Starting solids? - Baby Led Solids Chatter #2

[Sammiejane]

We use a stick on one on Mums IKEA Highchair and it works well.

Here we just use the bowl from the stick on one or a bowl with a handle - it came as part of a set that my sister bought me when i was UTD, i think its a UK brand early learning or something like that, they are great bowls and dishwasher safe.

When we started however i did the same as Jessica - food straight on the tray in a blob and she would eat it from there.

Re the food question taht i asked earlier, Its a hard one really, part of the basis of BLS is that the baby will select what they want and nutritionally what they need, therefore if i limit what i give her because she doenst want something, i am not allowing her the full choice.
I am lucky really, she is not a guts, she will leave food and if offerd fruit (which she loves) when full she wont eat it... She also is really into most food that i make, especially curries or really flavoursome food...
I give MJ 2 options usually, like for b/fast if she is not keen on her cereal i will make toast - i give DSS and DH the same choice in the morning, only they can vocalise what they want.
Lunch i will do the same, IF i am giving options on sandwiches, like cheese and ham or chicken or hommus (what ever is on the go)
Dinner she doesnt get a choice between meals, i am not cooking two meals (like others have said) but if she is not interested in dinner, but still appears hungry i will give her a dessert - which is only EVER fruit or yoghurt, we are not dessert eaters really, but i read somewhere that its good to offer 2 courses... Anyway, thats my take on it...

MJ has hade both garlic bread and pizza (usually just the crusts) the garlic bread has been store or restaurant bought, the pizza home made... I dont think a little bit is harmful, i think that she has only had it once or twice, MJ eats the same meals as us, so its a bit hard not allowing her the things that we are all eating - usually i give her some leftovers of something that week (i usually have 3 or 4 things in the freezer) and then a smal taste of what we are having.
There are a few things that i dont give her, lollies, chocolate are the main ones as well as cordial or anything with added sugar of loads of salt...

Another question - Easter is coming up - what are you going to do, DH and I have discussed that we dont want MJ to have chocolate at easter... its going to be a bit hard, especailly as we go away with friends and their kids have chocolate/coke/lollies like its going out of fashion (what a old saying tat is!!!) Seriously last easter the then 6mth old was chowing down on chocolate all day long and i was asked if i was going to give MJ a try (she was 3 WEEKS old )... this year as she is iver a year it is going to be harder to justify, but i have my family on my side, hopefully they will stick up for us (even DSS who is 11 is on board and jokes around about it, but is really good and wont tease or eat something in front of her that she cant have)... IMO she has her whole life to learn about chocolate and lollies etc etc - what are you thoughts???

[Visitor8]

Well Ashton will get a huge easter egg, it's a tradition... he wont eat it though. Maybe a tiny taste for a photo but then mummy gets it later I usually get the boys a little egg each and some toy. We do other things like painting eggs and making crafty stuff.

Something I learnt in my nutrition class last year, babies/young toddlers/kids don't overeat unless we make them. If we offer food they will eat until they are full. It is parents saying "finish what's on your plate" that makes them overeat, which then becomes a habit. At the time I thought it was interesting as I had never thought of it like that. Made me make sure I never told the boys to eat all their food!

I am going to try the dreambaby suction bowl and cutlery. It looks awesome! There are some things I plonk in front of him, like toast and vegies etc but when he eats his yogurt and things, I would like him to eat it from a bowl YK. He likes to wipe it everywhere though haha Got a couple of classic photos at dinner tonight. Off to upload them to facebook!

[MummyTummy]

We have a suction bowl, but it doesn't work either unless you try to lift it straight up. But tilt it, as most kids would do, and no resistance it just tips over!! We do a bit of a mix of things when offering food. Pretty much it gets just put on the tray in front of him so he can pick it up and eat it by himself. If the food is sloppy I have it in one of his bowls, I put a little on the tray (cos I know it will end up there anyway!!) so he can play and experiment with it and then load up the spoon for him to use. He doesn't understand the dipping concept yet, but as he grows I might give him toast or rusks to dip in to the sloppy stuff as well as a spoon.

We have also fed pizza crusts and garlic bread here. Jett loves garlic bread too.

