***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 ?

Hi everyone,

Started BLW "officially" yesterday. My DD will be 6mo next week and we felt that she was ready.

We had planned to start yesterday so on Friday we went to buy fruit and veg. Went to a stall at a farmers market and the guy at the stall just assumed that my DD culd eat and gave us some tasters for her! She munched on some melon and pear while walking round the shops! She loved the melon and was making lovely noices when sucking on it !

So...yesterday at lunchtime we got her in her highchair (she can sit up with support) and put down carrot sticks, brocolli florets, mashed sweet potato (I had overcooked it and pear slices.

My DD was covered in food and really seemed to enjoy herself. I have been really worried about choking (posted a thread about it and was reassured). My DD gagged a few times but I jut tried to stay calm and didn't jump up to pat her back. She managed fine. We weren't sure how much she actually ate, but this morning there were bits of brocolli and carrot in her poo! I was over the moon!

This morning she had baby porridge - I know I can use normal porridge now so plan on buying some for future use. Anyway, we did a combination of me spoon feeding her and loading spoons for her to feed herself. She hoovered the whole lot and was really excited!

Can I just ask everyone - at what stage did you move from just using fruit and veg onto things like toast/pancakes/pasta etc? I know the best thing about BLW is that you don't follow the traditional "stages" but the fact that packets of pastas etc are marked with stages makes it more confusing!

Sorry for the long post - I am just excited about it all now!

Oh and sorry for the typos

Hi harverina, we are 3 weeks in and LO has just started on pasta and toast. She also had rice cakes from the beginning.

I have been trying to vaguely introduce things in a "sensible" order, i.e. I kept off wheat for a couple of weeks to give her digestive system a chance to get used to having to work a bit harder, not sure if it's really necessary but I guess it doesn't do any harm.

btw she doesn't seem to keen on pasta and toast so far but I guess it's a different technique and she just needs to practise.

Good luck!

hi all,

forgot to say last time i posted - was called away as mini buckleberry was getting into mischief - the list of foods is brilliant. i came back to this thread partly as i had lost inspiration and there it was, so thanks!

harverina, that sounds fab at the farmers market. i seem to remember giving my DS toast at around 7mo ish but he threw it around until about two weeks ago when he suddenly started hoovering it up! some babies i know have liked it from the beginning so who knows! mashed blueberries on toast go down pretty well .

Haverina - we gave toast pretty early on (in the first week) as it was easy to cut into a stick shape. I think DS ate it - or at least gave it a good go. I can't remember! Just go with what feels right for you and your DD.

MoonFaceMama and Angedog - thanks for delicous recipes x

Welcome harverina - this is such a handy thread

Haverina, we gave toast on day 4, but DS was chewing & swallowing from day 2. (Day 1 I didn't cook things soft enough!)

I did introduce things which were particularly likely to be allergenic one at a time as we have a bit of a history of allergies & intolerances. Other things I just gave as & when it suited.

We do toast most days now tbh, it's nice & easy.

MoonFaceMama, glad one member of your household enjoyed the halloumi anyway. I've often thought it must be more efficient to be able to do Baby Led Dog-Feeding at the same time as BLW.

Ruby, thanks for the tales of signing - I've been doing it for 3 month with DS and he loves it but hasn't done any yet. The end of mealtimes here are signalled by persistent arm flapping / chatting rather than food flinging, for which I'm very grateful. :)

Haverina I think we did just fruit and veg for the first week and then pretty much launched in with whatever we were eating. I just used normal pasta - she found fusilli easier than twists but mainly just sucked off the sauce at first.

She is 9.5mo now and things are going well. Appetite still seems to be variable, she has definitely cut down on daytime feeds but only seems to have one meal a day which she really tucks in to (differs each day ).

Her tatses are changing too; brocoli was once a firm favourite but no longer and she now loves banana, which she wasn't interested in before. Now she has her pincer grip she is obsessed with peas and raisins.

She has had a couple of days at nursery and has eaten well there. She hardly drinks any milk while she is there and seems fine to just feed before and after.

Hi, I've been waiting to post on this thread for ages! DS is now 6mo and we are on Day 4 of weaning. I've spent the last week reading this whole thread while BFing and have found it so interesting and motivational. I've printed out the big food list and its on my fridge for inspiration.

