Baby Led Weaning for Solids? - Page 2

[sk8boarder15]

Is there any food that you need to limit due to lack of teeth? DS is 5.5 months and no real signs of teeth yet. We gave him his first food today! He's been screaming for our food for a week. So this morning we made baked sweet potato for him and I cut out three little strips for him. He had fun playing with it. But made some disgusted faces when he finally got it in his mouth. lol! For now we will be sticking with soft fruits and veggies, but as we progress how do we take his teeth (or lack of them) into consideration? I feel like this is common sense and I'm over thinking it lol! 

Just wanted to find out what foods you are all leaving out due to lack of teeth! 

[Knitting Mama]

5.5 months is at the early end of starting BLW-- are you sure his tongue thrust is gone? That could account for the faces and the immediate spitting back out of food.

[sk8boarder15]

Well.. he spit some out and some he chewed up and moved around in his mouth.... we are waiting a few days before trying again, but he's been wanting our food so bad I've had to put him in the jumparoo during dinner instead of at the table becuase he gets so upset that he doesn't get food. He's been sitting compeltely unsupported for a few weeks now too.... 

[Knitting Mama]

Can you try breastmilk cubes in a mesh feeder? That kept Cecilia pretty occupied at right around the same age as your guy, when she wanted to sit at the table so badly.

[colsxjack]

Our DD is almost 20 months. We tried feeding homemade purees at about 6.5 months. It was a lot of work to get the textures right and was not pleasurable for anyone. So after about a week of that we read the book Baby Led Weaning and never looked back.

For the lack of teeth, we just steamed everything until it was soft at first, and then steamed it less and less as time went on. Until a baby has molars they do not chew with teeth anyway. Front teeth are just good for biting. A baby will chew with their gums, and have no problem doing so.

Foods we started DD on:

strips of steamed sweet peppers

strips of zucchini

rib bones to gnaw on (they get a lot of iron and other nutrients from them)

quartered apples to gnaw on

avocado cubes

sweet potato fries

steamed green beans

quartered pears

steamed broccoli spears

then moved onto peas, beans, cheerios etc when she had a better pincer grasp.

And we just let her eat yogurt and hummus and stuff with her hands. It was all very messy...but a lot of fun.

It wasn't until about 10 months that she was actually eating much. For the first few months she played and wore more than she actually swallowed. But she was always breast fed first before a meal. We used food as an experience more than nutrition.

[Disco Infiltrator]

we've always made sure the foods we gave were soft enough to mash with DS gums, and they do have teeth, just under the gums.

We gave DS an open cup at 9 months and never looked back. He barely used sippy cups at all. I'm still surprised to see kids his age (almost 4) who still can't drink from an open cup. I think you can start an open cup as early as you and your kid can tolerate it. We've started DD on an open cup already but not that often. We'll move forward faster with the open cup once she starts taking in more table foods.

As for peds, I've encountered people who think what we're doing is CRAZY as crazy can be, but that's okay. I feel comfortable, I know what do do if my kid chokes, I know the difference between gagging and choking, I am 100% behind the BLW philosophy.

I may have a chance to teach a BLW class! I'm really excited.

[katelove]

We haven't limited any foods due to a lack of teeth. But neither are we concerned with the amount she swallows. It is all about the flavours and textures for us. Having said that, those little gums are remarkably good at mashing and we have yet to encounter a food which she can't get bits off.

J is 9 months and has really only been interested in drinking water in the last few weeks. Her favourite drinking vessel is a camelbak water bottle (just like Mummy's  ) http://www.camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/Bottles/Kids-Bottle-4L-Intl-Only.aspx with the straw taken out. She needs some help to tip it up but can drink well from it and it doesn't spill. She can drink from an open cup but still needs help. We should practice that more.

[newlyminted]

My  niece didn't start getting teeth until she was 18 MONTHS! She used to be able to eat corn on the cob with her gums!!

I wouldn't neccessarily limit food just because your little one doesn't have teeth, but I would keep in mind his ability to eat...i.e. mushier stuff if easier for someone learning how to chew.

[sk8boarder15]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

Can you try breastmilk cubes in a mesh feeder? That kept Cecilia pretty occupied at right around the same age as your guy, when she wanted to sit at the table so badly.

