Baby Led Solids Chatter #3

Heaven - thats how DD started, she gagged on most things & pulled the poison face, but she just sucked on stuff the first couple of weeks

Thanks DB!

Just talking to my Nan on the phone who made me doubt myself (again) :( She asked if we'd given DD any food yet and I told her about yesterday. She said 'oooh I wouldn't be giving her banana without mashing it! They can choke easily on that and it's scary when they choke!' and was saying how her kids choked on arrowroot biscuits and you would have to get it out of their mouths and hit them on the back etc coz they were coughing and spluttering. She didn't listen to anything I said just saying 'I don't trust all their theories these days'. I know she's not right but after having her gag on the banana esp yesterday it still makes me doubt if I'm doing the right thing :(

On another note ewwwwwwwww.......... just discovered she did actually eat a little bit yesterday.

LOL at the ewwwww Heaven! It'll get worse yet. Has anyone warned you that banana poos look like they have worms in them at first, and that some food turn poo into a very alarming colour?

It is important that you are comfortable with the process hun, although even then people can do a great job of giving us doubts. Gagging is normal, but if you would feel better mashing a banana a bit first, or combining mash and finger foods, or whatever - that is all ok. The idea of infant led is that you work at their pace and allow them choices. It doesn't mean that you have to be uptight at every feed, or avoid anything on a spoon. Do whatever works for you hun :hug: You are doing a great job so far.

Thanks MR!
I think it must have been banana that she ate then!! haha. Gross! Oh I didn't think about the colour, is there anything that will stain her nappies??

I was thinking I might try a bit of mash today instead but didn't want to be feeding her it with a spoon and making her eat it if she didn't want to iykwim so I wasn't sure how to do it but I just realised I could just let her eat the mash with her hands! Messy, but anyway. I also have lots of stored EBM so that would be a good way to get rid of it. Now...what to mash...

Also, I hear alot about bubs being constipated when starting solids, is there anything I need to avoid?

You have totally the right idea hun. Mash with fingers will be messy, but a huge part of her learning about food is the texture etc, and playing with it is an important part of the process.

The best way to avoid constipation is to make sure that her milk intake doesn't drop. Some mums find that potato, banana and beans can cause constipation, but I don't think you need to avoid them altogether - she will only be having small amounts for a while so give things a try and if it seems to cause a problem then you give that food a miss for a while.

I don't think I had any problems with stained nappies - although I imagine beetroot could be interesting!

Thanks MR, I'm feeling more confident I'm on the right track.

Well, she just had her second 'meal'. I decided to try not to get put off after the first time and it was mainly the banana she had trouble with so I just didn't give her that again. Thought I'd try again without mashing anything and gave her some carrot, broccoli, and beans. And she was great!! I can't believe how much better she was after only 1 day! I dried them off a bit first so she could pick them up herself better and she had no trouble. She picked each one up and had a munch. Gagged a bit on the carrot but nothing bad, just coughed it back up and chewed more. Bit off a big hunk of broccoli and swallowed most of it!! DH and I heard a big gulp and just looked at each other amazed!! So I am feeling much better about it now. Got some good photos of her screwing up her face too, haha.

That's great Heaven! Well done!

Hi everyone,

I haven't been in here for a while but I need some advice. We have been doing BLS since the begining but DD isn't eating so well at the moment. if we cook a meal and she doesn't eat anything should I then give her something I know she will eat? SHe will be one in a couple of weeks..eek!

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!!

Sounds like your little one is doing really well.

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!! :lol:

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 - :welcome: 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!!

Thanks ladies,

That's what I was thinking I just wanted some other opinions!!!

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!

we tried DD on some steamed fingers of pumpkin today and she gagged and vomitted :( didnt go as well as id hoped but theres always tomorrow :lol:

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!! :D

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.

That sounds like a great plan Ace. Keeping mealtimes relaxed will help her to enjoy eating when she's ready.

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!

Good luck Dollyroux, let us know how you get on!

Hi all,
I ended up trying sweet potato sticks (baked in the oven) and banana. She seemed to really enjoy the sweet potato sticks but even though she had a couple of good sucks on that banana I don't think she was really into it. It is a fair bit messier then the puree but I've heard that will get better? I'll feed her avacado (mashed) tonight and then give her more food to feed herself with tomorrow!

Yep - it does get better. Jett was very messy in teh beginning, especially with the banana, but it just takes time to work out what pressure to hold it at. He could hold a banana and eat it without mess about 2 weeks after he started. The more practice the better!

Also if she didn't seem to be that into it, don't worry, just keep offering it. Sometimes you will need to offer it 20 or so times before they actually pick it up and eat it.

Also if she is used to being spoon fed she might find this method completely foreign and just put it in the too hard basket and expect you to feed it to her. So stick with it, the more practice and the more different tastes and textures the more fun she will have! :D

Thanks MT.

I'm still doing a mix of spoon feeding and BLS - do you think that matters?
Today we had broccoli - and that WAS messy but she seemed to really like it. Tomorrow I think pumpkin, if I get a chance, or maybe some toast? Hmmm.

