Printable View
my DD1 has an anaphylactic allergy to kiwifruit....aint fun i tell ya. she used to be able to eat it but got small rashes, then it progressed to really bad belly pains and horrendous nappies and then the swelling started. now she cant even hold or touch one (not even the skin :o). it includes passionfruit and watermelon too :( (but we have been working towards getting her back on the latter two as they are not anaphylactic and most kids can grow out of those).
wow, cassius! :pray: that your DD1 ends up being able to have passionfruit and watermelon, and that there's no further food issues ... :(
and FX that DS isn't allergic ...
Hi all :hello: - haven't been in here for a while, and I've only got a minute or two spare now, but I just saw the kiwi questions - they are actually a really common allergen.
:hu: cassius - that's difficult to deal with :(
We had DD tested a couple of weeks ago and found out she is allergic to peanuts but not anaphylactic luckily. They only tested a couple of things because there's not an awful lot of room on a little arm (!) but since then she's had a reaction to rock melon too, which completely took me by surprise as she's never had a problem with it before.
Hello all just posting to dip my toe in. We have been offering DS some purée but he is not interested at all. I was bullied into starting at 4mths by mil (mw) and regret every min of it :(
DS was doing ok till my bil fed him hazelnut pav and now we need allergy testing as he broke out in hives. Since then I cut back and didn't give him any purée to help settle his tummy. Now he refuses all that is offered other than the cob of corn the other night and sticks of watermelon today!
I'm very anxious about BLS and my pead is vert against it. Not that I have discussed it with him. Just a comment he made before starting any food.
I worry as most beginners do about gagging and choking. What and how to offer.
We have DS allergy testing this Wednesday so I hope that will give me a clear indication of what foods we can offer. Until then I will read back through the post here for inspiration.
I have started to offer solids first then bf 1/2 hr later is this ok? He will be 6mths very soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Loula,
Welcome! You will love BLS - I know I do :) What a pain about your MIL - they can be annoying sometimes can't they!
It is recommended to offer a breastfeed first and then solids about 1/2 hr later, that way bubs is still getting all the good stuff from breastmilk and doesn't fill up on solids first (which are less nutritious overall than breastmilk).
Reading through the old posts is a good idea - we've only been doing BLS for about a month (started when DD was 5.5 months, she was totally ready!) and I found the old posts, including the previous threads, very useful.
Don't worry about the gagging/choking - as long as you educate yourself on the difference, you'll be fine. I freaked at the first few gags too but already DD is getter much better and rarely gags. Also I found I felt better about it by updating my first aid and doing a specific babies/kids course - as long as you know what to do in the rare event your DS is choking, then you're as prepared as you need to be!
Update from us - DD has been suffering from constipation, I think because she had banana twice in 3 days and also had been enjoying quite a bit of yoghurt. Poor thing, it was horrible, she was in pain :wall: Doing much better now after Dr advised giving her some coloxyl. I think bananas are off the menu for a while! Dr said the yoghurt was probably not the main culprit.
Apart from that we're doing really well. Still doing lunch and dinner, haven't progressed to breakfast yet but I think we might try that soon. I'm thinking kids weetbix or maybe some toast? Also trying to get DD to actually ingest more meat, after our Dr expressed a concern that BLS may not be getting her enough meat (she hadn't heard of BLS but wasn't against it, just a little concerned) and is just getting 'meat juices'. DD does ok with mince but I'm thinking of trying to cut up chicken/beef into little pieces and seeing if she can shove those in her mouth. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hope everyone is travelling well in BLS land!!
Oh and I finally met someone IRL who's done BLS - interestingly she said with her eldest 2 kids she didn't do it, and they are super-fussy, but with her youngest two she did and they are great eaters.
Hi and welcome Loula :) The BLS can be a bit overwhelming at first as I have found not a alot of people really seem to know about it IRL This can mean you are not only educating yourself but also others at the same time and dealing with their opinions etc etc. I recommend getting the Gill Rapley Baby Led Weaning book, I got it online for about $16 delivered and it had everything I needed in there. I carried it around like a bible in the first month, it was great!
Mrs P - we give DD meat, any sorts of meat really cut into long thin strips. In the early days she would just suck and spit but I am sure still get the juices. The other night we had chicken and someone at the table picked up their leg and chewed on it and DD got so excited that we gave her a leg from our plate and she did the same. Very cute! We do bfast here, it's actually her best meal and do lots of fruit, eggs, toast with mighty mite or avocado, cheese, yoghurt - just that sort of thing.
