Baby Led Weaning

[skatty]

I'm so proud of Leorah she has taken to feeding herself so well and has tried lots of different things that we have been eating as a family. Most of it is thoroughly chewed and sucked and then spat out but her nappies have evidence that quite a lot is going down too! It is just to experience different tastes at the mo' and she is still on her regular breastfeeds. She has loved everything particularly the spinach, tomato and garlic pasta, homemade guacamole on ricecakes but most of all fresh pineapple! I can't recommend BLW enough!! I am scrapbooking her progress so have loads of pics so here's a few, sorry if I am boring you with pics of Leorah

Mummy's pasta:

raw veggies

She's good girl and eats her brocolli

Porridge was messy but she loved it!

The pineapple was really slippery so I gave it to her on a fork but she refused any help!

And lastly look at the diva have a tantrum when the pineapple fell on the floor

 

[Melanie]

Excellent Katt! Leorah looks like she is having a great time. Do you find it easier to just give her the food rather than put in in the safe feeder?

Love the last pic

 

[Minxy]

Ah, she looks great!

I'd be really interested to see how this goes Katt, maybe you could use this thread as a bit of a diary?

How did you give her the spinach?

 

[MissGobby]

yay well done Leorah

LOL loving that last pic!!

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

looks like she likes all the food...
what does her bib say i can't work it out

 

[skatty]

Mel, I stopped using the feeder as it was actually making Leorah frustrated. I first gave her a rice cakes or sticks of veg/fruit and realised she was starting to chomp and swallow which they do not do until they are developmentally ready so started to introduce everything else. She doesn't have the tongue thrust reflex anymore so she's able to swallow. She has gagged once on a piece of pitta bread and just spat it out which she does if she has anything too big in her mouth. Why don't you try Thea on a rice cake, they melt into nothing anyway.

Minxy yeah I could definitely keep this thread up to date, I am finding it fascinating As for the spinach it was in a pasta sauce I made and I was worried as spinach can be quite stringy so I gave it a whizz with the blender but next time I will chop it into little pieces before it goes in. Over here babies automatically take an iron supplemnt from 6 months because their baby cereals don't have it added. I don't want Leorah taking supplements unless it's absolutely necessary so am going to make sure she gets iron rich foods.

Nic the bib says bedstefar's pige which means grampy's girl in danish

 

[jools221181]

Glad it's going well and it sounds and looks like fun! Hope you keep posting as I find it really interesting - I'd never even heard of this until I came on this forum!
I too was sat for ages trying to work out the writing on the bib!
She is gorgeous by the way!xx

 

[Tina & Gabs]

Aw Katt that is absolutely fab. It looks like Leorah has really taken to it.

I did start Gabriella on baby rice and purees but I am going down this route now. Are you able to recommend some other foods that are good to try please.

I will get some rice cakes to let Gabriella try.

I love the piccies

 

[mummykay]

i love those pics!!!!
glad shes not fussy for u Katt, looks like Jamies inherited his dads fussiness here tho grrr!!!!
the last pics brilliant lol!!!

 

[Tasha20]

Awww those pics r great Katt

 

[LucyBee]

She's so gorgeous Katt!
Well done Leorah!
Lx

 

[Sahara]

This is really interesting. I am starting to wean Nicola and would perhaps like to give this ago - do you steam your veggies etc to soften them or not bother. She is only a week or so younger than Leorah (i love her name its really pretty)

 

[skatty]

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments

I absolutely recommend this style of weaning even though it's messy, I don't know if it's related but Leorah's dexterity with her hands has come on leaps and bounds since we started, she has started pushing the buttons on the computer keyboard, has been pressing the buttons on her toys, ripping paper etc she wasn't doing any of this!! I honestly don't think Leorah would have let me spoon feed her, as I mentioned before she wont let me help her with the fork and when I try to help her out she gets really cross

There are loads more advantages, babies often avoid stuff that's not going to agree with them, they develope a broad taste range, they become very independant and also mum can eat her dinner

Sahara I did steam the brocolli and green beans lightly but you can also give them raw, she has eaten raw carrot and baby sweetcorn before out of her babysafe feeder. If you are interested in this way of weaning PM me your email and I can send you the official guidelines.

Tina so far for breakfasts we have been having porridge made really thick and stodgy, fruit and toast with dairy free spread. Leorah can't have dairy but if she could I'd probably add some yoghurt here.

We don't give dinner yet as I want her to fill up on milk in the evening so she carries on sleeping through! For lunches rice cakes with hummus/guacamole or anything you want to put on really, toasted pitta bread, chopped veggies, pasta. I am going to make some tuna and potato cakes and spinach, garlic and potato cakes this week so I'll let you know how they turn out!

This morning we got up at 6am and Leorah was having a lot of teething pain so after her BF I decided to give her some fresh pineapple and strawberries. I soon realised this was a mistake as they were hard for her to get hold of and the fork takes a lot of concentration so she got frustrated and ratty so i took her away from it all. After her nap my DH finally got up (I'm so horrible it was still only 8.30am ) and she then had toast and some was dipped in her daddy's egg yolk and she really enjoyed it. She finished off with her fave - pineapple!! We are finishing every meal with some fruit so it will become the norm for her to have fruit after every meal. The plus to all this is that we are eating really healthy along with her and my milk supply has gone way up, its got to be the porridge!!

