beginning BLW

MagsMayMommy · November 2012

We've just started BLW with DD within the last number of days. DD does not put much of anything in her mouth, food included. The only things she seems to consistently be interested in putting to her mouth are hands, fabrics, and papers (we keep a close watch on tissue and paper towels around here). I'm in no hurry for her to switch to solids... whenever she is ready. DH is in more of a hurry and keeps saying, "she just doesn't get it." I told him that if by 9 months she wasn't trying to put any food up to her mouth, we could try purees... I don't really want to do purees, so I'm hoping that's plenty of time for her to take more interest! She does hold, squeeze, and, of course, drop what we've put in front of her (green beans and broccoli so far).

I'm curious when other babies started actually tasting or trying to taste food. How did your BLW experience start out?

EDIT: Oh, and she has her 6 month check-up at the end of the week, so I'm wondering what I should say then... Not sure whether I should use the terms "baby-led weaning" or try to be vague. How have your pediatrician's responded to BLW?

tjkdlhb · November 2012

I said baby led weaning and they panicked over choking. I said "self-feeding" at a later appt. and they were like "oh, good". Some babies play with the food for a while before eating it. By 9 months most babies are beyond purees anyway. Don't rush her. It's all a learning experience. Right now she's learning what food feels like.

blair1027 · November 2012

My LO had trouble taking any interest in foods for awhile but I got a mesh feeder and put cold foods in it frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries ect. and he realized he liked the taste. Now he self feeds a lot of different foods with minimal to hardly any pured food exposure. My pediatrician has thought I was nuts on many occassions and I finally just stopped offering information unless he asked.

blu-eyedwife · November 2012

My guy started putting food in his mouth right away, but that's one of the reasons we knew he was ready to start with solids. Not all infants are on the same timetable and most can't read a calendar so they don't know they're supposed to start at 6 months Wink

I would keep offering, unless it's frustrating to you, in which case I would put the food away for a week, or a couple days before trying again. We started having my son just sit with us at mealtimes in his highchair around 4 months, so he would start getting the idea of food/family/ the social aspects of eating. He had toys and such on his tray to keep him occupied, so you could always do that until she decides that food stuff looks interesting.

neverblushed · November 2012

This is an area where babies can vary dramatically, so assure your H that she'll "get it" eventually.

My own two kids were a great example. DD was eager to try table food as soon as she could sit with minimal support. She was always grabbing for big people food, wanted to try everything, and ate real food with gusto whenever it was offered. DS was much more hesitant. He was curious, but didn't want to feed himself. Then he would get frustrated if I tried to feed him. He was very sensitive to textures. It took him until about 9 months to get comfortable with self-feeding.

Seriously, this is nothing to get stressed over. Just keep putting interesting stuff in front of her. Even if she does more touching and playing than eating at this point, it's all leading in the right direction.

ETA: My kids' pediatrician gave me really good advice at my DD's 9 month checkup: Stop thinking of it as 'feeding' and start thinking of it as 'eating.' That last sentence really stuck with me, and I have though of it many times, even now that my kids are much older and making their own choices about portions, snacks, fast food, etc.

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