Loula, are you able to get the Baby Led Weaning book? It has loads of information on what to start them on and plenty of reassuring information on gagging and choking. Gagging is good - it's just their way of exploring what they can and can't manage. A baby's gag reflex is actually close to the front of their mouth and moves back over time, and when they are gagging and coughing, it's a good sign that they are getting out what they can't manage.
It's such a fun way to introduce solids. We're been doing BLS for over 4 months now and DD's hand/ eye coordination is fantastic. She can use a spoon better than some of her 12 month + peers and get food into her mouth very eloquently too!
Thank you all for your welcome, I guess I was offering solids first as DS is not interested in BF in the day but will feed every two hours at night! DH says he is on UK time ready for our trip there lol
I will try to get the book (will check online now) todays bananna was not a reall success but yesterdays watermelon was!
we have Will's allergy testing tomorrow so that should give me an indication of a few things to avoid or give
Thanks again
Hi Loula :hello: i'm a newbie here too!
With meats we do strips. beef, duck, chicken and for lamb i tend to just give her a trimmed off lamb cutlet. she loves holding the bone :)
My LO is eating corn on the cob now, so cute. She is also eating plums, nectarines etc just as they are, i just watch out for when the pip is exposed and get it out.
Oooh wow Kate, does she have teeth? My DD is eating fruit whole but this whole no teeth thing makes it pretty messy and slow going.
Yeah, she now has 2 bottom teeth, 2 top teeth and then next 2 top ones are starting to come through. Even without teeth, it's surprising what they can get through just with their gums!
totally! Marta just smashes her plums and pears and peaches. it's freaky lol! all she leaves behind is the skin and pip lol.:
I sent DD to childcare today with grapefruit and forgot that I hadn't given that to her yet. It's totally my bad, she's had orange, lemon and lime and I just didn't think about grapefruit. She came out with a mild sort of rash over her mouth and near her eyes but was fine. I actually didn't even notice (bad mummy) but the daycare teacher pointed it out and assured me that DD didn't have any cupcakes. LOL
Anyway, she's been a bit off all week, sick and earlier this week she sat in front of her dinner and didn't even eat anything! I've noticed her eating has really slowed down while she's been sick too. I assume this is quite normal? I'm not tempted to spoon feed her while she's not eating, I believe she is choosing not to eat because she doesn't want it. She hardly ate any dinner tonight and had a big spew after that, poor little darling.
Anyway, what foods do you guys tempt with when your LO is sick/being a bit fussy? I was thinking maybe soft stuff - so eggs.......and then I couldn't think of anything else. Help please :)
My LO doesn't eat much when she is sick. Sometimes i can tempt her with watermelon or mango. I got water icypoles when she wasn't eating or drinking much and it was really hot. Is she still drinking ok?
Yeah she is still drinking fine, probably drinking more if anything so I'm not overly worried and I just top her up with extra milk anyway. Watermelon or mango - good one. Fruits are a goer, other than grapefruit!
DS hasn't gone through that yet sorry, starangelk ... [btw: what's your username mean?] but DS will always go for banana, avocado, or sushi ... cooked tomato ... yeah, any of those I'd be pretty confident with :)
HTH
and :pray: your bub is feeling better super soon :hug:
Starangelk, i would second the fruits and eggs. DD will eat her favourite things if anything at all when she's feeling sick - for us that's cruskits with avo, buttered toast, slices of cheese, scrambled eggs, sour cream (obsessively!), pasta, sometimes yoghurt too. She's been been put off corn fritters twice now by eating them when she's sick though.
Like a PP said, water is the main thing. DD will often eat barely anything for a week while she's sick.
Hope your lo is feeling better soon!
Thanks guys Xx
Bah, DD is STILL on a food strike. We've tried her favourites - pumpkin, orange, potato but she's only sort of nibbling. She will eat yoghurt, but only if we spoon feed her a few teaspoons and then she'll take the spoon and feed herself if we load it. Soooo much food being wasted here, lucky we have dogs :)
totally know what you mean, re dogs!!
hope she picks up soon xo
i wouldn't worry too much about what the doctor said about meat. Food is fun until they're one and your little one is getting breastmilk so no need to stress. Since the doctor doesn't seem to understand bls she is probably like most doctors and working on very outdated advice on baby feeding that comes from the perspective of formula feeding. I know that the majority of doctor and peads have very little knowledge about infant feeding apart from what they learnt on a day course if even that. Alot of them cannot even quote the WHO guidelines for breastfeeding! It might be better in australia but i would go with your instincts and if she hasn't heard of bls then she probably is not too up to date on the needs of babies foodwise! Sounds like you are doing a great job!
