Baby Led Solids Chatter #3

[Sammiejane]

Hi Guys,

i hear you on your concerns, for several months i was concerned that MJ was not eating enough, but stuck at it, she now at the ripe old age of 13 mths will consume more than most toddlers her age, her FDC lady is amazed at her dexterity and love of food and can not get over the fact that she really is trying so hard at feeding herself with a spoon at this age.

Yor are NOT starving your baby at 7 months by not giving them purred food.
many babies in days of old were not even started on foods until much later (granted this was a very long time ago) so too babies of other cultures...
Babies up until 12mths should get the majority of their nutrients from the milk that they are given, milk feeds should not be cut back to allow for greater eating.

At around the age of 6-7 months MJ started night waking for a feed, it is very common in BF babies, i chose to go with the flow and get up and feed her when she needed it rather than encourage too much solid food. this lasted several months and again my CMH reassured me that this is normal.

Please rememebr the benefits of why you chose BLS girls, its for the long term, you are teaching the good eating habits, decreasing their chance of obesity, decreasing the fussiness surrounding food and increasing their learning oppertuinities.

BF is also about comfort, MJ has been sick (along with me) this last week and although we are down to 3 full feeds a day (5am, 3pm and 7pm) she wanted signifaicantly more feeds and pulled at my top and did her half laugh half cry noise that she saves for letting me know that she needs BB!!! I think that she had 5 feeds yesterday (man was i dry at the end of the day!!!)

Also in times of growth spurts they will want more milk... its all they have known in their short life, whenever they have a growth spurt coming, they instictivtly know to feed more so that they increase supply so that they get more... we are introducing solids to them, they still dont know that they can derive as much or more energy from the solid food - that comes with time.

Missymoo, i am not at all saying that what you have done is wrong, please dont think that i am, you need to do what is right for you and your bubs...

Be guided by your baby, if you think that she is still hungry but refusing to eat, maybe try something else... They ahve a unique instinct of being attracted to the foods that contain the nutritional value that they need...
Also another thing to look at... babies should not be on a low fat diet at all, if your meal is low fat then you may need to make some changes to the meal that you bubba is having...

Until about 10 months MJ had separate meal to us, primarily because she ate a lot earlier than us (i found that if she ate to close to bed time she would wake in the night), so these meals that i made ususally were of Pasta/rice/potato with a sauce and meat and veg... these sauces were often 'puree' form but over the top of the pasta made it perfect for messy BLS!!!

Hollye on another note, have you tried melons??? these are a hit with almost every baby i know, watermelon is MJ's fav, but i am careful with it as it is High GI so she gets hungry again soon after it, i usually offer other fruits with it.
Grapes, pealed and halved initiually and then once they get the hang of it they can have them whole.
kiwi is also great
MJ will only eat a firm banana, if it is alittle brown on the skin she wont eat it - i think the flavour is too strong.

Re Bread... MJ goes through stages of liking it and then refusing it... i guess its her instint telling her what she needs and what she does not..

Right i should do some work, sorry for the novel

[Jennifer13]

My DD had only BLS and ate like a horse. It took her no time at all to learn to chew or gum the food to swallow. From 7 mths she was very interested in food. She even started holding her own spoon from about 8 mths and would shovel just about all of her yoghurt into her mouth. I was amazed that we had some mess, but nowhere near as much as I expected. She also learnt to regulate her intake - she only had what she felt like (which I think sets her up for better eating habits as she goes on). Spoon feeding a baby pureed food is a bit like bottle feeding in that the baby will continue to take in what's being put in its mouth.

I watched a lot of docos that dealt with kids who had eating problems and only wanted to consume purees at 2 and 3 years of age and that put me right off using them! I'm not suggesting that is what all babies do if given purees, just that it underlined why I was happy with my choice to go with BLS.

Like all parenting situations, BLS is a choice and is not something that every parent chooses. But your baby will get enough food and milk by following BLS. A baby can be unsettled for any number of reasons and you may find a tooth comes through or a developmental milestone is achieved soon after. Increased demand for bm is a good thing in a less than 12 mth old, as it means they are trying to get their most nutritious food first. I realise it doesn't work for everyone to keep up with this demand.

[Captain]

I just wanted to pop in and say hello. It's been so hard to get on here recently.

Ashlyn has starting waking for 2 -3 feeds at night again. It's good to know that it's normal at this age. Hopefully she settles soon, I'm soooo tired. She is doing really well with her food. Absolutely loves meat and it's good for me because she sucks on it for ages and I can actually finish my own meal, lol.

[MummyTummy]

:yeahthat: I have to agree with SJ. BLS is about the whole eating thing, for now and in the future. It is certainly working for us, Jett has been stacking the weight on since we started.

I think the hard thing is that we do BLS, and sometimes bubs don't eat everything, and we don't have anything different to offer so they don't eat. This means they try to make it up with extra booby feeds. But because we are on solids, booby feeds may have decreased which means less milk overall. So it really can become a bit of a balancing act.

And then you find yourself comparing your bubs eating habits with those on puree. Those Mums sit there, having a conversation with you while shovelling puree on a spoon into their bubs mouths, while they are playing and not concentrating on what they are doing. Sure they are getting that food in to them, but the babies aren't learning about food and good eating habits. My SIL still follows my nephew about the house shovelling food in his mouth while he is playing and doing other things. He is 2. Not something I want to be doing. The other night we were all at dinner together and Jett was sitting in the highchair concentrating on his food and getting it in to his mouth and stayed there happily eating. My nephew cried and whinged and got down from the table and ran around so that someone always had to be away from their dinner to look after him. Then when he finally did sit at the table he had to have food put in his mouth for him. I'm sorry, but by the age of 2 I would expect that my children could feed themselves. By no means do I expect everything to be eaten, but mealtimes should never be a chore.

