Questions about BLW... Who has done it??

pinottoparenthood

So DS is five months tomorrow. We plan to wait until six months to start solids, but I have been thinking about this a lot lately.

First of all, I really like the idea of baby-led weaning. I like the idea of DS sitting at the table and all of us eating together. I like the idea of him feeding himself and being in control of what and how much he eats. I like the idea of not messing around with purées, and I am fine with a mess (see if I still think that a few weeks in, haha!) I do have a few concerns though.

I am TERRIFIED of him choking. I have done some reading, and I understand that choking and gagging are two different things and their gag reflex is in the front of their mouths and yada yada. I am still terrified of choking. Any moms who have done BLW, can you weigh in on this and share your personal experiences?

My other concern is our nanny. I teach full time so DS is with a nanny from 8-3 every day, and I'm just not sure that BLW is going to happen there. We love our nanny and trust her, but she is very old school (she has three adult children.) I don't think she will understand the whole concept, and I do feel bad imagining DS cover her entire house with food. Also, because of my intense fear of choking, I just don't feel that comfortable with him eating table foods when I'm not there with him. I have thought of doing BLW at home and purées with the nanny, but it seems like it kind of defeats the whole purpose of baby leading and being in control.

What do you guys think? What would you do in my situation?

Also, please feel free to share anything about your experiences with BLW!

kerbear135

Why don't you just start BLW at home, and then when you see your LO is doing well with it, you could have your Nanny try with foods you know DS does well with. We've done BLW since DD was 6 months old and we love it. She has only gagged a couple of times, and it really wasn't that bad. Her first food was steamed broccoli- we handed her a piece and she stuck the floret in her mouth (she sticks everything in her mouth, lol)...she loved it and loves to feed herself...I say give it a try- start with a food that will be easy for your LO to hold and see what happens...I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

ebp913

I would take an infant CPR class so that you feel comfortable helping your child in a choking situation.  We did it before DD was born and it really helped put me at ease if something was to happen (with BLW or a toy or whatever).  Also always remember that if they are making sounds, they are probably fine.  Choking is silent so that's when you have to worry.  Also, it's SO easy to want to start patting their back or whatever if they cough but that can make it worse so do try and allow your child some time to work it out on their own before you intervene.  DD almost never gagged ever.  DS is a crazy person and he gags all the time so you just never know until you try.  

We have a nanny also, and for now, we are just doing BLW at dinner only when I am home.  I'm not comfortable enough yet with DS to allow him to eat without my husband or I watching.  We just do dinner and really, they don't even NEED food til 1 so it's fine.  When he gets better at it, I'll introduce my nanny to the idea and stick with foods that I know he handles well til she is comfortable.  She is also getting CPR certified too. 

I might let DS do some loaded spoons maybe but I'm just not really worried about it.  I know he's getting plenty and he'll learn in time.  You can do purees with the nanny if you want to but I personally just like sticking with BLW and doing it once a day for now.  As I recall it takes about a month before they start getting good at it.  We have been really slow with DS since he couldn't sit up well til just recently.  

nanabanana06

Yeah, they don';t need more than 1 meal per day until a year. We do 1-2 and a few snacks. I'd do dinner at first. Then when they get closer to 9-10 months maybe introduce the idea to your nanny of doing finger food with her. However, really they don't need a lot until 1 year. Just focus on Dinners and do it on the wekends.We've been doing it since 5.5 months and or son eats better than my traditionally fed nephew thats almost a year! It's such a fun experience and it really prepares them for the rest of their life.

ivy_leaf85

Its not really blw, but my boy is almost 9 months & we've been doing a combination of purées & table foods. He loves feeding himself & it's great to be able to just pick a few things off if my plate & let him go while my DH & I eat our food. I feel like he getting the control & coordination benefits that blw is all about (at this point he can eat almost any foods just fine). On the other hand, I usually offer purées at most meals & it's nice to know something actually gets into his belly. I like that he's adaptable - while visiting my extended family last month, people frequently offered (after asking me) him table food & I'd have been so stressed if he'd never had table food. Otoh, my mil watched him last week & just about refused to do anything but purées & he was fine there too.

Regarding the choking fear... It's tough at first. If baby's gagging, sit on your hands, bite your tongue & watch him like a hawk. He'll get better at it before you know it.