Diaper Swappers

DecsMama · 08-20-2011, 07:20 AM

How many meals did you start with? Which ones? When did you increase the amount of meals?

What foods did you start with? How did you prepare them?

Do you do purees/mashed foods AND chunks of food? Ex. Potatoes.

How many foods did you give at each meal?

Do you still feed your LO the infant cereal for grains? Would you give them the little puffs that dissolve instead?

Are you able to cook foods and freeze for the week just like with purees?

What foods should I absolutely avoid at 6 mo? 9mo? 12 mo?

Do you give water or BM in a sippie cup with their meal? (I know always to BF before the meal though)

And lastly, links to BLW cookbooks or other resources would be appreciated.

THANK YOU!!

EmilytheStrange · 08-21-2011, 12:26 PM

Start with a meal when your child is well rested and in a good mood. My child is in her best mood first thing in the morning, so we started with breakfast. We offered her dinner later, but she was usually too tired and grumpy.

I started with avocado - mashed with a fork.

I think, since your title says 'BLW', that the answer is to start with what you're eating. I would reduce the salt in whatever and try to make it something that your kid can grab onto. For instance, a big piece of broccoli, as opposed to what comes in the frozen bags all small. They will probably just gnaw on things for awhile, so it helps if they can hold it in their hand while gnawing.

I didn't concern myself with things like 'grains' because essentially, they are getting everything they need from their liquid diet. Sure, you want to introduce veggies, fruits, meats, grains, etc to them - but you don't need to worry about a 'balanced diet' so much until they are weaned. Dissolvable puffs are great for learning the pincher grasp and self feeding.

You could cook for a week and freeze, but the idea is just to give them what you have... so, it's unnecessary.

I think most people avoid berries. and definitely honey. I don't think the rest matters unless you and your spouse have food allergies. Then you might want to consider delaying things that you're allergic to.

I do give a sippy sometimes.

Just look through here and you'll find a lot. The BLW cookbook is just that... a cookbook. I didn't see any special value in it. And the things that it said were 'just for baby' didn't work for my kid at all. Well, cheese straws did, but that's essentially making cheese biscuits and rolling them instead of plopping them.

HTH

anj · 08-21-2011, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange

I think most people avoid berries.
HTH

I'm curious why? I've heard strawberries can be a concern for those who are allergy prone, but is there a reason other than that? My seven month old eats slightly squished blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and has tried wild currants (too sour).

eliz7 · 08-22-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anj

I'm curious why? I've heard strawberries can be a concern for those who are allergy prone, but is there a reason other than that? My seven month old eats slightly squished blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and has tried wild currants (too sour).

I wasn't avoiding berries, but my dd3's digestion got sluggish and she was straining a bit to poop(even though she is bf and eating minimal solids) so I was told not to do skin or seeds. It seems like fiber would be good for lo's system, but it turns out it can have the opposite effect. So berries are basically skin and seeds so they are off the menu for a while

Nor sure why else they would be avoided and I always gave them to my other kids.

EmilytheStrange · 08-22-2011, 09:46 PM

We do not avoid berries. My daughter gets strawberries, blueberries, raspberries.... whatever.

but, I guess, there's a line of thinking that strawberries are to be avoided until 2years old. Some kids are actually allergic to them. A quick google search produces: "
Although packed with vitamins, strawberries are a high-allergen food and should not be included in a baby's diet until after a child's first birthday. Some doctors recommend waiting until 24 months to introduce strawberries to babies whose families have a history of food allergies."

and apparantly cooked strawberries are not the same as fresh and are 'ok'.

but we eat berries. I just put that because it is technically, what some people do.

S4r4h · 08-23-2011, 12:49 PM

I give her a bit of whatever I'm eating and I also started with breakfast and then an early dinner. I give her berries (including strawberries) all the time since not a single person in either family has food allergies.

