***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 ?

when can you start giving bread/toast, is DS too young at 5 1/2 months? Am really loving watching him eat, my mum was very at first but she watched him eat carrot/broccoli yesterday and she seems quite happy with it, he had some pasta shapes today, one of them got stuck to the side of his head

I think that I am going to have to get a grip and just go for it with my DD. I know for a fact that my DD will pick up anything that I out in front of her and eat it, she is constantly trying to take things from my plate. Our planned "weaning day" is next saturday. I can't wait...now just need to get planning my menu! Was thinking avocado, sweet potatoe and carrots??

What age can my DD eat the banana loaf from?

Hoops - I think the recommendation is to avoid gluten until 6 months in case it triggers an allergy. Think we gave it on day 3 or 4 when DS was about a week off 6 months!

Harverina - not sure about age you can eat the banana loaf from. I guess when your DD can manage small pieces of food (ie the sultanas) and crumbly food. In the meantime you could always have it

Below are meal ideas which were put together a while back - have reposted now as thought it might be useful (put together originally by hendo) and have added a few bits from recent posts.

Toppings for toast/breat/rice cakes etc...

• cashew nut butter
• dahl
• tuna mayo
• tuna/tinned mackeral mixed with philly
• cheese (as in cheese on toast!)
• philly

Things to give on loaded spoons...

• thick porridge
• fish pie
• weetabix made soggy with milk/formula/yoghurt
• yoghurt mixed with fruit
• yoghurt with weetabix crumbled into it

Breakfast ideas... (using yoghurt instead of milk with cereals may allow easier handling for babies)

• eggy bread
• hard boiled eggs
• scrambled eggs
• omlette cut into slices
• mini shredded wheat
• porridge pancakes
• toast with or without toppings
• yoghurt
• cheese on toast
• drop scones

Meal ideas...

• baked potatoes - with cheese, cream cheese, tuna, sour cream and mashed beans or chives. -pitta pockets - grate carrot & cheese and mix with smoked paprika, chop the end off a mini pitta bread and stuff the mixture in with a tea spoon, pop in toaster til done. Leave to cool or stick in freezer for a bit - they are nuclear

• cheesy brocoli
• lentil fritters (Crikey has recipe in thread)
• pastry crust
• haddock fingers (frozen fish done in microwave according to instructions then breaks into fingers easily)
• meatballs
• burgers (can use all different ingredients eg turkey and apricot)
• quiche
• cheesy sauce to hold together other foods (crikey again has good recipe earlier on thread)
• crumpets
• cheesy crumpets
• bolognase sauce (v messy!) with or without large pasta shapes
• banana bread
• spinach and mushroom lasagne
• spinach and mushroom polenta
• spaghetti and pesto sauce
• noodles
• cheesy mash
• cassroles
• mashed avocado and/or banana on pitta bread strips
• chickpea/cannellini bean dip (with garlic, lemon & greek yog - takes about 3 mins to make in a whizzer)
• scrambled egg, well cooked so it's in easy to pick up lumps
• fish fingers, peas and bread and butter (I cut the fishfingers into 2 length ways and then 2 width ways, ds consumed mostly the fish, leaving most of the breadcrumb bit, which was fine by me) and peas (cooked and then squashed slightly so they're less slippery)

-rice pudding made with flaked rice (takes about 5 mins to do on the hob).

• couscous with chicken for them last night, and that would be an easy lunch - just saute a bit of onion, then add cooked peas (done in a jiffy in the micro) and some stock, then stir in couscous and cooked chicken (I poached a chicken breast fillet, but you could just get it ready cooked), leave for 10 mins and serve. Bit messy, but they really liked it.

Not to mention all the fruit and vegetables on their own!

Also picklesrule suggested chopping spinach finely to add to various recipes to introduce extra iron if necessary.

Re banana bread recipe, I think the raisins etc will go mushy in the bread, the apple and chopped apricot have??

Yes the raisins go quite soft in the banana bread. DD sort of has a pincer but is not quite fully there and she manages it no problem.

Can I ask you how much do your DC eat?

My DD is 8mo and now eats loads. Sometimes I think thak she eats too much. She has breakfast, lunch and tea and about 5 feeds.

