If you did BLW...

[crunchy_mommy]

So, just for fun really, I'm curious for those of you that did BLW, how your toddler eats now?

My 14mo has been eating more lately but still seems to eat way less than other kids his age (and younger) -- he really prefers to mostly BF still. He does not have much interest in breakfast, he will eat a bite or two at most. Other meals he'll often eat larger amounts but it varies drastically day to day.

He likes almost every food we give him, not at all picky (YET!) and fortunately has no (apparent) allergies.

He feeds himself well & *can* use a spoon but it's too slow for him I guess, he prefers his hands. Though he likes feeding ME with a spoon .

Sometimes we feed him messy stuff while he eats the non-messy stuff (like yesterday we had pasta with sauce for lunch, I let him feed himself the pasta & I gave him bits of the tomatoes/sauce from my plate whenever he asked for them.) I would prefer not to feed him (just let him do it himself) & had a big aversion to it for a while, but this compromise seems to work well now when I don't have time/energy to clean up after him but he wants messy stuff! I also give him less messy lunches than what I'm eating sometimes, but breakfast & dinner we all eat the same thing.

Oh I also found he prefers small, bite-size pieces vs. the fist-size sticks/chip shape that a lot of BLW people recommend. If I give him larger pieces he doesn't really eat him, but he loves the little pieces.

He also still spits out a lot of stuff -- the peels from apples or plums, unchewed pasta, the shells of peas, etc. -- he only has 6 teeth so I imagine that is part of the issue.

I will definitely try BLW again with my next kid(s)!

[HolliM]

I don't know if it's because of BLW, but my ds went VERY slow with solids. He is now 22 months and usually eats at least a few bites at meals and snack times, but he isn't all that interested in food really. He would eat occasional bites but sometimes go days without any solids up until around 18 months or so. He seems to like a wide variety of foods and is used to eating whatever we eat.

[newmothermary]

Mile is 13 mos and is not a big eater either.

We do mostly BLW but will occasionally give him more via spoon, not that its always successful.
He too prefer it nice and messy.

[mckittre]

My 14 month old is similar. He can use a spoon, but most of the stuff we eat is more finger-food for him (stir-fry, pasta, etc), but he'll use the spoon on yogurt or soup. He's not picky as in refusing things, but he does have preferences (loves fruit and cheese), and those can change day to day. A while ago we had paella for dinner - he picked out and ate all the peas and ignored the rest. Sometimes I feed him a little so it's not so messy, particularly if we're lacking a high chair (berry pies, etc), but mostly he does. Also only has 6 teeth, and will spit out apple peels. I don't know how much he eats compared to others, but sometimes it seems like hardly anything, and sometimes a lot. I don't pay much attention. He nurses a lot too.

[AKislandgirl]

most days my 14 month old eats quite a bit. You wouldn't know it to look at her though! Breakfast is her least favorite meal though. She eats what we eat primarily (figuring out some allergies here). She'll show preferences to some things but often by the end of the meal has eaten a little of everything offered. Its great. Of course we have days where she's not at all interested and just nibbles here and there. She is also still nursing a ton.

[esteg0]

My 15 month old is a pretty great eater. He goes through phases just like any toddler where he doesn't eat much but for the most part chows down. He loved eating and BLW from the start. I switched him to small pieces of food once he got the pincher grasp down. We started him on a fork fairly early so he uses one really well now and is pretty proficient with a spoon too. I'm very happy with how BLW went for us and will definitely be using it with #2!

[Skippy918]

My almost 20 month old is a fantastic eater and not the least bit picky. Some days he eats a lot, other days not as much. I don't worry about it. He loves his veggies and fruit. We'll be skipping purees and doing BLW with baby # 2 as well.

[LadyCatherine185]

DS was slow(er) to solids, but I think that is normal when you go the BLW route especially if BF'ing on demand. He didn't start to really eat a significant amount of solids until around 15 months old. But now at almost 20 months, he is a FANTASTIC eater. He is not picky at all. He loves fruits, veggies, meats, everything. He can feed himself very well with a fork (has been able to since 17-ish months) but he does like to make a mess still.

[Mal85]

On the flipside... I wouldn't say we did BLW. She has been offered solids daily since she was about 6 months old, but I also did her meals with jarred foods. She'd eat two jars for lunch and then snack off of whatever was on my plate. Same with dinner.

Now, at 13.5 months she's totally on solids, we haven't bought jars in about a month. And it's pretty even as far as what I feed her and what she feeds herself. She knows how to feed herself pretty well, but hasn't caught on with utensils. I'll put things in front of her that she can feed herself and will feed her other things myself. Like I'll put bites of meat and veggies in front of her, but I'll feed her applesauce or yogurt.

She's always been a pretty good eater and once she really caught on with the jars, she did start nursing less during the day. I never worried though. She would nurse first thing in the morning, around lunch, sometime in the evening and then at bedtime and nurse all night. Then she cut out the evening session. Then the morning session. Now, she's down to just bedtime and nighttime (although the last 3 nights, she actually STTN so she only nursed at bedtime).

I do think the fact that she ate jars of food did contribute to her cutting down on nursing quite a bit. She got her belly full and never was one to nurse for comfort, only to satisfy hunger. So, if she was getting her hunger satisfied elsewhere, she didn't have any interest in the boob.

I'm not sure if we'll do it differently with the next one or not. This was what worked for her. If she'd refused the jars, I wouldn't have pushed it. But she took to it and liked it. I have seen babies that want nothing to do with purees, so if that were to happen with the next baby, we'd have to readjust.