I'm actually going to do a combination approach as, unfortunately, I have to go back to work when DS is 9mo and we are having issues with weaning to formula so I need his food intake to increase quicker than I think BLW would allow.

So, my plan is spoon feed porridge then give pieces of fruit for breakfast, BLW lunch, then some spoon fed dinner with more finger food. So far he has sucked on some broccoli, apple and sweet potato. Its steamed carrot for dinner tonight. TMI but he's just done a poo and there was some sweet potato in it!! I'm SO pleased as I didn't think any had gone down (and the few bits that did appeared again a few minutes later - yuck!).

Anyway, just wanted to say this thread is fab and that I'm loving BLW so far. I've found some of the last 6 months very hard going so I'm really pleased that DS and I can enjoy discovering food together and having some fun!

Just a quickie - DD loves St Dalfour jam on toast - it's all fruit, no sugar, so technically it's not actually jam, but it's yummy. Especially the blueberry one.Good for a quick breakfast if you have nothing else in the fridge...

Mull so glad you can join in. We are finally starting to see more food being eaten at close to 10 months old. BF reducing to 4/5 per day (1 during the night). I would suggest that you are doing BLW as long as you encourage DS to use the spoon himself.
I too found the first 6 months hard, but i LOVE BLW and find it so much fun (the mess is definitely worth it, and we have some great pictures). Good luck.

Hi everyone, welcome newcomers! Great to read how everyone is getting on

It's been a while since I posted as things have been going ok, however the last couple of weeks have been difficult.

DD was teething, was completely out of sorts and off all food, milk included, and as part of this started chucking everything off her tray each time we sat down to eat.

The top teeth are through now and she's back to herself but hasn't started eating again - except milk - and seems to particularly enjoy chucking everything off the tray!

So mealtimes have now become a bit fraught as DD picks up food piece by piece and drops it over the side. She might try the odd piece of food but it seems to be all about the throwing these days, even food she previously seemed to enjoy eating.

As you can imagine it's totally doing my head in, not to mention the cleaning up required afterwards and DP (with a bit of pressure from MIL) is starting to have a BLW wobble.

Any suggestions of how to handle this or ideas for not too messy food ideal for chucking about would be welcome

Welcome Mull, it is great fun. My DD is 9.5mo and I go back to work next week. She has done a few days at nursery and hardly takes any formula when she is there. I feed her before she goes and when we get home and she just seems to eat more solids.

I think by 9 months they understand that milk comes from mum and will adapt to whatever is available when you are not around.

Jcee DD went through a similar phase not so long ago. She would bring the food to her lips then just throw it without actually eating anything. It was just a phase and she is eating loads now. Whenever I am in doubt, I revisit the Rapley.

She says that it is common to go through a lull and that when they are over it, it is often the time that they "get" that solid food cures their hunger more than milk.

Hi everyone, well we had a very horrible night last night. My DD had a severe reaction to somthing that she ate for dinner. She had carrot sticks, asparagus spears andthen mushed up strawberry and some natural yougurt. Within a few minutes her eyes were going puffy, she was gagging badly, she developed a red raised rash and she brought up very thick phlegm. What a fright we got. She was very red and in distress so we called for an ambulance. She was taken to hospital (blue light) and after a few hours she was given piriton and sent home. We think that it is the yougurt or the strawberry. She has been referred to the paed alergy clinic for allergy tests. Not a nice experience at all. We didnt feed her solids today (though hse munched on my sisters banana ) for a minute.

To be honest I am a bit of a nervous reck now about giving her solids. I am so scared in case it happens again. We ghave to avoid all dairyand strawberries until the tests.

I had read that we only had to watch out for strawberries if there is a family history of an allergy and there is not so I didn't even think anything of it.

On a more positive note, BLW was going ok (until last night!). My DD had an interesting poo this morning again so I know she is swallowing some food!

Has anyone else experienced any allergic reactions? If not I will post under the allergy thread, just wanted to ask here first.

Hi, I saw this thread a while back before I started to wean DD, but now I think it's time to join in...

DD is 6.5mo and I have been weaning her since just before she hit 6m. Up until now I have been generally spoon feeding her, with some finger foods too (DH very nervous about the whole gagging thing) but I am getting bored with pureeing and I think she is too as she clearly enjoys feeding herself.