SJ - Could you give toy instead of chocolate? I wasn't going to do much for easter this year, I don't think he will notice one way or anonther!! He might get a taste of chocolate, just as part of his food education of course!! But no, I am certainly not going to be giving chocolate in large quantities until he is much much older. I can't believe how irresponsible your friends are, as if you would let a 3 week old try chocolate! It's always hard when your friends have different views to you on parenting, so I can see how hard it will be to watch their kids eat and drink themselves silly on high sugar foods. But I hope they are the kind of friends that can respect your views on parenting and won't sneak anything to MJ behind your back. I think you have a very sensible approach to it all. You are right, MJ has plenty of time to learn about chocolate and lollies and I think these early years are the ones where you set the good foundations to set them up for life.

MissyMoo - I love your idea of doing crafty stuff. Sounds like so much fun! I'm not a fan of Easter egg chocolate (I like chocolate, just not the cheap easter egg chocolate!!) so I might adopt that one as Jett and any other kids get older!

I'd heard that about kids overeating too. By teaching them to finish what's on their plates they learn to not listen to their appetite and learn when they are full. They also learn to eat quicker so they can finish their plates before they register that they are full which of course leads to a whole lot of digestion problems!! They reckon our appetite suppressant is slowly disappearing through evolution because we no longer listen to our stomachs. Food for thought huh?

[Jennifer13]

We do the Easter egg hunt, but DD then 'shares' the eggs (and has only had one herself, and only since she turned 2). She seems to get given toys and books as well, so isn't fussed.

Last year I found these cool egg 'wrappers' that you put over normal boiled eggs (dip them in boiling water over the egg). I tried those and they were a hit! So if your little one is having egg, that might be a pretty distraction.

Re the pizza, when DD was a baby I used to make her a pizza with english muffins, spread with tomato paste and top with whatever you like. Cover with some cheese, put under the grill for a couple of minutes and voila. They were a huge hit! She's only started having pizza with us in the last few months (we order from a gourmet pizza place and they aren't too oily and have lots of vegies).

[Daydream Believer]

Hi all, another jumping on the bandwagon.
I had never heard of BLS until I stumbled on this thread today. We do about 50% that anyway but will be doing as much as possible as of dinner tonight.
Makes sense to me

Just one question, what do you do when you are out & they are in a pram to eat?
I dont really feel like washing the pram everytime we have to eat when we are out

Sorry if its already been asked, Im reading back over the pages & am only up to page 12

[Visitor8]

take them out and use a high chair. There is usually one where we eat. If there isn't I sit ash on a chair next to me, or on my lap and hold him so he doesn't jump lol

[amberj]

I have a question about salt. I have a bunch of jars left over from pre-BLS days and occasionally I break them out (just to reinforce my BLS choice!!!). Anyhow, the age appropriate ones....they really don't taste very nice. There is seriously NO SALT in them. I know my MCHN said that babies taste buds are much more sensitive than ours, so they don't need to salt, and giving them salt can badly affect their developing taste buds. And I know their kidneys cant handle too much salt.

But with BLS, I tend to give Peter whatever we are eating, although not anything blatently salty, like pretzels or soy sauce. But a lot of things we cook already have a bit of salt in them- pasta sauce, dips, stir fry sauce, even bread and butter. What is everyone's opinion on the salt issue? I am just alarmed by how different in taste the jarred baby foods are against the "normal" foods I give Peter.

[Captain]

With salt, I try and restrict it as much as possible. I've started making my own bread which has far less salt and atm Ashlyn really only has fruit and veg. I make sure a read labels and pick things with the least amount of salt. Not sure what else to do.

With Easter, Ashlyn wont be getting any chocolate this year. I've got Danielle a Dora egg with torch, though I'm sure she'll have more fun with the torch because she's not that into chocolate (unlike her mummy, lol!). I don't generally restrict food, I like to teach moderation. I didn't do BLW with Danielle, but I did make sure she had a wide range of food and we teach her to eat until she is full and that she doesn't have to finish her plate. She actually eats very well now and is just as likely to pick up an apple as she is a biscuit.

When did you start giving your LO meat/chicken and how did you prepare it?

[Visitor8]

Jessica I don't add salt to ANYTHING. I dish the kids food out and add it to my plate if I want salt. They have never had salt added to their food. Those jar foods are gross!

Captain I am already giving Ashton some meats... he has had mince and chicken and fish too.

Tonight we had stirfry. Ashton didn't have the beef strips but he had rice and vegies and he actually loved it! Chase took it upon himself to help feed him too, it was so cute I didn't want to stop it hehe

[Sammiejane]

Jessica I don't add salt to ANYTHING. I dish the kids food out and add it to my plate if I want salt. They have never had salt added to their food.

