Baby led weaning thread

PaniniRoses · by **PaniniRoses** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 8:12 pm

Girls, anyone interested in a BLW thread, and maybe asking admin to make it a sticky? Seems there's a few of us either doing or thinking about doing BLW, so maybe it would be useful, plus I feel bad hijacking the breastfeeding thread like I did yesterday! :-8

We've made a bit of a start in the last couple of days. I haven't got the book yet (amazon promise me I'll have it tomorrow) but I was eating toast last night when DD made a lunge for it so I gave her some of the crust. Her reaction was hilarious when she swallowed a tiny bit by accident! Her entire body shuddered with the new sensation :o0

She wasn't too impressed with a carrot stick tonight, prefered a bit of a fajita wrap (minus salsa and sour cream) but I'm looking forward to trying a few new bits and pieces over the next few days.

by **scobette** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 8:43 pm

I'm not doing blw fully but I give lo finger food after every puree and he is gas eats loads of whatever is going and gums and swallows loads. A thread woud be great just to get tips of what they eat. So far LO has eaten toast, banana, rusk, liga, carrot, sweet, potato, baby rice cakes also he takes apple/pear puree in his hands from the bowl and feeds himself.
I'm very much food before one is just for fun so I don't panic about what he actually eats. Just so he gets a taste of lots of differnt foods

spanishb2b · by **spanishb2b** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 8:51 pm

Great idea! We're hoping to start BLW in the next couple of weeks!! DD is really showing an interest in our food but we've waited this long now so going to try and hold off 'til she's the 6 months. Can't wait!! :-8

by **Baby Babs** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 8:59 pm

I'd certainly would follow one and get involved.

There was a few days when I was comparing DD with some puree babies, thinking oh look how much they are eating. But reading Dr. Sears the other night, it was good to be reminded that their stomachs are still the size of their fist and when I see how much I put on her tray, it couldn't all fit in that tiny stomach.

We are stuck eating lentils and risotto this week because we made way too much over the weekend. Should have frozen some of it.

Tonight, I'll soak some oats and sultanas overnight in milk and make porridge for breakfast for us all. I find that porridge as leftovers when it is cold also makes a good lump for DD that she picks up and eat. Warm works too and preloaded spoons, as long as it is sticky to the spoon.

by **alton** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:04 pm

I'm getting excited about starting DD soon. Although I'm going to miss the convenience of just breastfeeding :o(

It's been so easy! I'm not looking forward to all the cleaning up :o(

PaniniRoses · by **PaniniRoses** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:58 pm

Great, delighted there are a few of us interested in a thread - I'll get on to admin and see if they might make it a sticky for us.

alton wrote:I'm getting excited about starting DD soon. Although I'm going to miss the convenience of just breastfeeding It's been so easy! I'm not looking forward to all the cleaning up

I know exactly what you mean...a friend of mine asked me the other day if I was "still" breastfeeding (eh, what???) and my automatic response was, of course, it's so easy! I think the fun of the weaning, initally anyway, will make up for the mess :o0

scobette wrote:I'm not doing blw fully...
I'm very much food before one is just for fun so I don't panic about what he actually eats. Just so he gets a taste of lots of differnt foods

That's my plan, I'm taking bits from different weaning theories and hoping it'll all come together and work for us. I think it'll be important when DD goes to the creche too, because I'm not sure they'll be too keen on the blw philosophy.

by **andmybaby** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:32 pm

A BLW thread would be great. We've done a bit of half & half between BLW & spoon-feeding. He'd eat anything now!!

PaniniRoses · by **PaniniRoses** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 7:13 pm

tello wrote:We've done a bit of half & half between BLW & spoon-feeding. He'd eat anything now!!

That's the kind of thing I was hoping to hear :o0

DH was very bold and after my day of healthy eating and a nice long walk, encouraged me to indulge in a McD's for dinner, so I didn't offer DD any chips. She was quite interested in a piece of apple though, and I managed to get some organic baby porridge, so we'll try some of that in the morning. I haven't a clue how to make it though, and I can't stand porridge myself, so it could be an interesting start...