This week I have been putting her into the high chair and giving her some pear/banana to try. Most of it ends up in her lap tbh, but some is definitely going in - so now I am more inclined to go down the BLW route and DH has agreed as he is less panicked now by the gagging!!

I'm just a bit stuck now as to where I go with this and I need some inspiration for some ideas for foods she can eat now?? It seems a bit boring to just keep giving her fruit/soft veg? She doesn't seem too good with bread yet - although she gummed a chunk of garic ciabatta to death when were at a Harvester on Sunday lunchtime

Also, do you all sit down and eat at the same time as your DCs? Whilst breakfast isn't a problem, it is very rare that DH and I eat our dinner before 8pm, so it is impossible for us to eat together then as DD is in bed. Also, DD has her nap about 1pm, and I don't usually have lunch until after that. Do I need to adapt my timings to eat with her?? or will it work equally as well if I put food out for her and just sit with her?

Poor you Haverina, must have been horrible. Wish I could write more but DD has just this second woken up and will want tea....

Hope all turns out ok

Welcome to new people.

Jcee - no advice I'm afraid but here are the things I give when I want less mess to clean up (sorry its a bit bread heavy and brief):-

drop scones
cheese on toast
toast
eggy bread
slices of apple
grape halves
rice cake and cream cheese
carrot sticks
cucumber sticks
broccoli chunk
stir fried chicken
pasta (but not bolognaise!)
potato wedges
roasted veg
crumpets?

Haverina - what a horrible experience for you but great you were seen so quickly. Hope you find out quickly what caused your DD's reaction. Perhaps start off giving her those foods you first started with that you know she didn't react too just to help your confidence?

Curlyj - we started off just giving 2 meals (breakfast and lunch) as at the time DS was BFing for Britain and trying to keep up all the milk feeds plus do solids and still get him to bed at a reasonable time would have been tricky. He is now 9 months and on 3 meals. We introduced 3rd at about 7 months I think. He has breakfast and lunch with us but tea alone as we're like you and eat again after he has gone to bed (nice to have one child free meal where you don't have to spend it giving back food that has been thrown on the floor!!) We tend to sit with him and have a small snack or cup of tea and chat. He seems happy with that.

As for foods she can eat just try anything - she might manage something that you don't think she would. DS managed toast quite early (despite no teeth) which quite surprised me. Well cooked pasta? Rice cakes with tuna mayo / cream cheese (softens them up a bit), sardines?

DS is hoovering up solids like no tomorrow and appears to have made link between food and hunger. Have had a couple of episodes recently where he has got really upset if he's not been able to manage something like hard meat. Have re-thunk things a bit.

Hi all. I'm glad to hear an experience of a baby adapting their milk intake at nursery PDog, I hope my DS will be the same.

Well, still sticking to 'safe' food at the moment but carrot, sweet potato, apple and banana all being gummed a lot and I've found sweet potato and carrot in his nappy so some is going down .

I did go mad and dunk some carrot sticks in houmous yesterday and he sucked happily on that so think I need to start being more adventurous! I'm going to try toast for the first time today but not put any butter on it yet (potential dairy problem which I need to identify first).

My food plans for weekend include roasting some veg, pasta and probably some scrambled egg.

I'm loving it!

thanks for the gnocchi recipe moonfacemama. Just made them tonight (a rare evening where DD is in bed for 7pm and STAYS asleep). Looking good so far, will let you know how we get on. I am planning on cooking them tomorrow for lunch. Do you think they would freeze ok? Seem like they would be ideal to cook from frozen for a quick dinner.... Don't want to give anyone food poisoning though!

Pdog glad to hear I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I'd briefly flicked through the Rapley before posting but not seen anything, but went back to it and got the relvant bits now to convince DP and MIL that all is not lost so am feeling better about it and my new mantra is 'this too shall pass'

LovingKent thanks for the mess free ideas...some good ideas there which is useful as we seem to have been in a cauliflower cheese and toast rut of late

Before this food throwing episode I'd thought DD had got the solid food thing as she's dropped a couple of milk feeds, but I've realised she hasn't, she's still playing and experimenting. Her pincer grip has really come on now, so I've been giving her smaller pieces of things this week and [touch wood] the food throwing seems to have stopped...for now...

Harvarina how scary! Hope you find out what causes it quickly.

