BLW - Your experience

StarlitRN

I have been in denial that DD is getting old enough to think about solids. I am so not ready for this "big girl" milestone

That being said she is almost 6 months and showing more and more signs of being ready. We decided to start foods on Christmas Eve since we will be traveling before then. Now that I've accepted reality I am getting nervous and all of a sudden have a million questions! (my pedi will be no help since she thinks BLW is crazy & dangerous...) Tell me about your experience:

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions?

2. If so how long did you do this for?

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals?

5. What were first food favorites for your LO?

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after?

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories?

Where oh where did my baby go?!

Lucky_N_Love

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions? Nope we did not.

2. If so how long did you do this for? n/a

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)? usually dinner just because that is when we had time to do it. We both work full time and my  mom watches DD during the day. At first I didn't want anyone else to feed her so we just fed her when we could. Some days she wouldn't have a solid meal somedays she would have 2. If I was sitting down eating and she was around I would usually give her something.

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals? kind of answered above. Honestly it was hard to transition to feeding her 3 meals a day. Just finding the time since I am not always good about eating 3 times a day. I didn't stress about it when she was young. We are just now good about it.

5. What were first food favorites for your LO? Broccoli, asparagus, carrots, pasta and toast were big at first. We did not introduce fruit right away because I wanted her to love her veggies first before ?spoiling? her with the good stuff. She LOVES fruit now. I usually have to give it to her last so I can make sure she eats other things.

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after? I know they say to offer before and sometimes I would but not always just depended how the day was flowing. I would just follow her cues.

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories? I love that we did BLW because it was so easy and so much fun to watch DD explore her foods. The faces she would make her priceless.  Advice if you haven?t read anything yet the book by Gill Rapley is really good or even just read up on the website. Don?t stress about if LO is getting enough food. Even though it is hard don?t stress if LO is gagging it will happen. Fortunately for us it didn?t happen often and she outgrew it quickly. I only minorly freaked out twice. What worked well for me when she would gag to keep us both calm I would  make chewing motions with my mouth to show her what to do. I don?t know if it really helped or just kept me calm J

Good Luck to you! This is exciting and sad at the same time.

terri_doula2010

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions?

We did, but only because we have a history of food allergies on both sides and he was already exhibiting food sensitivities/allergies.

2. If so how long did you do this for?

He is 8 months and I'm still aware and don't offer new foods all the time, but I definitely don't wait 3-4 days anymore.

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?

We started with lunch, and it wasn't every day at first, though most days.

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals?

After about a month we went to lunch and dinner. Now some days he has 3 meals...the other day he only had 1. 

5. What were first food favorites for your LO?

banana, avocado, apple, cucumber (he looooooved cucumber spears!), broccoli, bell pepper, carrot, parsnip...pretty much anything we gave him.

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after?

 I try to offer before, but sometimes I get busy and forget. It doesn't seem to matter much...he never eats so much solids that he won't take the boob, but that may just be my chunky monkey.

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories?

Go with what your baby wants/needs and trust your instincts. We only gave him finger foods until my MiL watched him for a weekend and got panicky. She gave him purees all weekend (I told her I didn't mind as long as he ate food) and he seriously loves being spoon fed (while sitting up, not forcing him ever, putting it at the front of his mouth so he decides what to do with it, and half of the time we let him stick the spoon in his own mouth), so now we do about 50% BLW and 50% chunky puree type stuff.

LadyDelilah

StarlitRN:

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions?

Yes we did, DN was not ours from birth so we didnt know what she might have a reaction to

2. If so how long did you do this for?

Until we were out of the basics then we started to be more adventerous

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?

Lunch she was always in the best mood after a morning nap so I thought it would be the time for the best success. But this totally depends on your LO

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals?

We started with one meal and one snack then went to two meals and one snack then two and two

5. What were first food favorites for your LO?

really loved butternut squash, bananas, broccoli and homemade baby raviloi, minced spinach and fresh pasta were her favortie she was 8mo when she had those though.

