Blw at 5 months - what food should I avoid?

[Littlef00t]

So had been planning on going straight into blw, and had been intending to wait until 6 months, but she's been trying to swipe off our plates for a couple of weeks So I Handed her a carrot baton at lunch yesterday and she had a good munch and swallowed, ate the whole thing and had a good go at a couple more. V exciting!

What shouldn't I be feeding her before 6 months?

Should I just stick to fruit and veg for the next month or can I give her porridge?

[BeyoncesCat]

I gave mine baby porridge at that age and some organix carrot crisps. Avocado she loves too but mainly fruit and veg

[Littlef00t]

Thanks! So is it ok to give oats? Wasn't sure about cereals with gluten risk?

[VeryLittleGravitasIndeed]

I read what I could find on the science underpinning weaning recommendations pre 6 months re allergy risk etc, and basically Nobody Knows what causes food intolerances/allergies. There seems to be some kind of link to antibiotic use and viral infection but it's all quite unclear. And all the studies related to severe reactions / IBS etc seem to be for pre-4 months weaning.

We started weaning at about 5.5 months and kept it to root vegetables and apples/pears until after 6 months. But we were extra cautious as both DH and I have allergies, including some to food, so the chances are DD will be atopic too.

[SociallyAcceptableCookie]

Just avoid gluten until 6 months. We started at 24 weeks and used rice cakes instead of toast. Otherwise it was normal blw.

Obviously the other normal baby rules apply as well, so avoid salt and choking hazards like whole nuts.

[Littlef00t]

Yes, my DH has severe nut allergy (all nuts! some worse than others), so will be researching the best way of looking into that at some point soon.

We don't have history of any other food allergies so hopefully won't be too much of an issue.

I guess there's loads of options even with just fruit and veg, so a month won't make much of a difference.

It's just a bit weird that what I've read about blw implies babies won't be ready until 6 months but my dd clearly is.

[VeryLittleGravitasIndeed]

The guidelines I've read on blw say they should:

• be able to pick things up with pincer (thumb and forefinger) grip not palmar
  
• be able to sit unassisted
  
• have lost the reflex that makes their tongue automatically push things out of their mouth
  

Happens at different ages. Your DD sounds ready

[Littlef00t]

She doesn't have the pincer grip, so to get carrot off the table she kind of rakes at it with several fingers until could get it trapped in Palm, when she can then manipulate. I've not heard the need for pincer grip, as as thought they are unlikely to get that until 7 months plus?

[CornishYarg]

The BLW cookbook suggests that typically they will use the palmar grip from around 6-8 months, be able to open and close their fist from around 7-9 months, use their fingers from around 8-10 months and have a refined pincer grip for picking up small things from around 9-12 months.

The signs of readiness just say they should be able to grab food. So no mention of the pincer grip being a sign of readiness as this isn't expected for a few months yet.

[VeryLittleGravitasIndeed]

To be honest, DD is coping fine without a pincer grip. It is what I've read but as Cornish says that's probably for picking up small things.

[CornishYarg]

Yes, DS couldn't manage little things like peas until about 9 months, but happily fed himself chunks of food long before that. I've never read anything about the pincer grip being a sign of readiness.

[Littlef00t]

Well tried her with cucumber today and it's confused me.

If I cut her a nice chunky baton she could get it in her mouth fine but was too hard to gum and she just sucked the seeds and got frustrated.

If I cut it thin enough to eat, it went floppy so she struggled to get it in her mouth and got frustrated.

I ended up holding it to her mouth so she could munch but was a bit of an ordeal. Try something softer eg sweet potato wedges, or hold off a bit longer?

[CultureSucksDownWords]

You could try grating the cucumber - a pile of grated cucumber is easier to pick up than thin strips. I was always a bit nervous of doing batons in case a chunk broke off, but I might have been overly cautious.

[Littlef00t]

Thanks culture! Brilliant suggestion. I'll definitely give that a go.