BLW-keep trying or give up?And more questions weaning related...

[LimeFlower]

DS is 6 months old.He's always been on mixed feed-bf during the day and in the night,1 bottle of formula at bedtime.

He's not sitting up by himself yet,if offered support to sit up he will try to stand up.Visited HV about 3 weeks ago who said that I'll have to start weaning him soon otherwise he'll have iron deficiency.

Heard that milk should be still main(ish) source of nutrition up to 1 year?

DS wasn't interested in food so much at the time,now will eat mashed veg twice a day-I offer him veg after he's had breastmilk.

Has any of you weaned any later than 6 months?

I'd like to do BLW but he either smears it everywhere or if it finds the way to his mouth he gaggs and I'm freaking out.I know that sooner or later I'll have to give him food in chunks instead of puree and I'd rather do it sooner than later.

I thought about introducing him to solids gradually-veg first,then some other stuff like meat and dairy.

Or should I just throw any food at him doesn't matter in what order(as long as it's not salty or sugary)?

Offer him water to drink or not?Is him getting enough to drink with breastmilk?

Breadsticks?Wheat,spelt & rye bread any good?Pancakes or pasta for finger foods?What about possible wheat allergy?

Generally speaking somebody gives me a slap because I'm panicking that I'm doing everything too soon/late and whatever I do I get it wrong.Thank you.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Firstly, you're doing absolutely fine. Don't worry. The foods you've suggested are fine - breadsticks, pasta, pancakes (hmm...haven't tried that one yet...) are all fine. Avoid honey, whole nuts, and watch salt and sugar content, and that's all. Maybe go easy on the puréeing and offer the veg in their cooked, whole state - broccoli is very popular here, sticks of carrot, parsnip etc. Let your baby play for a while, if it doesn't go mouthwards, break it up a bit with a fork then offer on a spoon. It will get spat out for a while but at least s/he (can't remember/see your OP while writing, sorry) will have had a chance to explore the actual texture of what's been given, rather than a completely pulverised version of it.

Secondly, has anyone ever started a thread on 'insane stuff HVs say'? Baby being at risk of iron deficiency because of not weaning is Class. A. Bollocks. Have a look at other threads on this board where parents have babies 9/10/12 months plus who are just not interested in food until they're older. Not one of them is on here complaining about a baby languishing anaemically as a result. Vital nutrition is from milk until they're 12 months old, not food.

All babies gag during weaning. The gag reflex is stimulated further forward in the mouth than yours or mine so it's very easily triggered in all babies. The gagging does reduce over time, and it's necessary to prompt the brain to chew. Yes, it's very scary at first. Maybe keep your DC on your lap to begin with for peace of mind - you know you've got them in a good position to immediately whip them face-down and smack between the shoulder blades if they genuinely choke (which is highly, highly, highly unlikely).

My DS is 6.5ish months and is also still mainly smearing, but I can tell by his nappy that some stuff is definitely going in - it takes a while for some babies to decide to do much swallowing. We're also vegetarian so have another excuse to be all weak, feeble and iron-deficient. He isn't, we aren't. From 6 months, vitamin drops for babies are recommended which, I think, contain iron so you can start to give those. Healthy Start vitamins are available cheap/free depending on your benefits status from certain health centres - check here for where you can get them near you. I just get the Wellkid vitamin drops from any pharmacy only to watch DS spit them in an arc across the room, every time I try to give them

HTH!

[notcitrus]

Ds couldn't sit up until 7 months, so until then she had the odd taste of foods and once sitting took to food pretty well. With some gagging. But only really got much food in once she was 8mo and decided to let me spoonfeed as well as her hold things - I was fed up of food everywhere!

She's my 2nd which helps no end...

[LimeFlower]

Elphaba I could give you a few more examples of Class A Bollocks what HV said if you want to start the thread about their madness.

Well,some broccoli definitely went down yesterday as could see the evidence at the other end.

Today I served him banana,avocado and breadsticks with butter.He ate a chunk of bread and ignored the rest-avocado was still a bit hard despite skin starting to change the colour.

Tomorrow I'm going to try omlette cut into strips.

A few more questions-what are you doing with the leftovers?I can freeze cooked stuff but avocado is fresh and it's a shame to use just a bit of it.I live in a rural area so not a fat chance of buying such things in a local shop.

I have creamy cheese in the fridge but it contains salt (philadelphia type)-is that a no-no?

What yoghurt can I give him-plain one?I try to avoid sugary things to not to encourage him so would rather avoid sweetened flavoured one.

notcitrus no chance of him taking over the spoon with mashed beetroot!

Thank you very much for your advice and reassurance:)

[nickelbabylyinginamanger]

we did blw. she hardly touched a thing until she was 8 months.

if he can sit supported that's okay as long as he's never slumped or sloping backwards.

with blw they have more control over their intake.

first foods aren't rich in iron anyway so your hv is talking bollocks. most of your baby's nutrition will be from his normal milk until 1 yo

[nickelbabylyinginamanger]

leftovers? chickens, dogs, compost.
wise bolt to try 1 piece at a time cos of contamination if you want to freeze it

[drcrab]

I think if you are determined to do blw then go for it. Nothing stopping you especially if you can see that it is going through the baby!! And the child is gaining weight, happy etc. you should still give milk be in formula or bf. my dd is 27 months and she is still on boob but of course eating/drinking as per normal.

She's also second child and because my first was also blw, we continued and its been fine. Favored foods now include olives, curries, rice, noodles.

[DefinitelyNotMe]

Ha, at 6 months DD loved bread and very little else! She is now 10 months and eats everything she is offered except (for reasons known only to her!) scrambled eggs.

You can give plain yoghurt, maybe add some fresh fruit for flavour / texture. I wouldn't worry too much about salt in the cheese, as long as he only has a little bit. DD stuffs handfuls of the stuff in her mouth if it's left within reach!

[thislittlemum]

Hi my DD is nearly 8 months and we have been doing BLW with great success. I see you have had a lot of great advice from the others and I'll second just about everything they say.

One thing my HV told me which was actually excellent and helped me to relax with BLW is "food is for fun until they are 1", meaning that they get all the nutrients etc from their milk, taking the pressure of worrying about how much they are actually eating.

We do a mixture of finger foods and I also hand her loaded spoons and she has quite quickly become very good with the spoon and even tried to load her spoon herself {albeit with little success} recently. Just try to see it as fun and you will find your LO will soon be a pro.

If you are stuck for ideas on what to feed, there is an ongoing thread on the baby centre forum where there is a specific group for BLW and people post what they have fed their LOs to give inspiration to others. I find it very useful.

My recent discovery is RIDICULOUSLY EASY 2 ingredient banana pancakes which are totally healthy and excellent finger food for BLW. Check them out here {together with our progress with BLW} if you want: thislittlemum.blogspot.co.uk/ {its the post from the 5th dec with the recipe}

[LimeFlower]

thislittlemum is this your blog? thanks for the recipe and the tips (must buy the bib),lovely pics

About "food for fun" they told me exactly the same at my baby group.

DS is trying to take over a spoon to bite it rather than feed himself.

I'll check babycentre forum (that's if I don't have to join).

DS wasn't too keen on egg the other day but I was told to serve it to him in a while.

[aimingtobeaperfectionist]

Thislittlemum- how can I find the baby centre forum with the food ideas? Thanks.