She has just wolfed down mini pita with cottage cheese and half a plum...

dzidzi, my 8.5 m.o. eats a huge amount plus 6/7 feeds a day - and has been since 6 months. If he's particularly hungry at breakfast, he can eat a couple of slices of toast, two plums and still want some melon to finish with. He's following the 99th centile which is exactly what he was doing when he was ebf, so he's clearly just eating to maintain his current weight.

Babies are supposed to self-regulate if you allow them to eat to their appetite - providing what you offer them is healthy.

I made the banana bread this evening, so will try it for DS's breakfast tomorrow. It was yummy.

LovingKent, thank you so much for putting those suggestions together - you're a star.

On the issue of spinach to add iron, people might want to know that it's not actually that high in iron. It's a myth that comes from whoever recorded the iron levels putting the decimal point in the wrong place. More here. (It does have quite a bit of iron in, but also contains other substances which prevent the body absorbing the iron. )

Examples of iron-rich foods here.

Lovingkent - thank you for all that.

Dd is now apprpoaching 8mths and we started at 6mths, i offer her food three times a day but she is up and down with it. some days she is just not interested and has a few bites and thats it.

lately she is getting more frustrated because i think now she realises she wants to eat it and not just suck and nibble but cant bite through with her gums.

i am still breast feeding her first and then offering food after, last few days i have been bf her about 7am then offering her breakfast at 9am and some meals i have bf her after to see if she will eat more first... is that naughty of me? when do i start offering food first and bm after?

she is having up to 8 feeds in a whole day still which i think is quite alot. i've had the worst sleep in the last two weeks since she's been born, some nights i do not even know how many times i fed her so she is obviously hungry so i've been letting her feed when she wants but surely a growth spurt would not be lasting that long and being allowed to feed when she wants should have boosted my milk to her needs or is it food that she actually wants?

yesterday she kept really crying at dinner so i went and fo a spoon and fed her myself, we were eating lamb stew and i had been handing her parge pieces of meat/potatoes/carrots/parsnips and bread dipped in teh soup, she would suck it, drop it then cry. so i broke up the food so i could get it on the spoon and fed her it and she wolfed the whole bowl down.

i know with blw you are supposed to give them the spoon but at least she is eating lumps and not pureed food. i have also been spoon feeding her breakfast... but she feeds herself everything else like veg sandwiches etc.

should i drop some bfeeds now? and should i start bf after?

devotion - my DD is 9.5months now and she went through a similar thing with night time BFeeding. I put it down to teething - i honestly couldn't remember how many times i was up during the night with her...

I just wanted to say to everyone just starting BLW that it can be hard to start with and you are not sure if they are eating, or if they are going to choke. However, it is definitely worth it. We were at our usual swimming class this week and i was able to sit with DD in the cafe afterwards and she ate bananna on toast followed by an apple. It was a pleasure to be able to sit and eat my own lunch whilst getting envious glances from other parents who were spoon feeding jars of puree to their little ones. Even those older than DD were protesting about lumps in their food, so stick with it. I fully recommend it.

Food regulation - i think you are right AngelDog they just seem to eat what is right for them. My DD is on the 9th centile, but has been consistently which is what matters. Some days she doesn't eat much, others she tucks it away.

I am looking for suggestions about how to get her to change her signals for "i've had enough food now mummy". Currently she swipes everything from the tray on her high chair, and it is getting quite a vigorous action - food is flung half way across the room. Looking for ideas on a slightly less violent way to signal the end to a meal???

That's ok - needed some ideas and remembered the list from way back in the thread .

Sultanas worked well in the banana bread by the way - didn't have any raisins.

Devotion - I've been experiencing something similar and its only really started to settle down in the past week or so (DS is 8.5 months). It started at 6.5 and during that time he has had a growth spurt at least once, learnt to babble, cut 2 teeth, really started to feed himself, is trying to stand....I think its all this development that might have triggered it - don't worry. You are not alone! They will all sleep through the night eventually [crosses fingers...and toes..].