willownz · 08-23-2011, 03:48 PM

Firstly I am a hard core baby led weaner, I have fed two of my three this way and I wish I had fed the first this way too. The food gets cut into large finger shapes and get put in front of the baby, the baby then picks them up and feds themselves. I do not spoon feed anything to them. Not everyone goes as far as we do, some people do a combination, but I let my 8-9 month olds eat soup, yogurt and porridge by themselves. It is messy, protect your floor. We have carpet and our floor is so messy right under where DD eats.You need to read a BLW weaning book before you start, Gil Rapley's one is the best and I think only book on the subject. There is no cookbook, you don't need one, it is a feedign philosophy not a collection of recipes.
There are safety things you need to consider like can your baby sit upright un-supported? If they can then you are good to go, if not you have to wait. If your highchair reclines at all it will not be suitable, you will have to feed with the baby on your lap. My first highchair had a recline feature and it caused my kiddos to slightly lean back when fully upright, which is so not safe. No I use a portable one as it is the most upright I can find (we have a phil n teds Metoo).
I started with dinner with my 6 month olds as they usually had a nap when we were having lunch, so choose a time when they are awake and you are having a meal at the same time. You have to eat with them. Alot of BLW is about the baby watching and learning from what you do, also it is a safety thing. You can not get up and go do something else while they are eating you have to stay there and wait no matter how long they take, and they will takes ages to eat some days and other days it will be on the floor before it even looks like they have started.
The first meal they had was potato wedges, steamed broccoli and roast chicken legs. It is perfectly safe to give a small baby a large bone like a chicken leg, it is not safe to give them wings which have smaller bones. Roasted potato wedges are crisp on the outside so they are easy to hold but soft inside so they are good to gum. Broccoli florets have a natural handle and babies love the tatse. Bananas peeled whole are a great first BLW food, but for the first week they will get frustrated as they drop it and it slips out of their hands. All totally normal. I have never squished or mashed anything and we do not do any form food marketed towards babies, no baby yoghurt or oatmeal.
Gagging is 100% normal and is not a sign of un-readiness or inability. If you baby can sit upright unsupported and can pick up food and put it in their mouth (if they steal it off your plate) they are ready. Babies gag because their gag center in their mouth is so much more forward than an adults is. As you grow it moves further back. If they are upright and are able to put food in their own mouths at their own pace they will not choke, we have only had choking once. She unexpectantly bit off too much strawberry and then got a fright, leaned back and the strawberry got stuck, we applied simple first aid for choking and out it came. Also none of mine have had teeth when starting. Those gums are hard and you will be very very surprised how much food they can eat with no teeth, even meat.
The only foods I limit are honey (before 1 year) and salt. They had curry and chilli not long after starting solids and they loved it.

noahs naturally · 08-23-2011, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willownz

Firstly I am a hard core baby led weaner, I have fed two of my three this way and I wish I had fed the first this way too. The food gets cut into large finger shapes and get put in front of the baby, the baby then picks them up and feds themselves. I do not spoon feed anything to them. Not everyone goes as far as we do, some people do a combination, but I let my 8-9 month olds eat soup, yogurt and porridge by themselves. It is messy, protect your floor. We have carpet and our floor is so messy right under where DD eats.You need to read a BLW weaning book before you start, Gil Rapley's one is the best and I think only book on the subject. There is no cookbook, you don't need one, it is a feedign philosophy not a collection of recipes.
There are safety things you need to consider like can your baby sit upright un-supported? If they can then you are good to go, if not you have to wait. If your highchair reclines at all it will not be suitable, you will have to feed with the baby on your lap. My first highchair had a recline feature and it caused my kiddos to slightly lean back when fully upright, which is so not safe. No I use a portable one as it is the most upright I can find (we have a phil n teds Metoo).
I started with dinner with my 6 month olds as they usually had a nap when we were having lunch, so choose a time when they are awake and you are having a meal at the same time. You have to eat with them. Alot of BLW is about the baby watching and learning from what you do, also it is a safety thing. You can not get up and go do something else while they are eating you have to stay there and wait no matter how long they take, and they will takes ages to eat some days and other days it will be on the floor before it even looks like they have started.
The first meal they had was potato wedges, steamed broccoli and roast chicken legs. It is perfectly safe to give a small baby a large bone like a chicken leg, it is not safe to give them wings which have smaller bones. Roasted potato wedges are crisp on the outside so they are easy to hold but soft inside so they are good to gum. Broccoli florets have a natural handle and babies love the tatse. Bananas peeled whole are a great first BLW food, but for the first week they will get frustrated as they drop it and it slips out of their hands. All totally normal. I have never squished or mashed anything and we do not do any form food marketed towards babies, no baby yoghurt or oatmeal.
Gagging is 100% normal and is not a sign of un-readiness or inability. If you baby can sit upright unsupported and can pick up food and put it in their mouth (if they steal it off your plate) they are ready. Babies gag because their gag center in their mouth is so much more forward than an adults is. As you grow it moves further back. If they are upright and are able to put food in their own mouths at their own pace they will not choke, we have only had choking once. She unexpectantly bit off too much strawberry and then got a fright, leaned back and the strawberry got stuck, we applied simple first aid for choking and out it came. Also none of mine have had teeth when starting. Those gums are hard and you will be very very surprised how much food they can eat with no teeth, even meat.
The only foods I limit are honey (before 1 year) and salt. They had curry and chilli not long after starting solids and they loved it.

Thanks for this! My DD is almost 7 mo and I'm dabbling in BLW right now - this gives me more confidence! I did purees with my almost-3 yo so this is all new to me. I am discovering that it's a little nerveracking to offer baby solids in front of others, though (i.e., the MIL). She's used to baby purees and freaks out at the gagging, and I'm self-conscious about the mess! But it's good to hear from someone who's BTDT.

willownz · 08-24-2011, 04:16 PM

I fed my first purees and my Mum thought I was crazy when I did BLW with my other two but as she has watched them experiment with food she has gotten really supportive about it.
The best thing I have found is eating out. There is no stress and baby can eat anything on the menu. My older DD just loved sitting in a high chair at 7 months old eating wedges and quiche in a food court all by herself, the looks we got were hilarious but she was having such a good time.

08-20-2011, 07:20 AM	#1
DecsMama Registered Users Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 718 Ratings: 31 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Starting BLW in 2 weeks. Now I have ?'s ?'s ?'s How many meals did you start with? Which ones? When did you increase the amount of meals? What foods did you start with? How did you prepare them? Do you do purees/mashed foods AND chunks of food? Ex. Potatoes. How many foods did you give at each meal? Do you still feed your LO the infant cereal for grains? Would you give them the little puffs that dissolve instead? Are you able to cook foods and freeze for the week just like with purees? What foods should I absolutely avoid at 6 mo? 9mo? 12 mo? Do you give water or BM in a sippie cup with their meal? (I know always to BF before the meal though) And lastly, links to BLW cookbooks or other resources would be appreciated. THANK YOU!! __________________ Andrea - happily married to my DH since 2005 mama to D 3/5/11 , and a little squirt on the way EDD: 2/21/13. ISO: 3-4 GroVia TPU backed organic cotton soakers.

08-21-2011, 12:26 PM	#2
EmilytheStrange Registered Users Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Mountain Home, ID Posts: 6,026 My Mood:	Re: Starting BLW in 2 weeks. Now I have ?'s ?'s ?'s Start with a meal when your child is well rested and in a good mood. My child is in her best mood first thing in the morning, so we started with breakfast. We offered her dinner later, but she was usually too tired and grumpy. I started with avocado - mashed with a fork. I think, since your title says 'BLW', that the answer is to start with what you're eating. I would reduce the salt in whatever and try to make it something that your kid can grab onto. For instance, a big piece of broccoli, as opposed to what comes in the frozen bags all small. They will probably just gnaw on things for awhile, so it helps if they can hold it in their hand while gnawing. I didn't concern myself with things like 'grains' because essentially, they are getting everything they need from their liquid diet. Sure, you want to introduce veggies, fruits, meats, grains, etc to them - but you don't need to worry about a 'balanced diet' so much until they are weaned. Dissolvable puffs are great for learning the pincher grasp and self feeding. You could cook for a week and freeze, but the idea is just to give them what you have... so, it's unnecessary. I think most people avoid berries. and definitely honey. I don't think the rest matters unless you and your spouse have food allergies. Then you might want to consider delaying things that you're allergic to. I do give a sippy sometimes. Just look through here and you'll find a lot. The BLW cookbook is just that... a cookbook. I didn't see any special value in it. And the things that it said were 'just for baby' didn't work for my kid at all. Well, cheese straws did, but that's essentially making cheese biscuits and rolling them instead of plopping them. HTH __________________ SAHM to Magnolia May (09/10) and Luke Russett (04/13) and wife and best friend to my airman.

