Starting solids? - Baby Led Solids Chatter #2

Hi Happymel and Shoegal -
i found that the easiest foods to start with are the ones with a natural handle - like cauliflower and broccoli, but basically i started with veggies, cut ito finger shapes/slices and offered them to her.

Choking is always a worry and the first time that you see your baby gag, go red and cough and have tears is a bit alarming, but it does settle and it is a process that they learn so that they dont swallow bits that are too big. MJ will still sometimes gag, but this is not choking. They will bring the food forward into the mouth and either try again or spit it out.

MJ is now eating a wide range of foods including pasta, chicken and lamb, tuna, quiche, pasta and basically anything else that we are eating that does not have added salt.
Yesterday she had weetbix for breakfast - if you make it thicker then pop it on the tray in front of them they will pick it up and eat it (and play and make a huge mess :))
for lunch she had pumkin, broccoli and cauliflower that was steamed and some cold roast chicken
for dinner she had avocado on toast, sweet potato, potato and some natural yoghurt sweetened with some apple puree (made by just steaming and mashing an apple)

MJ hates to be fed too - sometimes she will accept it (i spoon fed the yoghurt) but usually i load the spoon and she feeds herself.
Also i put all the foods in front of her, that way she can select which she wants to taste (much like we would if we have a late of food). Sometimes she will not have broccoli, other days she cant get enough.... i guess thats the beauty of BLS.

Shoegal, i tend to cut up 2-3 days worth of veggies, steam/boil them (depending on what they are) and then pop them into containers in the fridge. As its finger food i dont see the point of make a massive batch as its not that much hard work as there is no puree/mashing involved.
I wouldnt see a problem in freezing though

When we first started, there wasnt too much consuming, it was more tasting and experiencing, now there is def. heaps of eating going on.

HTH and enjoy :)

Hi
We have given DS brocolli (liked), banana (bit worried after he swallowed some chunks), strawberry (liked it), pumpkin (loved it, and especially loves smearing it everywhere), carrot (not so keen), avocado (liked it ok), orange (LOVED it). I also mashed up some apple for him and spoon fed him a bit, which he didn't mind. That was only cause I tried giving him a piece and he tried to inhale it, which worried me a little... Otherwise we just give him pieces that he can hold and away he goes. Like SJ says, things with natural handles work best to start with.
It's messy - we now take off his clothes and put him in his high chair to eat. It's a lot easier to clean up that way.
HappyMel - Some babies still aren't that interested in food even at 6 months. It's not something you should worry about at this point - milk is still their most important nutritional source till they're 12 months. Maybe just give her a piece of something to play with - she'll get the hang of it eventually.

Thanks for your awesome post SJ, for how long did your bubba explore food before she ate it? I'm interested to know when, thanks.

SG
xo

PS - what should I do in the case of choking?

Shoegal,
MJ started solids via BLS at 5.5 months. She was consuming small amounts right from the start (i know this cos i found bits of broccoli in her poo :tmi:) but nothing really substantial, mostly it went on the floor, around her body, over her face, in her hair etc etc (the dog now lovingly sits under her high chair at meal times)
It took about 3 weeks to see less food wasted, she still drops loads (we have a 3 sec rule in our house), but there is substantially more that goes in... but some meals she is less interested than others, but that OK as she knows if she is hungry or not - look for theiir cues, if their not interested dont force the matter, let them play but if they dont want to be there, do something else.

OK there is a big difference between choking and gagging.
Gagging is when they are coughing, tears are streaming and they look like they are retching... its hard, but dont do anything, they actually have a fantastic gag reflex and will bring the food forward themselves... if you stick your finger in you may cause a spasm of the throoat and then there can be choking.
Choking is not breathing, turning blue etc etc... in this case DO put your finger in there and try and get it out. Blows (soft) to the side of the chest and also the back (thrusts) will also help

To avoid choking make sure that your baby is upright when you feed him/her and dont leave them unattended when eating.
Also avoid small foods that they can get caught like peas, corn, rice, sultanas, nuts etc etc... these should be avoided until they are more advaced at self feeding - usually if they have a fine pincer grip and can get a single peice of corn up with the finger and thumb, they are better at eating these things. MJ can pick them up, but i am not happy to give them to her yet.

