BLW = fail

Jenny952

I've been trying to do blw with DD but she won't have it.  I cut up some banana for her and she just stared at the tray and then up at me like, what do you want me to do?  She's more than willing to let me feed her but won't put it into her mouth.  I even put some oatmeal/milk paste on the tray to see if she'd want to play with her food a little bit... nope.  Does anyone else have a baby who doesn't want to feed themselves?  I'll keep trying, and it's kind of nice not having to wipe food out of her hair and ears. 

smilelari

If she doesn't want to feed herself, she'd likely not ready for solids.  Just keep giving her the opportunity.  (as an aside, you don't really need to cut up banana.  I just break the banana in half and give DD half a banana)

Jenny952

smilelari:

If she doesn't want to feed herself, she'd likely not ready for solids.  Just keep giving her the opportunity.  (as an aside, you don't really need to cut up banana.  I just break the banana in half and give DD half a banana)

So you think maybe I'm cutting it up too small?  With the banana, I sliced it up, so maybe the pieces weren't big enough.  She seems more than willing to eat when I do feed her.  We'll keep practicing this weekend.

smilelari

Jenny952:

smilelari:

If she doesn't want to feed herself, she'd likely not ready for solids.  Just keep giving her the opportunity.  (as an aside, you don't really need to cut up banana.  I just break the banana in half and give DD half a banana)

So you think maybe I'm cutting it up too small?  With the banana, I sliced it up, so maybe the pieces weren't big enough.  She seems more than willing to eat when I do feed her.  We'll keep practicing this weekend.

Think big pieces and stick shapes.  If you cut a banana, it should either be in a big hunk or in sticks that are at least 2 inches long.  Slices would be very hard to grasp especially with how slippery it is.  Plus at this age, they fist everything, so you need a chunk big enough to poke out of the top of their fist

KBBH

I'm so confused with this method.  Aren't you afraid of LO choking??  So you could just throw a slab of ham on their tray for them to eat?  I don't get it.

alyss0nl

KBBH:

I'm so confused with this method.  Aren't you afraid of LO choking??  So you could just throw a slab of ham on their tray for them to eat?  I don't get it.

 

smilelari

KBBH:

I'm so confused with this method.  Aren't you afraid of LO choking??  So you could just throw a slab of ham on their tray for them to eat?  I don't get it.

Don't you intend to give LO food that requires chewing at some point?  Why give LO purees?  I don't get it.  If they're just sucking and swallowing why not put it in a bottle?

KBBH

smilelari:

KBBH:

I'm so confused with this method.  Aren't you afraid of LO choking??  So you could just throw a slab of ham on their tray for them to eat?  I don't get it.

Don't you intend to give LO food that requires chewing at some point?  Why give LO purees?  I don't get it.  If they're just sucking and swallowing why not put it in a bottle?

I'm not attacking the method, I am simply trying to find out how it works.  I don't want to do it so I'm not going to spend hours researching it.  I just don't get how you can give a 5+ month old baby a piece of broccoli and assume that they aren't going to choke.  Most of the time they aren't chewing it (due to not having TEETH) so they are just sucking on it.  What then do you give for nurishment?  It just boggles my mind.  Again, if that's what people want to do, so be it.  I just don't get it and am trying to figure it out.

smilelari

KBBH:

smilelari:

KBBH:

I'm so confused with this method.  Aren't you afraid of LO choking??  So you could just throw a slab of ham on their tray for them to eat?  I don't get it.

Don't you intend to give LO food that requires chewing at some point?  Why give LO purees?  I don't get it.  If they're just sucking and swallowing why not put it in a bottle?

I'm not attacking the method, I am simply trying to find out how it works.  I don't want to do it so I'm not going to spend hours researching it.  I just don't get how you can give a 5+ month old baby a piece of broccoli and assume that they aren't going to choke.  Most of the time they aren't chewing it (due to not having TEETH) so they are just sucking on it.  What then do you give for nurishment?  It just boggles my mind.  Again, if that's what people want to do, so be it.  I just don't get it and am trying to figure it out.

Whether or not you're doing BLW, you will probably introduce finger foods long before baby has more than 2 or so teeth.  They are perfectly capable of learning to chew and swallow by around 6 months of age.

And until 12 months or so, you aren't giving solids for nourishment.  You're giving formula and/or breastmilk for nourishment.  This statement is true no matter how you introduce solids.

KBBH

smilelari:

KBBH:

smilelari:

KBBH:

I'm so confused with this method.  Aren't you afraid of LO choking??  So you could just throw a slab of ham on their tray for them to eat?  I don't get it.

Don't you intend to give LO food that requires chewing at some point?  Why give LO purees?  I don't get it.  If they're just sucking and swallowing why not put it in a bottle?

I'm not attacking the method, I am simply trying to find out how it works.  I don't want to do it so I'm not going to spend hours researching it.  I just don't get how you can give a 5+ month old baby a piece of broccoli and assume that they aren't going to choke.  Most of the time they aren't chewing it (due to not having TEETH) so they are just sucking on it.  What then do you give for nurishment?  It just boggles my mind.  Again, if that's what people want to do, so be it.  I just don't get it and am trying to figure it out.

Whether or not you're doing BLW, you will probably introduce finger foods long before baby has more than 2 or so teeth.  They are perfectly capable of learning to chew and swallow by around 6 months of age.

And until 12 months or so, you aren't giving solids for nourishment.  You're giving formula and/or breastmilk for nourishment.  This statement is true no matter how you introduce solids.

Gotcha.  Thank you.  Please know I wasn't attacking the method.  I'm just way too nervous for it.  I also have an LO who was born with pretty severe reflux and had to go on medicine.  There are STILL times (at 1 day shy of 6 mo) that she will gag and choke on nothing but her own spit.  It scares me.  ...even when giving her the purees and cereals, I am always hawk-eyeing to be sure she is swallowing it, etc.  LOL

NNGnome

We tried BLW as DS was screaming for food when we were eating (he would scream to sit in my lap and them try to catch everything I was eating and stick it in his mouth), but he is not ready for true solids, we tried giving banana, cooked carrots and cut up cucumber, he would occasionally pick it up, but mostly we gave it to him (i.e. passed him the food, not putting it in his mouth)  but he really wasn't interested, he would chew off a small bit then spit it out, and get more frustrated. To answer pp on choking, they gag way before they choke, this reflex is pretty strong in babies, and the food is soft, you wouldn't give raw carrots for example, but soft cooked veg and soft fruit to begin with until they get the hang of it.

We went back a stage and are now half BLW and half feeding using purees or mushed up food. We spoon feed some and give him the spoon and let him feed himself some, we usually feed him first as most of what he feeds himself doesn't go in his mouth and he gets frustrated because he can't taste the food.

My point is that I do not agree with pp, just because the babay cannot pick up the food, put it is his mouth, chew and swallow doesn't mean he isn't ready for food, just not ready for BLW. If we had stopped feeding and waited, our LO would have been screaming in frustration every meal time.