08-22-2011, 09:46 PM	#5
EmilytheStrange Registered Users Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Mountain Home, ID Posts: 6,026 My Mood:	Re: Starting BLW in 2 weeks. Now I have ?'s ?'s ?'s We do not avoid berries. My daughter gets strawberries, blueberries, raspberries.... whatever. but, I guess, there's a line of thinking that strawberries are to be avoided until 2years old. Some kids are actually allergic to them. A quick google search produces: " Although packed with vitamins, strawberries are a high-allergen food and should not be included in a baby's diet until after a child's first birthday. Some doctors recommend waiting until 24 months to introduce strawberries to babies whose families have a history of food allergies." and apparantly cooked strawberries are not the same as fresh and are 'ok'. but we eat berries. I just put that because it is technically, what some people do. __________________ SAHM to Magnolia May (09/10) and Luke Russett (04/13) and wife and best friend to my airman.

08-23-2011, 12:49 PM	#6
S4r4h Registered Users Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 374 Ratings: 1 Feedback: 100%	I give her a bit of whatever I'm eating and I also started with breakfast and then an early dinner. I give her berries (including strawberries) all the time since not a single person in either family has food allergies. __________________ Sarah Beth - Mama to Charlie (Charlotte) born 1/12/11 and wife to Jeffery, computer geek extraordinaire. Lover of succulent gardens, live plant aquariums, reading, nature, sunshine, emergency veterinary medicine, and Homer, the best dog in the world.

08-23-2011, 03:48 PM	#7
willownz Registered Users Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 2,313 My Mood:	Re: Starting BLW in 2 weeks. Now I have ?'s ?'s ?'s Firstly I am a hard core baby led weaner, I have fed two of my three this way and I wish I had fed the first this way too. The food gets cut into large finger shapes and get put in front of the baby, the baby then picks them up and feds themselves. I do not spoon feed anything to them. Not everyone goes as far as we do, some people do a combination, but I let my 8-9 month olds eat soup, yogurt and porridge by themselves. It is messy, protect your floor. We have carpet and our floor is so messy right under where DD eats.You need to read a BLW weaning book before you start, Gil Rapley's one is the best and I think only book on the subject. There is no cookbook, you don't need one, it is a feedign philosophy not a collection of recipes. There are safety things you need to consider like can your baby sit upright un-supported? If they can then you are good to go, if not you have to wait. If your highchair reclines at all it will not be suitable, you will have to feed with the baby on your lap. My first highchair had a recline feature and it caused my kiddos to slightly lean back when fully upright, which is so not safe. No I use a portable one as it is the most upright I can find (we have a phil n teds Metoo). I started with dinner with my 6 month olds as they usually had a nap when we were having lunch, so choose a time when they are awake and you are having a meal at the same time. You have to eat with them. Alot of BLW is about the baby watching and learning from what you do, also it is a safety thing. You can not get up and go do something else while they are eating you have to stay there and wait no matter how long they take, and they will takes ages to eat some days and other days it will be on the floor before it even looks like they have started. The first meal they had was potato wedges, steamed broccoli and roast chicken legs. It is perfectly safe to give a small baby a large bone like a chicken leg, it is not safe to give them wings which have smaller bones. Roasted potato wedges are crisp on the outside so they are easy to hold but soft inside so they are good to gum. Broccoli florets have a natural handle and babies love the tatse. Bananas peeled whole are a great first BLW food, but for the first week they will get frustrated as they drop it and it slips out of their hands. All totally normal. I have never squished or mashed anything and we do not do any form food marketed towards babies, no baby yoghurt or oatmeal. Gagging is 100% normal and is not a sign of un-readiness or inability. If you baby can sit upright unsupported and can pick up food and put it in their mouth (if they steal it off your plate) they are ready. Babies gag because their gag center in their mouth is so much more forward than an adults is. As you grow it moves further back. If they are upright and are able to put food in their own mouths at their own pace they will not choke, we have only had choking once. She unexpectantly bit off too much strawberry and then got a fright, leaned back and the strawberry got stuck, we applied simple first aid for choking and out it came. Also none of mine have had teeth when starting. Those gums are hard and you will be very very surprised how much food they can eat with no teeth, even meat. The only foods I limit are honey (before 1 year) and salt. They had curry and chilli not long after starting solids and they loved it. __________________ Helen. New Zealand living, cloth nappy using and making. Totally addicted to knitting. Mum of Samuel (11/05), Mollie (6/08), Meghan (5/10) and Benjamin (17/1/2013) born 19 weeks 2 days.