s/o BLW

TheBorg7of9

Sounds like BLW is all the rage.  How did you all learn about it.  Do I have to read a book?  I have a toddler and a 5 month old.  I know that food before one is just for fun, so I am not really worried about introducing food.  But does BLW mean no purees at all? No oatmeal?

jf198400

I am also curious. No one I know IRL has done it. Is there a reason for not doing purées? I kind of like spoon feeding a baby. I was always worried about them choking on finger foods, even when they were older and more ready.

bethughknee

Everything @MarBee1214 said. I first saw the acronym on my BMB when @wilburbud mentioned it.

She directed me here: https://www.youaremylicorice.com/2012/09/how-i-do-it-baby-led-weaning.html

As it turns out, that blogger is a July 11 mom, I think.

There is a book by the guy who got the whole idea going but I cheat and use the website instead.

Here you go! https://www.babyledweaning.com/

bethughknee

@jf198400 Skipping purees I think it supposed to help baby take the lead and help avoid over feeding. The choking worried me, too but in the blog I posted above she differentiates between gagging (which is likely and normal as LO gets used to being in control) and choking. I have no experience yet, obviously, but I'm going to give it a try!

I also totally learned what DD's gag face looks like last night when she rolled over onto Sophie and in less than one second somehow had that damn giraffe's entire leg in her mouth. SMH.

bethughknee

@MarBee1214 Even if she just gnaws and sucks it's like homemade V8!

So far DD loooooves sucking the life out of the washcloth in the bathtub so I'm hoping my early days of BLW will be fruit and veg juice. Now if I could just find a fruit that looks like a BRU washcloth...

mlee116

I had never heard about until TB.  I didn't even intend to start doing it because it scared me too but it just kind of happened.  I made DS's food and he didn't really like purees, so I started making it more coarse and he liked that a lot better.  He also liked to grab food so I just started giving him tiny pieces of soft foods.  I was never a fan of giving him a big piece of food to bite off of like some BLW's do bc I was scared he'd get a chunk off of it and choke.  I also cut his food into really small pieces, probably smaller than what you're supposed to do with BLW.  He didn't really show a lot of interest in solid foods until he was 8 months or so and I think that helped the transition a lot.

Personally, I just think its a lot easier to let them feed themselves than to spoon feed them...or maybe I'm just lazy  But DS loved feeding himself and ended up eating much better if I just let him do it himself.     

cecilyandgautam

My lactation consultant recommended it, so it's pretty common in the breastfeeding group for moms who delivered at my hospital. I did read the book, but I don't think you really need to read the whole thing. Here's the 101 on BLW, according to me: 

-lay out strips of food, 2" by 1" in size, on a tray while you & your family are eating a meal. Easy first time BLW foods - sweet potato "fries" (baked), orange slices, avocado slices, a strip of steak or chicken, steamed broccoli spears, pear slices, steamed whole carrots, I could go on. 

-know that your baby will not choke on a 2" by 1" spear of food if s/he is handling it himself. About 1/3 of the book is dedicated to how impossible that is. If you're worried about it, read the book, or if you want the cliff notes - take my work for it. Your baby will not choke. A grape is the perfect size for choking, a 2"x1" strip of steak is not. 

-Do NOT feed the baby! Lay the strips out, let baby grab them as baby feels inclined to do so, but do not, do not, do not put the strips of food in your baby's mouth. [Major point from the book.] The only choke scare we had the entire time we were introducing solids was when a friend (who spoon fed all her babies) decided to "help" my baby with the food (not purees!) we'd laid out for her. [If you really can not fight the urge to put food in your baby's mouth, go with purees. 2-3 months from now, no one will know the difference anyway.] 

-Don't panic if your kid lightly gags while experimenting. That's the same as when they self-gag themselves with their fingers. It's a thing babies do - they're learning how not to choke themselves and it's really important actually. So, a light gag sound followed by a chuckle - nothing to freak out about, but your spoon feeding friends (or the grandparents) may panic a bit. That's fine, just know you have no reason to panic. 

-It works best when you do family-style meals. Be ready to eat dinner together, from the same dish. Once your baby is able to navigate food beyond just the spears, you can continue to cook your regular dishes, but *skip the salt*!! Babies under 1 can't digest added salt, so cook without and just salt your own plate once you're seated, but don't put salt in the main dish. We also skipped the chili powder, but that's up to you. 

-There are some soft things your baby may end up eating with a spoon, like yogurt or oatmeal (even I eat that, so it is part of the family menu). In that case, the BLW approach is to pre-load the spoon, then hand the spoon over to the baby. It's messy. Very messy. Takes pictures and send to the grandparents - they'll love it. 

A special note on allergies and the 3 day rule: the book comments on the lack of research regarding the 3 day rule of waiting between each new food. Most families I know going the BLW route skip the 3 day rule and just introduce foods as they appear on the family menu for dinner. Whether you dive in like that, or are more cautious due to concerns about allergies, really is a matter of preference and your personal family history. You can go either way with BLW. 

bethughknee

MarBee1214 said:

bethughknee said:

@MarBee1214 Even if she just gnaws and sucks it's like homemade V8!

