Baby Led Solids Chatter #4

I have posted some very cute messy pics of Leah on FB, if you dont have me my username is alioops86. Please let me know who you are in your request.

seen some they are very cute jamie likes to make a mess too

Just thought I'd pop in with a little update...

I continued to offer DD hard vegies every 2-3 days since I posted - I was a little cautious but she seemed to really be enjoying it, and as you suggested MT, I think this has a lot to do with the little swollen bumps that keep coming and going on her gums now!

We've been really careful not to 'help' at all which is a lot easier now we have a high chair with a tray so she can chase things around within her grasp. I am blown away by how much better she is handling things and with such accuracy already.

Yesterday I offered her some fresh fig as a new taste and she handled it really well in spite of the softer texture, no gagging, and this morning I found fig seeds in her nappy!

Yesterday was a big day for her as she also stole a cheese toastie from my plate. I was going to wait a few more weeks before introducing her to what we were actually eating ourselves, but she obviously had other ideas as she handled that really well too, so it looks like my days of just a simple BF are over - bring on the mess!

Re the recipes thread - We tend to cook a lot with no-no's like wine and salt, so I'm keen to have some new ideas that are more BLS friendly

We are doing well here, what a difference a month makes. She is managing her food much better now & still gagging a bit although not as much. She is chewing a lot more too.
Arlea had yoghurt for breakfast this morning & reallly enjoyed it! She also likes my cereal, although I don't know if it's suitable for babies - she does fine with it, I just worry about sugar & salt & stuff, so she just gets a bit atm with her cereal.
I have been brave enough to let her go with a banana on her own :lol: and she ate the entire thing.. a far cry from the days when she screwed her nose up at it!
Her favourite food is broccoli - the other night I took it out of the microwave & she started panting & grabbing for it, it was so cute! She had zucchini as well & it was ok, but she just loves her broccoli.
She also enjoyed chicken, I just took a bit of the breast & chopped it for her, & she shoveled it in :lol: it is so cute watching her do it herself, and there is no doubt she would rather feed herself.

We have done a few pureed jars when pressed for time - kids are back at football & dance etc so weeknights are hectic - but she really isn't interested. She eats much, much better when it's 'real' food she can feed herself. So I'm just trying to keep really organised.

Balmaingal, we also eat a bit that I don't think is always suitable for her, I worry about the salt content etc too. Tonight we are having lamb stew, I will add gravy etc - so I'll pull out a chop for her before I add the other stuff, but it's not always that easy, I am keen for ideas as well.

Alioops I have followed your lead :) & posted some pics on FB, if anyone wants to have a look, you will need to add me, just let me know you are from BB

ETA - I forgot to ask - what size pieces do you let your LO go with? I usually give Arlea something that's big enough for her to grasp & chew at the same time, but I get a bit worried when she bites off huge chunks - sometimes I will pull it out of her mouth, but I'm not sure if I should just let her go with it....

Jasp I saw your pics on FB. Bet that yoghurt was fun to clean up :lol:

We had apricot chicken for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I gave her a bit of chicken for lunch the next day, she seemed to like it. didn't actually eat much but had a good time sucking on it!
I haven't been doing a lot of BLS, mostly just at lunch with a sandwich, or today we had pizza.
I really need to do some fruit & vegie shopping so once we have some fresh stuff I'll probably do a bit more BLS.

Hi all, we started BLS about 3 weeks ago and DS is loving it! I just can't imagine doing anything else. When i see other mums forcing puree into their disinterested babies I feel really proud of what we are achieving. To be honest, i think I just got lucky with a really good eater - very happy!
We have tried lots of fruit and veges, although he is struggling with holding slippery things like banana, and struggling to really eat cucumber as its a bit hard - but he will suck it. He is not too keen on plums and nectarines, maybe they are too sour? Watermelon is the favourite, and he had cruskits a couple of times which he loved. Today i decided to add a second meal, so we tried porridge for brekky - he wasn't sure at first (feeds himself with a spoon) but ended up trying a few mouthfuls - he just keeps trying it naturally, which is cute. Its amazing how good they can be at getting things into their mouths. As a lot of you have experience, people see them eating and go 'oh wow' i never would have thought of that - he is having such fun. Just seems right. Definitely recommending it to all my friends :)
Kelly

Hello I'm just joining in here to get some ideas. I'm thinking about skipping the mashed stage and go straight to "real" food. Tristan is almost 9 months (few days :o ) he will tolerate peas and corn, so I was thinking about just giving him what we eat, but in his size.

Apart from the obvious allergy and choking hazards (nuts, honey, ect) is there anything in BLS that should be left for older or is it all ok now?

Is there anything you don't give your babies, for whatever reason?