Like MArcellus said the mess is something that are just goin to have to get use to... its not neat and MJ has a bath directly after dinner which is when she gets the most messy and has more things to squash and play and eat :)

hope this helps to clarify, let me know if you still have q's :)

That's great, thanks heaps SJ.

SG
xo

Shoegal- I can't believe Baxter is 6 months already! Where has the time gone?

Amber is loving her grapes at the moment. When she started, I was peeling them for her but now i just bite them in half and give them to her length wise and she demolishes them.
She is also liking avocado sandwiches and hardly wastes anything. I am now giving her raw apple slices these days. She sucks on it for awhile before dropping it.
i find too she is not wasting too much food anymore. A lot of it is being swallowed.

I still peel MJ's grapes, she tends find it more difficult still.

Skye cant remember if you posted it in here or baby buddies, but i gave MJ tuna mixed with avocado - she scoffed more than i thought that she would - in fact i had to make more!

I cant believe how much she is eating now, tonight i made some spiral pasta, some for tonight and some to go in the fridge, she ate the lot (probably 2/3 cup) mixed with a bit of home made spag sauce

She is also loving apple at the mo, i am peeling it, rinsing it and then putting it in the mircowave (i have to figure out how to do it one the stove with out it going brown) for 2 mins and its soft enough for her to gnaw, but not too mushy!

Anyone else got anything new that they have started?

Anyone noticed change in milk feeds?
MJ doesnt seem to be taking as much atm, she hasnt been sleeping weel, so i am not sure if its because she is really tired and just falls asleep mid feed or she is not needs as much - she is BF so i dont know actually how much she is taking...

Hi everyone,
(sorry i have just reread and it is pretty long.)
I love the idea of this, it sounds great. I have a six month old, very independent, determined little boy. So far i have tried him on the std rice cereal thing and happily puts it in his mouth, but is happier to use it to blow raspberries (he wont blow raspberries ordinarily mind you). In doing so i have had to contort myself to hold his arms and legs down in attempt to get the spoon to his mouth! After a couple of mouthfuls he screams blue murder anyhow.
So i am so glad that i have been led to this thread, it sounds much more appropriate for older bubs.
I just have a couple of questions, how soft do you make things first up? Should they be nearly mushy, but still holding shape, or with a little more body?
Also, it sounds like most people have been able to introduce a range of things quite early, like the wheats, and meats etc. (well earlier than what i have been told by my ECHN) Does anyone know if i try BLS that i should still hold back certain foods due to a family history of allergies?
THanks.

SJ, I found that happened at the same age too. Really they shouldn't be cutting back milk just yet. I cut back on the solids a little bit and found he started drinking more again. And slept better again! Could be worth a try for you!

Gemini, I am so glad you've joined in here. I think you will find it a much better approach for you. I found that I did make things pretty soft at first, but not for very long. Pretty soon he was just having things cooked the same way as us (probably within a month?). But then you do tend to be more confident (and more time strapped LOL!!) with a subsequent child!

As for your other question, I would still be cautious about allergy foods. I was. I waited until the recommended age for everything. Although meat is one that no-one much agrees on, and I think he had that from about 7 1/2 or 8 months.

Gemini - because of a family history of intolerances, we're avoiding grains (except rice) and animal products for the time being. Actually not sure when you're supposed to introduce things like that anyway...
I think we're having the same issue with DS and sleeping. Will wind back solids and see if he eats better during the day (and sleeps at night...)

Thanks MR - have tried a dream feed also, but that hasnt worked either. Maybe wil try cutting back on the solids.
Im not really sure if she takes less or if she sucks faster, have noticed that my let down is super quick lately so maybe she is just drinking wuicker... dont know.

Gemini, welcome!! I was told that you should wait until your baby is 12mths before introducing anything that has a direct family link of intolerance... also as i have mentioned before, loads of people have an opinion, you do need to make up your own mind and e comfortable with your decision, if everyone else is feeding their baby something but you are not comfortable doing it, DONT...