You are doing a great job Dollyroux. It is fine to spoon feed and offer finger foods - whatever works best for you is the way to go.

Thanks MantaRay! It's nice to get some positive feedback that it's okay to mix n match so called 'stlyes' of introducing solids. In some ways taking this approach - even though it's only been a few days, has made me more relaxed about giving her food. Her Granny was having some cheese today and I just let her try some, where as I think if we were just on pureee/mash I wouldn't have.

Hi all,

Just really here to sort out my thoughts I think.
So far BLS is going well - I'm finding it hard to adjust my mind set to 'just let her explore' from 'get food into her'.
I'm also finding it hard to offer her what I eat - espcially for breakfast - as I usually have muesli. So I've just been cutting up fruit for her instead.

As far as dinner goes, her bedtime is 7:00 (with a breastfeed at 6.30) so she's not eating dinner with us (I'm usually offering it to her at about 5pm). I had been roasting veges seperatley for her, but I'm just going to start making extra for dinner and offering it to her the next night.

I'm a little reluctant (sp?) to do BLS when out and about at other peoples houses because I feel that its' not fair to ask them to let her drop food all over their floor! Any thoughts on that or suggestions? So I've just been spoon feeding her when at someone elses house.

I find after about half an hour of sitting their with the food she starts to get grumpy. If I clean it up and offer her toys shes perfectly happy. Has anyone else experienced this - seems like a pretty clear "I'm finished with this food squishin business Mum!" to me.

So far she has attempted - Mango (hard to pick up!), Boild potato in coins, Broccolli sticks (steamed then usually plunged into cold water - quite enjoys sucking the water out of the florets I think), Pumpkin sticks roasted - yummo!, Banana. That's it so far - I want to try her on some meat this week but accidentally ate all last nighs steak without keeping some for her.

That's it for the mo, hope all your little munchkins are enjoying their noms!

DR, it sounds like you are doing really well. It's ok not to offer the same foods all the time. Museli with some EBM or water or even dry is fine for her to have (you can give her a spoon if you are game or feeding her sometimes is ok too), or if you prefer to give her fruit or toast that's fine too. And at friends' houses it's really up to you. If you are more comfortable spoon feeding her there, that is just fine. It's whatever works for you hun - there aren't really hard and fast rules.

As for dinner, that's a good idea to use the dinner from the night before. My first DS was not a big dinner eater for a long time - he would just be too tired. So I did a similar thing - the left over dinner would be his lunch the next day instead. With dinner, it is important to DH and I for it to be a family meal, so we all eat at the same time wherever possible - sometimes we all eat at 5 or 5:30 on a weekend! But it did used to be hard when they were younger and couldn't stay up long enough for DH and I to get home from work. I think it gets easier as they get older.

Introducing meat is a good idea - it is now one of the foods that is recommended early on. GL with it!!

hi guys, if i give my little man (7 months) toast, should i cut it up into small pieces? do you put anything on the toast or just have it plain? thanks

DR - I used to do exactly the same thing with last night's dinner as you are, just keep enough aside as leftovers for her the next day. Makes life much easier! ;) TBH I don't remember not giving her whatever she normally ate when at other people's places, but then, we were usually home close to meal time so that I could get nap time done straight afterwards. You'll find she gets surprisingly good at feeding herself before too long and there's much less mess. It's easier to pick up one piece of potato from the floor than to deal with a mush that's been spilled everywhere anyway. I'm sure most people understand that babies are not the tidiest of eaters as they're still learning.

Ginger - I used to make toast soliders for DD when she was little, so that she could grab them easily.

DR- You sound like you're doing great! Our DDs were born on the same day!! I give DD what we're having when I can but turns out it's not actually that often. She has fruit for brekky, maybe a sandwich with avocado or something for lunch or some more fruit or veges, and veges for dinner and a bit of meat. She also tried some ravioli the other day which she liked, I just bought one of the rafferty's bolognaise baby foods and used it as a sauce, very messy!! When we stayed at my mums a couple of wks ago I just kept doing the BLS and during the day when it was warm she even ate outside in her highchair on the grass.

Ginger- I spread toast with avocado or banana and cut into fingers.

ginger i give M toast, i just give her the crusts

About time I came in here. We haven't really formally began solids, I guess. She will have something from our plates to chew on but isn't having any designated meals. She has had watermelon, cucumber, bread, banana, cooked broccoli and carrot so far. She is more into playing with it than eating it which is why rice cereal just isn't working for us (we tried it a few times over the last two weeks) so I don't think I will bother with that anymore.

I'm feeling a bit of pressure because she isn't really having much solids but I figure she will get into it more when she is ready? Just need a bit of reassurance!

Should I just keep going with the bit of food to play with when we are eating or should I be more structured with meals?

JB I think what you're doing is perfect! Take your cues from her, you will know what she needs.

Jitterbug, I started my DD at around 6 months and it took just over a month for her to go beyond playing to actively eating. Something just 'clicked' when she was ready and there was no stopping her! You are doing the right thing by letting her experience the new textures (and the odd taste!) without pushing her into eating the food before she's ready.