My bub is still not a big eater, well she goes in cycles (with no rhythm :lol:). Yesterday she only had a plum and a tiny bit of french toast (less than 1/4 piece of bread) and wasn't interested in anything else. This was also on a day when i was away for 9 hours so no BFs either. I can't do much about it, she is really clear whether she wants something or not. She was offered other stuff but just didn't want it. Other days she will have a lot more. Like eveything else, one day she will do it (eat) alot more, and i've learnt not to stress out about it.
The other day we were out at a cafe with a big group, and it was lovely to have her sitting up with us and chewing on a gherkin, a tomato and some pastry and some bread with dip. My Mum, who wasn't so sure about this BLS mumbo jumbo, thinks it is so cool now how she will eat a variety of things and that she will say no if she doesn't want something. I was also talking to a mate whose bub is slightly older and she is having trouble getting him to try anything that he feeds himself. He doesn't like the feel of food, and it makes me more content with my decision to go baby led.
Righto, so DD has now cut her 2 bottom teeth and they are in the process of making their way up and she also has this horrible cold and cough BUT the good news is that she is back eating with gusto. Hooray!! Last night I got out of the freezer these potato and tuna croquettes I had made her from a recipe I saw and previously she's sort of picked at them but last night she devoured them. She seems to like fish but she too is not a massive fan of meat. She likes to chew on chicken drumstick bones but not actual chicken - LOL.
Like you Kate, I too am so so so glad with my decision to go BLS. On the weekend my SIL was telling me about a friend of hers who feeds her baby gels. Not purees but gels. Apparently the baby won't eat purees and will only eat the gels so they are limited to the 6 bottles of gel food from the supermarket. SIL tried to educate her but it's very difficult once people get "their way" in their heads. Meanwhile we are having this conversation while our 9 month and 8 month olds tuck into lasagne. Made me feel very very grateful for BLS. And while this probably isn't the right place to post this exactly, this is another reason why I heart BB, I just don't know that I ever would have discovered BLS if not for this website. I know alot has gone down here, especially over the last few weeks but BB has given me so much knowledge and support and belief in my abilities as a mother, I am grateful for that.
How is everyone elses bubbas doing? Any super ideas to share?
Just popping in to say hello :hello:
We aren't ready to start yet, DD2 isn't showing any signs of wanting to start solids, but I thought I would come in and do some reading as we are planning on starting BLS after she is 6 months, so a few more weeks yet. DD1 didn't really get into soilds until she was 7-8 months so happy to just see what DD2 does and will not be surprised if it takes a bit longer.
I am gong to be "lazy" and not go down the puree path, it was so time consuming last time and I was scared of BLS, but after having a good chat with a friend (ex BB'er) and trying some pieces with DD1 after encouragement, it is the path I am certainly going to give a shot this time :)
What foods did you start with first, because for breakfast we all eat porridge, DD1 with some vanilla yogurt in hers, would toast be a better option, or pieces of fruit? TIA :) Also do you do toast rather than bread so it doesn't go all gluggy?
Got a bit of learning to do over the next few months :)
Hi Beema and welcome :)
I can't believe your DD is getting so big! For breakfast we do toast but DD mainly likes the crusts as they seem to be easier to hold. We put avocado, ricotta, mightymite - whatever on them. We also do rice crackers if we are out of toast. Fruit is a goer but my DD is going through a bit of an anti fruit aversion at the moment. Yoghurt is an absolute winner, she has this every morning. Ocassionally I will do an egg for her but it's more mess than eating at this stage. I think if everyone else eats porridge, your DD will probably want that too. You could load her spoon and let her feed herself or just let her put her fingers in it and learn to lick off them. It's quite amazing how quickly they learn. Good luck!
Hi Beema, :hello: we started with vege's, broccoli, cauliflower and carrot sticks, anything with built in handles and she had it at dinner time, cause this is when she was most interested.
