Baby Led Solids Chatter #4

Hi, I'm new around here, I've been reading through a few posts and just wanted to say hello.

I stumbled upon baby led solids/weaning while I was pregnant with my DD, who is now 4.5 months, and at the time thought it was a great idea. I've done quite a lot of reading around it, bought the book and spent some time looking it up online too.

For the last few weeks my little girl has been really interested in food and in the last week or two wanted to touch it all the time. I'm aware that she's probably a bit young to be starting BLS, but last weekend my DH and I were eating crisps and dips and she was getting really frustrated and trying to get some too. In the end I decided to chop up some cucumber into sticks and leve it within her reach to see what she did. She took a piece and put it straight in her mouth and had a good old suck for quite a while, she managed to gnaw all the seeds off but spat them down her front. Seeing how much she'd enjoyed that, the next day when we were eating some fruit we gave her some mango and apple. The apple was fine as she could treat it in much the same way as the cucumber, but the mango was way too soft so she smushed it around the plate with her hand and then took her mouth down to the plate and sucked it! Since then I've also tried giving her some avocado, steamed carrots and zuchini, both raw and steamed, and some banana.

She's sucking the harder foods and seems to be really enjoying doing that, but the softer foods, including the steamed veggies are just making her really frustrated, and then when she does figure it out, which admittedly has been with a little guidance from us - I know this isn't the best idea, she likes the first taste, wants more, but then ends up gagging.

I don't know what to do - whether to carry on or wait until she's a bit older. On the one hand she was definitely trying to get the food and seems interested, on the other she seems very young compared to most of the stories I've read on here, and the last thing I want to do is introduce it to her too early, give her bad experiences and put her off completely. I was hoping that some of you might be able to give me your opinions.

Cheers :)

:welcome: Balmaingal - first of all - yes the official stance is 6 months to allow the toungue reflex to go and the gut to be mature enough to handle food and that baby is choosing to eat by themselves. That being said, I also hold the opinion that like every other skill that babies learn it will happen at a different rate to the next. So going by that, I think if she is able to pick up a piece of food and suck on it in her own time, then stick with that. You say that you have been 'helping', which I would try not to do to make sure that this happens all at her developmental rate. So if she is gagging on the softer stuff because you are helping her pick it up and put it in her mouth then it sounds like she isn't ready for that. But if she can pick the harder stuff up and suck on it all by herself, I think let her go for it. To her they are just tasty toys. Gradually introduce the softer foods later. The thought also crossed my mind that perhaps her teeth are beginning to shift and she is looking for things to cool her gums which is why she spat the seeds of the cucumber back out. To her it isn't yet natural to swallow, but the sucking is soothing. And if that is the case then just stick with those foods that are cooling and soothing for her.

My DS started at 5.5 months - he could have possibly started earlier but I held him off for about 2 weeks. We started with the steamed carrots and straight away he had no issue picking them up, sucking and swallowing them. I also held off giving him anything but steamed vegies until he turned 6 months, and then I gave him bits of just about everything we had including meat.

Hope that helps!

Welcome Balmaingal :) Ditto to what MT said ;)

A quick question about oranges. I only realised the other day that DS has never had orange. I don't eat them, and he's been so busy with all the summer fruits, melons and bananas that I didn't even think about it until I took him to a day care centre (for a visit as he's starting next week) and she asked if he had orange (as they wont give them anything they've never had before). Is it a bit harder for them to break up with no teeth? He's managing meat really well now and we haven't had any gagging incidents for quite a while, so I think I could possibly give an orange a go. I don't know. I had an incident with an orange where I couldn't break it up and it got stuck when I was a kid and that's why I don't eat them now, so that's always in the back of my mind too.

Megan - they tend to cut them up small enough at daycare for the breaking up not to be an issue. I also think they make sure that they are really ripe and juicy. I don't eat oranges either, but I just gave Jett one of those thin slices they use at restaurants for garnishes and that was his first orange experience. The whole trying is to reduce the incidence of surprise reactions. Jett only had his two bottom teeth until after he turned 1, and I know he was eating oranges before this so I don't think the teeth are any reason to avoid it.

Remember also that part of BLS is allowing our bubs to explore food themselves without us putting our prejudices on them. So it is a good idea to offer some orange to your DS, but if you feel uncomfortable about it, then ask someone else you trust without the same hang-ups to supervise this trial. Then if he is getting them at daycare you don't have to feel guilty about not feeding them to him. I had to do it this way with fish - salmon and tuna, for Jett. But as it turns out he doesn't like them anyway!! But he does like oranges even though I don't!!