We do some spoon feeding too sometimes if DS is tired or struggling to get spoon to mouth. I tend to load spoon, leave on his tray and if he struggles help him or feed him.

BF - he's eating quite a lot but has really only cut 1 feed out. I do BF before solids but there tends to be at least an hour's gap (its not deliberate - just worked out that way). I have also BF then given solids immediately as we've had a meal prepared - he just ate less solids. I'm working on the assumption that he'll cut out the feeds when he's ready. As you can't see it (unlike FF) you don't really know how much they are taking anyway!

Yes thanks LovingKent, very helpful.

dzidzia the amount DD eats varies both day to day and meal to meal. She has never really been very interested in breakfast so will eat a few spoon fulls or less than half a slice of toast. She is more enthusiatic about dinner and tea, especially if it is mince related, and loves fruit.

She is just below the 99th centile and has progressed upwards since birth. She has dropped at least one milk feed and I have just started offering a mid afternoon snack as it seems a long time to go between food. I wouldn't say she eats a huge amount but she obviously gets what she needs as she continues to gain weight.

yUMMYmUMMYb know what you mean. DD signals that she has finished by mashing food into her tray or clapping her hands together and sending it flying .

Devotion sleep is pretty messed up here too. I have been doing food before milk recently, not necessarily intentionally - it is just the way it has worked out. Unless you want to stop bfing, I would just let her cut down feeds herself naturally.

Hi everybody, I haven't posted in a while as it was just all chugging along nicely so nothing to report. It is interesting reading all about yours and their eating habits .

yUMMYmUMMYb my friend is a speech and langauage therapist and she has been plugging away at the sign for 'i've finished' and her DD is using it now at 11months. i was skeptical about it and DS simply starts flinging food around the kitchen . I was at your DD, and PDog, your DD clapping her food-covered hands lol! I think my DS is starting to get frustrated as he is trying to tell me something but doesn't know how!

I think DS is still hit and miss, he eats more than he did, still having 4 bfs a day - one at 5am. I think he could happily have cow's milk as a snack though.

At ay point around 8/9/10 months you can change to feeding after meals, so they are three snacks/drinks of the day. after breakfast, after lunch and at bedtime (one maybe at 4pm to get them through to dinner/tea at around 5ish. Saying all this - my DS often decided he had other plans .

devotion my DS had 8 or so feeds a day up until 10.5m - he was feeding during the night 2 or 3 times too which was getting more and more exhausting. I just stopped feeding him until at least 4am (with a few lapses) and he sleeps well at night mostly, waking for an early morning feed which makes him go back to sleep till 7. he protested for a night and the next night slept 10hours in a row. he didn't nap for three days because he must have felt so well rested! he was getting so tired, and having big naps during the day, and i was starting to drink too much coffee! I also let him have a go at the meal and then offer it cut up on a fork or spoon and hand it to him. he is now trying to do it himself

Hi all,

Ds's way to signal that the meal is over is to drop the food over the side to the waiting dog. The dog is better behaved than DS, and sits there leaning towards the dropped food, whining, but knowing that she is not allowed onto the splash mat to pick it up. Is this a symbiotic relationship? (long time since I studied biology )

DS is now down to about 4 bfs during the day, plus 3 or so at night. The change I really notice is in the morning, as he'll feed in bed then have breakfast about an hour later, and then won't want another bf for about 4 hours. This is unheard of in him until now!

Re: timing of feeds, in the beginning I would have our meals an hour or so after a bf, because that was when I had time to prepare the meal because ds was happy and calm. Now they're more spaced out. He's on 4 meals a day - breakfast (9am), lunch(2pm), mid-afternoon tea (5.30pm) and supper(9pm) (all timings are approx).

RubyBuckleberry thank you, that makes a lot of sense. We just started a baby sign class last week, more as something different to do and they give you chocolate and coffee at the end! I was a bit skeptical, but after first class DD was able to sign "duck". I will be sure to find out what to do for "i'm finished". We actually had weetabix on the ceiling yesterday - think beaker dropped on loaded spoon, acted like a very effective catapult.

Thanks for all the advice.

no probs at all yUMMYmUMMYb.

