Heaven - beware of too many blueberries, they will stain. It turns the poo a purple colour LOL
Ezymay- With DD if at dinner time she doesnt eat what we put in front of her, I only give her something else if she hasnt eaten much all day. More so that she will learn that she has what we have for dinner because I am not going to cook 2 meals every dinnertime. In saying that I wont ever make her finish whatever is on her plate, as long as she eats some of it Im happy
Ezymay, I would be a bit wary of giving her something else. I did that with DS1 when he was that age and I ended up with a child who would only eat 7 things. He would never even try anything else because he knew that I would also give him a yoghurt, banana or sandwich etc, one of the things he liked if he just held out for it. When I stopped doing that, it took a while, but he started eating other things. It was amazing the things that he actually liked once he tried them!
Many kids at that age are not big eaters. It can be very worrying and I know your instinct is telling you to feed her. However, kids generally eat what they need, so there is a good chance she is getting enough. Remember that the first year is the period of the biggest growth, so their nutrition needs are at their highest in the first months. Once the growth rate slows down, the nutrition need changes also. You will most likely find that she has times where she eats a lot, and other times when she seems to eat very little. When you look at her intake over a week though, it's usually surprising how much they are actually having.
If the not eating phase goes on for a while and you are worried, you can have a chat to your MCHN or a paediatric dietician. There are vitamin drops for kids which can help with providing nutrients for kids who might not be having enough, and usually these stimulate the appetite as well so that she well might eat more as well. Most of the time though, these aren't necessary.
Hi! I am going to jump on board this thread. E is 6 months next week and I am going to give BLS a go.
So far she has eating about a quarter of a cruskit, and some banana. I thought about putting avacado on a cruskit onight, or maybe some broccoli????
Ok, DH and I are totally amazed! She's so clever. 3rd try of solids and she just picks up a piece of cauliflower and chews and chews and chews and swallows!! How on earth does she know how to swallow already?? It's so amazing they can do this! So glad I tried it! I definitely feel confident now that she was ready.
Meg- glad you're going to try it, it's fun! Broccoli is a good one.
Ok, I'm in here REALLY early I know (DS is only 2 months old LOL) but this BLS stuff is soooo interesting and sounds like great fun. I can't wait until DS is ready for solids, have been looking forward to it from day one, so I though why not jump on board and learn as much as I can from you all before we get there. DP and I both love food, really enjoy cooking and trying different things, and I want out kids to have the same appreciation and willingness to give different things a try. Sounds like thats the philosophy behind BLS?? So I hope you don't mind if I stalk the thread for a while and ask questions before we even get started
Heaven, broccoli was always one of my DD's favourites from early on, too. She's about the only toddler I know who now thinks any vegetable that is green is good!!
Heaven - Sounds like she is really enjoying it! Don't panic about the gagging, Jett did that with any new foods but once he had it once or twice he began to understand the different textures and how to eat them. It is just something they will learn. And it doesn't take long!! Sounds like she is definitely ready - that is how she knows how to swallow! Jett was the same - 5.5 months with all the signs. And we got the right time because he has just thrived since introducing solids. Jett didn't and still doesn't like broccoli though!! Carrots was his fave for a while!!
Ezymay - your DD is busy discovering lots of other things at this age, eating may take a back seat, but she won't starve herself. She will eat when she is ready. I always serve 2 courses - main and dessert. Main is generally whatever we have and dessert consists of yoghurt, custard and/or fruit. I kind of figure if he knows it is coming, and it is good for him, then if he waits for that then it is no big deal. This way we don't enter in to power plays, because food and sleep are really the only thing that they can control, so more likely to rebel against the 'rules' in order to assert themselves. The other thing is sometimes they may not be feeling 100%, or they may be just too tired to want to eat. But if it persists for every single meal over an extended amount of time then you may want to talk to a paed. HTH
Megiemoppit - it sounds like you already are doing BLS!! Anything goes on toast and cruskits! And always much easier for bubs to grip and feed themselves! Well done!
Lollybaby - ask away!! It is one of my favourite subjects to talk about!! As I have told many people on this thread before, I bought a book called "Baby-led Weaning" by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett which gave me the confidence to dive right in to it. Fantastic read and reference. I have lent it out to so many people and they have all returned it saying that the info in it "just made sense". And I am pleased to say that they all now do BLS and are loving it!! And so are their bubs!!
I am going to maybe try broccoli tomorrow. does anyone else find that they omly hold it for a min or two then lose interest when they first start out? E will chew on the biscuit for about a min then toss it! She seems to enjoy me feeding it to her (which is really not BLS, but not purees either!)
She liked the avacado today. I put it on cruskits. I also fed her some apples (again not BLS) but she loved it!
hey girls- thought i would jump on this thread as well
starting to convert to BLS!
At the moment Boof is 6 1/2 month- been eating purees for 6 weeks now but have been slowly introducing BLS finger food at every dinner time and now starting to do some finger foods at other times as well
Boof is eating a bowl of pureed vegies and another bowl of fruit each meal and then he is also eating whatever we are eating as well as finger food. Tonite he ate roast turkey in pieces, 2 roast potatoes and he tried a piece of sweet potato- all on top of his 2 bowls of purees
My concern is that he is a hungry boy and a big boy- and worried that BLS wouldnt be enough to fill him up at this stage. He is on 3 meals a day and i B/feed him usually around 30-60 mins before i offer him solids. He is still demand fed so b/feeding between 6-8 feeds a day as well- whenever he wants it
When i feed him purees he cracks it when i cant get it into him quick enough and tries to pick up the whole bowl to tip straight into him mouth lol
What do you guys think?