Yes, I think its too unnatural to him. He doesn't like the mesh feeder AT ALL! In fact he turns it around and chew on the handle for a minute then just drops it. I've tried 3 times! :p 

We waited a few more days till today to give him anything else and we gave him a banana during breakfast and he was ecstatic!!! I noticed he did have some tongue thrust still but he was so HAPPY just gnawing away on it! I got some great pics of him smiling so much! H gagged once when he managed to bite off a decent sized chunk and spit it out. (To the dogs delight). But he def got some down and was very very happy. 

[sk8boarder15]

Also, thanks for all the info on teeth! I forget how good babies are at chewing with thier gums. I'm a paranoid first time mom! ;) For now we are just giving him something every few days becuase he BEGS for it! If he hadn't been sitting so well for so long I would have held off longer. But he can sit up and feed himself quite well. 

I'm also much more concerned about tastes/textures and just learning how to get food to his mouth then actually eating. I always nurse about 30 mins before, and again afterwards. I figure it will be a few months before he's eating a significant amount. I've heard other BLW moms say anywere from 8-12 old before they are really eating. Its all just good messy fun for now. My husband who is a big BLW advocate, but won't say BLW because he thinks that implies extended nursing (which he is not a fan of), said today. "Ok, I understand why people spoon feed now, this is really messy!" lol! Well we have 4 dogs so they clean up the mess quite well. 

[asraidevin]

Haha. My son loves to throw his food on the floor so he can watch the dog eat it. I think ièm going to have  to stick her somewhere to stop the madness!
 

Originally Posted by sk8boarder15 

Well we have 4 dogs so they clean up the mess quite well. 

[rachael07]

We do BLW. We didn't tell our pediatrician the whole story. I said I wanted to skip rice cereal and iron fortified foods, and he was fine with that because he knew that DS was getting mostly breast milk from me anyway. I have a beef with iron fortification (no pun intended)

Anyway, we love the BLW approach. It is so freeing. My supply is stronger than ever, and DS is having a blast trying all of the different foods. When we go to a restaurant, we just sit him down and offer him whatever we're eating. At home, I have a container full of goodies ready to go. Steamed zucchini ,with the skin on, is a favorite -- he sucks the pulp right off

Given the small amount of food that DS is eating, I don't think a water cup is totally necessary. But, I'd like to teach him about straw cups (so we can abandon the bottle eventually), so every once and a while I fill it with 3 parts water and 1 part juice. He never takes in more than an ounce of water

[sunwise]

Can you explain a little about how you went about introducing an open cup? I'm very interested in doing this when DS is a little older, but I just don't really know how!

Originally Posted by Disco Infiltrator 

We gave DS an open cup at 9 months and never looked back. He barely used sippy cups at all. I'm still surprised to see kids his age (almost 4) who still can't drink from an open cup. I think you can start an open cup as early as you and your kid can tolerate it. We've started DD on an open cup already but not that often. We'll move forward faster with the open cup once she starts taking in more table foods.
 

[Knitting Mama]

We've been introducing an open cup by using a shot glass-- little lip for little mouths to go around! Basically I just fill it 1/4-1/2 way with water and help her move it nice and slowly up to her lips and nice and slowly back down. I help her take small sips. It works sometimes, and other times it gets everywhere, but it's just water, so no big deal!

[asraidevin]

Originally Posted by sunwise 

Can you explain a little about how you went about introducing an open cup? I'm very interested in doing this when DS is a little older, but I just don't really know how!

I just held the cup up to his mouth and tipped it. He started with an open cup at 6 months. He only gets a sippy because he doesn`t dribble as much because the flow is way less. My DH will often leave a nearly empty cup of juice on the coffetable and my son figured out if he rocks back he can get a drink.

[Lyndzies]

Just chiming in that DD (a little over 5 months) loves open cups.  But her motor skills leave something to be desired, so she's already practicing with a sippy cup.

Also, she showed VERY early signs of interest/readiness for food... she had lost her tongue thrust completely by 4 months.  We're doing a combo of BLW and purees, not for nutrition but for her own entertainment/learning.  Maybe once every other day, if that.

Here's Cady vs. the banana, at just shy of 5 months.  As with all things, I think all babies are different, and it's up to us to be able to read their cues.