Cies loving the way your dog knows not to go on the splashmat. if only i could teach DS to listen to me when i say no lol!

Hello everyone. Haven't posted for ages, life is so hectic with a little one isn't it? DD's doing very well, still enjoying food and we still haven't found anything she doesn't like. Went on hols for 2 weeks at the start of Sept with my folks and my skeptic mum is now blw's biggest fan!

Mini quiches go down very well, made in a muffin tin. They freeze well too so it's worth making a load and chucking them in the freezer. I tried making courgette muffins as she adores courgettes but they didn't turn out very well. Anyone got a good recipe?

DD had her first fish and chips on hols - loved the fish, sicked up the chip!

Thought I'd add a couple of recipes.

Parsnip gratin DS was able to hold it and our lunch guests had second helpings so it must have been alright. :)

Parsnip & celeriac bake - not made this but looks yummy.

DS has pincer grip more or less (just coming up to 9 months) but he still prefers to eat bigger pieces of food.

devotion, meant to post this on your other thread but couldn't be bothered to find it again. It could be that the nights are to do with the 8/9 month sleep regression rather than a food thing (here, here and here.)

AngelDog - thank you! Makes sense :)

i think i've been offering dd food too close to bf's except morning is always quite awhile after feeds.

so tired at the moment and her older sisters are getting fed up with all these healthy meals i am making them eat. every meal time has been a nightmare with them so last few days i have them their fishfinger/chicken dipper fix... :) but i've had to make three different dinners :(

devotion, sounds :( indeed.

Bobby, there are some nice muffin recipes here.

Good for your DD on enjoying the fish even if not the chips!

Thanks AngelDog, I'll give them a go. Think mine were so vile because I looked for a recipe with the minimum number of ingredients, those on your link look yummy though.

DD is cutting down on her milk now - one bottle when she wakes up, half a bottle mid morning, half one mid afternoon and a full one for bedtime. And there's more poo than there used to be... This may be TMI, but I was quite impressed that I can now tell a runny one from a roll-off-the-nappy one by smell!

Thought she's devoured an entire mini quiche today until I picked her up and discovered she was sitting on part of it . Beans on toast go down very well - she passes the toast from hand to hand, examines it minutely then turns it so that the bean side is facing her and sucks the beans off before ramming the toast in her mouth. Clever little chicken!

Bobby, hope they turn out okay. They froze well.

on the nappy.

How do you do baked beans without them all falling off the toast as soon as it's picked up? Ours always seem too runny to give to DS.

AngelDog - I kind of mash the beans a bit so that they stick to the toast a bit more. Some do fall off but the smart little cookie carefully holds the toast with the beans tilted towards her and upwards so that the majority get hoovered into her mouth before they have chance to fall off!

Oh, and I relented and let her have petit filous despite the sugar content (don't they do low sugar baby ones? I thought they did but couldn't find them). She loves it - ate the whole thing (off a spoon which she grabbed and shoved in her mouth). Didn't have much choice really as my mum gave her some and now she recognises the pots so if she sees other children have them she wants them too.

bobby 99 your DD is a smart little cookie. I find it totally amazing at what they can recognise - my DD always notices when i eat chocolate and either attemtps to grab or makes such actions that i feel guilty at not giving her some. This BLW is making ME healthier!

Thanks, Bobby. :)

DS enjoyed one of our favourite dinners today - roasted autumn vegetables with halloumi cheese.

Hi everyone,

Been a while, all going well really. Great to hear your posts!
Thought I'd share a success we had the other day, i made spinach gnocci and made some longer bits that ds could grab and he loved them. Just mix chopped wilted spinach with cold mash, an egg, seasoning and plain flour till it is handle-able. Roll in to long sausages and cut into bite, or grab, size bits. Drop in to a pan of boiling water, when they float to the top, 2 mins or so later, they are ready.

Is anybody else veggy? Dh eats meat occasionally but we are skint so not at the mo. Ds never seems bothered by falafals etc though loved a bit of mock meat the other day i'm a bit about giving him it (or even eating it myself really) as it's so processed...

Angeldog ds didn't even pick up his halloumi the other day he doesn't know what he's missing , though the dog does