[Swandira]

My 16-month-old is my third baby and first BLW "graduate." (The first two ate purees, though not too consistently because they didn't like them, and I'm lazy.) I don't know if it's BLW-related or not, but he's a really eager eater! He nurses on demand -- about six or seven times in a 24-hour period -- and eats three meals and two snacks. He will eat almost anything we offer him, but sometimes does the thing another poster described, where we'll offer him a one-dish meal and he'll pick out one ingredient and mostly ignore the rest. He likes to use a spoon or fork, but only for the first few bites; after a few minutes he puts it down and starts shoveling with his hands. I wouldn't say he's the most balanced eater on Earth; he eats a great deal more fresh produce than anything else, but I don't worry much about it. If I had to pick a food group for him, that's what I'd pick anyway, and besides, he still nurses plenty.

I haven't taught him to use a real cup yet; he's using a sippy, because I still had some; my DD loved them and she pretty much taught him to use them. They're actually kind of handy for late-night water fixes. Sometimes he gets really thirsty at night and my milk isn't watery enough for him. He can whine and nurse and pinch and kick for half an hour, but then I can hand him a sippy of water and he'll take several loud gulps and go to sleep with his head on my shoulder and his cold, cold water cup pressed up against my ribs. I guess the sippy has its place for him!

Nealy
mama to T (7), L (4), and O (12/12/08)

[sapphire_chan]

She eats most things, but prefers to share a plate with me, and prefers seasoned food over plain. Snacks are required to be in pairs so she can have some in each hand.

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

She eats most things, but prefers to share a plate with me, and prefers seasoned food over plain. Snacks are required to be in pairs so she can have some in each hand.

LOL I have to laugh at this because DS is exactly the same. He needs food in both hands too... and loves seasoned food, especially spicy stuff!! (Takes after mommy!) Everyone thinks I'm nuts when I give him things with chili or jalapenos or spicy curries!

It's so interesting to hear everyone's experiences, makes me happy!!

[akayerich]

We started out feeding my now 14 month old mashed up table food around 6 months. I think it was around 8 months that he started picking up food with his fingers and feeding himself, so that's when we did more of a BLW type thing. He actually kinda forced it on us- he hated being fed after he figured out he could do it on his own. He would even self feed messy stuff. Oatmeal and cottage cheese were always fun! And he also wasn't a fan of chip/stick shaped food, like a pp said, and still isn't. He hasn't figured out how to take bites off a bigger piece of food yet, so everything is still bite sized. Now he still eats with his fingers some, but also likes silverware. He does really well with a fork. And I do occasionally feed him a few bites if he'll let me. So we're not completely BLW, but somewhat, I guess.

Anyway, getting to the OPs original question. He eats very well. He does have days where he's just not that interested, and he's also starting to be a little more picky, but overall I think he eats plently of solids and a good variety of healthy stuff.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

She eats most things, but prefers to share a plate with me, and prefers seasoned food over plain. Snacks are required to be in pairs so she can have some in each hand.

Liam always has to have a snack in each hand too.

[sunkist33]

We did BLW and my 26 month likes a wide range of food, even "Dynamite" Maki rolls from the local sushi place
She *still* nurses a ton, maybe 8x a day...and is very small (21#)

[Heidi74]

DS1 is almost three, and we went the BLW route with him when he was a baby. He is usually a very good eater, and will try just about anything. Sometimes I have to tell him what is in something though, before he will try it...especially if it is a soup, stew or something with multiple ingredients mixed together. (Ie. for lunch today we had shrimp chowder, something he has never had before, and I literally explained to him exactly how I made the soup before he would try it. He liked it once he did, though.) As long as he knows the list of ingredients, he is not afraid to try things...even stuff most toddlers don't eat.

How much he eats really varies, and I think it has heavily to do with growth spurts and what nutrients he needs at any given time. He also has phases where he will eat more for lunch and less for dinner, or vice versa. Occasionally he won't eat much for dinner, but then I realize that he had a lot during the day and don't worry about it so much.

He is still not a very neat eater, and prefers using his hands over a fork and spoon. Not sure if that's related to BLW or just being a two year old. I think it's probably the latter.

I'm sure you can't attribute lack of pickiness to BLW alone, but I do think that this approach has the potential to set a child on the right route with regards to food. That said, in our case I am pretty sure it has affected his eating, at least until this point.

[dancebaraka]

we did BLW but dd was not really interested in anything much beyond mamamilk until 10-11mo...

she's now almost 3 & eats a diverse diet... and will try anything. glad i skipped the extra work of introducing foods & puree-ing

BLW worked great for us

[lifeguard]

We started offering solids around 7.5 months with ds. He didn't really get into it until around 10 months (which was great as we were in a state of transition & not having to worry about whether or not there was food available for him made life easier). Since 10 months he quickly ramped up to eating everything we were eating with his own utensil (I hated spoon feeding him & he hated me doing it!). At 18 months (& for many months now) EVERYONE comments on what a fabulous eater he is. He eats everything we offer in healthy quantities & is always excited to try new things. He still nurses 4-6 times a day (sometimes more depending on his mood).

[redvlagrl]

We did BLW and DD is a good eater. She doesn't eat that much, but is in the 75th percentile for weight and 80th for height so is obviously getting enough!

She loves fruit and eats most veggies. She doesn't much like meat but loves eggs and cheese. Most people seem to be envious of the range of foods she will eat, but I think it's because we eat a good variety at home and no processed stuff.

She is getting better at using a spoon for yoghurt, but doesn't really have the spearing action yet with her fork. She will try most things but definitely has her favorites (fruit mostly). If she could be a fruitarian, she would. She is particularly devoted to bananas - her first food.

[Louisep]

My DS has always been a terrific eater. He'll eat almost anything in massive amounts. We did BLW from 7 months and he weaned at 14 months. People can never believe the variety he eats - loves spicy foods!