Marcellus - all the info that i have read and received re BLS says that as long as there is no allergy issue, all foods can be introduced when you are ready, MJ has dairy yoghurt but rice milk or soy with her cereals (DSS drinks rice and i sometimes have soy - plus i think its nicer with weetbix) also she has cheese which is dairy. She has had mead since about 6.5mths and wheat from about the same (but i tend to steer away from the white bread and make my own multigrain)...
However as i said above you need to be comfortable with your choice and if there is any history i would avoid it.
There seems to be very strong opinions on this issue (for both arguments and i dont wish this to be seen as dig at anyone or any opinion), so i would do the research yourself and make a choice as to what sits with you the best iykwim

HTH :)

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There seems to be very strong opinions on this issue
HTH :)

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I know! It's funny in a way that it elicits such strong feelings - I wonder why that is. I guess, similar to the ff/bf debate, it's cause feeding our babies is so fundamental to being a parent that we all want to be 'RIGHT'.
It's so confusing - I wish there was just one definitive answer. :wall: I think you're right it's best to just decide what works best for you and do that.
I'm still not sure whether to just avoid the things DH has/had intolerances to - dairy & gluten - or everything that's a potential allergen (or likely cause of intolerence). Guess we'll just figure it out. Sigh.

OK, if it were me (which its not) i would leave anything that you or your DH had/ave allergies too until 12 months. Everything else i would introduce when your comfortable... (so for me its now)

HTH

Hi all, BLS going along very happily in our house too! Its heaps of fun isn't it!

We began solids with BLS, DD was playing with a carrot stick, bean, broccoli stick etc from the moment she could sit up. She was uninterested in purees and cereals from the beginning and really only began eating anything at 8 months. It was off and racing, and has been soooo much fun getting into food. Now, at 10.5 months she will give anything a go. Tonight she had a go at fried rice! Classic watching her shove handfuls of rice into her mouth!

I realise that it is probably a bit late now, but in response to the banana slipping through the fingers qn, I gave DD banana with a handle in the earlier days by cutting the banana into thirds then slicing off half of that banana skin, leaving a small handle of unpeeled banana for DD to hold as she munched on the exposed part at the top. She loved it.

And for more of a reason that this is a cool way to feed kids, I read that babies who are fed with BLS are less likely to be finicky eaters later in life.... I hope that this theory has some truth in it and helps DD with her approach to food.

I also just wanted to add a little link to advice about choking, (here) it is probably very responsible for all parents (BLS or otherwise) to be familiar with the procedures. It should help to make anyone who is still a little concerned, just a little more comfortable to go ahead with BLS. At best, it has made me much more comfortable with giving her foods and letting her learn by gagging as I know that I know what to do if it goes a step beyond gagging.

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And for more of a reason that this is a cool way to feed kids, I read that babies who are fed with BLS are less likely to be finicky eaters later in life.... I hope that this theory has some truth in it and helps DD with her approach to food.

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And also meant to help with obsesity as children are given the choice and not made to eat everything that their parents serve up infront of them...

Anyone giving morning/afternoon snacks? when should we start? anyone know?

Also how much do you reckon your bubs is actually eating? i got a jar (baby food jar) from a friend and shoved her meal in that and gave her a full one, she ate more than that, sometimes loads less thou...harder to tell this way than spoon feeding from a jar, but would never swap to that way :)

Hi sorry to crash your thread but I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction with articles or books on BLS?? Thanks

HI Rhyb,
I found most of the info by just googling BLS or BLW (weaning)... there are a few good websites.
Also my local CHM centre had a vidoe that i could watch that explained it.

Feel free to ask questions in here, its how i started :)

Have been following BLS here and it has been going quite well, so much better than the other way we did with DD1. I find it takes a little bit of thinking and having to remember to put some food aside before sauces etc are added. Cafes find us strange as I will ask for finger sized slices of cucumber for bubs to much on.

One friend of mine, whose bubs is a couple of weeks younger, was talking about solids with her DD. She was complaining that she now has to find and extra 1& 1/2 hours each day to prepare and feed her DD. When I heard that I was so glad I had heard about BLS, as I certainly do not have that much spare time these days. I have to admit though that I was not great at feeding DD1 solids until she was on finger food.

Hello.:)

We're thinking of starting solids soon and I have a few questions. First things first, how important is it to wait for that magical 6 month mark? My baby is still two weeks away from 6 months and it is such a challenge to keep him away from food at meal times. He is sitting up, reaching out and trying to eat our food. This, along with his nursing habits, makes me think he is ready, but I am hesitant because it's still a few weeks 'til he's six months and I don't want to do him any harm!
Second, we're thinking we'll start with banana, do I need to puree it since he is so young?

