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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!!! ;)
Welcome Mel!! I think it is mainly you and I in here!!! GM gave us some great advice but I think she is well established in her eating!
I started out with carrot which I steamed so it was soft but would still hold form while Jett held it. He loved it. Now we have carrot in almost every poo so my guess is he is getting it down!!
We have also tried banana (we have to hold that cos it is just too slippery), apple which was raw. He wasn't so keen on that. Wholemeal toast (plain) cut into soldiers, I think that was the most fun we've had with food, and lettuce which he has stolen from my plate when we've been out. He loooooves that... but I think that is just because he steals it rather than is given it! We are still working through the vegies and fruit, but he did get given a chunk of steak the other night which he happily sucked the juices out of and gummed the rest.
I guess the main thing is that it is soft enough to suck and gum and swallow, but strong enough to hold shape while they hold it. Oh, and a bib that covers everything is a great idea, not to mention a splat mat for under the high chair.
Yay! I'm glad you've come to join me on this journey, I was feeling a little bit lonely! I hope I haven't scared everyone else away!
ETA: Oh hi SJ!! I started this post last night so didn't realise you posted! I forgot to add that I tried cheese as well but he wasn't so keen on it. Did keep going back for more though.
SJ I was thinking of trying the weetbix too, what did you mix with it to make it mushy enough to eat? EBM? Formula? Water? Milk?
MT - i give weekbix with soymilk (one with no added sugar like Bonsoy) I have given with EBM in the past and also cows milk but she prefers the tase of the soy.
there is always on going discussion as to whether dairy should be introduced at this age, the lecture that i went to and and also the infomation that i have read/been given/found says that you dont have to restrict dairy at all... But each to their own really, its about what you feel most comefortable with.
have you read back over this thread, there is some really good info in here and also some discussion on this point.
HTH :)
I have read back, but it was a while ago now, at least a week! :lol: and my poor brain is no longer capable of retaining information or knowledge unless it is being used!! Haha! I hadn't thought of soy...never even tried it myself. Did you serve the weetbix cold or warm?
Thanks SJ - that was brilliant information.
MT - I'm so glad you are in here with me out of our baby buddies - didn't want to be the only one!! LOL
I'm at work now, but you have given me excellent ideas - and you're right SJ - we will be avoiding the cheese!!! Have to think of something else :think:
BBL
:)
Beware Mel, it's messy! But so much fun, i love seeing DS get so much enjoyment out of his food
Congratulations on the 6 month milestone and WELCOME to the joys of BLS!!
We are now at 14 months and have loved loved loved the discovery of foods in all its taste, texture, smell, mess (and nutrition!) Methinks you are going to enjoy this too!
I completely agree with SJ and MT. They basically covered everything I was going to say... steamed vegies and fruits - not too hard or soft, just right for little hands to grab. Yes, bananas can be a little tricky for little hands to hold so in the early stages I used to cut a banana in half (across width not length) then cut through the skin in a ring around the banana at about 1/3 down. Then by peeling off the skin from the top 2/3 you get a 2/3 naked banana to chew and suck on with a 1/3 handle to hold. (Hope that this makes sense, it is really hard to explain/visualise things like this!) if the banana was particularly thick, i would then cut a slice off each side of the revealed 2/3 to make it skinnier and easier to mouth. They pretty soon develop the ability to hold a peeled banana, but in the first month or so this worked a treat.
We also moved on to Mangos pretty quickly, I would cut a slice with skin on off a cheek of mango and DD would suck the flesh off that pretty quickly, hand me back the skin and look for more! Watermelon might also be a good one to play with?
Another nice one is roasted vegies - potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, parsnip etc.
In terms of practicality, we travel with heaps of small containers filled with choices of finger foods, everyone else is always jealous and other kids are always clamoring for a taste of DD's lunch, so be warned and pack extra!
Mealtimes can be messy, DD usually strips naked and makes a mess - glorious. Otherwise a plastic covered apron type bib is a blessing. We don't tend to use a plastic mat, but I can see the benefits. Instead we call in the hoover (read - dog) and the mess is cleaned up in no time!
DD sometimes ran into a bit of trouble with constipation so she often gummed a prune or too - loved them - and things were sorted out pretty quickly!
Enjoy, it is heaps of fun to watch them discover food!
ETA: My DD really only started solids at about 7-8 months as she was just not interested in any form of food til then. At 6/7 months she would just look at and play with whatever I gave her. At 7-8 months she began to taste etc so it was probably more like 9 months we hit the mango thing. Therefore not sure how a 6 month old would handle that one. Best thing of course is to try something, supervise and judge what to do accordingly!
Thanks, JR, some great ideas there - especially with the banana. That makes absolute sense to me... I'm off to get some more food ready to try. This is so much fun watching them explore these new tasty toys!
I bought a plastic apron bib from Pumpkin Patch that was on sale and it certainly does the trick!! Except I think I need to get Jett a shower cap too!! :rofl:
Yep MJ wipes the food through her hair too - nowadays its a sign that she is almost finished eating and she is about to wipe everything else off the table!!!
Like JR we send in our vacuum (dog) after she has finished, but also in the nice weather, we take the highchair outside or she sits on a wrap outside and eats.
In my napy bag i carry a wrap so that if she needs a snack and we are somewhere with out a high chair, i just pop that on the ground and she sits on that.
MJ also LOVES fruit, other than what everyone else has mentioned, watermelon (or any other melon) sticks are great
i also make up my own hummus that she LOVE love loves and she has that on toast, bread, veggie sticks or just out of the pot!!!
when we are out at restaurants i take a pack of disinfectant wipes and i clean the high chairs down really well as giving her a bowl is OK now, but when we fist started out the food would have to be handed to her or on the tray of the high chair. I tried taking alon mats and thought about a layer of glad wrap on top, but she played with all these things... we got a suction bowl too, but she manages to pull this off at times too!!!
Thankyou so much for your wisdom SJ! I thought I was going to be alone in here for a while so I was going to make it up as I go along, but it is much easier when someone else has trialled and errored and I can learn from their experiences. Good idea about the wrap. Jett isn't sitting that well yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.
We have a vacuum too and figured he would be on clean up patrol, but I know he will leave some things behind... strange for a labrador. He's quite fussy and not that into food! :doh:
I had thought the same thing about the highchairs and wipes...they often look grotty and then you see the rags they wipe them down with :sick: ATM we just sit him on our lap when we are out, but of course this means we don't get to eat much, especially as he keeps stealing the food from our plate!!
ok....i have been abit scared to follow BLS because of gagging and i have convinced myself she isnt ready for it...which is unfair to her...its me that isnt ready lol.
She is refusing to eat the 'chunky puree' that she has been eating and enjoying for the last few weeks, she has been eating all sorts of fruit and veg sometimes with rice cereal mixed in. BUT this week she has one mouthfull then the top lips comes over the bottom lip and its lock down!!!! I wait an hour and try again but she isnt interested. She has also been pretty grumpy/not sleeping very well...wonder if it has something to do with eating/not eating, or just the age?
.... Im thinking that she has just lost interest in the mush and is wanting to do it herself, she has a rusk sometimes and quite like to chew away on it.
SO...Im going to buy some nice brown bread and steam up some vegies but i have read back through this thread and notice that people giving things like cheese and strawberries, which i have read in other places not to offer till alot older....is this just incase of a reaction to them? Is there anything you should really stear clear of or is it ok to try anything!? (within reason..nuts/junk food etc)
I think i read to many things from different places that give you strict guidelines and it just confusses me!
there are some great ideas on here to help get started...thanks all.
sorry to ramble alittle!!