BLW - Too much food?

[lisalu100]

So, I know a BLW baby can't really eat too much, but 6 mo old DD has been BLW for two weeks, and eats a ton! Yesterday, she ate 1 1/2 4in pancakes for breakfast, half a banana for lunch, and 5 slices sweet potato and 2 tbsp apple sauce. I think she would have eaten more too... She seems to be nursing a little shorter/ less often.

[kdtmom2be]

I would just be careful WHAT you are feeding. Her gut is still immature and I can tell you from experience that what you listed is quite possibly going to leave her a little (or even a lot) constipated. She may very well be hungry enough to eat that, or just fascinated by/loving the tastes/textures/smells but be careful that her gut can handle it!

[Pavlovs]

Originally Posted by lisalu100

So, I know a BLW baby can't really eat too much, but 6 mo old DD has been BLW for two weeks, and eats a ton! Yesterday, she ate 1 1/2 4in pancakes for breakfast, half a banana for lunch, and 5 slices sweet potato and 2 tbsp apple sauce. I think she would have eaten more too... She seems to be nursing a little shorter/ less often.

Have you tried nursing her before you feed her table foods?

[hotharmony]

I would make sure to nurse before and after, and not to worry about what you offer her as long as it's a great variety of foods to choose from. She will take what she needs.

[MadiMamacita]

Originally Posted by kdtmom2be

I would just be careful WHAT you are feeding. Her gut is still immature and I can tell you from experience that what you listed is quite possibly going to leave her a little (or even a lot) constipated. She may very well be hungry enough to eat that, or just fascinated by/loving the tastes/textures/smells but be careful that her gut can handle it!

my LO has eaten food in astonishing quanitity since he started eating at 6 months. he still nurses regularly, and we've not had problems with constipation, but at first too many new foods at once caused gas pains.

I know that I am more extreme than most in that I don't offer wheat or other cereal grains until molars are present, but I think the recomendation is that you should wait at least 9 or so months to introduce wheat.

[annekh23]

The theory is that they can't eat too much, but that relys on the assumption that at this age they are breastfed before any foods are offered and that the range of foods offered are appropriate and the timeing of them.

So you would start with one meal a day, offering food at 3 meals two weeks after first having food is too quick in my opinion. After two weeks of one meal going well, I'd move up to two.

I also wouldn't offer pancakes until at least 9mths and probably not even then, they are usually made with white flour, not whole grain, but the big flag is eggs, even in very liberal plans for foods to offer a baby, eggs are one of the things delayed for allergy reasons, not because babies aren't considered ready to attempt to eat it. Many guidelines for when to offer you can bring forwards, such as meat, because the reason to delay it is to do with thinking that babies can't do anything with it (DD is 8mths, she has oral issues and can't swallow solid food, but she chews her meat very well with no teeth before it gets spat out!).

BLW doesn't mean offer everything, I'm being quite relaxed right now because DD isn't swallowing anything, so it's more about taste and texture than nutrition, so I'll give her something off my plate that I wouldn't if she was actually going to swallow it, DH made pancakes on Saturday and she wasn't offered any.

[JamieCatheryn]

My 8mo is BLW and is crazy about solid foods. He'll lean in going mmm mmmm mmmm very insistently and grabbing whenever there is any food around. I try and avoid any grains at all, maybe give a little rice if he insists. Berries, nuts, citrus, and eggs we avoid too. I don't make a special plate for him, just our regular servings and give him some of mine, so it never gets out of control in amounts. He doesn't really digest anything we give him though is comes out the same as went in.

[lisalu100]

I've read Gill Rapley's BLW book - she says you can offer pretty much anything, so long as you wait until 6 months to start, including grains, fish, eggs and meat. I have been nursing her before feeds, and her bowel movements have been fine, she appears to be digesting what she has eaten - she has just gone straight from breastfed BMs to nasty solid food BMs.

Apparently, processed grains are better for them than whole grains right now, although I think I'll carry on offering then very rarely.

Maybe I'll slow down on the number of meals I am offering her...

[AKislandgirl]

You needn't worry about "allergy" foods unless you, baby's dad, or baby's siblings have allergies. Otherwise, once baby shows readiness signs for solids you can offer anything (choking hazards like nuts aside). Of course, you should consider how nutritious the offerings are but don't worry about weather something is an allergy food.

Since it sounds like your lo is really into food I'd keep offering lots of healthy choices and nurse often as others have suggested. I usually still nurse my dd before offering solids and she'll be one next week. I think that you will also find that some days your lo will eat a ton and others hardly anything. Let her be the lead.

[sapphire_chan]

For us there was a longish period, like 8months old to 12 months old or there abouts where Lina did most of her nursing at night. Like she'd have one nursing meal and a half dozen snacks during the day, plus tons of complementary foods, then she'd be latch on at least 3 times during the night for indefinite periods (as in, I'd wake up and roll us over to the other side and sometimes she'd still be on the first breast)

[buttercups.nest]

My babe was the opposite....at around 9months-12months she finally started showing interest in food! Every babe is different!

[Pavlovs]

Originally Posted by lisalu100

I've read Gill Rapley's BLW book - she says you can offer pretty much anything, so long as you wait until 6 months to start, including grains, fish, eggs and meat.