CurlyJ I try to eat when DD eats but often it doesn't work out that way like last night when DP was home from work late so we didn't eat till after Dd was in bed. At times like that I sit with her as she eats and have a coffee and a biscuit or some fruit.

Mull glad to hear things are going well. we tried pitta bread early on which was a big hit as were rice cakes with a topping like humous, banana or avocado

Oh Harverina, that sounds awful. My DD had a very mild reaction to strawberries (went red and blotchy) in the early days. HV advised to avoid for a few months and try again. She is fine with them now.

I agree with LovingKent, give foods you know she has been OK with and maybe avoid citrus fruit, tomatoes and dairy until you know the outcome of the test.

Hi Curly and welcome. BLW is great fun, if a bi messy. You will also notice that some of us have sleep issues too.

To start with I ate with DD at breakfast and lunch and then gave her whatever we had had the night before for tea and I just had a snack. Now though, we eat together but DH works from home so it is a bit easier for us.

Mull she has had 4 days at nursery now. The first day she refused any milk, the second day she had about 60mls but this week she has been and had a whole carton (200mls) plus loads of solids. DH likens her to a hobbit .

Hi, can I join? DS2 is 7 months next week and we've been BLW since he was 6 months.

All going well. His poos have definitely changed to more solid poos and we've tried the following: brocolli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, potato, sweet potato, pitta bread, normal bread, tuna fish, salmon, cod, parsnips, chicken strips, pork, beef, rice cakes, cucumber, pasta, rice, kiwi, banana, apples, pears, apricots. All of these I've given to him in stick finger shapes when I can.

BUT, we've got to the point where I would like to give him proper meals (i.e. fish pie, shepherds pie, stir fry etc). We've tried him with spaghetti bolognese (I actually went with pasta, as I thought it'd be easier for him to handle), but he couldn't manage it. It was far too 'slippery' with the sauce on it.

So, what meals do others use or have found their LOs like and are able to handle? Would appreciate others thoughts. Feels like I've exhausted finger foods now, but my experience with him and bolognese have deterred me a little. Or is it just a case of keep giving it to him and his dexterity skills will soon catch up?

Thanks

Hello everyone. Just been baking for DD - here's a great recipe that was mentioned ages ago on this thread and has never failed (mind you, we haven't found anything yet that DD doesn't like!).

www.mumsnet.com/Recipes?call=RecipePage&pid=3935

She devoured loads of smoked cheese today, along with a nectarine - nice combination, little one!

Has anyone else got a dairy monster for a child? Mine will eat fromage frais or philadelphia til the cows come home.

sheeplikessleep - my DD is 9mo and only fairly recently got the hang of pasta. Probably because I didn't give it to her very early though. Spaghetti was hilarious, but I don't think she actually managed to swallow any! Casseroles really are great - all nice and tender and easy to chew. Just make sure the veg and meat are chunky enough to hold. My dd was best with chunks rather than sticks to start with. Quiche goes down very well - I made some mini ones in a muffin tin and froze them. Fresh salmon is always a hit - grilled, baked or fried - as is any kind of fish. She loves DH's scampi (I can't stand the stuff). She really has some of whatever we're having these days.

Bobby99, that's reassuring, thank you. Oh yeah, we did try casserole, which he managed to try some, I forgot that one. I'll make some more, good thought.

I'm slightly wary of egg, as DS1 reacted to it as a baby, so am going to leave that for a while. We did roast dinner Sunday and DS2 loved that. Also tried kiwi and gave it to him in quarter chunk and he devoured that, sucking it all off the skin.

It's funny, I've noticed DS2 seems to hold chunks better yesterday. Small bits of squash I thought he wouldn't be able to pick up, after I'd put some food in my mouth, I looked at him and squash had gone.

Thanks for posting, great thread.

bobby99 we definitely have a dairy monster too - its got to the stage where i am actively trying to think of meals that do not involve cheese! I have to confess i love cheese too, so no surprise with DD1.

sheeplikessleep Fajitas are a favourite here - think DD likes the fact that she can still tell what all the separate foods are (chicken, peppers, corn etc) rather than all combined.

pasta - we found that tagliatelle works best, as she can hold it easily and just chomp bits off.

I need some advice about travelling long haul and doing BLW. We are going to Australia at the end of the month (crazy i know) and i've spoken to airline who give jars of baby food, do i just go with these or should i take our own food?