BLW questions getting started

ljhgrey

DS is 6 mo next week so we are embarking on the BLW adventure. As a newbie I have some ?. I read the Rapley book and accompanying cookbook.

Is there a reason to only limit him to fruits and veggies in the beginning? Or can I include things like French toast and pita bread and oAtmeal sticks and scrambled eggs and meat and all of that?

Do you offer water with each "meal" even when they're mostly playing in the beginning? He's EBF so doesn't need water but didn't know if that helps at mealtime.

In the beginning did you mainly offer one item? I know in the bookie recommends offering a variety so they can choose what to eat. Didn't know if that was necessary in the very beginning.

How long did it take you to not freak out every time baby gagged? : I know gagging is a sign he's working things out. A little scary for momma!

Thanks for your help!

saturdaynightdoubletree

ljhgrey:

DS is 6 mo next week so we are embarking on the BLW adventure. As a newbie I have some ?. I read the Rapley book and accompanying cookbook.

Is there a reason to only limit him to fruits and veggies in the beginning? Or can I include things like French toast and pita bread and oAtmeal sticks and scrambled eggs and meat and all of that?

Do you offer water with each "meal" even when they're mostly playing in the beginning? He's EBF so doesn't need water but didn't know if that helps at mealtime.

In the beginning did you mainly offer one item? I know in the bookie recommends offering a variety so they can choose what to eat. Didn't know if that was necessary in the very beginning.

How long did it take you to not freak out every time baby gagged? : I know gagging is a sign he's working things out. A little scary for momma!

Thanks for your help!

I'm not very book smart on this subject, but I have experienced my own form of BLW. I think sticking to fruits and veggies at first is to help make sure baby doesn't have good allergies and to better pinpoint the food if he/she does. Also, most meat eggs and breads requires more chewing, so practicing with fruits and veggies first will be safer for baby and allow them to develop the concept of gumming food and swallowing. But the point is to let baby decide. Just make sure pieces are small and manageable. I still freak out when DD1 and DS to gag, haha, but I know how to handle choking, so it's not completely terrifying. Not sure any of that helped... I still need my coffee!
As for water I introduced a sippy cup with water at every meal with my kiddos just so they'd learn how to use it. They mostly just drooled it all over the place at first. But we're pros at sippys and open cups without much effort.

rjeller32

It's good to offer one food at a time so you can better pinpoint an allergy, I usually wait 3 days before adding a new food.

At first, you are just teaching them how to eat so you want to avoid any choking hazards, so just stick with mush until they gain the concept of chewing. You don't need any extra flavoring like french toast has. Pita bread, french toast and things like that are huge choking hazards with a baby so young. And don't quote me but I've always been told to avoid eggs for the first year. Meat can be introduced as mush, not little chunks until they can pick up food, and chew well. Same with other actual solid foods. Mush is best for the first few months, and it shouldn't be fed like a primary meal until after 1. They should be given 1-2 tbsp once a day, then increased to twice a day after a couple months.

They also don't need water, BM is mostly water and will be sufficient for the next few months.

Starting with just fruits/veggies will teach healthy eating habits.

I think I answered all the questions...

ljhgrey

rjeller32:

It's good to offer one food at a time so you can better pinpoint an allergy, I usually wait 3 days before adding a new food.

At first, you are just teaching them how to eat so you want to avoid any choking hazards, so just stick with mush until they gain the concept of chewing. You don't need any extra flavoring like french toast has. Pita bread, french toast and things like that are huge choking hazards with a baby so young. And don't quote me but I've always been told to avoid eggs for the first year. Meat can be introduced as mush, not little chunks until they can pick up food, and chew well. Same with other actual solid foods. Mush is best for the first few months, and it shouldn't be fed like a primary meal until after 1. They should be given 1-2 tbsp once a day, then increased to twice a day after a couple months.

They also don't need water, BM is mostly water and will be sufficient for the next few months.

Starting with just fruits/veggies will teach healthy eating habits.

I think I answered all the questions...

 

okay, this doesn't really jive with what I've been reading about the baby led weaning philosophy. The foods I listed were in the blw cookbook which is why I was curious, thanks! 

kjsmith9

ljhgrey:

rjeller32:

It's good to offer one food at a time so you can better pinpoint an allergy, I usually wait 3 days before adding a new food.

At first, you are just teaching them how to eat so you want to avoid any choking hazards, so just stick with mush until they gain the concept of chewing. You don't need any extra flavoring like french toast has. Pita bread, french toast and things like that are huge choking hazards with a baby so young. And don't quote me but I've always been told to avoid eggs for the first year. Meat can be introduced as mush, not little chunks until they can pick up food, and chew well. Same with other actual solid foods. Mush is best for the first few months, and it shouldn't be fed like a primary meal until after 1. They should be given 1-2 tbsp once a day, then increased to twice a day after a couple months.

They also don't need water, BM is mostly water and will be sufficient for the next few months.

Starting with just fruits/veggies will teach healthy eating habits.

I think I answered all the questions...

 

okay, this doesn't really jive with what I've been reading about the baby led weaning philosophy. The foods I listed were in the blw cookbook which is why I was curious, thanks! 

I agree... this doesn't really jive with BLW.  We're almost 5 months here, so we've got about a month before we start, but my plan is to offer 2-3 different things every meal at first.  We don't have food allergies in our families, so I'm not really concerned.  And if it's only 2-3 foods, it won't be that hard to figure out what's causing a problem.  