DD2 is 13 months now, and OMG I can't believe how much she is eating this week. :o Today alone she had for breakfast a bowl of cereal, half a banana, a pile of grated cheese and a handful of grapes. Then lunch she had some left over chicken and crepes with me, and she just had a rice cracker with hommus, 2 chunks of rockmelon and a pile of sultanas. And just downed a cup of milk. I don't know where it fits cause she is only petite and on the 25th percentile :lol:
She's weaned herself down to one breast feed a day :cry:, I have been putting it off but I took the plunge and caved from trying to get her to bf and she now gets a sippy cup of cows milk in the afternoon and before bed. She will only bf at 4am.
I hope everyone else's bubs are doing well.
Hi Beema, wow, can't believe your little one is almost old enough to be starting solids already! How exciting that you're giving BLS a go this time too :) We started much the same as studymum, with veges that either had natural handles or could easily be cut into fist sized shapes. I found harder veges actually worked better at first while DD was getting to grips with it all, then went softer as she was starting to bite bits off and eat them. I think porridge would be great if that's what you all eat - I'd go for giving her the bowl and letting her just stick her hands in it. Have you seen those heinz wonder bowls? They were absolutely fantastic until DD learnt not to tip up bowls/plates, so I would highly recommend them.
Starangelk, glad to hear your little one is feeling better.
As for us, well, i feel like we've lost our track a little bit. DD is 17 months now. She's had some health problems recently, and I don't know whether it's that, her molars coming in, or just becoming a toddler but she is horribly horribly fussy now. I'm finding it all a bit heavy on the brain, weighing up what I believe re BLS with how to deal with this underweight little thing who is starting to concern me about whether she's getting the right nutrition. I think I will start another thread about it when i have the time because it's a bit detailed and heavy to explain the full drama in here. :(
Oooh Swoop, sounds very full on - hope all is okay. Xx
It is a bit stressful :( I'll explain in full when I've got a bit more energy to put a thread together. Thank you for your kind words though hun :hug:
Well I think we're going to try porridge tomorrow! I have one of those unbelievabowls (love the name!) but haven't used it yet. We've just been doing lunch and dinner but today tried DD on some toast at breakky. Interestingly she wasn't as keen at dinner as she usually is, maybe she was bored of eating by then!
Starangelk - it's been about 6-7 weeks of us doing BLS now and I couldn't imagine not doing it. Like you I probably never would have done it if I hadn't heard about it on BB. No-one I know does it, and no GP/Dr/CHN has talked about it. When people ask me where I got the idea I say a friend told me about it, ha ha. I don't actually 'share' BB with people IRL!
Studymum - your DD sounds like a champion eater, yay!
Swoop - hope you are doing alright, sounds very stressful.
How did the bowl go Mrs P? We just use a suction bowl but DD has worked out how to unstick it, cheeky little thing.
I've found a new thing that DD just loves loves loves. I mix 1 egg, tbsp ricotta, some crushed garlic in a bowl and then cook this omelette style. I then top with whatever is in the fridge! Mushrooms, capsicum, shredded ham bits, tomato and def cheese (her fave) and fold into 3rds. Then cut it into 2 or 3 bits and wait for it cool and serve. It comes out pretty hard looking but almost like a sandwich and she loves it. Sometimes she's not a massive fan of the toppings so just picks them off and eats the egg - LOL
Hi All, How are we all going?
We have the unbelievabowls and they are fantastic. DD2 still hasnt worked out how to get it off, although some days both the hand, feet join in with the squeal whilst trying to reef it off. The only thing I found it is has to go on a very clean dry surface otherwise it wont stick. In fact most the time I can't get the bloody suction part off myself :p
Yes Mrs P, she is very much a champ when it comes to eating. So far I love BLS because I can see the difference from DD2 learning this way to the trouble we had with DD1 weaning to regular food from lumpy crap. I'm waiting for the fussy toddler stage, but hoping its minimized by her independence with food and with having had her own exploration.
:hug: Swoop. I've been there before with DD1 (not BLS though), a little background on her is that she was a brilliant eater until about 13 months, since then her intake dropped to literally a bowl of cereal and a jam sandwich a day, which lasted for over 2 months, she has pretty much been classified with 'extreme food aversions'. It has slowly been on an increase with the types of food she will eat, but never has my dr been concerned because the entire time she has been healthy and growing, might that be very slowly. I've learnt to have faith in my babies ability to know what is best for themselves, they aren't burdened by the over thought and society pressures that we put into food and eating, they do what is naturally instinctive to them, whether that be eating heaps or eating nothing or the phases they will go through, IMO their weight/gain is genetically predispositioned and we put too much emphasis on having them fit into what is deemed normal. Toddlers are awfully fussy little things aren't they, and its not just with food either :D
Starangelk - I ended up giving her weetbix in the bowl as I was too lazy to make porridge haha. She wasn't too keen on it. I don't think she gets the concept of scooping stuff up with her hands and/or sucking it off her fingers. Last night I gave her some rice with dinner but she couldn't really pick it up either. That ricotta/egg omelette sounds great, might have to try that one. What age did you start feeding eggs?
