Baby Led Weaning (BLW)

mummy2mygirls

Hello, I am planning on starting this with my little girl in a few weeks she is 23 weeks now so wont be starting for a few more weeks but i just wondered if there was any other mummy's (or Daddy's) that are going to start soon or have already gone down the route of BLW??

Would be great to get a few tips and ideas and see how your little ones are getting on....

I am starting to think of what foods would be good to offer her to start with. She looks at everything and trys to put things in her mouth all the time. She is not sitting up properly yet so would like to to master this before we start.....

xxvickixx

I have some friends who have done this and had great sucess, their children are good eaters and are not fussy, they aso eat very confidently as have been allowed the independence to feed themselves from an early age.

I did not go down this route although I would have liked to as we couldn't afford to have so much food wasted (as a lot is dropped on the floor) we have 2 cats so I can't ensure that the floor is always clean enough.

If you do BLW it is a good idea to ensure you are up to speed with your baby emergeny aid so that you know what to do in the event of chocking etc, although this is advisable in any case.

Ms_Piggy_2

We have gone the BLW route with DS who is now 14 months. It's very easy compared to mushing everything.

We just give DS whatever we are having and he digs in. Yes it gets messy but he loves it! Buy long sleeved bibs!

Worth noting - you can give food from six months, but they might not eat it! DS didn't eat until he was 9 months-ish and got his first tooth. As long as they are getting milk on cue, this isn't a problem.

Choking shouldn't be an issue either. Obviously never leave baby alone with food, but they have a very effecient gag reflex so are likely to cough up anything they can't manage. If you can hear noise, then air is going in! Try not to panic as they will pick up on it.


Good luck and have fun!

mummy2mygirls

thank you.
dd2 was not baby led as such but i started her on pureed etc but by 7mths she refused to have anything from a spoon so she lived of finger foods (and i was made to feel like she wouldnt be getting all she needed by the HV :mad:) She was really good with the finger foods.

I hope dd3 will be good when we start and i will very soon just be giving her things from my plate

xxvickixx

Under one year they will still be getting most nutrition and calories from milk of one sort or another. Good Luck x

buxtonrabbitgreen

My dd has gone down the BLW route with my gd. We went for a picnic a couple of weeks ago. Baby was on my lap (7 months old) I have never seen a banana dissapear so quickly. She will try anything even though she has no teeth. She loves all fruit and has even gummed away at a piece of steak.
My dd says it is so much easier when she is out or at friends as she can jsut take her sandwiches and bananas. She is not even all that messy.

msb5262

Home made potato wedges are good, as is the inside of a jacket potato - then try the skin of the potato! Pasta twirls, breadsticks, toast crusts, cheese (grated or in cubes or fingers), hummus with all of the former, or thick home-made soup, ditto porridge, hard-boiled eggs quartered lengthways, scraps of cooked chicken or fish...

fernliebee

I didn't do BLW as such, however DD always fed herself from the start, and I just gave her what we had either in big pieces for her to chew or mushed a bit with a fork, I never pureed things. She started to wean at 51/2 months as she started to B/F for 3 hours every hour and was still not satisfied, however she could sit unaided at 4 months, and had a tooth at 5 months so I beleive she was ready. Anyway I gave her baby rice for her first food as I didn't have much in the house, and was too drained to cook anything after 3 days of feeding her so much so found a free sample in the cupboard, mixed it with my milk, and she wolfed down 3 bowls of it, she had a spoon and was feeding it to herself!! I felt terrible, like I had been starving her! Anyway I didn't really want to give her baby rice so just went on to give her veg that we were having with dinner, she particularly like steamed carrot/ parsnip/ butternut squash cut into fingers so she could suck them. Sweet potato was another fave, avocado, banana, apple, berries, grapes, organix ginger bread men, organix sweetcorn rings/ carrot sticks for snacks, raisins (from about 7 months), I didn't give her bread/ pasta until she was 11 months but I gave her porridge for breakfast everyday and would feed her with a spoon, and she would have a spoon but this was given up when she realised she could get it in much quicker with her hands! She would allow me to do about 4 spoonfuls just to take the edge off her hunger, then miss independant would take over herself I have always been relaxed about food, she eats if she is hungry and if she doesn't eat I don't stress, she still has milk anyway so I know she will be fine. She is a very good eater, and will eat anything!!! It is so much easier IMO to just give them whatever you have, and give them real food rather than pureed mush. Just remember that when babies start to have real food pureed or not they will gag a bit (the drama queens ), try to stay calm about this, and assess a gag noise from a real choking noise. I have baby first aid from work, but think anyone who has a baby should think about doing this course, not just if you are BLWing.

Good luck with it! I had so much fun giving DD new things to try, and still enjoy watching her nibble her way through her dinner!

purplegirluk1

Plastic floor mats, long sleeved bibs and a high chair that is easy to clean!!!

My little one is 18 months and was totally BLW'd. Yes it is messy, yes some food goes un-eaten but I would not say it is a waste as it may mean six months of some food not being eaten but it will mean a life time of good, healthy eating habits. My son will try any food offered and knows what he does and does not like. He will also try things again and again and his tastes are constantly changing.

I suggest the book by Gill Rapely http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-led-Weaning-Helping-Your-Baby/dp/0091923808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252968420&sr=8-1. It is so informative and will give you all the answers you need to fend off and inform mothers, relitives and even the odd health visitor!!!

It is one of the best choices I made for my son. I have loved every minute of it. Now I have a child who will sit at a table and eat the same meal as me, I did not waste money on all those processed jars of c**p and he has a very healthy diet. He is currently refusing to eat fresh fruit but loves dried fruit in his breakfats and would drink smoothies all day if I let him. It doesn't make your child a perfect eater but it will let them delevop thier own tastes and a healthy relationship with food.

mummy2mygirls

thank you for all the info. I am really looking forward to it now!
I have seen the Gill Rapely book before and was going to buy it - i might have to go and order it now ......I know my health visitor will be funny about it abit but i am not going to listen to her - i know what i want for my child and know what is going to be good for her....

Was thinking of trying her on some fruit first something really soft - might do strips of very riped pear or some part boiled apples so softer just to get her used to it all.... then straight on for what we have - we have mainly child friendly meals anyway as we all eat together so feeding a 2yr old and 5 yr old aswell so no added salt etc etc

Fritha_2

At the beginning the best consistency is so that you can smoosh it against the roof of your mouth with your tongue but if it's too soft they smoosh it in their hands before it gets to their mouth!

Sweet potato and butternut squash chips were very popular in our house to start with. Cut them into chunky chip shapes, toss in a little olive oil then roast for fifteen minutes. Once they cooled she'll be able to hold them and gum whatever sticks out of her hand.

The theory is they're less likely to choke with blw, they control what goes in their mouth andwhere it is in their mouth, they can't intentionally open their hands to get little bits in until they're ready and can't move stuff to the back of their throat until they're ready to swallow. The gag reflex on smalls is far forward so when they cough something back up (because they didn't intend it to go that far back!) they in less danger of choking than an adult would be. iyswim :-)