BLW-type food

pb_bride · May 2013

I have some questions for those of you who offered your LOs BLW-type foods to self-feed (ie, stick-shaped soft foods).

M is 6.5 m and has been on solids for 2 months now. We did puree the first couple of weeks, but for the past month he ate mostly chunkier soft foods (but still spoon-fed).

He seems less interested in being spoon-fed now, so this past week I've offered him soft foods in shapes of sticks so he can self-feed. BUT, M is still using mitten grasp, so...

1) For foods soft enough that he can gum (eg, steamed carrots, cauliflower), his grasp is so strong that the food breaks apart in his hand before reaching his mouth. And

2) Most other foods are too slippery to hold on to, (eg strips of fruit like mango, kiwi)

As a result, almost everything ends up mashed up on the tray, or slips out his hand onto the floor, and M gets frustrated at times. The only thing he can reliably get to his mouth intact is bagels, but I don't want to feed him that all the time.

Does it get better once he develops pincer grasp? Will that help with the soft or slippery food? Which foods have you found easier for your LO to grasp?

Is there any value/advantage to give M commercial "baby puffs" to help him develop pincer grasp?

Also, (dumb Q alert) when will they learn to hold a spoon to feed themselves?

Finally, what do you do with regards to leafy veggies (eg, spinach, swiss chard, bok choy etc)? I've been cutting (or shredding) them to tiny pieces and spoon feed them to M. How do you do that w/BLW?

new+tothis · May 2013

Food doesn't have to be soft to do BLW. Try giving him something that's not steamed. It will be easier to hold onto and you'd be surprised what he will gum off of it. For slippery foods I mashed up cheerios and rolled half of the food in it (like the bottom half of a stick of mango). It made it easier to hold onto. I would totally read the BLW book if you're interested in that.

CallMeAl · May 2013

Try sticks of sweet potato, pot roast, chicken breast, meatloaf, zucchini, squash, whole green beans, bananas, pears, peaches, etc. It doesn't have to be soft. It's not about eating it...its about exploration and skills development. There are two rules with BLW that make it safe: 1. Only baby puts food in their mouth 2. Sitting straight up at all times. I second reading the book if you want to do more BLW. Good luck! Sorry about formatting...mobile.

TJ1979 · May 2013

E does really well with eggs, baked sweet potato fries, steamed baby carrots, turkey burger patty, shredded chicken breast, graham crackers, broccoli, green beans, pear, apple, and mandarin oranges, we just cut each segment in half. Bananas and avocado took a while for her to get, but it's great for their hand/eye coordination to practice. You would be amazed how well they can gum stuff and eat it.

DrRx · May 2013

We use those steamfresh bags of veggies since they're super easy. The veggies from there are steamed, but not really mushy. She would do green beans, green peas, the mixed one (with chunks of carrots), broccoli, and spinach. We also did shredded cheddar cheese, since she would just shove it in her mouth. As a PP said, it isn't so much about them getting their nutrition and calories from this (they get it from bm or formula at this point) but of developing the skills. You can also eat with them using your fingers and encouraging them when they do it. My daughter went on a pureed food strike and refused to be spoonfed anything, so this worked for us really well.

For the leafy stuff, you could just cut it and just let him pick up a handful and put it in his mouth.

pb_bride · May 2013

Thanks for all your input and your ideas. I did read her book a couple of months ago, but decided I wanted to start M on solids before 6 months, so we aren't technically doing BLW. I am just curious how to make it easier for M to hold on to his food to self-feed. TBH, I think I get more frustrated than M when I watch him struggling to get the food into his mouth. He probably doesn't care much one way or the other!

TJ1979 · May 2013

cinciem:
Mango works best for us if sliced leave the peel on. Veggies don't need to be too well done. We throw them in the oven and lightly roast them. Cheerios and puffs did help with the pincher grasp.nbsp;Roast chicken, baked sweet potato fries, broccoli and whole roasted asparagus were favorites at the start in our house.

Can you eat mango peel?

pb_bride · May 2013

TJ1979:
cinciem:
Mango works best for us if sliced leave the peel on. Veggies don't need to be too well done. We throw them in the oven and lightly roast them. Cheerios and puffs did help with the pincher grasp.nbsp;Roast chicken, baked sweet potato fries, broccoli and whole roasted asparagus were favorites at the start in our house.
Can you eat mango peel?

I don't think mango peel is edible! I assume cinciem's LO gum off the mango meat and spit out the peel???

boxtonmom1014 · May 2013

I bought one of those crinkle cutters, and that helped with slippery foods too.

TJ1979 · May 2013

cinciem:
She eats the mango and leave the peel behind in a strip. It's just for gripping :We joke that she can peel a mango faster than a monkey ;nbsp;

That is awesome! I've been peeling them for her. I'll have to try that.

firewife9278 · May 2013

I think we started with strips of turkey burger/baked chicken, bananas and green beans (and mum mums/puffs/cheerios/yogurt melts to work on pincer grasp). Also frozen fries that you bake in the oven work well too. We also gave her puree pouches, which she quickly learned to self-feed.

She now eats anything we eat, except lettuce/leafy greens. She just spits them out. I think it's a texture thing, but I don't know!

As for using a spoon/fork ... she's starting to try. Most often, she holds the fork/spoon in one hand and feeds herself with the other, or hands us the fork/spoon to put food on it for her.

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