Studymum - the bowl is good but I have noticed sometimes it won't stick, probably because the surface wasn't clean like you mentioned - but otherwise it's good. Oh but DD does struggle a bit as it sits quite high on the bumbo tray so she can't really get her hands into it properly.
She's still doing well with her food, I still tend to make her separate/extra stuff to what DH and I eat, mainly because we're still eating lots of salads etc which aren't great for BLS early on. But it's not exactly difficult to wash and chop veg and steam in the microwave. I just do a batch every second day. She has some of whatever meat we have, but doesn't really eat much of it. She loves the turkey mini meatloaf from the 100 BLS recipes! I try to give her fruit with each meal too. So breakfast is usually brown toast w avo and fruit, lunch is brown bread sandwich with avo and/or cream cheese and fruit, dinner is veg and meat or pasta and fruit! Does this sound like a balanced enough diet? I worry that too much bread could be bad for her but it's probably only 2 slices overall per day at the most.
I was talking about BLS the other day at baby rhyme time at our local library and one of the other mums said she had heard BF bubs tend to do better at BLS than FF - had anyone heard this? I guess maybe because they could have better suction etc than FF bubs?!
I have lent my BLS book to some of my mothers group friends and a couple of them are going to try it - yay!
We had to prop her up on folded towells so she could see over her tray properly, we have quite a deep high chair and its not really suitable for smaller bubs to feed themselves. I try to steer away from to much bread, so we also give her the thin rice cakes, or softer wheat crackers. I think it sounds very balanced, maybe some extra snack of dairy? We started eggs about 8 months, but well cooked scrambled, now she has it in any form. I've never heard about bf babies being better at BLS, I can't really see the theory behind because they are 2 different skills. Maybe the thought was a bf baby has better tongue control, the ability to roll the tongue backwards?
We started eggs around 8 months too I think, maybe a bit earlier. I gave her the yolk part first and then whites a few weeks later, now she eats them anyway I cook them :) Mostly scrambled though but I have done a potato and egg salad which she absolutely devoured.
Mrs P - I think that sounds good, everything you are feeing is healthy. We give DD lots of dairy (I'm trying to fatten her up) so she gets cheese and yoghurt every day. We aren't giving DD wheat until she's 12 months because I am intolerant so she eats lots of rice crackers or that gluten free flat bread. She also eats the GF bread but it's quite hard so we mainly just give her that as toast.
Studymum - if it's hard to eat in the high chair, would you consider just abandoning it and letting your DD sit on your lap and eat? Or just crawl around the floor? We let DD crawl around the kitchen floor at afternoon tea time eating rice crackers and mightmite/avocado/mustard sometimes. It IS messy, the floor needs a wash every day but it's just the kitchen and she loves it so much. She crawls around and eats rice cracker while I make dinner. She's like a little puppy getting scraps of raw vegies and bits and pieces as I cook the food - LOL.
Its all good now, just the first few months when she was smaller, I'll soon convert her to a chair top booster seat so she will eat from the regular table like her sis with us. I used to let her sit on my lap sometimes during dinner, until the amusement with painting mums face with food began, which she found utterly hilarious.
Ooh I forgot - yep sometimes we give her baby rice crackers, though I think I'll start buying normal ones soon. And also pot-set yoghurt, with a squeeze of 100% pureed fruit, for breakky or after dinner. She likes grated cheese, yet to try giving pieces/slices.
What do you girls give as snacks? We've only just began giving breakky, so she's on 3 meals but no snacks as yet.
Might try eggs soon then! It's safer to just give the yolk first, isn't it?
Breastfed bubs have been exposed to a wider variety of tastes (and proteins/carbohydrates) due to the breastmilk changing with mum's diet etc, whereas the taste (and makeup) of formula doesn't change.
Breastfed bubs are also used to regulating how much they take in, whereas feeding with a bottle can be more passive and the bub may consume more than they actually wanted.