That's an idea MT. I'll just get DH to do the orange thing! He eats oranges and tangelos, so he doesn't have a problem. I'll buy some tomorrow and we'll give it a go. I don't want him to have the same hang ups as me so the sooner the better I think. Now that you mention it, the orange at day care was cut into segments with all the white cut off it and it did look very juicy (even looked appealing to me! lol).

He wants to eat everything at the moment. If someone is eating (even strangers) he starts squealing and reaching out for food. Anyone would think we don't feed him!! I was at a meeting this morning and a little girl next to us was eating chocolate cake. He's never had anything like that but I had to take him away before he screamed the place down! Poor starving boy!! ;)

Hehe! Jett does that too. We can be eating the same thing and he still wants what we have!! So we have to give him bits of ours, even though his plate is full of the same stuff!! Aahh, they make you laugh if nothing else!

Hi all, I thought I'd pop in here because we'll be starting DS on solids soon, as he is going through a tin of formula a week and our CHN said there was no harm in letting him start a very small amount now.. Can anyone give me any information at all on starting?? Thanks ladies

Hi LJ! BLS probably isn't the way to start this young. See my post a couple up. They can only do BLS if they are physically ready, ie. they can pick the food up and suck/chew and swallow it by themselves with no assistance. At your DS's age it would be highly unlikely that he could do this, which is why it is recommended from 6 months up. I'm not much help with feeding the other way though as we never did. But you can certainly do BLS as soon as he is physically able to though :D. What did your CHN recommend doing?

Hi girls! Just came in looking for some inspiration, out of food ideas! We need a thread with BLS recipes! Or is there already one I'm missing??

LJ- there's some articles on kellymom about starting solids and how to tell if they're ready if you're interested. I would suggest not starting early as that is the recommendation these days. If you do though you will have to do the puree thing rather than BLS as he won't be able to feed himself yet as MT said! I love your sig pic!

Thanks ladies - I thought I'd just hang around here seeing he's only around 2 months away from trying the BLS.
Heaven, thanks :) I'm changing the sig pic once every two/three months :)
MT - Thanks hun - My CHN said to start him on something very small but only once a day, but I'm probably gonna wait until next week when he's closer to the 4 month mark

Heaven - I don't think there is a particular thread for recipes, but I haven't been hunting for that kind of thing. In the past it just gets posted in the middle of the chatter thread which of course gets lost as the thread moves on. I agree that we need something a little more dedicated for BLS recipes. A couple of people said a page or two back about the AWW Healthy Babies recipe book.....if i remember correctly!! I tried looking for that book and i can't find it. Where do i get it??

LJ, you are more than welcome to hang out here until William is ready to start BLS properly!

LJ, as the others have said, the guidelines on BLS recommend after 6 mths when you see certain signs of readiness (I've known of some babies on BLS who didn't start feeding themselves until even later than that and my DD was not interested for the first month or so either - so 7 mths). The advantage of BLS is that since your baby is feeding themselves there is no concern about whether internally their digestive system is ready or not, because they are setting the pace.

The thread with some links to guidelines, etc is here: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...uidelines.html

Hey ladies, thought i would join this thread, we're doing a bit of both with DD, some BLS, some mashed up foods i give to her.

I must admit i am a bit paranoid about her choking on food...so far with vegies she has really only had cooked zucchini, I'm even too scared to give her cooked carrot. She's chewed on a chop bone once but we don't have them that often and when we have dinner she is in bed. I've also given her some soft fruits (peach, nectarine, banana) and she has had watermelon once but kept choking on it. Guess I just need some reassurance that she will be ok, I know it'sonly early days with solids but I want to make sure I'm doing the right things and won't turn her into a fussy eater (I was terrible when I was a kid!). having trouble trying to fit food into our day as well...too close to a bottle and she won't have the bottle, too close after and she's not interested in food.

:welcome: SSStorm - I'm sure your DD is doing just fine!!

In terms of choking it is best to become really familiar with the differences between choking and gagging and how to handle them. Briefly -

Choking = turning blue, not breathing, no crying, no gasping etc. For this it is best to know what to do by going to a first aid course. I was told at my course to lay them over your lap face down and try to dislodge any food in their mouth, and then proceed to sharp upward blows with the heel of your hand in the middle of their back if the choking continues. DO NOT PANIC! Knowing how to do this will make you feel more confident that you know how to handle a choking incident.

Gagging = turning red, tears in eyes, gasping, still breathing, crying etc. babies have a fantastic gag reflex, far better than adults and are easily able to bring food back up to start again. This can take a bit of time, and they also may be eerily quiet while doing this but give them time and again DO NOT PANIC!! Babies don't panic - they don't think they are about to die, they just concentrate on that bit of food that just won't go down, to bring it back up and start again. If you panic and rush at them you actually risk them taking that sharp intake of breath which could actually cause them to choke by lodging the piece of food further down their throats.

