self-feeding/baby-led weaning support thread... - Page 11

[MamaSpruce]

Been lurking for a little bit getting used to the idea. My poor baby, 6.5 mos (born 7/10/07) has been so unhappy at dinner so we finally set up the high chair and have been letting him play/eat. What a different dinner time baby! My first ds didn't really want to eat until a year (and I hadn't heard of BLW, just offered to feed him) and I am so surprised how enthusiastic ds2 has been about food. We've given him avacodo slices, butternut squash, pear, banana, steamed brocolli stalk and apple (just sucking and nibbling on the core really). I'm kind of surprised how well he is doing with it and how much he is actually eating. I think I'm still going to be nervous for awhile though and will stick to these foods and other softer veggies/fruit for awhile until he gets a little better.

It's not very efficient though, is it? Lots of little pieces get bitten off and not eaten. Oh well, how fun though to watch him learn on his own.

[spmamma]

BLW and drinking from a cup/sippy cup

At what age have you mammas started introducing a cup or sippy cup? I'm not sure how this fits in with BLW but my MIL recently asked if DD has a sippy cup. I told her she does, but didn't mention that we haven't tried using it yet.

DD is 7 MO and still EBF (we tried a few solids but she gagged on everything so we're waiting a while to try again). I guess I'm just wondering what age babies start drinking in ways other than the breast. Did it reduce the amount of time your baby nursed?

[tankgirl73]

Here's DD at 6mo:
http://flickr.com/photos/lovecat/604...7600330803313/

We also started her with a Sigg bottle, which she loved, around the same age (7mo):

http://flickr.com/photos/lovecat/841...7600330803313/

We've never bothered with a sippy cup, we just use regular cups at home and the Sigg for out and about (if at all).

And no, it certainly didn't reduce nursing, no more than the gradual introduction of solids did. At 13mo, she NOW nurses less often than before, but that was very long and gradual process and she still nurses at least 3x/day plus several times at night.

Oh and she only gets water in her cups. Juice is pointless and dairy is icky.

[Arwyn]

Originally Posted by amyleigh33

Wow, I am so glad that this post was on pg. 10 of this thread. I read through pgs. 1-4 and then finally had to give up, and skipped to the last one, and here is what I was looking for. I just posted about it in Veg Living thread.

My DD self-feeds sweet potato, winter squash, potato, pear, etc. and according to this Kellymom article that someone sent me when I posted in Veg Living, the first two are iron-rich. I am wondering about giving her home made oatmeal cereal, though. We have never spoon fed her. If I just gave her oatmeal prepared the way I eat it, maybe with some BM mixed in... but not too liquidy... maybe she could just eat it with her hands? Or is that a choking hazard? (We're vegan, so we are never going to be introducing any meat or dairy.) She is also probably old enough (8 months) to try self-feeding steamed spinach, eh?
[subbing now]

What we've done with oatmeal the time or two he's had it is put some on a spoon and give him the spoon. I like my oatmeal nice and thick, so it sticks well to the spoon.

[sprouthead]

Originally Posted by spmamma

At what age have you mammas started introducing a cup or sippy cup? I'm not sure how this fits in with BLW but my MIL recently asked if DD has a sippy cup. I told her she does, but didn't mention that we haven't tried using it yet.

DD is 7 MO and still EBF (we tried a few solids but she gagged on everything so we're waiting a while to try again). I guess I'm just wondering what age babies start drinking in ways other than the breast. Did it reduce the amount of time your baby nursed?

i know you can start working on open cups at 7 mos.

[Mere]

Originally Posted by spmamma

At what age have you mammas started introducing a cup or sippy cup? I'm not sure how this fits in with BLW but my MIL recently asked if DD has a sippy cup. I told her she does, but didn't mention that we haven't tried using it yet.

Ds2 started day care 2 days a week at 5.5 months; we skipped the bottle and went straight to a sippy. He did/does just fine with it! It didn't take long at all for him to learn to grab it and tilt it up to drink.

[brandnewmommy]

Originally Posted by spmamma

At what age have you mammas started introducing a cup or sippy cup? I'm not sure how this fits in with BLW but my MIL recently asked if DD has a sippy cup. I told her she does, but didn't mention that we haven't tried using it yet.

We've started introducing a cup. We just use one at dinner when DS eats (he's 6 1/2 months). I put the tiniest bit of water in the cup. At this point he still doesn't know what to do with it, but we have started working on it. It's just a regular cup too, not a sippy cup.

[sanguine_speed]

Hi mamas! Oscar had his first 'meal' last night. I thought you might enjoy the pictures:
http://jemm.dyndns.org/firstfood/

It went well and I could tell he was really enjoying experiencing his food, rather than just swallowing mush.

