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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

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

909 replies

FluffyFrog · 12/04/2010 16:35

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 ?

OP posts:
crikeybadger · 22/04/2010 13:24

Sounds like everyone is having a good time at the mo, - even the dogs are loving it!

fruji · 22/04/2010 19:10

OK, well I have the book, have skim read it and am relieved to discover that I don't have to time feeds to coincide with mealtimes - seemed far too complicated. So first proper day. Mango for brekkie, then lunch in M&S - lambs lettuce (fascinated by that - and I think he may have eaten it as there wasn't much on the floor or him), cucumber and bread all gummed thoroughly. Then a rice cake in the playground at teatime.

This is so much easier than purees!

sungirltan · 22/04/2010 19:14

because i live in deverrrn and i insist on eating pasties from time to time, dd had pear and pasty crust for lunch. pasty v popular!

picklesrule · 22/04/2010 21:14

fruji I think that is what I love most about BLW - you really can just fit it around what you are doing at this stage and not worry about the 3 meals a day thing..feels so much more relaxed!

DD is currently addicted to strawberries and scoffs them down which is fab to watch albeit very messy! I think I probably need to not give her them too frequently but its so fun to watch her eating them

RubyBuckleberry · 23/04/2010 06:08

sungirltan did the pasty crumble or anything - i have been thinking of making foods with pastry but haven't so far as don't know if DS can handle it??

crikeybadger · 23/04/2010 21:37

Yeah, I'd of thought that puff pastry would be a bit too 'flaky' and not very easy to eat, maybe shortcrust would be more edible? I've seen a great recipe for spinach and goats cheese muffins on the blw site, so may give those a try when I get some time (?)

Had a lovely time at supper with broccoli and cauliflower in a cheese sauce. It made a fantastic mess .

RubyBuckleberry · 24/04/2010 10:04

i made the quiches that are in that book that ruddynorah left a link to and they went dow a treat. the pastry went nice and soggy and DS really seemed to enjoy it. I chopped up spinach and feta and put it in there. ds had one and i had three .

mistressploppy · 25/04/2010 16:54

Crikey, did you make the cheese sauce yourself? I often use a ready made one but am worried about the salt - but dh says cheese is full of salt anyway!?

I do give ds lumps of cheddar to chew on, is this ok do we think?

I'm spooning some puree into ds on occasion too - he LOVES it and eats loads, but like feeding himself too, esp courgettes

mistressploppy · 25/04/2010 16:55

*likes feeding himself

JaneyTroll · 25/04/2010 20:09

Ooh! Sungirltan, I live in the Land of Pasties and Cream Teas too. Hoorah!

DS had his first proper more-than-just-a-milk-poo on Saturday. Ack! The smell! Mercifully he chose a moment when DH was in charge.

He also now burps and smells of banana, which I find quite sweet. (DS that is, not DH, though they're both fragrant in their own way.)

lamby79 · 25/04/2010 21:07

Hi all, just checking back in after a little break. Been trying to decide whether to continue down the BLW route or not but it looks like my DD has decided for me by no longer allowing any purees. I am quite pleased really and now that she is 6 mths I feel like I can really go for it.

I think her reluctancy to purees has conincided with her new love of 'the bottle'. Gave her her first ever bottle two days ago and this is now her favourite thing. Hopefully she'll get bored soon and rekindle her love for food.

Still struggling to be creative with food...and finding the time to prepare and clean everything! Has anyone got any good freezer friendly food ideas?

Glad to hear everyone is doing well and having lots of fun!

Janeytroll and Sungirltan...me too! On the Cornish side!

crikeybadger · 25/04/2010 21:09

mistressploppy- yes I do make make own cheese sauce (can post an easy all in one recipe if you want it).

Yep, cheese is quite high in salt but like you, I do give ds sticks of cheese to eat as its good for weight gain.

JaneyTroll...banana burps sound delightful!! Just stay off the tuna

picklesrule · 26/04/2010 10:28

ooh crikeybadger please do post your cheese sauce recipe, I am hopeless at things like that and an easy one would be fab!

DD had her first bit of lamb at the weekend - a little strip of it from the BBQ..she gummed on it for ages but then managed to get off quite a chunk which she promptly gagged/vomited everywhere..then reached to pick it up again...ewww!

Think the gagging also completely freaked my mum and dh out..am having trouble convincing them that she isn't going to choke so I don't think they will be doing any solo meals for a while...am hoping that once she gets a bit more efficient dh will get a bit more confident and then it won't be any issue! Anyone else having trouble convincing OH/parents blw is a good idea?
I'm definately convinced that its the way to go and feel pretty confident in that but I am increasingly aware that most people in RL think I am completely bonkers!

crikeybadger · 26/04/2010 11:41

OK, here's the recipe that I do- it's a basic white sauce and then you can add cheese as you like:

500 ml milk
4 tablespoons plain flour
2 oz butter

Place everyhting in a pan and whisk together over a gentle heat until the sauce begins to simmer and thicken. Season with pepper/ nutmeg (optional) and cook for about 3 minutes on a very low heat. Then stir in grated cheese to taste.

As it makes a lot, you can obviously halve the recipe (or freeze some).

