***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 ?

hello all

feeling a little deflated, after a great start and dd3 putting everything in her mouth and giving it a good go and then actually starting to swallow she seems to have lost interest in food.

this is week three, maybe she's teething?

she has decided she does not want to hold her spoon when i feed her cereal or yogurt, she just throws her arms open wide and leans forward with her mouth open and cries if i dont put it in her mouth. before i would load teh spoon, hold it infront of her and she woul take it from my hand, suck it off then drop teh spoon. whats going on?

also she wont hold sticky food now, i know peaches and mango are not easy for her to hold but she just refuses to hold them now and leans forward with her face on the table trying to eat it that way, but is happy for me to hold it infront of her while she knaws away on it not using her hands.

any tips?

i feel like i'm now making three meals now, my other girls dont want to eat all the healthy things i am offering dd3 and even though we;'re trying to all eat together its a bit tricky. think i need some tasty recipes taht everyone will like, i've ordered the blw family cook book but not sure when its released.

feel a bit down about it now :(

crikey, apparently the regression is related to developmental spurts at 37 and 46 weeks. So 10 months is still sleep regression territory. Hog roast sounds good! :)

devotion, sorry to hear you're feeling a bit down about things. It could be teething - my DS went off most food at one point, or only liked juicy things, although with later teeth it doesn't seem to have bothered him.

I think a lot of babies go through a stage where they want to get the food to their mouths, but are frustrated by not being able to handle it as well as they want to. Maybe that's part of the problem?

DS had a brief spell of trying to eat things off the table. Do you give slices of peach etc, or whole ones? DS sometimes finds whole ones easier.

No tips on the cooking lots of meals thing, as I only have the one DS, but sending sympathy and cups of tea. :)

devotion hang in there, I'm sure she will be better next week. We've had lots of ups and downs where it has seemed that DD is going backwards.

I think it is all just part of developing and playing. DD used to eat off the tray and still does sometimes. She also stopped feeding herself with loaded spoons and wanting to be spoon fed. I just held out the spoon so she had to move her head if she wanted it. That passed too but I have carried holding onto the other of the spoon, otherwise she just flicks stuff everywhere .

She is loads better now at 8mo though and is really starting to pack it away.

I only have the one, can imagine it is tricky with 3. For your older girls, can you try disguising some veg by whizzing it up in sauces etc? That way your LO will still be getting lots of nutrients. Lots of the things I have tried don't taste that healthy really. The lentil and cheese wedges Cies posted went down well. Also the banana bread might be a good one to try - I will be making it once my bananas have ripened.

AngelDog sleep, how I miss it! DD is 8mo so think things are going to worse before they get better. Going to try night weaning once we've got the next spurt/regression over with.

Crikey I wondered about the keema too, looks nice but DD doesn't have her pincer grip yet so think she might struggle. Enjoy your hog roast.

Hi everyone, all going well here, although DS is chucking things arond again rather than eating them. Don't know what the problem is . Still sleeping all night - phew! But a bit random. Chucking previously favourite things off the high chair (its going further than it used to as he is a bit bigger!) as if i have given him off milk! My tactic is ignoring as I am loathe to get into food battles seeing as that is the point of BLW!

*Devotion - sending a hug. Hang on in there. Got no other tips to offer other than what has already been said.

For those having sleep problems - think we started the 9 month regression at 6.5 months so you're in good company!

DS ill with cold / teething so hasn't had much today - offered at times when he seemed less grumpy and he took a bit.

In case anyone needs inspiration on the menu this week:-

Herby BBQ chicken
Pork mince and tofu
Lamb chops
Chicken with green and red peppers and rice
Roast fish with roast potatoes

For tea

Pizza
Sardine nicoise
Big mushrooms on toast
Eggs beans and toast

thanks everyone and yummut loveingkent - can i come to yours? :) how do you make your Herby BBQ chicken?

dd is better last few days and holding the spoon again and her poo!!!! wow she is definitely swallowing something. it looks like i waste so much food on her but she's obviously swallowing something. her favourite thing is:

• tomatoes quarterd, courgette sticks, carrot sticks roasted in the oven with olive oil, herbs and garlic she loves it.

• big fav is natural yogurt she smacks her lips and makes a growling sound for more :)

• apple slices stewed with pinch of cinnamon

• philly and avocado loaded on rice cakes

Pdog - i didnt see that cheese and lentil wedges recipe will try and find it.

I am so amazed at how she is doing and I was just remembering my other two at this age, I was actually struggling to feed dd1 with baby rice at this stage, she would not eat anything until 8mths and was a terrible eater until age 3 and now eats very well. dd2 was weaned at 19 weeks because of reflux and ate everything i gave her, of course it was all pureed but i was so worried about her choking i took too long progressing and making it lumpy that she went off my cooking and i ended up on jars... this time its so far away from what they were experiencing. i feel terrible when i think what a boring introduction to food they had and here is dd3 tasting all these flavours and eating real food in its true form. ah well, third time lucky and lucky for dd3 :)

• cheese sandwiches, banana sandwiches

• roast potatoes and broccoli

• pureed fruit she goes mad for!!! i know, i know, pureed... but i love them too!