There is one thing for you girls that have started on purees, I don't think much of this food gets digested at first, Leorah is doing a lot of sucking and then spitting out so your babies may still need their rice or cereal if they are used to it filling them up. Definitely give BLW a go though, it's lovely to see your baby enjoying themself so much

 

[Alfiesmummy]

Katt shes so funny she really is! i tried alfie today on a bit of baby led weaning, i gave him a dairylea triangle, a brocolloi stick, some tomato and basil pasta an apple rice cake and a malted milk biscuit he wolfed the lot down except the dairylea which he smeared across his tray and dipped the broccolli in it, he was having so much fun doing it and now hes fast asleep, and i got to eat with him it was lovely, he loves his food anyway but really enjoyed doing it himself, im even considering getting those frube yogurts so he can suck it out himself but im concerned about the packaging and may wait few months first as he does lo9ve his yogurts! leorah is smashing and growing up so quickly!

 

[Daggers]

Hey Katt glad to see it's going so well and that Leorah is loving her food! Fab pics by the way, she justs keeps on growing!!!
Read your post the other day re pineapple, so gave some to Otis tonight initially he wasn't to keen but did have a few more attempts before going back to his mango! At the mo his fav is strawberry, but I worried that he won't eat anythingelse if I just give him that so this week we're going to focus on other fruits instead. I must say the more I introduce finger foods to him the less intrested he becomes in the food I prep for him in his bowl (mashed veg). think I may have to start doing more cooking, such as making potato wedges and potato cakes! He also like rice cake and weetabix - but watch out as the weetabix is sooooo messy and sticky!!!
Look forward to reading your updates, especially for the finger food tips as some times my dinner ideas are soooo boring!!!

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

no wonder i couldn't read it then if its in danish

 

[skatty]

Hi everyone, good to see you back Daggers

Steph you must take some pics of Alfie enjoying his food and getting mucky and more of Otis too please!!

We had a great weekend of new tastes, most surpisingly lamb meatballs (welll sausage shapes!) with garlic and rosemary and roasted veggies. Well Leorah couldn't stuff enough lamb in her mouth if she tried and I was getting nervous but trying not to show it and thankfully she let some fall out of her mouth and had a good suck and chew on the rest. She loves anything with garlic which is great as I cook with it all the time but I have had to stop adding chilli to everything so have to discover some new herbs now.

Yesterday she looked very pleased with herself in the Ikea cafe as she fed herself a rice cake with minimum mess. There were lots oof other babies to stare at and we decided it will be the perfect place to try out her table manners in a restaurant for the first time so I guess we'll be going back very soon.

The only other new things I have introduced were bananas mashed on bread this morning. I was happily surprised that she ate it but didn't go mad for it as I though she would with it being so sweet, it was no pineapple!! daggers, Leorah also loves her strawberries

Today I am making pasta with a vegetable sauce (and garlic of course) and some dairy free garlic bread, I hope she enjoys it. I must say that after being at Ikea yesterday and watching the mums feeding their babies while their food got cold i was grateful that i can eat my dinner at the same time even though I have a big clean up afterwards!

Loving her lamb

Very amused by our dog hoovering up the mess!

All finished!

 

[Daggers]

That's so cool hun!!! You given me the urge to go into the kitchen and do some cooking now!!!
Just to check when you make things like fish cakes or potato cakes do you use egg and bread crumbs? I've got some froozen chicken, brocolli and sweet potat mashed from the other day which I'm defrosting and was thinking of making them into sort of fish stick shapes and bunging them in the oven for tonights dinner with some roasted potatos and brocolli. Also liking your meatballs may have to give that a go tomorrow night - was thinking of making meatballs for JM and me away sometime this week. Haven't used spices as yet either so wil lstart doing that as well tonight - guess we'll start with garlic!!! Cheers for the ideas, if you can put up some of your reciepes (or if you could PM me?).

Good to be back... been a bit run down and knackerd - all a bit boring really so won't rabbit on!

 

[skatty]

Hi Daggers, sorry you've been run down

I haven't actually made the tuna and potato cakes yet but no I wasn't going to use any bread crumbs I'm a bit of a throw it altogether kind of cook!! For the tuna and potato cakes i was literally going to boil some potatoes with garlic and then mash them with some canned tuna in oil and then just sprinkle a light dusting of flour on and cook them in a pan with a tiny bit of oil. For the spinache ones I was going to use frozen spinach and maybe give it a quick whizz in the blender so its not stringy and make the potatoes exactly the same way. I thought making patties was the perfect way of getting different tastes and veg into Leorah without having to spoon feed. I do like your fish stick idea, I may try some chicken and sweet potato sticks for Leorah (and for us, they sound dee-lish!) Take some pics of Otis wont you

 

[Daggers]

Ahh good idea hun, just printed out a reciepe for potato rosti, think I'll give those a try tonight with the chicken sticks and some brocolli then.
I like your thinking re patties will definately start doing that from now on, and if I make more then just for 1 meal I can freeze the rest for another or for when we're out and about. By the way does anyone know if I can use onion (finely chopped) at this stage for Otis?
Will take some pics this evening and try get them posted later this evening

Re feeling down, just had a wee break down (don't ask, it was really silly!), think my hormons are on the move again . Wonder if because I'm not BFing Otis now between 11:30pm ish till 7am ish is having an effect on my hormons??? Think it's only been 2 or 3 nights now that he's gone with out feeding during this time (brain not working either any more!!) why I've been feeling all weepy !