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after?

we offered if she had what we thought was a baby portion and still seemed hungry, she would let us know if she was more interested in the milk than the solids, she just wouldnt eat...

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories?

If you think there is going to be an opposition find the best time of day to try something for the first time like I said after a morning nap was when she was most amiable so I went for it. Fruits are sweet and I tried squash/vegetables first to avoid them liking lets say bananas or pears before broccili or asparagus. Just my personal thought process on that one. And there are just days where they want to bottlefeed/nurse instead of solids they will let you know GL and have fun! 

Where oh where did my baby go?!

I know right? its just not fair!

BelhurstBride

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions? Not usually. Neither family has a history of food allergies so I didn't feel it was necessary. I took my time introducing stuff in the beginning, but mostly so it wasn't a shock to her system. She's already a horrible sleeper.

2. If so how long did you do this for? Once her stool turned to that more peanut buttery consistency I stopped worrying so much. It did take a few weeks.

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)? Dinner

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals? Just dinner. We recently started breakfast- maybe a couple of weeks ago? Some days I give her something to gnaw on while I'm having lunch.

5. What were first food favorites for your LO? Sweet potato- and it still is a favorite! Avocado, apples and squash are big favorites, too.

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after? I started with before, though I don't remember how long before. Now I nurse after, probably an hour or so afterward?

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories? We do a mix of BLW and purees. In the beginning we did mostly purees, now we do mostly BLW. I do feed her yogurt, applesauce and oatmeal with a spoon, though.

Kestrel84

StarlitRN:

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions?

No - no history of food allergies.

2. If so how long did you do this for? n/a 

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?

Dinner. 

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals?

Still doing dinner only and not every day since we jut started on Thanksgiving.  I plan to get more consistant at dinner  before adding meals.

5. What were first food favorites for your LO?

He has tried sweet poato, carrot, broccoli, pear and a little broth from some black bean soup. He has liked everything so far but gagged badly on sweet potato.  PP said not to introduce fruits first but breastmilk is sweet anyway and our LOs are exposed to so many flavors through our BM that I didn't worry about this.  Thats my opinion anyway.

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after?

I just nurse like normal so sometimes it's an hour before or after.... He's not really ingesting anything at this point so I don't count it as a meal.

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories?

Gagging freaks me out.  I still get stressed feeding him stuff which is why I am not consistently doing it.  BUT he only gagged once the first time we tried anything so it is getting easier on me.

Where oh where did my baby go?! - I hear ya! DS is 6 months today.  ::sniff::

TiffanyBerry

You know, I thought about all those things before we started solids.  Planning and strategizing.  Now that we're here, I am taking the spirit of BLW more to heart - go with the flow, without overworrying the details.

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions?

I thought I would, but no, not really.  I do look for reactions, and I do give her single ingredient foods, so if I see something it's easier to figure out what it is.  We have no food allergies in the immediate family (my father has one, and I have a gluten intolerance, but no immediate allergies), so I'm avoiding the most allergenic foods, but not specifically waiting.

2. If so how long did you do this for?

I think I tried it for about a week, and then said "screw it, I'm tired of feeding her the same thing over and over".

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?

snack?  we feed her when we have food around she can partake in.  often, that's a snack, since we do apple slices and bananas often.  I *try* to be more consistent about getting her dinner, since it's the most likely meal to have things she can eat.

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals?

One.  I'm trying to add more, but that requires more cooking.   It varies from 0 to 2 a day, and she's just over 7 months.

5. What were first food favorites for your LO?

Apple slices, pear slices, avocado slices, sweet potato fries (homemade oven baked, of course), baked or sauteed carrots, broccoli, butternut squash, beets, green beans.

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after?

I try to nurse before, but I don't sweat the details.  She'll nurse every two hours when she's awake, so I aim for not giving solids immediately before I expect her to nurse, but that's about it.

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories?

