BLS: what to add next?

We're coming home from our travels in a few days (thank goodness - I'm tired of moving around all the time), and DD is doing really well with her solids, I think. So I want to move on to trying some new things with her.

She was 7 months yesterday.

Things she eats (not all of everything goes in, by any means, but a little bit of everything goes in now, I'm pretty sure. A lot gets dropped/smeared/sucked too.):

- bread (usually white bread, which is what's generally available here, or dried breadstick things kinda like rusks). I do actually limit the bread, but it's her favourite, and handy for if we're in a situation where a big mess is too much to handle

- cooked carrots, broccoli, zucchini, pumpkin, potato, flat beans. All cooked to softness and cut into fingers or chunks.

- raw tomato, apple, orange (she made a face at that - very funny to watch!), lettuce, spinach, watermelon, kiwifruit

She's eaten some cooked fish and sucked some chicken but I don't think any of the chicken went in because it was too dry and tough to chew. She's sucked some red meat once, and slimed away at some jamon with great delight (not that I'd give her that often because it's really salty.

QUESTIONS:


1. I'd like to get her eating more meat, as I worry about her iron levels. So I'm planning on cooking chops and giving her the bones to suck, as well as strips of steak or whatever. Any other suggestions for this? Do rissoles or similar work?

2. I'd like to give her different cereals. Pasta for sure. What about rice? Is it safe to give her granulated things like rice? What about weetbix for breakfast?

3. I'd like to give her yoghurt or cheese. Are these safe? Does it need to be particular kinds of cheese. Cheese is mostly salty, so small amounts, I guess. I'm not sure if the cow-products are OK at her age or not.

4. I'd like to add another meal: breakfast would make sense. She's currently having "lunch" with us most days. Dinner is hard because she goes to bed to early. So I was thinking of cereal+milk (cow milk or breastmilk?), toast fingers (buttered? With a spread on? What spread?), and of course fruit. Would you give stuff on a spoon, or let her get her hands into cereal etc?

I'd appreciate advice on this. I think we've gotten the cooked-veggie-fingers thing down pat, but I'm not very confident about where to go next.

Thanks!

Also should we be offering water now, in a sippy cup or something? She's breastfed, and I don't know when she should need water. Coming back to Melbourne it'll be hot, so my guess is that she might need to start having water.

HI Tenar, we do do a mix of BLS and spoon feeding, I gave up on farex early on due to constipation but found porridge to be good, bought a bag of quick oats, 2 tablespoons, with water to cover and in the microwave for 2 mins, I usually add pureed apple/pear/berries etc, sppon fed at 7-11 months, but now he likes to eat it himself, makes a big mess but he enjoys it! I found a recipe on a Bls site that had a set porridge thing that I keep meaning to try basically you make up the porridge then put it in a shallow container with cling film over the top, leave in fridge overnight and then cut into chunks/strips. looked like a good idea!
DS likes couscous, I just add vegies etc to it, and tuna and rice, at your childs age I half blended it to make it a bit more mooshy :lol:
polenta fingers are another thing I want to try. DS loves risoni, and slurping up spaghetti, doesnt like it if I cut it up, it has to be looong!
steak strips are good, ds loves chops, I just give him bits of meat off the bone, sausages, rissoles are good too.
Hope something in there helped, just what I have been doing anyway! :D

ETA: I just give DS a sippy cup with his meals, he doesnt always drink but I try to encourage it, before, during and after meals. I have a few lying around but he doesnt really like it unless he is sick or its really hot, then he gulps it down of his own volition.

1. Strips of steak, chicken, lamb (either chops or strips), rissoles, bolognaise are all being eaten here. We gave all of this to DS about 2 weeks after starting BLS, and he loves it.

2. The thought now is that there isn't much need to restrict or delay introduction of foods (unless you have allergy concerns), so pasta, rice, weetbix are all fine. Honey is the one food that should be avoided until one year. I bought the ABA booklet on Introducing Solids, so I am using that as my guide.

3. To be honest, I haven't given DS much cheese. For no reason other than I don't buy much of it normally, so I'll have to fix that. Yoghurt is a big hit with him though.

4. As for cereal we do weetbix or porridge. I use a small amount of cows milk. It is ok to use a small amount as long as it is not being used as the main source of milk. Toast soldiers are a big hit here, with a small amount of butter and vegemite. I often spread banana or avocado on some toast too (in this case I don't use butter)

5. Water. I think this one is a bit of personal choice. If bub is b/f, they don't necessarily need it as she would just be able to drink from you to quench her thirst. I have chosen to offer DS a sippy cup of water at each meal. Mainly because our summers are so hot, and I would like for him to get used to drinking it. It took a few weeks, but now he drinks between 50-100ml of water everyday.


ETA: The only thing DS has by spoon is yogurt and he "helps" me put it in his mouth! I let him go for it with his hands with the cereal. I often leave the spoon in front of him and sometimes he tries to use it himself.

double post

1. I'd like to get her eating more meat, as I worry about her iron levels. So I'm planning on cooking chops and giving her the bones to suck, as well as strips of steak or whatever. Any other suggestions for this? Do rissoles or similar work?

These are great ideas, my DD especially loved chop bones as a baby. Whatever meat you had for dinner, save a bit and reheat it the next day if you like.

2. I'd like to give her different cereals. Pasta for sure. What about rice? Is it safe to give her granulated things like rice? What about weetbix for breakfast?

Rice is great and if it's a bit sticky it's easy for them to pick up. I gave my DD weetbix and EBM from about 8 mths, when she could handle a spoon a bit better. But you don't need to give 'breakfast' foods at breakfast, there's nothing wrong with vegies either!

3. I'd like to give her yoghurt or cheese. Are these safe? Does it need to be particular kinds of cheese.

I gave both to DD, especially yoghurt. But not too much or she wouldn't eat much else!

4. I'd like to add another meal: breakfast would make sense. She's currently having "lunch" with us most days. Dinner is hard because she goes to bed to early.

Toast was DD's breakfast fave, with avocado spread on it. But as I said above, it doesn't need to be a 'breakfast' food.

Sounds like she's going really well!

Thanks very much everyone, that's really helpful.