So far DD loooooves sucking the life out of the washcloth in the bathtub so I'm hoping my early days of BLW will be fruit and veg juice. Now if I could just find a fruit that looks like a BRU washcloth...

dude, get those mesh feeders if she likes gnawing.  I tried those with DD and as soon as she tasted the banana she was like hell-to-the-no.  

I probably should have made sure lemons were okay before doing this but, I didn't...anyway...we gave her a lemon slice the other day...she loved it.  Only thing she DIDN'T make a sour lemon face at since we started giving her solids!  She just sat there sucking on it.

MIL dropped a couple off a few weeks ago. I will hunt them out of the cupboard. Have you put anything else in there? I was thinking an apple or pear slice but don't want to give her runny poos.

Have you put anything frozen in there? I was thinking about putting some almost-frozen berries or something in to relieve her gum pain. But then I'm afraid because she's only 4 months. Though neither H or I have any food allergies...Hmmm.

mlee116

theresat858 said:

If you do official BLW, your baby never gets purees, ever. It goes against the whole philosophy of the "movement" to offer them mashed potatoes or applesauce. I think this is ridiculous, and do not understand BLW millitants.

Yeah, I definitely wasn't an "official" BLW.  Personally, I don't see what the big deal about babies never having purees is and I think its fine to give them but DS didn't like them so I let him "lead" us as to what he preferred.  

Leap08

Our doctor actually recommended this approach because my oldest daughter HATED being spoon fed. He told me that they never spoon fed their kids (he has 4) and basically just gave them soft fruits and bits of what they were having for dinner. So that's what we did. After that I started hearing everyone on here refer to it as BLW.

aglenn

I didn't know it was a thing except for on TB, but DD basically decided for me because she wouldn't eat cereal or purees.  We gave her bits of solid food (after 6 months) and she loved it, and it was easier, so win-win in my book.

vvvvvfee

great advice above. we did BLW basically because it was a) easier for us, b) more fun for DS-- eating was a tactile, exploratory activity for him, and c) it's supposed to stave off picky eating by letting kids explore a variety of tastes and textures at their own pace.

the book was not totally against purees under any circumstances. it was more that the feeding method is supposed to be baby-led, and having a spoon put in your mouth by a parent or caregiver is not baby-led. if you are feeding a spoonable food, you were supposed to hand the baby the spoon with the food already on it so that they could control putting it into their mouths. the book talks about how it's important for kids to eat at their own pace and recognize when they feel full. we did do some spoonable foods like oatmeal, yogurt, and applesauce.

emberlee3

I don't know where I first heard of it. I think I came across it when reading about making my own baby food for DS. When DD refused purées, I just started giving her table food. I haven't read a book. And I wasn't hard core. She loved baby oatmeal, and I spoon fed her that. She still likes me to help her with slippery or messy foods.

TheBorg7of9

Thanks everyone!  I will have to read through all this.  Sounds like a good plan and easier than purees anyway.

ebp913

I had planned on making my own baby food but then heard about BLW here and decided that it would be right up our alley so we tried it starting around 6 months.  It went great with DD and although I did buy the book, I never actually read most of it.  I mostly read online about ideas and what people were doing.  I was never thrilled with the concept of purees and spoon feeding in general so I was glad to learn about it.  We have loved it for both our kids.  

I never restricted any foods or did the 3 day rule at all.  Both my kids had peanut butter early on as well as eggs, etc.  Only thing they didn't have was honey until age 1.  I had no reason to believe the kids would have any allergies so we just went with it.  They ate whatever we ate - meatballs, pasta, hummus, etc.  I like to think that doing BLW has something to do with how good of eaters our kids are now.  They aren't picky at all and they love things that many kids hate. 

I wasn't super anti purees or anything but I just never saw a reason for the kids to have any so I don't think either of them ever had.  Everyone in our families thought our children were going to choke and suffocate but they were all pretty supportive and in general, they didn't feed the kids if we were not around and after a couple months, they get really good at eating so everyone chilled out a lot more.  DD was doing really good at like 9 months, DS it was closer to 11 or so.  We started a bit later with him though because he couldn't sit up unassisted until 7 months.  That was my big marker for when we could start - they had to sit up unassisted.  I couldn't imagine feeding a baby who can't sit up because that seemed like a choking disaster waiting to happen.  Anyways, there is my too long of an explanation 2 cents. 

bethughknee

@lrachelle80 I love your blog! Only recently turned onto it but I sent it to a few family members who side eyed my BLW ideas and had MH read it because everything else I sent him seemed to bore him. He loved the pictures and videos. Thank you several times over.

ebp913

Estwd2 said:

I first heard about it here. We did strictly BLW, not because I fully drank the kool-aid, but because purees are a PITA. They take too much time. When I told the pedi about it, she laughed and said "Oh, they have a term for it now? I always just thought of it as the thing that STMs do when they realize purees are annoying."

This cracks me up and I am way too lazy and impatient for purees. 

JackieB15

We didn't follow all the rules of BLW. I would have, but daycare couldn't offer food that way, not sure if that was their policy or a licensing thing. Plus, the grandparents watched her on Mondays and Fridays and they couldn't deal with the gagging. So, DD got table food from me and purees briefly from everyone else. But by the time she was 8 or 9 months she would refuse purees. Yogurt and applesauce were fine if she could feed herself, but otherwise she only wanted solids. She's a great eater