 Learn infant CPR.  You (almost certainly) won't need it, but if you're at all feeling nervous about the BLW approach, having that under your belt will make you feel more confident.  Confidence is what matters.

All the little details really aren't that important.  They're getting the vast, vast majority of their nutrition from milk at the moment, so this is about playing.

Oh, offer her baby spoons to play with as toys (no food).  It's helped DD figure out how to handle a spoon (if not quite how to handle it *well* just yet ).

QCinOct

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions?  did at the start but he wasn't reacting to anything

2. If so how long did you do this for? a couple months? but then he did have a reaction to soy so I started being more careful with the big allergens (soy, dairy, wheat, etc) when introducing them

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)? I started with dinner so that DH could be home with me

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals? started with just 1 meal. added an additional meal about once/month. I think he was at 3 meals at 8 months? or maybe a bit afterwards

5. What were first food favorites for your LO? banana, cucumbers, bread

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after? I nursed before because I wanted the food to be more for experience than for hunger. Now I nurse about 1-2 hr before a meal, although DS still nurses about every 2-3 hours throughout the day

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories?

I made the mistake of starting right before visiting my non-AP family. DS gagged a couple times when we were there and they FREAKED out. And it freaked me out. I wished that I had had more experience with gagging (and him working it out) at home first before being around others. just my two cents.  

He's such a good eater now though, and I'm so very happy we did BLW. it's so easy! We ate out last night and just gave him some of our dinner- so convenient not to have to lug around jars of baby food!

Also, DS is a bit of an independent eater- even when we have pureed stuff like mashed sweet potatoes or apple sauce and I spoon some in his mouth, he'll spit it into his hand so he can feed himself :sigh: so much for trying to make some meals cleaner! 

Where oh where did my baby go?! No kidding! I can't believe DS is over 9 months already! I go back to work mid-Feb and we're interviewing daycare providers this week. I'm seriously stressed about how fast time is flying

hikerbeth

1.  For the first couple foods I did.

2.  See above.

3.  Dinner (because that's when were all sitting down together).

4.  Started with one per day and very quickly went to 2 (breakfast and dinner).  If we happen to be sitting down together for lunch I will offer food then as well.  Basically, if we were all sitting down to eat, he wasn't happy unless he was included.

5.  Avocado, banana, pear. . . but basically he loves anything we offer him.  He is a huge eater (waaaaaaaaaay different than my DD).

6.  Before. . . about 45 minutes.

7.  Don't panic!!

Married2MrWright

1. Did you go by the 1 food every 3-4 days to look for reactions? No. We just started with veggies and fruit.

2. If so how long did you do this for? N/A

3. What meal did you start with (breakfast, lunch, dinner)? Breakfast

4. How many meals did you start with? When did you add additional meals?We did just breakfast from 6-8 months, then at 9 months started adding dinner so now we do breakfast and dinner. We plan to start three meals a day at 12 months.

5. What were first food favorites for your LO? Hands down...sweet potatos and banana. Also roasted carrots and baked apple slices (w/out skin).

6. Did you offer nursing before or after? How soon before/after? I always nurse first...30-60 minutes before offering solids.

7. Anything other tips/advice/stories? Go slow and remember this is about exploring food, not meant to replace BF. Let LO be messy...if LO gags or vomits (mine LO has a strong gag reflex which meant lots of vomit in the beginning) remember that it's more upsetting to you...in the beginning I would be so worried when it happened yet LO was a happy clam. I belong to the BLW Yahoo! Group and posting my concerns there helped me to relax and go with the flow. Also, people will tell you you're nuts...especially ILs and your own mom, who will want you to spoon feed jarred purees...don't let them pressure you! Do your research and build a community of support with other BLWers (even if it's just online)...BLW is amazing and one of the best parenting decisions we've made so far. LO is 10.5 months and LOVES food...mushrooms, eggs, bread, noodles, carrots, chicken, and so much more. Our friends and family are amazed!

Where oh where did my baby go?!