So I think if you are concerned about how much they are getting, it is def a valid concern, but perhaps rather than go completely to jars, try offering thick, lumpy food (mashed with a potato masher rather than whizzed in the blender). That way they won't get used to smooth puree, because so many bubs find that a bad habit to break. Otherwise look at what you are feeding them. If you are only feeding vegies and fruit, you are feeding them something that you would eat if you were on a diet. So we go by the food pyramid. And of course be careful with foods that may be high in salt (this includes most bread) because this will make them extra thirsty.

But of course you know your baby and you have to do what is right by them, and MissyMoo I'm not judging your decision, it is your call. If you think you are struggling with your milk supply, I take Fenugreek to help with this. It just keeps it up at a good level because I found my supply was dropping just before we started solids, which meant that he was trying to feed more often, but shorter burst which just didn't help anything. Since starting the Fenugreek I have not had any milk issues and Jett feeds well. Just thought I would mention it in case you needed some help in that department!

Right, I had better go and do some housework, but just wanted to help remind people why we are here in this thread. Don't give up, just play and adjust it a little if you need to! And of course we are all here to discuss any issues you may be having, so please don't be shy!

Mwah!

ETA - Yep, agree with Jennifer too!

Oh and I forgot to mention that Jett has been waking up at night too, but it doesn't worry me, because BF babies do tend to want extra feeds, because they are so much bigger and more active and BM is so quick to digest that it really is no wonder they want more. And I think Bec you said that Grace wanted her booby after eating, you are probably spot on with the thirst thing and not wanting water. BF babies tend to prefer boob over sippy cup of water for quenching thirst. Probably because they like the comfort of it.

[Visitor8]

I am already on fenegreek for expressing. I don't have supply issues, never have. In Ashtons case he just needed more then he was eating BLS way. I am still offering a lot of BLS foods, today he had wheetbix and banana for breakfast but then had some watermelon.
He has never slept through but since about 4 months wakes up to 5 times a night. He feeds then too, it's not comfort sucking.
Now he still feeds 5 or 6 times a day from both sides but not overnight and not as frequently during the day. I am happy as I am pretty sure he is getting plenty of BM too
I will be back in here no doubt once he has more teeth and can eat more things and will be fuller from the foods he is eating so he isn't starving all the time.
As for the healthy eating, mushed or not I think it has nothing to do with it. I didn't do BLS with my 4 and 5 year old but they are very healthy eaters and would choose a banana over a muesli bar. It's about teaching, not the way it's taught.
And I never followed them around feeding them. Food times were sitting and eating until they were full, not forcing food into their mouths or doing it while not paying attention.

[MummyTummy]

MissyMoo, sounds like you are doing the right thing, and like I said, you know what is right for Ashton and it is your call. My observations are based only on the people around me that I see and my post was for everyone perusing through this thread, not aimed directly at yourself, so please don't think that I am judging you.

[Sammiejane]

Mel - just reiterating that i was not having a go, nor was any of my comments directed at you and your personal choice.

My observations are based only on the people around me that I see and my post was for everyone perusing through this thread,

:yeahthat:

Please dont feel like you need to justify your actions, you are doing the right thing for you, your baby and your situation.

[Visitor8]

sorry. Just one of those days and I read it allllll the wrong way.

[MantaRay]

SJ, that was a great post. I think the thing to keep in mind for those worried about this issue, is the end goal. We all know that milk is the primary source of nutrition until 12 months, and we all know that some babies eat more than others (my own two sons are at either end of this scale). What we are trying to achieve at this stage is good eaters down the track. There is no competition to have the baby who eats the most or who sleeps through the night the earliest. What we want are first and foremost healthy kids, and then down the track healthy kids who are good eaters. BLS is a great tool to achieve this goal.

Some BLS babies might eat less (although not all, you should have seen DS2 eat at that age LOL and he hasn't stopped since!), but this doesn't matter. They are getting all the nutrition they need from bm, the lessons they learn from BLS are what's important, more so than the actual food they are eating. They are learning to eat according to their own appetite, not the quantity that someone thinks they should have and puts in their mouth for them. They are learning about texture and taste. They are learning valuable skills with learning to feed themselves.

I know this won't be the right option for everyone, and that's ok. But those who do feel that this is the right option for them shouldn't be worried if their children are eating less, provided they are showing all the signs of getting enough (you know, the wet and dirty nappies, putting on weight etc). Anecdotally for me, my BLS DS is a far, far better eater in terms of both quantity and variety than my non-BLS DS. I have no doubt that part of this is genetic, DS2 has been a better eater since the very first day I introduced solids. But I think BLS certainly played a part, and in no way harmed his appetite or growth.

HTH.

[beckoes]

alot of interesting posts the last few days, made me first of all question the way i have chosen to do things, which is easy when so many around me question it too, but i now feel very sure and happy with BLS and what my DD will gain from it! this is my first so i have very little experience with doing it any other way but this just feels natural and right for us! interesting to hear all the different stories and sittuations others are in. DD is currently sitting, eating a veggy pasta bake i made yesterday and LOVING it!!!