BLW and not really eating

SP0706 · February 2012

I figured this was the best board to post this on!

My husband wasn't sold on BLW, so we started with a few purees (avocado, yams, pears). My son was so not into someone feeding with him a spoon, so we quickly switched to BLW. So far, we've done the foods listed above as well as banana. He's happy to pick the food up and put it in his mouth. But, he quickly spits it back out and sometimes shudders from the taste or texture (funny to watch!). He'll also gag a bit. I'm really not concerned, and I figure he'll get it eventually, but I'd like to have some anecdotal stories to share with my husband and family who are not as convinced. Did your baby seem to 'hate' all food for awhile?

SilliRy · February 2012

Our DD had good eating days and not-so-good eating days at first. I always just tried to remember that "before one, food is for fun" and didn't push her to eat more. Some things she loved and would try to eat more, and some things she would do the same as your son--push it out of her mouth, make the shuddering movement. Right now, she's very adventurous in her eating and will try almost anything. As long as your DS is growing and thriving, I think it sounds like he's doing just fine!

sometimesalwayschaotic · February 2012

Right now food is just for practice. They should be getting everything they need from nursing/formula. Around 9 months is when DD really started to get it and now she eats almost as much as I do. He will get it, it just takes a while. He has to explore the food and figure out what it's all about.

Amitchell0626 · February 2012

DD is the same way. She'll be 7 months on Saturday and just started to eat small amounts of things now. She LOVES apple slices, and toast. He'll get it eventually. At this age the solids are more just for practice, they're still getting most of their nutritional needs from milk

SP0706 · February 2012

These were my thoughts and what I've been saying, but it's nice to know others are having the same experience!

cpmich · February 2012

SilliRy:
Our DD had good eating days and not-so-good eating days at first. I always just tried to remember that "before one, food is for fun" and didn't push her to eat more. Some things she loved and would try to eat more, and some things she would do the same as your son--push it out of her mouth, make the shuddering movement. Right now, she's very adventurous in her eating and will try almost anything. As long as your DS is growing and thriving, I think it sounds like he's doing justt fine!

this exactly. my ds is a very healthy 15 months and will now happily try anything. i thing blw really helped him be willing and really wanting to eat anything we eat. dont be afraid to do ground meat as a first food. my ds still loves ground beefor chicken with taco seasonings. you can remind your dh that with blw you know what your lo is eating. jarred babyfood can be pretty nasty. blw is way easier also. once you get the hang of it. good luck1

tokenhoser · February 2012

It took him about a month to eat anything significant, and it's still hit or miss. Some meals go better than others, some days go better than others.

sucredee · February 2012

Ditto PP on the practice part. My DD loved chunks of cantaloupe, mango, pear and bread at that age. It took her a while before she actually ingested some of it. She has been slow to really want a lot of food even now at 20 months. She still likes to nurse....she goes through phases on what she will eat but rice (especially thai and indian food) and pasta without fail. She loves fruit, veggies not so much (though she likes avocado and peas). We have regular oatmeal for breakfast every day (did this from very early on, never used the baby stuff and she did fine with the chunkiness$)

She has never liked anything "baby". We went ti Europe when she was 16 months old and I had gotten some organic pouch dinners for on the plane and wanted nothing to do with them. Even the Happy Tots pouches are not a big hit. She will eat some of it but never eats a whole pouch in one sitting (I was hoping to get veggies in her that way).

Anyway, I never worried about how much she ate or didn't eat, especially since she still nurses as well. She has eaten some "weird stuff" like escargot, lox, calamari (just small bites) but doesn't want anything to do with any kind of sandwich (but loves french bread) and doesn't care for cheese or yoghurt (she will eat the samples at Sam's club but that is it!) even though she used to loved yoghurt. Oh, and she hates eggs...

I never force the food issues. She is growing well and I don't want to have any power struggles and so far we have not had any. She eats what we eat for dinner (unless it is something really spicy) and if she doesn't like it then too bad, but she will usually eat at least something. At 11 months she went on a solid food strike for about 2 weeks, why I will never know.

BLW is great because they dictate what and how much they eat and they get exposed to different textures right from the start. Plus they love feeding themselves. I have given DD a spoon from very early on (I think 8 or 9 months) and would preload the spoon and give it to her to feed herself. She has been doing well on her own with a spoon since about 11-12 months. Don't stress about it, they still need BM or formula as their main food source, everything else is just a bonus. Just have fun with it! And gagging is normal, their gag reflex is very far forward at this age so actual choking is very rare, but gagging is very common. Just try not to freak out and keep an eye on him.

The other nice thing is that when you go out to dinner (or even at home) you can just give him chunks of food that will occupy him and you can actually eat Smile !

bluejayway · February 2012

I offered loads of things, daily. DD didn't "get" food until around 11 months. She was pretty much getting everything from BM until then, and slowly started actually ingesting more real food and less BM. I worried about it, but she was happy and growing fine and really had fun with what I was offering. She is always been super independent, and wasn't about to let me spoon-feed her. With BLW, you definitely shouldn't worry about what they are actually getting down at 6 months. It's a slow process that is about exploration. They'll get it eventually...just keep offering. My DD's 18-months now and totally perfect at eating skills...we don't even use a bib anymore and she insists on adult utensils. Good luck and hang in there!

3003girl · February 2012

ditto PP, my LO didn't really get it until about 11 months, and didn't really pick eating over BFing until just recently - around 17 months. I think she was pretty late on that, but now she eats just fine. Pedi was not concerned and said that she just likes BM better than food.

As long as they are playing with it - it's really just practice until a year, or more in my case.

SP0706 · February 2012

Thanks everyone! I love watching him figure it all out and I'm sure he'll be into it soon enough.

I do want to avoid the food power struggles (my parents had to constantly bribe me to eat as a kid, but I'm a great eater now, ha), and I never want to get to the point where food is a 'thing.'

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