:yeahthat:

I have never cooked with salt so this isnt really an issue for me.
BUT DH uses salt in his cooking, so we take out a bit of what ever he is cooking before he adds salt, or we add it afterwards, on the table

MJ has meat, if we are having a BBQ, DH will give MJ a bit of his lamb or beef (i dont eat it) or if we ae having chicken she gets that.
With the cicken we just break it up and she chews it.
In the earlier days she would just suck up and not really eat it, now she actually eats it all up.

I find that if MJ doesnt want the meat, she just picks it out and leaves it on the side of her bowl or tray! I think that i started off with mince though, i make litle hamburger patties, just mince, egg, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, herbs, pepper and a bit of HP sauce or mustard... mix it all up, then fry, I usually make a massive batch, we have some and then i freeze the rest, great thing to have with some veggies at the last minute... i do all types of mince meat this way...

[Mummatotwo!]

Hi

My babe is nearly 7 months and we want to try some diff foods, any suggestions?
So far he has tasted Pear and thats it.

[amberj]

I don't add salt to ANYTHING. I dish the kids food out and add it to my plate if I want salt. They have never had salt added to their food.

I don't add or cook with any salt either, but I do use jars of pasta sauce and meal bases which undoubtedly have salt in them. So if Peter eats a bit of pasta or meat, it will have a little bit of sauce on it, and therefore a bit of salt.

I am just wondering whether I am supposed to give him TOTALLY plain food (eg pasta with no sauce). Sometimes I feel so lost with food and whether I am doing the right thing!

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Hi

My babe is nearly 7 months and we want to try some diff foods, any suggestions?
So far he has tasted Pear and thats it.

Thats the joys of BLS you can give them what ever you eat. Minus caffiene... choc.. lollies etc lol

[LimeSlice]

Amber - giving some pasta sauce with salt in it is not going to affect bubba. Giving him a packet of pretzels, well.... lol

It is important to remember that salt is necessary for many aspects of your body. So NO salt at all is not healthy either. Salt is not only added to food for flavour, but also stabilises starch and gluten.
Soduim is also different to salt - so the "sodium" measurements on the side of the box are not a great indication of the added salt of a product. Low sodium intake can lead to many problems, including muscle cramps. Your body needs sodium to function correctly.

Go with your instincts, dont second guess everything you do otherwise you will forever be criticising yourself, and this will not be helpful for anything! A little salt is not going to hurt him, just like some sugar (such as fruit) isnt going to either. YOU need to be comfortable with what you are doing. BLS is simply a method of feeding - it really doesnt change WHICH foods you can give. It simply allows you to give them whole, or cut, rather than mashed and pureed.

[Visitor8]

When i say I add NO salt, I am not saying they GET none. They have foods which already have salt in them like sauces etc. I just don't add extra when I cook.

[MummyTummy]

:yeahthat: I was going to say the same as LS regarding the body needing salt/sodium. Once they are past six months old their gut is mature enough to process "adult" foods so a little bit of salt is not going to harm them. The best thing is to avoid highly processed foods, and avoid adding salt to your cooking if you can. If you use a jar of pasta sauce, the amount that bubs will eat will be minimal enough to not do any great harm. Most baby food is based on the formulas that were created for babies when 3 months was the age to start feeding solids, even though the current age range may be much further along. I hope that helps a little Amber.

Skittlebub - I have never had Jett eating in the pram, cos I sooooo don't want to be cleaning food out of that. So, usually he eats when I am eating so if I'm out and about I either use the highchair at the cafe/restaurant, or I have a Phil&Teds metoo high chair that clamps on to the side of the table. This is fantastic because it folds completely flat so I leave it in the bottom of my pram, and Jett loves it because he sits "at" the table with everyone else and gets to join in. So I can really recommend this to everyone!! If failing all this and there is no table (perhaps a picnic in the park or something) I would sit him on my lap, or prop him up against something so he can't fall over.

Captain - I started giving Jett meat about 2 weeks after we started BLS. He just sucked it to begin with, but that is ok, because the juices of the meat is where all the good stuff is like protien. He has it in whatever way it is prepared as long as it isn't deep fried in fat!! I tend to mop up pan fried food with paper towelling because I am not an oily food fan so it is always pretty much as good as we can get it. We don't do anything special for Jett, he gets a little bit of everything that we are eating as long as it is healthy and not dangerous for him.

[Jennifer13]

Time for a new thread here.