I'm so glad I found this BLS thread :) It just seems to make sense to me. I haven't done any reading about it, but from what is described here it seems like BLS is the way babies are designed to start eating.

Astrid - funny you mention that. There seem so many advantages! DH and I were at the mall at lunch time the other day and we saw a little five year old and her GrandDad eating lunch. GrandDad would pick up the burger dip it in sauce and then bring it to the little girl's mouth. Then give her a drink etc etc. She wasn't doing a thing herself! Then at dinner at a friends house a few weeks back the mother of the family cooked for us adults and then she cooked TWO separate meals for her 6yr old and her 8yr old because neither of them would eat what we were having and they both wanted different things.

I don't want to end up there hahaha. I think BLS would go a long way to preventing those situations.

I found with DD1 that even though I did start with purees and then mash, I did try to get her onto family foods quite quickly. It was just easier to portion out some of ours, than make something special. I found that when we were out with the other mums that they were surprised at what she was eating (cucumber, hommus etc). I said that it was easy, I just gave it to her and luckily for us she liked it. With many of the other mums it had not even crossed their mind to try anything other than the standard baby foods of custards, fruit etc even amongst those that prepared their own.

I do get shocked when I see what some grandparents do when out with the grandkids. I was at Macca's one morning and saw a grandmother cutting up the hotcakes for her 8yo grandson. How hard is it for anyone to cut hotcakes?? If it was a steak, then I would have understood, but mooshy soft hotcakes! - Sorry gone of tangent.

Hi Gabi - to answer your question, it is best to wait until 6 months, however in saying that we started at 5.5months... I guess the best thing with starting with BLS is that your bubs probably wont actually consume much at all in the first few weeks... its all about tasting (and spitting out!!) and the textures. It took MJ a good 3-4 weeks to start consuming anything substantial.
I would start with fingers of carrot, broccoli and other veggies that are wel cooked and then cooled.
Im not going say to start right away, but if your baby has ALL the cues then possibly he is ready.
Waiting til 6mths IMO is way more important if you are spoon feeding as you are shovelling food in and asking them to swallow the food the day that you start. With BLS you are offering foods and giving your baby a choice to consume.

Gabi re pureeing stuff DONT! just cut up in fingers and present to your baby. he will make a huge mess and play and spit it out and possibly gag (go back and read the previous pages for a bit more info) but this is all learning.
MJ has never had any pureed food and only eats stuff from a spoon that she put in her mouth herself (i load the spoon though)

I also would advise that you start on Veggies not fruit and dont bother with rice cereal either...

gotta go, ask any more Q' if you need clarification, i will be back later or tomorrow if you want to ask :)

Ohh this all sounds great!! we gave DS some farax tonight and the faces were hilarious and most of it was spat out i am sure!!

This sounds good. So basiclly can stem vegies in finger size pieces and give to him like that (he is 5 months 3 weeks) and after vegies go to fruits and meats later?

Yep feeb, that sounds about right. You can give them whatever you like, just needs to be soft enough for them to gum (unless he's got teeth already).
Brocolli is a great one to start with. Pumpkin and potato are smooshy so mean more mess - but lots of fun for babies.
We gave veg & fruit from the start and have more recently started with eggs & some meat and more complex stuff. DS loves nectarines & apricots, which are very easy for him to eat, as are soft pears and bananas.
Sometimes we spoon feed him stuff - when he'll suffer it.... mostly he likes to feed himself.
For a rice 'mixer' with other stuff we use a rice porridge, which can be cooked up like regular porridge, but is made from brown rice and doesn't contain any other additives and stuff like is in farex.


Recently we've made beef rissoles, which he loved! Made a huge mess and most went on the floor, but he really enjoyed it. Oh and some fish at christmas cooked with garlic and chilli, he loved that too.

Marcellus, what additives does farex contain?

In farex, vitamins & minerals - which, I think, babies can't really absorb. THink it also contains vegetable oil. Plus it's refined white rice, which is not so good. I have used farex, so I'm not saying it's poisonous or anything (well, not as far as I know!), just not the best thing for babies, necessarily.

we never used farex, there is a lot of added iron (so i have been told) and this can constpate your bubba.

