BLW, 8 month-ers

AzaleaM · November 2009

Since everyone else is posting about BLW...

How much does/did your 8-ish mo old eat a day? I'm starting to wonder about at what point I should be concerned about how much solids he is (or isn't) eating during the day.

sunnyday016 · November 2009

I'm not a "true" BLW-er, but I'll answer anyway. I really do try to offer her finger foods, but even if she picks it up (she has a great pincher grasp, but doesn't often pick up the food) it RARELY makes it to her mouth. Like...maybe 2 times ever she has picked up a bit of food and put it in her mouth. So basically, I keep offering, but I feed her purees (usually pretty chunky purees and she does great with them).

I'm going to watch this thread-we need some help too!

AzaleaM · November 2009

sunnyday016:
I'm not a "true" BLW-er, but I'll answer anyway. I really do try to offer her finger foods, but even if she picks it up (she has a great pincher grasp, but doesn't often pick up the food) it RARELY makes it to her mouth. Like...maybe 2 times ever she has picked up a bit of food and put it in her mouth. So basically, I keep offering, but I feed her purees (usually pretty chunky purees and she does great with them).
I'm going to watch this thread-we need some help too!

I, too, am not doing true BLW, either, as I'm spoon feeding here and there. I feel like I can't come up with a good enough variety of finger foods, so if there's something I want him to have that can't be picked up, I'll spoon feed it. Like yogurt. So yeah, I'm trying to go with the flow!

mrs.mkd · November 2009

We're doing only finger foods, no purees at all. We tried it, she hated it.

I was also worried about a month ago about her not eating, not enjoying meals, not swallowing, etc. But, the other BLW girls on here encouraged me to keep trying, and reminded me that the goal is not to have them ingesting huge amounts of food - the main goals are exlploring texture, taste, temp, and developing a positive attitude about eating, and being a part of the social aspect of eating. The nutrition they gain from whatever they swallow is secondary.

And, for me it helped to remind myself it's called Baby Led for a reason - and not to stress about what's going on on her end of things. Once I relaxed and just kept offering, but not stressing about if she actually ate any of it, I felt a lot better and mealtimes have been really fun and enjoyable! And, she just started swallowing stuff in the last couple weeks. Up until then she would chew it up and spit it out. But that's fine too! It's all part of the process.

I usually wait for her cues to see if she wants to have a meal with us or not. I'll talk to her about what I'm making for the meal, ask if she'd like to eat with us, etc. and most of the time she'll come crawling over all excited once she sees me put food on the table. Other times she'd rather play, and that's fine - I just sit down at the table with my food and if she comes over I'll let her join in then - sometimes in the highchair, sometimes just in my lap. We don't have any meal times "scheduled" or anything - it's just whenever DH and I are hungry, and then she joins us or not. We're pretty laid back about it all right now.

I don't know if that was helpful at all...but hopefully!

mrs.mkd · November 2009

Ok, just read your post again.

I really wouldn't be concerned about how much LO is eating. I know some people really keep track of how many oz. of purees, what they eat at each meal, etc. but with BLW it's just so much more about the exploration of food. So, if you're doing it b/c you like that philosophy then, no, don't worry - they will just natually start eating more as they wean.

tmp-214118062502913 · November 2009

If your baby is still consuming breast milk (or formula), no need to worry about how much solids are consumed. The only reason you would need to worry is if your baby isn't gaining in a way that makes your pedi happy or seems malnourished (doubtful if still having milk on demand).

DD didn't really start eating well until 10 months. At 8 months we would put on her tray a couple different things and really the only things we knew we could get her to eat were things like pasta, broccoli tips or blueberries. Nothing else was a guarantee meal, and we didn't want to get her used to pasta at ALL.

Now, she eats things she used to screw up her face at - slices of avocado, green beans, spinach, etc. We spoon feed her some things that would be too messy to BLW - yogurt, cottage cheese, oatmeal, applesauce.

But things we have baby-led fed that are almost always successful:

- Green beans (cold or lukewarm)

- Broccoli and cauliflower tips

- Peas (cold or lukewarm, alone or with herbs like dill)

- Pasta (she loves farafalle - finds it easy to hold, we will serve with spinach or peas, we also like whole wheat ziti because it's firm and easy to handle)

- Corn on the cob - yep, we give her the whole thing and she goes bonkers. They sell cut corn cobs, 4 in a steamer pack and they are fantastic. We'll cook and keep in the fridge and feed her room temperature or cold

- Mashed veggies, refrigerated so they become pretty solid (then can make room temperature). No added milk or water to thin out. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, etc. We have seasoned with herbs like cinnamon, thyme, dill, oregano, etc.

- Garbanzo beans - we usually cook them for ourselves and feed her. Easy way is put a little nostick in a pan, add a rinsed can of garbanzo beans and a bit of spices and stir until their skins begin to pop and thye firm up.

- Brown rice and beans. Will add into it veggies like zuchinni, broccoli, etc. Will add spices like cumin and even mild salsa to have it flavorful but not wet. Brown rice is nice because it will stick together into balls and it doesn't constipate like white rice.

- Steamed baby carrots or pear slices with cinnamon

- Roasted sweet or regular potatoes and various other veggies (squash, zucchini, etc.) with or without seasoning, cut into cubes or sticks

- Toast or waffles with cream cheese or mashed ripe banana

- Low-sodium wheat crackers with hummus

It's easy to say you feed your baby exactly what you do, but when you eat spicy foods or things like pizza, that's not terribly baby friendly. Just as parents who make homemade purees fill up their freezer with ice cube trays of butternut squash, we do that with foods for her so they are at the ready. I will steam a dozen or so baby carrots and put in the fridge so they are ready, when I buy a zucchini, I wash and cut into sticks and have ready. I will buy sweet potatoes and make for dinner one night, and make enough that there's enough for leftovers. This may be baked sweet potatoes for us, and the innard put into Tupperware for her for later, or roasted into cubes or fries and then a few kept for her to eat later slightly warmed. This makes it far easier than planning our menu around her needs.

ncbelle · November 2009

Kiddo wasn't eating a ton at 8 months - we were just starting to really offer three meals a day and he was hit or miss as to whether he'd eat anything. Sometimes he'd really chow down and eat several fist size (my fists) piles of food. Other times only a few bites. Even now (11 months) he doesn't always eat a ton - but he still nurses a lot so I don't worry. BM or formula is still way more important at 8 months.