questions about baby led solids

i had been feeding DD commercial pureed baby food for about the last 2 months but last week got some info on BLS and decided to start her on that. she loves 'holding' her food and when i previously gave her finger foods she fully eats them, e.g. no choking etc, and the whole idea seems alot easier and more logical to me. anyways i have a few questions as im finding it hard to find info on the net...BTW DD is almost 7 months.

what food should i NOT give her? obviously no 'bad' foods like chocolate haha, but anything else? so far she has had bread/toast, fruit, vegies, biscuits (naughty i know) and cruskits.

she has 5 bottles over a 24 hr period (4 during the day and 1 overnight), how long til i should expect her to drop a bottle (effectively 'weaning')? i thought at her age she should only be having 3-4 bottles over 24 hrs (well thats what the formula tin says)

ive read it can be harder for FF babies to follow BLS...why is this?

any other things i should be aware of or advice would be appreciated :)
TIA

I haven't heard of a link between FF babies being harder to do BLS with???

DD1 was FF from birth and we did BLS successfully with her. We gave (and give) her everything except for peanuts, honey um and yeah, junk food (for the most part.. lol) So yeah, we just gave her whatever we were having and it seems to have worked out ok, she will eat anything and everything now at 16 months.

Oh - and I can't remember exactly when DD dropped any of her bottles (she still has 2 per day) but she dropped them herself, I didn't make her drop them, she just stopped drinking them at a certain time of day, so I stopped making them, and giving her water instead.

Oh - but I NEVER followed what was written on the side of the tin - I followed her lead ;)

What Mel said :) DD1 took to commercial pureed stuff like a duck to water, but once she got a hold of BLS-style feeding, she was off and running... DD2 is LOVING our first experiments with BLS, I'm a bit more relaxed this time around and we just give her a plate with whatever we're having for dinner and let her go at it (I'm about to post pics on FB of her adventures in mashed potato and chicken kiev from earlier hahaha). My girls are trying/did try a bit of just about everything - meat, bread, pasta, dairy, eggs, vegies, fruits, jams/spreads (DD1's favourite was and still is Vegemite!), whatever's in my pantry or whatever I'm eating, they have a chop at it and see if they like it. I know a lot of people avoid things like eggs/dairy, honey and nuts until they're a certain age but we tried DD1 on peanut butter from really early on, the only thing I didn't give her until she was 12 months was shellfish, and I honestly have no reason for that other than we don't eat it often lol, it was purely that she was too young (4 months) her first Christmas (when we gorge on prawns), and we didn't eat them again until next Christmas!

I try not to give them junk, but I know DH sneaks the kids chocolates/lollies when he's feeling indulgent, he even gave DD2 a 'taste' of choccie (well if that was a 'taste' then she didn't get any in her mouth, judging by the amount she had dribbling down her belly, so I reckon it was a bit more than a 'taste'!) the other day when my back was turned :/

But, yeah. Anything in our house, that we eat, is fair game for Munch and Squirt. If there's a history of certain intolerances/allergies in your family, it might pay to avoid those foods or be careful around them, but if you don't, I say go for it, and just watch them carefully :)

As for bottles... well some kids are just pigs, aren't they? DD1 was on five bottles a day until her first birthday, the formula tin liiiiieeesss! If Jade wants more bottles than the 'recommended' amount, keep them up - she knows best what she needs, just follow her lead. As she increases her solid intake, she will drop a bottle here and there, just replace it with water and see how you go. Best of luck, the little miss looks stoked with her avo, watermelon etc so you're doing it right :D

Arimeh: yeah what i read said that BF babies have to work harder to get thier milk as opposed to out of a bottle, but DDs bottles are the same shape as a boob so i dont c why itd matter? good to see theres another FF baby thats been BLS fed...

Donna: havent tried vvegemite yet but i love it so i wonder if DD will too...
the only fish i eat is fish n chip shop fish so no shellfish here (can honestly say ive never even tried it, thier little eyes make me feel sad for them hahaha)
and yes jade had a 'taste' of chocolate and has a thing for scotch finger biscuits...yikes

as for bottles, the tin says 3 bottles of 210ml, whereas DD has 5 bottles of 150ml each. ive tried offering more per bottle but she wont take it so i figure she just has a small belly?? or im giving her too much bread! LOL