Oh, and thanks Admin (if you're watching), it was far easier than expected to get this made into a sticky!

by **Buzzo** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:02 pm

well done on getting the thread set up - :o)ll

PaniniRoses wrote:DH was very bold and after my day of healthy eating and a nice long walk, encouraged me to indulge in a McD's for dinner, so I didn't offer DD any chips. She was quite interested in a piece of apple though, and I managed to get some organic baby porridge, so we'll try some of that in the morning. I haven't a clue how to make it though, and I can't stand porridge myself, so it could be an interesting start...

baby porridge is totally different to grown up porridge. if you follow the instructions on the pack it'll be only a bit thicker than the formula/breast milk you make it with.

the book is a very simple quick read. i marked lots of pages for DH to read as I knew he'd not read the whole thing but I wanted him to understand why we were doing what we were doing.

from your ticker your LO is quite young to start - i'd say let them go for the grub and explore it, but don't push it too much. Their ability to sit up well, their coordination improving enough to grasp food and to chew all kick in by about 6 months. It's important that they're developmentally capable for finger foods. This isn't an issue if you're starting off with porridge though, she'll be able for that by now. Sure read the book, its all in there!

Cookbook out nov 4th. pre-ordered mine on bookdepository, yippee!

PaniniRoses · by **PaniniRoses** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:40 pm

Yeah, I'm looking forward to reading the book...if it ever gets here. The chances of getting DH to read it are pretty slim, although he's getting better at just doing what he's told when it comes to DD :o0

I know what you mean about her being a bit young for blw...(overbearingly proud Mamas alert!) but she was 17days late,which would bring her over 5 months, and she is very strong and well developed for her age. I've been following her cues so we're going to go with the "food for fun" theory for the next few months (I'm still bf'ing exclusively) and I'll see how she gets on with some finger foods and porridge, maybe a puree or two, and take it a day at a time. Even if she's only holding food for the next while, it'll be good for her dexterity and to have a bit of fun with it all.

Messy times ahead!

by **alton** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:26 pm

I used to get ordinary porridge for DS and whizz it in the blender and sieve it to make a fine powder for his porridge in the beginning. It's much cheaper than buying special baby porridge and only takes a couple of minutes. I used to put some fruit in it before DS got the hang of dunking it in by himself and he would pull them out and lick the porridge off.

by **Baby Babs** » Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:56 am

Here's two quick resources regarding weaning http://www.mumsnet.com/babies/weaning from mumsnet. It covers both BLW and purée and argues strongly for waiting until the 6 month mark.

http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/13/bab ... baby-food/ sums up BLW and its approach nicely.

by **coraline** » Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:56 am

Well done to whoever got the BLW thread going, its a great idea.

We had a bit of a breakthrough last night :o)ll

My guy has not been eating much at all recently and I've been worrying a bit.

Last night I sat him right beside me and we shared one dish, he was much much more interested in picking things out and tasting / eating.
We had to share my glass of water too :o0

It was a bit messier but I was very happy to see how much better he did so we'll be sharing again tonight.

On another note, I came across a really fantastic picture book
that fits perfectly with BLW.
It shows the baby feeding himself porridge, banana, orange etc etc and also has a really lovely illustration of the baby breastfeeding.

This is it, I highly recommend it :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tucking-Just-Li ... 299&sr=1-6

by **alton** » Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:31 pm

I was thinking that we might make a list of some of the finger foods that we've tried, just to share some ideas. here's a few that DS liked when he was starting off:

broccoli trees (better to buy fresh than frozen so that you can keep the stalk long)
roasted sweet potato and squash "chips"
fingers of cucumber
fingers of edam cheese (relatively low in fat)
slices of apple, sprinkled with cinnamon and microwaved (steam bags) and then turned inside out
Inside out fruit (peaches, grapes cut in half and pushed inside out, etc - the skin is easier for them to hold and suck on than the fruit alone)
bananas (cut in half and then each half into four sticks) (funky poo warning!!!)
chopped up spinach, lightly steamed
baby corn
succulent pieces of roast chicken leg meat

Must think of some more - what are your LO's dining on?

PaniniRoses · by **PaniniRoses** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:35 am

Wow Alton, that's a great list. Must start trying a few of them. So far DD has loved a small piece of toast crust and a piece if fajita wrap (hmm...carbs all the way so far). I've also steamed carrot sticks and sugar snaps in the microwave for her although she wasn't so interested. I took baby corn cobs out of the fridge the other day to try her but they were gone a bit past their best so I didn't risk them. Think I'll have to try some of the sweeter options first though after the reaction to the carrots! She had a bit of my pear the other evening, but she was only really licking it, trying to figure out the shape more than anything else.

My BLW book finally arrived today, so I'm planning to get stuck into that tomorrow, maybe see what they suggest for first foods too.

I got out the baby porridge to give her some today and read the box to see what I had to do. Only then did I spot the big label saying 8+months! Back to the drawing board me thinks :o0

Thanks for the links Baby babs, interesting reading.

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