I have said many times in here, that getting the book "Baby-led Weaning" by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett was the best thing I did in the beginning. It really gave me the confidence to jump fully in to BLS. They explain the difference in gagging and choking and offer reassurances that the babies do know what they are doing - you just have to trust them! You are more likely to have a fussy eater if you don't gain the confidence to go with BLS, because she will pick up on your anxieties and then start to do battle with you.

I was (still am) a super fussy eater, but DS has no issues with eating. He gets offered all sorts of food, and some he likes and some he doesn't , but that that's ok because he always tries the food and makes the decision by himself as to what food he will eat. That way food is food, and no big deal and certainly not worth battling with Mum or Dad over.

As for timing with food, we started by just offering food at anytime we were eating. It didn't matter if it was close to bf time or not, it was just about the inclusion with us for mealtimes and learning about the texture and taste of food. Puree/spoon feeding method is actually more likely to disturb the milk feeds because you are aiming to fill her up, whereas BLS is about experimenting to begin with. If your DD does solely BLS for a meal, and then refuses a bottle you can then offer the milk a little later knowing that she has a full tummy with nutritious food. Any time you start offering solids you can expect the milk feed routine to change, as they make the slow transition from exclusive milk to exclusive solids. If you give her solely BLS and she barely swallows a morsel but then gobbles down her milk you still know that she has a full tummy with nutritious food IYKWIM. That is the real beauty about BLS - it happens at a pace that suits your little one, rather than forcing it to happen.

I hope that helps you a little. We are all very supportive in here so any questions, fears etc you have we are all more than happy to offer our support, opinions and experiences. We all have to start as nervous beginners at some stage! :D

Hi ladies - we are starting BLS (very slowly) here. DD was 6 months old on 9th Feb (4.5months corrected).

So we are going slow because DD was 6 weeks prem. I like the idea of BLS and have been reading up on it but I don't think I have read enough... so I may ask questions that have been asked over and over again - hope you don't mind.

We have tried so far - steamed broccoli florets (DD sucked on them), chicken breast fillets sliced into finger sized strips (these got sucked on also) and sweet potatoe & BM mash... I did kind of feed this to her but only a little bit then she put her hand into it and put her hand in her mouth.

The next day we tried mango in a mesh feeder (have no idea if that qualifies as BLS)

I think we will give today a miss as I just do not feel comfortable yet... I just feel something is stopping me from wanting to do solids so I think I might be better to wait but thought I would ask you lovely ladies as I have recently been diagnosed with PND and may not be the best judge of things atm.

She really hardly ate anything and I know that it is about exploring and learning atm. She still has a very strong tongue thrust. Can sit propped up and is interested in food (tries to grab things we are putting in our mouths but then again she would try to grab anything we have).

I can't really describe how I feel... I am happy to see her feeding herself and trying new things but I struggle because I feel I have NFI what I am doing. I think I will look into the book MummyTummy mentioned in the post above... hopefully that will calm my nerves.

So after all of that... I am going to give DD a BF and look up that book

Tk - sounds like you are doing fantastically. If she still has the strong tongue thrust then don't get too concerned about how much she is swallowing - it will go down when she is developmentally ready. Prems do tend to be a bit slower at starting, but that is good - because then you know they truly are ready!! Try to think of the food as toys instead. They are new interesting toys and babies always put toys in to their mouths to explore them. And as for asking questions, that's why this thread is here!!! And you do have an idea of what you are doing! I don't think you have walked in to BLS blindly! BLS is a fairly big concept to grasp, mainly because it isn't mainstream (yet :p) and the idea of letting a tiny baby choose what they eat, and when they eat and how much they eat is so far removed from our culture which is why most Mums feel a bit strange and nervous about starting. But once you see the proof, it will all click in to place. You are also likely to have more confidence than those going with puree/spoon feeding who have to keep working out what to feed, what combinations to try, when to move to what texture, when to let them try to feed themselves etc.

And this goes for everyone-: Trust your baby - let them lead the way! Trust yourself, you are doing the best you possibly can for them!

Thanks Jennifer - I'll definitely have a read of it.

I'm just gonna keep reading in here to get ideas, and ask questions even before I start, so as to what I might expect.

Lj, I read a really interesting article by Gill Rapley recently. She talked about the issue of starting BLS before 6 months. She said the theory of BLS is that babies won't actually eat anything until they are ready, they will just play and explore. However in practise, adults, be it parents, friends or other relatives might put food in the baby's mouth. This could be by a parent who thinks baby has been eating or by a relative or family friend trying to help. So she sees starting BLS before 6 months as a risk and advises against it.

I hope this helps explain things for you.