time for him to sleep all night and let me sleep too!

following this he has seriously upped his intake in the day and is devouring entire meals (10mo today ) amazing. serious turn up for the books!

so all those worrying about fickle 8/9 month olds - fear not, come 10/11/12 months they will be eating everything in sight a la The Rapley like she says in her book!

btw DS seemed to grow overnight after the mammoth 9 month growth spurt - was mainlining milk at night too . he put on a load of fat and then grew taller - outgrew his carseat literally overnight it seemed! feed on demand - all that milk will be good for them and you will be fine. once 10/11 months you can get onto a proper little toddler routine .

PDog sorry you are having a wibble - just go with her. at nursery if she is hungry she will have the skills to eat from all that practice she is having with you. i've worked in nurseries and they all make a mess so don't worry! re: the fruit - she might be on a vitamin c drive!

hi hana, sounds like you have made a great start - just carry on - there is loads and loads of stuff on this thread.

{oh and btw i have done a bit of a u turn. somewhere on this thread i put that i offered water - as much as he liked - but actually i think it was filling up his tummy when he could be filling up with milk (to get him through the night!). so unless he is looking like he is desperate, i don't give more than about a centimetre in his sippy cup at dinner time. all other meals/snacks fine but at dinner i want him thirsty for a big pre bed milk feed. saying that in the early days it did help to wash down stubborn bits of stuck food...

hth

ds is 8.5 months now. still loving it. doesn't feel like weaning anymore.

took him and dd to subway today. he polished off a whole kids sandwich, plus a handful of organix puffs and then a peach. he really didn't make much mess at all.

for water he just has a sip every now and again, i use one of those plastic ikea beakers. dd had a doidy. can't find it now! he doesn't have much tbh, he will say he's had enough by blowing a raspberry

as far as relatives go, well most are used to it from seeing dd do blw. however we still get the 'he's put too much in his mouth!!! ' comments but we are very cool and calm about it all and just say 'watch him, he'll spit what he doesn't want back out.' and of course he does. then he picks that bit up again, and carries on!

Thanks Ruby, saw your post on the sleep thread re night weaning and wondered how you were getting on - great news . I will try and relax and hope she is better next week.

Ruddynorah - wow, hope my DD is more like your DS in a couple of weeks.

Cies - thanks for the link, just made it for our lunch tomorrow.

DD's been a bit grumpy today, I think she's overtired (she's not the only one...). Her sleep is generally rubbish these days. Just wondered if anyone else's LO has a rumbling tummy in the night? I've noticed it a few times this week - wish she would start eating more as I guess that would help.

On the plus side, she loved the lentil and cheese wedges someone recommended on this thread (sorry, can't remember who and too tired to look back ).

hello everyone

really interesting messages and it makes me feel better that i an feeding my baby 7-8 times in 24 hours, i was feeding dd2 alot less at this age but i did wean her at 19.5 weeks (was told it would help her reflux which it did). but they are all different i guess.

just boiling up some apple and cinnamon for her at the mo.

i've given her so much now I cant remember but, its only been a week and a half :)

Only problem is I am not managing all meals with us like now I am going to give her breakfast ... i'm working at organising myself but i'm not very good even after three kids!!! :)

but she seems happy to "try" and eat whenever i offer her food and she gets excited when i put her in her chair.

we went to zizi'z yeserday and i asked for a plate of veg but all the could give me was green beans. our food tasted too salty but i gave her some spagatti with tom sauce - too tricky to hold and chunk of mozzarella which loved. for dinner she had weetabix, im sure she swallowed some and really enjoyed the mess!

day before we had meatballs cooked with red onion/spices in pitta breads with salad yogurt, grated cucumber and mint - she loved this. not sure if any was swallowed.

only worry is shr normally poos every morning but now its every other day???

Ruby and Angeldog - total asides but your post on the sleep thread gave me some hope and some ideas - thanks both. Good to know am not the only one struggling with sleep.

Devotion - yes we've had poo frequency changes too. Don't worry about it. As long as its not hard its fine.

DS loves soft fruit and is now managing to pick up smaller pieces and stuff that is quite slippery without much difficulty. He managed small chunks of mango this morning . Really seeing some problem solving going on too and grip looking more pincer like at times. Gave him some noodles at lunch - picked up a bunch in his fist and chomped. No idea if he swallowed any but was fun to watch. Just started 3 meals. Stickier stuff still a bit of a struggle sometimes as gets stuck to roof of his mouth - if he can't move it he wails and get annoyed so we remove it.