BLS Questions

[Heaven]

Some questions for whenever we start.

So I've read that you introduce 1 food at a time for a few days, but I've also read you give them a few at once so they can pick what they want to eat. So, how does that work?

How soft do you cook the vegies?

Is there some kind of list of what foods to give first, etc??

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Hi Heaven, you try the foods individually for a couple of days just to check for allergic reaction, once they have had a couple then you can start mixing, ie. potato with pumpkin then add in other foods you know they can eat and alternate the combos.

I steamed her food to a point they were mashable with a fork/blender or potato masher, the older she got the lumpier i made it, then i started adding in mince, steamed chicken breast (diced with a processor after cooking), well cooked rice and now even tuna & veggies.

Our health nurse gave us a list of foods to try and foods to avoid and roughly what age groups, maybe start there and see if they can provide something, just for your own peace of mind.

I also tried vegetables before fruit so then she didn't just decide to stick with the sweet stuff, now she eats pretty much anything and at 10mths is enjoying eating adult foods... lol
Last night had her first try of Pizza, was quite interesting to see her face with the crust and a bit of sauce. lol

Well i hope everything works out well, it all takes time and a bit of getting used to, even if they don't like it the first day persist and you never know the food they screwed there nose up at may end up being the favorite.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

once u introduce a food.. one u introduce another, give the first food with it IYKWIM. So you are giving her a choice but still u know if she has a reaction it will be to the other food and not the one she has had for a couple days. Its usually a good softness for your bubs age if u can squash the veg easily between your tongue and the roof of your mouth.

Avasmum - BLS (baby led solids) is not about mashing food at all. check out this thread. http://forums.bellybelly.com.au/forums/baby-led-solids/

ETA - we started with sweet potatoe and pumpkin. Mayb try boiling or roasting these into little fingers? Um anything really.. carrots a good one. DD loves brocolli forests and they are easy to grab.

[~clover~]

Things we started with -
Avocado
broccoli
carrot
potato
bread
tuna
pasta

[Heaven]

Ok so I can pretty much start with any veges or fruit? Is that right?

What about rice cereal, is that a no no?

[Arimeh]

SJ - the theory is they feed themselves, so rice cereal really isn't done in BLS unless they are really awesome with a spoon at that age

We started with banana first because it was easy to grab. Now I just cook vegies in the microwave for both the kids, and they just chomp on them. And sausages, miss m loves sausages.

She eats everything though.

[Moi]

I started with banana and steamed sticks of veges that DD could pick up herself. Now she can eat a whole range of foods on her own.

With BLS the idea is for babies to learn to feed themselves and to give them a variety of foods to choose from. There is no reason to offer one food at a time, unless you do have a history of allergies in the family.

There's a good article on wikipedia about BLS - search for baby led weaning.

HTH

[Heaven]

That's what I was wondering about, I had read to offer them a range of foods so they choose themselves but also you're supposed to offer 1 food at a time, LOL

[[M]umma[M]ia]

u dont have to do it that way hun. we didnt. it was boring. lol. DD just has what we have now. There is no need for the rice cereal, just swap it with a banana or fruit. Tho.. its all up to u. I found giving M the organic cereal and letting her go crazy on it, her spoon skills are improving alot. Some things DD is still spoon fed as we dont do all BLS, it just didnt work for us, but it has made no difference in her diet or ability to do things. She has perfected the pincer (sp) grip (using thumb and finger) perfectly.

What do YOU want to do when it comes to BLS?

i have pics on here of Mia when she started BLS if u wanna check them out.

ive always been told its better to introduce vegies first as fruit is sweeter and they will always go for the fruit. I did that and now DD prefers veg much more than fruit, which im happy about

[Heaven]

Yeah I would rather give her a few different veges and she can pick what she wants to eat but I thought that might be a bad idea or something. We don't have any allergies in our family so I guess we're not at high risk for that though.

Not real keen on the rice cereal idea, just my MCHN said to try her on that first if I like.

I'm checking out your photos now, LOL, looks messy!!

[Daydream Believer]

We dont have any food allergies in our family so I gave DD banana carrot(steamed) and pear all cut into sticks to start with. The vegies I steam until they are soft but still hold their shape

You might want to invest in a mess/muck mat as a lot ends up on the floor

[Visitor8]

I didn't offer one food at a time. I gave Ash a plate and he just ate whatever he wanted. We don't have a history of allergies so I wasn't really worried about that.

[ezymay]

We didn;t do the one food at a time either. Em's first food was melted cheese on an eglish muffin cut into fingers. She jsut sucked it but loved it. Banana is good, carrot anything that can be cut into fingers is suitable. Have fun with it..remember food is fun until they are one!!!

[Jennifer13]

We introduced banana first as it was easy and avocado. Then I just started keeping aside extra veggies from what we'd had with dinner and giving her that. Closely followed by toast. We also gave her pasta and rice pretty early on. If you don't do rice cereal (we didn't), there's no harm cooking up rice (slightly overdone, if it's gluggier it's easier for them to pick up in balls, if that makes sense).

I did help DD with yoghurt, giving her a spoon at the same time as I had one. She could use a spoon very quickly (she looooved yoghurt, so was highly motivated!). I always gave her a spoon with dishes that we would use utensils with, if that makes sense.

From about nine months DD was having all the same meals as leftovers as she would eat a decent amount, rather than just the same veggies, etc.

It isn't strictly BLS, but the ABA has a great booklet 'Introducing Solids' that talks about introducing family foods. If you don't mash/puree it pretty much gives some good tips on approaching solids.

There's also some good advice on kellymom about BLS and when/how to introduce. My DD didn't take to solids for about a month. I started her just over six months.

[Heaven]

Another question!
What's the best bread? Want to give DD some toast but not with my crappy white super processed bread, pmsl.

[MantaRay]

Wholemeal bread is best hun. The biggest issue with bread is the salt content, so I wouldn't give too much store bought bread in a day. If you have a breadmaker or know someone who does, home made bread with little or no salt is the very best bread (seeing as you asked!).

Just a point on the mixing of foods, this is less of a problem with BLS. Babies tend to dislike foods that they have an allergy or intolerance to - with BLS they can manage this by not choosing the food. When you puree two foods together (or mix in a liquid), it can mask the taste and the baby is unable to avoid the problem food. This is why it is not recommended that you mix foods in purees for quite some time.

[Sammiejane]

Just a point on the mixing of foods, this is less of a problem with BLS. Babies tend to dislike foods that they have an allergy or intolerance to - with BLS they can manage this by not choosing the food. When you puree two foods together (or mix in a liquid), it can mask the taste and the baby is unable to avoid the problem food. This is why it is not recommended that you mix foods in purees for quite some time.

:yeahthat:
As first foods i gave MJ broccoli sticks, carrot sticks, sweet potato sticks and zucchini rounds (she would stick her finger therough the centre and then chew it!)
Also a stick of cheese (low salt)
soon after that we progressed to toast with hummas (home made) or avacado.

Just be mindful that not much really is consummed in the firt month or two, its more about exploring the tastes and textures.
Theonly food that we withheld was honey until 12 months.
Everything else she had as a matter of course (when it came up or i was using it or had it in the fridge)
I dint give fruit straight away as i wanted her to get the taste for the blander foods first, i dont know whther it played a part, but she LOVES all veggies now and doesnt really refuse anything at all.

Weetbix i mixed with soy milk (casue DSS has soy and it was easy to give her a bit of his) and just blobbed it in the high chair tray in front of her and let her go for it!

Biggest thing is follow your gut, if you are concerned about ANYTHING, dont give it, wait until you are ready as your baby will pcik up an any anxiety!
Also make sure that you check out the BLS chatter so that you know what to expect with the gagging (so you dont freak out) and tyhe MESS its full on, its not for the neat freak!
ENJOY
We just had MJ's 18 mth check up and i was the first Mum that had followed BLS in the area and i was asked millions of questions... they also commented that her fantastic fine motor skils and control was probably due to her having to learn to use her fingers early on.
She is now using a fork and a spoon for all meals and can seperate out foods that she doesnt like (she has been doing this for quite a while actually) As jennifer did, we gave her a spoon early on and she eith played or tried to use it.
Also she was eating our food (mini portions) but around 9-10 months too

Just to clarify - i dint mash anything that presented as a handle, the only 'mashed foods' we had were mashed potato etc, and then she just had grabbed handfuls of it.
We followed the guidleines by not feeding her at all, its difficult at the begining as you see their frustration, but they get enough, honestly!


Its lots of fun

[Heaven]

Thanks guys! Damn, wish I had a bread maker. We actually used to but I don't know what happened to it!!

DD is going great guns! lol. I really can't believe it. We've only been doing it for 2 weeks. She was swallowing a little bit from the first time we tried. And just last night watching her I couldn't believe how much better she'd gotten. As soon as I put the food down in front of her she was into it, lol. And not much went on the floor, she actually ate a lot. She had some carrot and cauliflower, a bit of spaghetti off Daddy's plate to play with, then some watermelon for dessert, and then some pear coz she still wanted more, pmsl. I have a little piggy here. It's so much fun though and I love watching her learn and think about what she's doing. She can pick things up really good now, even slippery fruits. So glad I decided to do BLS. Thanks guys!!