RE: sugar free banana bread, not sure who loaded that up but made it today and dd loved it and me too - delicious so thanks for that.

I also made the savory flapjacks recipe someone suggested on here. they were tasty too but i put them in the fridge and then they tased weird, i'm guessing that was wrong???

Hi all

devotion glad to hear things are better this week and your Dd is back on her food.

ruby we're having food throwing here too, well not food throwing exactly, more dangling over the side of the chair then dropping it and sometimes looking for it. It's driving me crazy and so hard to ignore...

I gave DD some of our noodles for tea last night - she loved them! She sucked them up individually which was funny to see and they seemed to be particularly good once they'd been dangled over the edge of the chair first! The mess I had to clean up afterwards though was unbelieveable

I've been obsessively trying to perfect a tomato pasta sauce which is chunky enough to stick to the pasta to avoid pebbledashing the walls mess. The trick seems to be adding less liquidy stuff like tomatoes and more chunky things, like courgette then I whizz it to make a thick paste rather than a sauce which sticks to the pasta much better and so far has resulted in much less mess.

As for sleep....we seem to be in a permanent sleep regression! Coffee and cake is the only thing keeping me sane, so I think I'll try the banana bread this weekend as it sounds yummy.

bobby99 - that banana cake sounds fab. Will be giving that a go . Re milk feeds - we're a bit variable here. Sometimes before sometimes after. Depends on when DS asks for it. Breakfast always before (about an hour) as after I dress and have a shower etc. Lunch can be either. Tea usually before.

Devotion will post bbq chicken recipe later - thought DS had gone down for a nap but appears to be still awake so need to go and rescue him!

Herby BBQ chicken - this is a recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Everyday. It's really good cold too.

Serves 6
3-4 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
1/2 teaspoon english mustard
3 tablespoons chopped herbs (whatever you like - parsley, chive, plus a little tarragon, thyme, oregano - he recommends one or two lighter herbs such as parsley plus smaller quantity of stronger - rosemary worked well the other day)
A little grated lemon zest
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 small finely chopped garlic clove
1.5 chicken pieces on the bone or 1 chicken jointed.
Salt and pepper

Glad your DD is back eating.

DS a bit off food here - got one bottom teeth a littl through and a crack in his gum for the next one so think that's why.

Combine everything except the salt in a large bowl. Slash the chicken so flavours can penetrate then toss pieces in marinade to coat. Leave to marinade in fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
Pat off excess oil then season with salt. Roast at 190C / Gas 5 for 40 -45 mins or grill on moderately hot bbq or cast iron griddle, turning regularly til brown.

Hi all,
thanks for the 'reassurance' about the sleep regression angeldog. I'm sure he'll get there eventually, I just haven't got the strength yet for night weaning.

The hog roast at the wedding was good, it got chewed a bit then chucked over the edge. I think the rather pristine woman was a bit when she saw that she was sitting next to a baby in a highchair who was likely to cover her beautiful dress in food.

Great recipe ideas too, will deffo give the chicken a try. The keema was a big success, although he just shovelled it in using his hands as oppose to using his pincer grip. The older two enjoyed making naan bread to go with it.

Thought I'd try some cannelloni this week and maybe a black bean chili recipe without a bit less chili.

crikey, you are an inspiration with your cooking! Seriously, I don't know how you do it on not much sleep.

Sorry to hear the sleepless woes from many. DS's sleep has been improving here, but we were starting from a very low baseline.

devotion, glad your DD is eating more again.

PDog, thanks for the tip a while back on putting the mess mat on the washing line & hosing down - it's saved me so much time.

DS (now 7.5 months) has started to seriously shovel in the food, although he has the occasional meal when he's not very interested. He is definitely taking less in the way of milk in the day now (he's bf on demand-ish), despite having dropped him from 4+ down to 1 night feed in the last month.

One unfortunate consequence of eating more is a lot more poo - usually in the middle of a meal.

He is working hard on his pincer grip and trying to pick up ever smaller pieces of food, but isn't there yet.

Going to make sweetcorn patties tomorrow.

Oops, LovingKent, I meant to say that you and crikey were inspirations...

good evening, i've been scrolling through trying to find who suggested rice cakes with tinned mixed beans whizzed up with was it yogurt or sour cream? if it was you then please could you put me out of this misery? :)

it sounded lovely - thank you
x

devotion it was me and I whizzed them with sour cream - always goes down well.

Nothing much to report here. DD still eating well, sleep still rubbish, still no pincer grip although she is trying.