BTW he has no teeth yet so it makes the whole finger food eating process a little slower as well as he has to gum it do chew it lol
thanks girls!
My baby girl Tess is nearly 7 months old, bottle fed and not even remotely interested in food. At our centre in the 'Introduction to Solids' lesson, we were given handouts on pureed foods and advised on rice cereal and the like, not even told about BLW.
Tess is the only one in my mum's group not into solids. She gags, closes her mouth, avoids eye contact with me and then gets upset and pushes the bowl away. Obviously I stop. I've been persisting for about a month daily with pureed pumpkin, apple and pears, bananas and avocados and she's just not into it. We've gotten to the point where she doesn't like her high chair and hates the red bowl and spoon. :-(
The main problem is she's gone from waking once a night at 3am for a feed to waking 4 times a night and 'snacking' on half bottles which is a little frustrating, so I was thinking she's obviously hungry. It could just me a growth spurt though.
So I'm thinking of just sitting her in a chair with a couple of foods to pick at and see how we go. It seems I should just relax and let her go for it. What would you guys recommend as first foods with this approach?
Also does anyone have any advice on getting her through the night? I was thinking of trying to get an extra bottle into her late afternoon?
I really want her to love food as much as her father and I do!!
Babies are all ready for food at different ages. My first DS was nearly 1 before he had any interest in solids, whereas my second DS loved fodd from the first time I gave him some at 6 months. It sounds like your DD is more like my first DS!
One of the things I regret with Jack, is that I tried so hard to get him to eat. I am sure that I actually made his eating worse. Your little girl is still very young and milk is the main source of nutrition for her. I think your idea to offer her finger foods to help herself to is a good one. I would also say to you, with the benefit of my experience, that it is best not to stress about how much she is eating - or even if she is eating at all. Just keep giving her milk (I wouldn't increase the number of bottles though or you might delay her interest in solids too much) and offering food. You don't even to offer food every day - if she's not interested today, it's ok to wait a week or two before trying again.
Unfortunately at your DD's age, night wakings are very common. This is more likely related to all the development she is undergoing at this time - her brain is learning to be more aware and process more, and most likely she is getting ready to move around more - crawling if she is not already, then pulling herself up and then walking. It is not a sign that she needs solids - more likely she needs the milk more frequently, or just the comfort of knowing you are there when she wakes. It does pass sooner or later - if you lucky it will be sooner!
Oh thanks for that, I feel so much better about it now. To be honest, looking at the rice cereal mush, I'm not surprised she doesn't like it.
My fear is that she will just hate mealtimes and as SJ and I both love to cook and entertain and eat anything going, having a fuss-pot is definitely not the goal!
She's not a real 'sucky' baby though, she doesn't really explore things by sticking them in her mouth yet. She's a visual and touchy-touchy girl. It will be much more fun to introduce foods this way rather than forcing her to eat two teaspoons of gruel over 40 minutes!
I may have to look at that book MummyTummy said was great. I've just checked out Gill Rapley's website and it looks great.
Mamasanace - yes letting her explore the food at her own pace sounds just perfect. Let her treat food like toys for now. Offer her lots of different tastes and textures because it is all part of her learning. To start with you can try anything you want. We started with steamed carrot sticks, then quickly moved on to whatever we were having. Toast is good for smearing mushy stuff on because it is easy for them to pick up and hold, but don't be scared by the stuff that seems too slippery on its own. You will be amazed at how quickly they adapt and figure out some way to get it to their mouths. DS was able to pick up a cube of ice within two weeks of starting. I struggle with that!!!! Be prepared for mess and let it all just unfold. (splat mats under the highchair are a fantastic idea too) You are right, the more you try to force it on her, the more she is likely to enter a power play with you, especially if she is an independant baby. Make mealtimes relaxed and social too. Eat at the same time and have some of the same foods. And also try not to stare at her, just chat and have conversations just as you would if you were eating with your partner or a friend. Eventually she will just copy and join in the fun. And resist all temptation to 'help' her, this includes trying to pick up food she has dropped or got smeared all over her eyebrows!! And above all, if you ever have questions just jump on here and ask, I know it can be a bit daunting when you start because the practice of BLS is just not widely known. I wouldn't have known about it at all if it wasn't for these threads and I would have gone down the path of purees!
There is a little girl at DS daycare who had the same issues and it got to the point where she was starting to refuse her milk feeds too. Her mother was at her wits end, so daycare told her about Jett and how he eats, and suggested that it might be something for her to try. So she gave it a go, and now she happily eats in her own time at her own pace, there are no more power plays and everybody is happy.
Ok joining in on this thread - DD is almost 7 months and we've been doing solids for about a month now - she loves avacado, farex with breastmilk, and potato (foods fork mashed). I'm going to try her with some steam broccolli today and see how we go!
ask away!! It is one of my favourite subjects to talk about!! As I have told many people on this thread before, I bought a book called "Baby-led Weaning" by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett which gave me the confidence to dive right in to it. Fantastic read and reference. I have lent it out to so many people and they have all returned it saying that the info in it "just made sense". And I am pleased to say that they all now do BLS and are loving it!! And so are their bubs!!
didnt go as well as id hoped but theres always tomorrow 
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