This has a good idea of what you can start with at 6 months:

https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solidfood6to8montholdbaby.htm#.UXrmRXA5v78

(sorry not clicky, I'm on a mac)

I'm planning to start with sticks of sweet potato, carrots, green beans, chicken, and avocado... Mostly because those are the things on that chart that DH and I eat most often haha!  It's my understanding that you don't have to wait to incorporate most things, because if baby can't handle it, ,their gag reflex is there to protect them.  Plus, the amount they actually ingest in the beginning is minimal... they mostly play.  

I've also wondered about eggs because I heard you were supposed to wait awhile before introducing them... so no help there.  I know the Rapley book talks about limiting carbs, so I would go easy on the french toast and pita bread, but they can definitely have some if it's not their whole meal!  Talking about all of this makes me excited to get started haha  

rjeller32

kjsmith9:

ljhgrey:

rjeller32:

It's good to offer one food at a time so you can better pinpoint an allergy, I usually wait 3 days before adding a new food.

At first, you are just teaching them how to eat so you want to avoid any choking hazards, so just stick with mush until they gain the concept of chewing. You don't need any extra flavoring like french toast has. Pita bread, french toast and things like that are huge choking hazards with a baby so young. And don't quote me but I've always been told to avoid eggs for the first year. Meat can be introduced as mush, not little chunks until they can pick up food, and chew well. Same with other actual solid foods. Mush is best for the first few months, and it shouldn't be fed like a primary meal until after 1. They should be given 1-2 tbsp once a day, then increased to twice a day after a couple months.

They also don't need water, BM is mostly water and will be sufficient for the next few months.

Starting with just fruits/veggies will teach healthy eating habits.

I think I answered all the questions...

 

okay, this doesn't really jive with what I've been reading about the baby led weaning philosophy. The foods I listed were in the blw cookbook which is why I was curious, thanks! 

I agree... this doesn't really jive with BLW.  We're almost 5 months here, so we've got about a month before we start, but my plan is to offer 2-3 different things every meal at first.  We don't have food allergies in our families, so I'm not really concerned.  And if it's only 2-3 foods, it won't be that hard to figure out what's causing a problem.  

This has a good idea of what you can start with at 6 months:

https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solidfood6to8montholdbaby.htm#.UXrmRXA5v78

(sorry not clicky, I'm on a mac)

I'm planning to start with sticks of sweet potato, carrots, green beans, chicken, and avocado... Mostly because those are the things on that chart that DH and I eat most often haha!  It's my understanding that you don't have to wait to incorporate most things, because if baby can't handle it, ,their gag reflex is there to protect them.  Plus, the amount they actually ingest in the beginning is minimal... they mostly play.  

I've also wondered about eggs because I heard you were supposed to wait awhile before introducing them... so no help there.  I know the Rapley book talks about limiting carbs, so I would go easy on the french toast and pita bread, but they can definitely have some if it's not their whole meal!  Talking about all of this makes me excited to get started haha  

Oh, totally sleepless zombie, didn't even notice BLW. Ignore my reply

rjeller32

Actually, thanks for posting this. I began looking more into BLW, I don't know much about it, and I might try this for DD2.

nanabanana06

When we do it we'll be starting with things like toast fingers, steamed baby carrots, green beans, banana fingers, avocado, peaches, sweet potato fries (boiled or steamed), ect. I'm going to read the book fully, but I think in the beginning give them a good variety of tastes and textures in a stick form and let them have at it. When they gets their pincer grip start cutting things up smaller. As they grow add more items.

LSU628

I did a modified version with my DD. I did purees at first, then moved to her self-feeding around 8mo. I steamed broccoli for her until it was really soft and let her have at it. Green beans were also easy for her to do by herself. Noodles cut into small pieces to avoid choking and squished black beans and other beans are good as well. Our pedi says to avoid highly allergenic foods (corn, eggs, citrus, berries and cow's milk products) until after 6 mo.

LSU628

PS- once they get the hang of things and are a little older, it's a lot of fun introducing new things. DD would eat edamame and veggie rolls, she chowed down on Ethiopian (she fit right in, everyone eats with their hands!), she loves hummus and is still a pretty adventerous eater, even as a toddler dealing with milk protein allergies.

linzeek44

We started BLW right at 6 months and did it pretty true to the book (he's never been spoon fed, we introduce multiple things since we don't have allergies in the family, etc). 

He is 7.5 months, so we've been giving him food for a month and a half. He has had a pretty wide variety of fruits and veggies, plus things like spaghetti, cheesy black bean quesadilla (a favorite!), oatmeal, calzone, lemon peppered asparagus, etc.  

I offer water at most meals, just to wash down the food in his mouth. What the books didn't prepare me for was how much food would be stuck in the roof of his mouth. The first time he spit out some chicken an hour after a meal, I was freaked out. Now we give water and I check to make sure he isn't squirreling any away.

We usually give two choices, but we don't put too much in front of him because in one fell swoop we don't want it all on the floor. I'll put a couple apricots and give him a bowl with a little oatmeal, or a handful of spaghetti and a few green beans. Then I give him more as he eats it/drops it/etc.

For us, the gagging hasn't been too scary. I remind myself (and my husband) that a cough/gag is very different than choking and he's just working it forward. He'll cough-gag once and move it to the front of his mouth and then re-work it and swallow.  I also know that if I were to try to finger sweep it, I increase the risk of him choking, so I just let him do his thing. 

It's been a wonderful experience thus far for both him and us. We get to really enjoy our meals as a family, and he loves eating. We prepared ourselves for him exploring and not eating for a while, but he ate from the get go (my siggy pictures are his second day of food.). That's just our experience, but I hope it helps.  

 

ljhgrey

Thanks everyone!