Made meatball curry on Sunday and even adding less spices, it was still quite hot. I mixed the sauce with a little yoghurt but the meatballs themselves were spicier than the sauce. DH thought DD wouldn't touch them but she wolfed them down .

Bit worried about over feeding at the minute as DD won't sleep without boob, night or day and she is massive .

AngelDog DD's favourite place to poo also seems to be her high chair, lovely isn't it?

I've made a freezable version of bean pate using this recipe but with mixed beans.

PDog, say 'self-regulation, self-regulation' :)

I know what you mean, though, DS was crying before lunch so I offered milk, he had a huge feed, then lunch, then a huge feed to get him to sleep for his nap. He's almost 99.5th centile.

Thanks, both sound lovely, also angel dog i know this sounds very thick but go easy on me :)

the recipe says cooked kidney beans. tinned kidney beans are already cooked right? after i drain and rinse them, can i add them straight in or do i have to boil them up first?

thanks x

Hi, I'm around 2 weeks into weaning with 6.5m DD, some great ideas on here :) Been feeling a bit wibbly, I hate the early days of weaning, had a nightmare time with DS 3.5 years ago, so determined to try and stay relaxed this time!!

DD so far much better than DS was at same age- food has entered her mouth!
Hi lottie and Devotion, I was on the Jan 2010 thread too, though DD ended up not emerging until well into Feb!

Hello Maygirl and welcome :)

I remember you!!!

This is a great thread, I keep popping on and asking allsorts, everyone is very friendly and helpful.

I've been doing it a few weeks now and some days are better than others. It does not look like she is swallowing much but her nappies show me she is. Her fav is roasted veg with garlic, oil and herbs. She loves it - especially the tomatoes. I'm trying to give her lots of things and not get stuck with a few things I know she'll go for. Thats the trouble with weaning.

When I look back at how my twoo older daughters were at this stage they were on mush, I was so worried about them choking. DD3 is doing so well and rarely gags. Its great.

She even looks like she's put a bit if chubb on as she's quite skinny.

x

DD enjoyed some pan fried garlicky courgette tonight! Yes I easily fall into the trap of giving something I know they'll eat.

Hi Maygirl and welcome.

Thanks for the compliment re my cooking Angeldog - can't really take the credit as DH does most of it (he works from home). We do plan it together though - a leftover from when we both commuted long distances.

Pdog and Angeldog - highchair poo a speciality here too. Does gravity help or something .

Devotion - think canned kidney beans are cooked. Does it say on the tin?

DS focussing a lot on fruit and meat at the moment and not much carb but one front tooth is through and another on the way . Hooray! He was a grumpy so and so last week.

Think it was crikey who suggested watermelon is good for teething babes. Brilliant tip thanks.

Actually, I won't take the credit for the watermelon - it wasn't me!! .

How nice to be complimented for my cooking! I do enjoy it I have to admit, but sometimes it does seem like a never ending task of churning out food.

Made this tonight and it went down very well and was quite easy to pick up.

devotion, I did a quick search on the beans, and the Food Standards Agency said that if they're tinned, they're already soaked and cooked.

crikey, that cannelloni is what I consider advanced cooking.

Welcome Maygirl. Courgette is the one thing my DD isn't that keen on by itself.

LovingKent must take some tips from you. My DH works from home too yet I do all the cooking - including making his lunch everyday! He does help on a weekend though. He will be lost when I'm back at work.

Thanks crikey. Was contemplating a canneloni as imagined it would be easy to pick up. Trying the keema on Friday, roast chicken with root veg and chickpeas tomorrow.

Thanks to whoever posted the banana cake link - it is yummy, although I have eaten most of it .

DD is going through a carb stage and is loving bread/bread products (eggy crumpets, tuna wraps, toasted muffins). Now if she would nap for more than 10 mins I might have chance to make my own and then I wouldn't have to worry about the salt.

HI - my baby2 is 21 weeks old and is sitting up on her own, managing to grab a spoon and put it in her mouth, she also sucked on a bit of bagle yesterday. She has been watching us intently for so long and getting upset when we move away with food that we thought we should just allow her to get close enough to grab what she wants. She is so happy and loves to join in with us. I was worried about weaning before six months but both our local HV have said it is OK as most babies need to eat earlier than six months. Having said that I weaned baby1 at 14 weeks as she was just not putting enough weight on with just breast milk. She was also so pleased to be eating, however I did puree everything and did it all pretty much by the book. This time I am being a little more adventurous and letting the baby lead me - it is less stressful and more fulfilling to watch her learning and enjoying it.

It's good to see how you are all getting on and getting tips for different foods to try.

Nah angeldog, the filling for the cannelloni is simple (in fact I used frozen spinach)- but filling the tubes can get a bit messy .

Off to get the ingredients for the herbed chicken recipe tomorrow. Is it 1.5kg of jointed pieces LovingKent? Would you use thighs and breasts?