I think you're right pickesrule- your dd will gag less as she gains experience - it's all about them learning new skills after all.
We had friends round for a barbie too and they were a bit - but mainly because of the mess that was smeared everywhere!

popspig · 26/04/2010 12:34

picklesrule my MIL looked at me as if I were crazy when I first mentioned it to her. Then last week there was an article in the Times which backed up BLW. It said to wait until 6 months and to not mix flavours together (puree) as the baby won't be able to distinguish flavours and that between 6 and 9 months is when the baby forms their palate. And last weekend she said how well we'd done to do it by the book - this was after DD had a good suck on some bread, peppers and cucumber at lunch

DH is very supportive though as we talked about it a lot before we started and he can see that DD is very ready and capable of feeding herself.

But we're having limited success and so far DD just likes cucumber, peppers, bread, pear and houmous. Houmous was a real winner though as DD spent ages liking it off her bib. But egg, porridge and banana are all spat out!

popspig · 26/04/2010 12:43

Found the link to the story here: fussy eating

lamby79 · 26/04/2010 13:06

Thanks Popspig for the link...always good to have some back-up. DD too only really likes cucumber, toast (with a bit of marmite), houmous, courgette, sweet potato and pear too. Although she did have some cheese earlier as well. Am going to get some rice cakes later as it sounds as though others have had lots of success smearing various toppings (avocado, cream cheese etc) on to them. Think i'll also try cooking some stews and see if she likes the more saucy things!

Does anyone know where i can get a splash mat from?

lamby79 · 26/04/2010 13:08

And picklesrule, I think the gagging does get better as they learn to deal with the food. My DD gagged a lot at the beginning but has since been gag-free. And i've been doing a lot of the chewing motions and noises as suggested to me at the beginning!

picklesrule · 26/04/2010 14:23

Thanks for the link popspig and for the recipe crikeybadger

My DH is on board with the whole concept of it and agrees with the theory he just gets quite panicky about the choking despite my reassurances but I think once he gets used to it he will be fine.
My mother is just driving me nuts with little asides about her being hungry and raised eyebrows everytime I give DD something she might potentially choke on but I've told her unless she reads the book and/or comes up with a plausible argument to back up her comments she will be ignored

We had cheesy crumpets for lunch today which were pretty popular, I think a fair bit went down! Bolognese sauce at the weekend was a hit too although the mess was unbelievable! Was still finding bits in her ear at bathtime...slovenly mummy

crikeybadger · 26/04/2010 21:33

Mmmm, know what you mean about the mess! Even with a big plastic overall, the food still gets all over his clothes, my clothes and under his chin (he's even taking to storing some morsels under the roof of his mouth).

Made spinach and mushroom lasagne tonight and he went crazy for it, just shovelling it in as fast as he could.

Here's another thread about splash mats

here

RubyBuckleberry · 27/04/2010 08:42

'he's even taking to storing some morsels under the roof of his mouth'

mine does that - and in his cheeks

giving him water helps clear it?!

picklesrule · 27/04/2010 19:00

evening! Just popping in to announce that we had our first solid poo today!! I am ridiculously excited about this and my DH is somewhat non-plussed so I thought I would come and tell people who understand the excitement of poo
Ok, as you were...

mosschops30 · 27/04/2010 19:13

Hi can I join in , I have a few questions.

ds2 is 22 weeks this week and HV says i should start weaning now with baby rice and pureed veg so that I can introduce proteins at 6 months . I dont know why because i was under the impression that I should wait until 6 months, and he's sleeping throught the night.

Ok questions are:

  • those of you that are giving toast etc, how old are your babies?
  • do you start blw with the easy stuff like banana and other soft stuff?
  • what are the choices for blw or can you give literally everything?
  • am I not supposed to puree anything?

Sorry, but I dont remember anything from ds1 and I think the advice was different then. ds1 was a terrible eater and was still eating 4 month old puree jars at 12 months because he wouldnt tolerate lumps and I dont want to go through that again

TIA

popspig · 27/04/2010 19:33

Hi picklesrule we're having some interesting and very smelly nappies now too. It doesn't seem like much is going down but the nappies are telling another tale .

I also tried crumpets today after your post and DD seemed to really like them, she had a good chomp and suck.

mosschops I'm not an expert but the Gill Rapley book is very good. It explains about why rather than giving you a plan. The current advice is to wait until 6 months but there are other signs to look for rather than reaching a certain age such as being able to sit up unaided, loss of tongue thrust and putting food into their mouth.

To answer your questions:

  • I started giving DD toast over the weekend and she's 25 weeks
  • I started with pieces of cucumber, steamed carrot and pear
  • you can give them pretty much anything that you would eat, I often let DD pick food from my plate. I've followed the guidelines with regards to salt, sugar, no honey etc
  • I've not pureed anything as DD does a good job herself of squishing things up . I've steamed some fruit and veg to make it softer for her

Hope this helps

mistressploppy · 27/04/2010 19:48

Mosschops, we're doing a mixture of roughly mashed/pureed stuff and finger foods (proper BLW), because ds has reflux and if he has enough solids in his belly, he doesn't need his meds!

So there's no 'supposed to' about it - just keep the pressure off (no shovelling! )

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