Thanks

I'd potentially leave lettuce and other "leaf" salad vege type things for a bit - in case they get stuck to the roof of the mouth and they try to gag. DS tried to suck/munch on a piece of lettuce last night; alright to start with but did start gagging a bit later on because it was stuck to the roof of his mouth and it wouldn't move - had to use my finger to get it out in the end.

Cool Thanks Liz! Hadn't thought of the leafy stuff.

Oh I forgot to ask if it matters if he doesn't have any teeth yet? Still very much gummy grinned hehe

Gave him some cooked carrot sticks, pasta brocolli and cauliflower tonight and he handled it SO well!

sally - teeth or lack of them doesn't seem to be a problem. before DS had teeth he was very adept at gumming instead of chewing or even sucking the food (which he still does even with 6 teeth). it's amazing how well they can eat!

i think the main thing i work on is not giving food that is too small. i still give DS food that he can hold & suck/bite off the end so he takes as much as he can handle rather than me trying to determine that myself.

Thanks xx Other than peas and corn everything else is able to be held.

No teeth here, either but Miss Pie chews very well :)

I give everything either big or chopped up; last night we had lamb stew done in the slow cooker & the potato & carrot pieces were the wrong size for her, so I diced the lot & she just shovelled handfuls in.
I haven't given leafy stuff yet, either.

E eats everything - has done since six months. teeth (or lack of) was never an issue - she just uses her gums to chew more! when you think about it, most of our chewing is done at the back of our mouths (on the molars) and they dont get them til at least 12 months! so lack of teeth definitely doesn't impact them

surprisingly, the only thing E has really rejected is things with a mash texture (so mash potato, shepherds pie - if the meat is a bit dry like my mum makes - vegies mashed together) - but "real" food she loves.

we dont' "not" give her anything that we're having - if she wants it we let her eat it - but if she doesn't, we don't get stressed about it. we haven't excluded leafy food and it hasn't bothered her. chop suey with cabbage went down a treat. we put lettuce in her burritos (yes, she will eat a full burrito - just with less meat than we have! - we make the meat rather spicy but she loves it!). i was making toasted sandwich with left over burrito meat the other day and she was getting impatient so stole daddy's wrap, then ate a full sandwich.

i'm impressed with her eating habits to be honest! she prefers savoury foods (will eat yogurt, but not all the time) and eats a decent feed each time. will get upset if we go in the garden and don't give her snow pea or fresh bean to eat (which worries me - they're coming to the end of their producing! eek!)

anyway - BLS is working really well for us. she has done so well and is growing beautifully. AND - she's not all that messy - yup, she misght end up with it on her face, but it's not from missing her mouth, it's from rubbing her face for itches and things. it gets on her arms - but thats from the tray. i've seen some piccies of kids absolutely covered in food - E doesn't seem to do that too much! yay!

BG, thats awesome to hear, i love the pics of E eating on FB!!
jade is the same, doesnt make much mess at all, but caus she has such alot of hair im having to tie it all back at mealtimes!!
Jade has a real sweet tooth (like me and XP) which is a bit of a worry, but we stuff her full of fruit to try accomodate that....
usually breakkie is 1 piece of bread with jam, 3 or 4 slices of fruit (the ones that come in thier own juice), lunch is ham and cheese sanwich, arvo tea is a couple of biscuits (i try to pick plain ones like arrowroot not sugary ones) and dinner is a bit of whatver im having, usually mince and vegies, pasta bake, etc.
im very broke so she doesnt often get meat unless its polony (i think u guys over east call it devon or fritz?) or the mince is on special, but i think shes getting a decent mix of fruit, vegies, dairy and carbs... any suggestions on other cheap stuff that keeps well in the fridge would be great!!

TM - do you have a lenard's chook store nearby at all? the breast fillets at the moment are less than $7 a kilo - so cheaper than mince. it works out to great value if you buy like that - so much you can do with chicken. E scoffs chicken - even the spicy stuff we do! she definitely has a preference for the spicy food mummy eats!

chicken fried rice is a fave - though she will go through and pick out the lumps of meat and veg and push the rice aside if she's having a picky day. doesn't worry me - she is at least eating the important bits!

Thanks for all that.

I guess my biggest concern is the weight gains. Tristan is only 6.5kg so we can't afford for him to lose weight or not gain. Did you find that their weight slowed a bit at first? or did you not notice? It's hard atm, because Tristan is on monthly weighs.

Sally, we are doing BLS with DD, she is only having solids as snacks during the day and usually has her meal with us at dinner but not always. She is still having much more BM that solids.

Her weight gain from 6m to 7m was 300g where previously it had been closer to an average of 600g/month. I know the weight gains slow down and I was glad for a gain but it was smaller than previously which did have my MCHN a bit concerned because DD was prem.

It can be so fickal can't it all :hug: