Baby Led Weaning

[Frosty]

We are planning on doing Baby Led Weaning. I was wondering whether there was anyone else on here that has tried it before; whether you had any recipe ideas; whether you had any ideas or culd share your experiences with me?

RoFro turns six months in a week, so we're looking at starting soon. My partner has some friends that have done it, and has spoken with other mothers on other 'Mums' forums; but I would like to see some vegans ideas on this as well.

For those of you that don't know (almost every person we have spoken to about this hasn't heard about it before) what BLW is, and what it is about, here is something I have nicked from their site that kind of covers it:

Based on a paper written by Gill Rapley, Baby Led Weaning just means letting your child feed themselves from the very start of weaning. According to the most recent research most babies reach for food at around six months, which is also the time that mothers are being encouraged to wean by their Health Visitors, in accordance with the WHO guidelines.
The distinct advantage of weaning at around six months is that by then, our children are developmentally capable of feeding themselves proper food, in other words – no more mush!
You just hand them the food in a suitably-sized piece and if they like it they eat it and if they don’t they won’t.

A few links:
Baby Led Weaning website
Baby Centre info on BLW
Book we've just bought

[twinkle]

Have you been on the Bonzai Aphrodite blog? She's vegan and I think she did baby led weaning, and she has lots of pictures of the stuff her kid is eating at the moment. I've put loads of blenders on my amazon wishlist since I started visiting that blog, since they always seem to be drinking home made juice or smoothies.

I plan to do it too (once I've given birth and got to that stage!)

[Frosty]

Ooo, I've not seen that. Cheers Twinkle I did do a search for vegan BLW, but couldn't find much really; it all seemed to be vegetarian stuff. The book that we bought has a veggie section, but most of the stuff contains eggs.

I'll post some pics and updates of what we have been trying.

[cobweb]

That sounds great. I started giving my son 'solids' (mush) when he was only 4 months old because he seemed to be permanently hungry, and was showing interest in our food by then.

[Frosty]

That Bonzai Aphrodite site is good. Lovely family and lots of good blogs on there.

We went to a friends wedding yesterday and gave RoFro a carrot, some cauliflower and a little bit of strawberry to play with. She sucked at them a little and ingested a little biot of the cauli. She got a little red-faced and coughy though, as I think she had a little stuck in her throat. She seemed to like the texture of the strawberry, and mushed that about a fair bit.

I'm not sure the other people who were sat at the table with us quite knew what was going on though, haha lol

[Frosty]

I made a roast dinner last night and we gave RóFro a carrot to have a play with.

She seemed to enjoy the texture and spent a lot of time moving it around in her hands, practising picking it up from her tray. She put it in her mouth a couple of times, but I'm not sure how much, if any, was actually eaten. She would bite (or gum) a little bit off and move it around her mouth for a bit and then spit it out onto herself.

It was very interesting to watch, as she tried to get to grips with it all. It's all a learning curve at the moment - learning how to pick things up, learning textures, learning smells, learning tastes, and learning how to swallow.

A couple of pics here:

http://twitpic.com/5aztae
http://twitpic.com/5aztit

[VeganZee]

Beautiful pictures, Frosty

[Frosty]

Cheers Zee

I plan to do it too (once I've given birth and got to that stage!)

I don't know whether this forum would be of interest, Twinkle - Natural Mamas. Mrs Frosty is a member of it, and there's a lot of Baby Led Weaners (that sounds a bit wrong) on there, and a lot of vegans and veggies etc too.

[Frosty]

This morning RoFro had very thick porridge, made with breast milk, and a banana to play with. She had fun. She also tried out her new beaker cup thing, which she was very fond of.

http://twitpic.com/5bidho
http://twitpic.com/5bidn7
http://twitpic.com/5bieb8
http://twitpic.com/5bidxm
http://twitpic.com/5bidrv

I'm not sure why, but TwitPic doesn't seem to work when trying to upload a pic, so have to post links instead.

[Frosty]

For tonight's tea we had aubergine, courgette and mushroom risotto. It was one hell of a messy meal, but a hell of a lot of fun!

She was loving squeezing the rice between her fingers and trying to get to grips (literally!) with mushrooms, courgettes and aubergines. It was so good and so much fun to watch

Chasing it around the tray:
http://twitpic.com/5bkzrm

Shovelling it in her gob:
http://twitpic.com/5bl06h

Mmmmmm, tasty:
http://twitpic.com/5bl0eq

[fondducoeur]

Awww, she looks so happy in that last one! It must be good!

[khadagan]

I've only done it partly with my daughter. I don't know if you can call it baby led weaning when it's only part-time though. It was a bit too tricky at the time because we were living in a tiny place and didn't even have a table to sit on and just couches and carpets, so way too dirty and messy. I only gave her 'cleanish' foods to eat herself. This time around we have a bigger place and a table (yay! ) and no more carpets, so much better. I'll be very happy to do it properly. I'm currently pregnant, so still a while away from this stage, but I do love it when kids can explore things by themselves.

[Veryblue2]

... I was wondering whether there was anyone else on here that has tried it before

Hi Frosty,

We have taken the baby-led approach and it has been fun watching my little one progress, but yup it's very messy at times! (soft broccoli = super mess! )

Early stages (6 months+): the little man got on well with bread sticks; mini-rice cakes; hummus toast soldiers (bread-wise the small hovis wheatgerm is not too big sliced into four and the roberts oatmeal square shaped went down well, white just turns to gluey lumps! and I've read from various sources that wholemeal is a bit much this early on); and we offered most cooked veg (generally some of what we were eating) but it was very hit and miss one day to the next what would end up in his mouth or not

9 months: we moved more towards... alpro plain and fruit yoghurts (on its own = messy but add rice krispies and it sticks to the waving spoon much more ); multigrain hooplas (to practice pincer grip); toast soldiers: thinly spread cashew/brazil/peanut butter* and st. dalfour fruit spread (no sugar), mashed avocado, soft lentils; chunks of avocado; sweet potato fingers; potato mini-waffles/alphabet shapes; veg dunkers/fingers/hashbrown thingies; organix goodies: carrot stix, tomato 0's & x's, alphabets; banana and other softer fruits like blueberries; dried banana/apple bits; various cooked veggies

12 months: well directed spoons of (just soggy) weetabix, (cold, thick) readybrek; triangle sandwich/bagel quarters: hummus, cheezly, bean pate; pasta in tomato or tahini/herb/oatcream based sauce; spaghetti/numbers/alphabets, beans in a sauce (both via toast or directed spoon); noodles; small squares of tofu, cheezly; small bits of whatever we are having e.g. falafel, fry's sausage/burger, redwoods whatever, tofu-quiche; various cooked veggies, particularly things that were just dropped/pushed away in the past e.g. carrot, baby sweetcorn, peas (pincer grip well mastered now! )

He still mostly spits out rice, couscous, quinoa and that type of texture food when given some to try on his spoon, but is surprising me every day (for example, last night he ate some strawberry and tonight a mouthful of rice and veggie balti!).

I think the two key points I took from the Gill Rapley BLW book were:
1) just keep trying things (particularly whatever you are eating) likes/dislikes arn't really formed at this stage; and
2) up to 12 months old (as long as the baby is still breastfed on demand) it's 'just for fun' i.e. it doesn't matter how much or little they have as it is not their main source of nutrition.

Best of luck!

* we have no family allergy history

[Frosty]

I've only done it partly with my daughter. I don't know if you can call it baby led weaning when it's only part-time though. It was a bit too tricky at the time because we were living in a tiny place and didn't even have a table to sit on and just couches and carpets, so way too dirty and messy. I only gave her 'cleanish' foods to eat herself. This time around we have a bigger place and a table (yay! ) and no more carpets, so much better. I'll be very happy to do it properly. I'm currently pregnant, so still a while away from this stage, but I do love it when kids can explore things by themselves.

We live in quite a small place too (a two bed apartment with a joining kitchen-diner-living room), but we have a table luckily. Admittedly we have only really started using it when we started the BLW. But we rent the property, so have had to be careful with the mess that BLW creates. And boy is there a lot of mess! We ended up buying some play mat floor tiles* to put underneath the dining table and surrounding area, so RoFro doesn’t cover the floor with her tomatoes and potatoes and bananas.

It is so good watching them explore things by themselves. I hope you manage to plenty of it when your new bundle arrives

*Similar to these sorts of things: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

[Frosty]

@ Veryblue2

That’s a great array of food to play with. I gave RoFro some peas yesterday to practice with a pincer grip, but she ended up just squashing them, haha She’s not got the most gentle of touches, so most of her food does get squashed at the moment. Time and experience will teach her not to grip so tightly, I’m sure.

[Frosty]

We have been continuing in our efforts, and freaking out relatives and people in cafes, with our ‘giving your baby real food instead of mush’ approach. Mrs F went to see her parents at the weekend and RoFro choked a little on something and scared her nan. I must admit though, it is a little scary when she tries to take something to the back of her throat that’s a little too big and she then tries to cough it back up. She always ends up smiling afterwards though, which is quite funny. A smile of accomplishment almost I think. Again, she’s learning.

We have had some great fun with potatoes and hummus. She loves the stuff! I’d be a little concerned that she was swapped at birth if she didn’t though to be honest. Mrs F and I could almost live on a diet of potatoes in their various forms with hummus.

Bath time has become a whole new experience because of this though, as I have to go looking for bits of food in her ears and hair and armpits and almost anywhere else where her hands can reach.

[Frosty]

Homemade guacamole and strips of tofu was on the menu for RoFro last night. She loved it! The tofu seemed like a winner, but she couldn't quite get all the bits out of her mouth that she didn't want,so had to wash it down with some water.

She's not really got to grips with drinking from a cup yet. She seems to hold her breath when drinking it, which usually results in one of a few things happening: she either pulls away and pants a bit; she pulls away and opens her mouth and lets all the water fall out whilst she breathes out; she takes a sharp breath in whilst drinking and it goes up her nose. The latter happened last night and she threw a little bit of a panzer, smacking her hands down on her tray. Bless her, the little donut.

[Franksmammy]

i do baby led weaning
i waited until 6 months then i put food infont of him, he had tastes but it took a good month before he started chewing and swallowing large ammounts.
hes nearly 9 months now and loves food...everything except brocoli haha.

the gagging is scary! first thing he ever tried was banana and he gagged horribly on it, i reacted badly and scared the crap out of him, but the gagging slowly got less and less and hes a pro now, its amaing watching them learn. my family refused to even look!

[Frosty]

One thing I have started realising since doing the BLW is how much salt is in products. Obviously with RóFro having to have less than a gram a day I have been looking at how much is in certain things we cook with: sauces, pastes, bread, sausages etc. Obviously, with the amount of food she is eating she won't be having that much salt, but it certainly did surprise me at the amount one could ingest in just a few meals.

We have been continuing in our efforts, into our fifth week now, and RóFro is loving her food. She has learnt to 'chew' (or gum!) her food and moves it around her mouth with her tongue a lot.

I've got some great pics, that I'll share below when I get chance this afternoon.

Recent successes have been: green beans, melon and homemade one-ingredient ice cream (banana). She doesn't seem to like bananas when not in ice creamed form though.

[Frosty]

RóFro eating her first North Staffs Oatcake:


Munching on a melon:


Dropped the melon:


Caught again and heading back into her mouth:

[Frosty]

Kiwi fruit moustache:


Green beans are a new favourite already:

[Frosty]

And the one ingredient ice cream (banana):


Went out for a pub lunch yesterday. Clearly the tray was tastier than the veg on offer:

[Ms_Derious]

Baby Alicia will be 6 months tomorrow and we are planning on starting BLW then.

Its all very exciting and up to this point she's been exclusively breastfed.

ETD: One of the things I'm fussing over is soy sauce. I use it a lot and I'm not happy with the amount of salt in it. Suggestions?

[Ms_Derious]

So far very lightly steamed carrots and apples seem to be popular as are unsalted rice cakes. She also had a good suck on a home made rusk. Nappy changes are now entertaining as that's when I get an idea what might have actually gone in.

She seems to have an aversion to the mini oaty fingers lovingly made with mummies breast-milk.

[Frosty]

There are some reduced salt soy sauces on the market, but I don't know whether it might be worth trying to substitute with something else entirely.

We (or rather Mrs Frosty) make oatey fingers made with breast milk too RóFro loves them!

She has become quite the pro (nine and a half months now) with eating now, but it still freaks out the relatives a bit.

She started nursery this month so we've had to try and educate them about BLW too. Mrs F wrote a couple of pages of stuff and handed them some other bumph about it. They seem to have taken it all on well though, which is good

[Frosty]

A few recent pics of RóFro getting stuck in and messy:

[Ms_Derious]

Such nice pictures

Alicia seems determined to become a raw fruitarian at the moment, but she's getting a good handle on the idea of food. So far mango is the winner

[Cherry]

Haha - great thread. Love the Rofro pics Frosty! I've enjoyed the ones on facebook but good to see more. We plan to do blw when the time comes. I should come on vegan forum more often! It kind of felt wrong without Stu here, but maybe I should just get over it.

[Frosty]

RoFro is all about the fruit too. She doesn't seem massively keen on mango, but melon she loves. We've been buying little fruit pots from Tesco and having them as a dessert. I must admit I very rarely eat fruit, so we dont have a lot in. Mrs Frosty eats banana's, so we always have those in the house for dessert. Messy stuff, bananas!

[Frosty]

That's great that you guys are going to be doing BLW Cherry. At your wedding I muttered to Frank and VBB, "Cherry's not drinking, maybe she's pregnant. I hope she is, she'd make a wonderful mum."

I know what you mean re coming on here. I'm hardly on any more. In fact when I created this thread I can't even remember the last time before that, that I came on here.

[Cherry]

How did you KNOW I wasn't drinking!!!!??? I went to all the trouble of getting fizzy grape juice and dealcoholised wine and you could tell!!!??? Bah. VBB already knew (From me sitting next to Mrs VBB at your wedding!). And thank you - can't wait to be a mummy

[Gwydion]

I should come on vegan forum more often!

Why yes, yes you should. Good to see you posting Cherry-dearest. I don't think I have said this yet, so: Hope you feel better snappish!

PS - was never alerted as to the whereabouts of the moo-frees?! ;P

(Sorry for the offtopic / unqualified tread (non)contribution Frosty-pops.)

[Ms_Derious]

Alicia is 9 1/2 months now, and still mostly just has breastmilk. She has days she wants to eat, and days she doesn't. If I bite into hard fruit, she loves to lick/suck it but the lack of teeth doesn't help!

She does like green yoghurt though.. Alpro with greens blended together, but she drives the spoon

[Frosty]

What an ace pic the wife and I chuckled at that.

RóFro is still soldering on with feeding herself. She has two bottom teeth and a couple coming through at the top, which is helping.

She's been going through a bit of a picky phase recently, like refusing to eat food that she has always liked, throws it on the floor and stuff. Monkey.

[MamaBee]

I did BLW . My son is 3 now, but when he hit 6 months we just handed him some broccoli and carrot (which had been cooked until soft). He got it everywhere but he was happy as Larry! He did gag a bit at first because he was unused to the solidity of the food, but it was more out of surprise than anything. He absolutely loved cooked veg.

He's never had jar food or pureed meals, and the only time we pureed fruit was to mix it in with plain yoghurt (ready-made fruit yoghurts are just loaded with sugar). I am so happy we tried it, as all that blending would have driven me mad!
xox

[treehuggingmama]

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