MJ has Kids weetbix or normal porridge as a cereal, mixed with soy milk (one with no added sugar) as it tastes nicer/creamier and she prefers it to dairy.
She self feed this most of the time :) VERY messy!!!

SJ, did MJ just figure out how to use a spoon herself (you load it for her, right)? DS just grabs it, pulls the food off it, turns it around and chews on the handle...

Yeah she did that for ages, and still does at times, but is getting better, do you eat with DS? i find that if i am eating at the same time it helps, also i let her play with the spoon during meals... Also when she is hungry, like at the start of the meal she is better... i load it and feed her the first spoon usually and then hand her the loaded spoon for the next one.
Sometimes i have two spoons as she plays with one and will feed with the other.
Really messy going though and she wears a lot of it! She mostly has the option of self feeding with her spoon or fingers, if she starts with the spoon she nearly always finishes with her fingers.

we don't spoon feed at all. I leave it there and i know he will try when he is ready to.
we are finger foods all the way here.

Oh, and Rhy, I have some links to BLW, pm me if you still want them, i cant remember if i gave you them already or not

We spoon feed mushy things. But lately DS has sometimes been scooping it out of his mouth and feeding it back to himself. I tried just giving it to him, but he just dumped it on the floor... will keep trying though, he's getting there. Dont' think it'll be long before he can just feed himself everything.

LOL That's why I gave up with spoon feeding, whatever I put in his mouth he would take out mush up, play with and put back in there, so I figured he would just do it hen ready. He tried to feed himself yoghurt today, it didn't go too well... mostly finger paint :rofl:

funny! I had wondered how you'd do BLS with that sort of thing :)

I tend to give him yoghurt in a cup and he will try to drink it, mostly (if he is eaing ti by himself anyway). But often he wants to eat it when i have it so i feed him... which i guess considering he already wants it and screams unless i give him some is sort of 'baby led' anyway.

ha ha - the spoon feeding is so funny isnt it... we have weetbix splatter everywhere!!!
This morning she did really well, i mixed up the weetbix and loaded the spoon then left the spoon in the bowl, she used both hands, the left with the spoon and the right to hand feed.
I just kept loading the spoon and left it in the bowl, at times she tried to 'load' the spoon but was pretty unsucessful - but she tried.

Nice to see you back cookie :hug:

Hi Everyone!

Looks like it is time for me to join you all in here. I wasn't planning on starting Jett on solids for another month but he absolutely cracked it tonight when he wasn't allowed the food he was reaching for off DH's plate.

So I cooked up some carrot fingers and let him go to it. He seemed to really enjoy it. I couldn't believe how far back he was shoving it in his mouth, but he didn't gag and he kept pulling it back out to look at it before shoving it back in again. In the end it was all gummed and soggy, but I don't think he swallowed any. We'll see what comes out in his poo I guess!! :lol:

Hi guys!!

Well DD is almost 6 months now (where DID that time go!?!) so I'm going to walk down this track with you - if you'll have me ;)

Just wondering what the first things you guys actually gave was? I'm guessing that you can't really cook up apple slices or whatever, cos they would be too soft for them to hang on to... so I was thinking pear slices to start with? She also goes to daycare, so I'm sorta after some daycare friendly ideas to pop in with her bottles...

Any advice much appreciated!!!

hi Mel

Wow 6 mths already! of course we will have you.
First things that i gave were veggies, i boiled until pretty soft - they do have problems holding at times, but at the moment she wont actually consume that much anyway, its more about the experience, tastes and textures.
pears is a good one, i thing mj has avacardo as one of her firsts as well as cheese (although i assume that you will be non dairy?)
i also thing that i gave weetbix fair early on, just mushed up and on the tray of the high chair, she picked up blobs of it and ate it - thou this one is proably etter for home rather than DC!!!
We also moved to bread with topping fairly quicly also - which would be great for DC
I dont think MJ actually ate much at all until she was 7 mths, so a wide variety in small tubs would be best...
Things to include would be some pasta swirls, broccoli, carrot, zucchini, cheese, avocado pear and i use to par boil other fruits in stick fingers and she gave them a go... the softer they are the easier they are to eat, however they get slippery and chase them around the tray!!! Great for dexterity thou, MJ developed a pinser grip really early...

HTH, goodluck and enjoy the mess!!! ;)