[ssharon]

This thread is huge--a little too big for me to go through completely so sorry if some of my questions have been answered. I am wondering what foods anyone tried with a 6 mo old that were unique or not part of the standard schedule of introducing solids. I am doing BLW with my 6 mo daughter, but did not do it with my 3 yr old son. I am definitely being more relaxed about introducing foods, but I still want to be somewhat careful. I have read that you shouldn't rely too much on grains because of all the sugar and how it affects them and possible obesity problems later. I did make her some "teething biscuits" that she loved, but were pretty much all carbs (sugar and flour). What about oatmeal? Would that be easier to choke on though because of its texture?

[ssharon]

Another question...someone mentioned toast. What kind of toast did you use? Did you make homemade bread? The bread we purchase has honey in it and I am worried about that whole no honey before 1 year thing. But I would love to give her some toast.

[brandnewmommy]

Originally Posted by ssharon

This thread is huge--a little too big for me to go through completely so sorry if some of my questions have been answered. I am wondering what foods anyone tried with a 6 mo old that were unique or not part of the standard schedule of introducing solids. I am doing BLW with my 6 mo daughter, but did not do it with my 3 yr old son. I am definitely being more relaxed about introducing foods, but I still want to be somewhat careful. I have read that you shouldn't rely too much on grains because of all the sugar and how it affects them and possible obesity problems later. I did make her some "teething biscuits" that she loved, but were pretty much all carbs (sugar and flour). What about oatmeal? Would that be easier to choke on though because of its texture?

My son has tried homemade hummus (complete with fresh garlic). That might be the most "unusual" thing I guess. I've used low-salt rice cakes (I can't find no salt) with avocado smeared on it. I'm too nervous about wheat to do toast yet (but my LO has shown signs of food sensitivities). He's tried pork (just sucked on it so far) and chicken (same thing). Other than that he's had pretty standard stuff - steamed broccoli, green beans, sweet potato, potato, carrots, banana, pear, avocado, and canteloupe. That's all I can think of right now. I have a site charting our progress if you're interested in checking it out.

http://babyledfeeding.blogspot.com/

I'm interested to hear others thoughts on oatmeal. I'd like to try to make some sort of breakfast bar or something out of it.

[spmamma]

Originally Posted by ssharon

This thread is huge--a little too big for me to go through completely so sorry if some of my questions have been answered. I am wondering what foods anyone tried with a 6 mo old that were unique or not part of the standard schedule of introducing solids. I am doing BLW with my 6 mo daughter, but did not do it with my 3 yr old son. I am definitely being more relaxed about introducing foods, but I still want to be somewhat careful. I have read that you shouldn't rely too much on grains because of all the sugar and how it affects them and possible obesity problems later. I did make her some "teething biscuits" that she loved, but were pretty much all carbs (sugar and flour). What about oatmeal? Would that be easier to choke on though because of its texture?

I wouldn't necessarily say the foods we introduced are unique, but they certainly didn't follow the mainstream schedule for solids (cereal then veggies then fruits). We first tried avocado, then banana, allowed her to suck on apple wedges and now she's eating pears. All big chunks that she can pick up herself.

[ssharon]

Originally Posted by brandnewmommy

My son has tried homemade hummus (complete with fresh garlic). That might be the most "unusual" thing I guess. I've used low-salt rice cakes (I can't find no salt) with avocado smeared on it. I'm too nervous about wheat to do toast yet (but my LO has shown signs of food sensitivities). He's tried pork (just sucked on it so far) and chicken (same thing). Other than that he's had pretty standard stuff - steamed broccoli, green beans, sweet potato, potato, carrots, banana, pear, avocado, and canteloupe. That's all I can think of right now. I have a site charting our progress if you're interested in checking it out.

http://babyledfeeding.blogspot.com/

I'm interested to hear others thoughts on oatmeal. I'd like to try to make some sort of breakfast bar or something out of it.

What kind of rice cakes (brand?)? What age was he when you tried cantaloupe--my "guidelines" mention waiting on melon until older (closer to a year). Any thoughts on that? Also how did you (or anyone) do green beans? Did you buy fresh or frozen? How soft did you get them? I would definitely be worried about the choking with green beans. The only thing I thought of was the canned green beans which are often thicker and really soft--I just don't like the thought of giving her canned food.

I'll definitely check out the blog. Thanks!

[Maela]

Originally Posted by sprouthead

Well, DH went ahead and gave him some pureed green beans. he put them on the spoon and gave it to DS. DS took the spoon (an adult spoon!) and fed himself the green beans- loved it, and kept reaching for the spoon for more! He's definitely not as interested in food when we give him whole green beans or anything else for that matter... So now I'm perplexed since he even seemed to like the purees better! Any input? Thanks!

We just started giving some food to Dd at six months. We've tried avocado, banana, sweet potato, naan bread, pear, apple, and last night butternut squash. She hasn't been too interested. She doesn't like it when pieces come off in her mouth. She gets this grossed out look on her face and sometimes she gags. She does like the pear and apple (I give it to her whole or a very large piece) because usually no pieces come off into her mouth - she can just suck on the juice.
So I was just wondering if she would feel the same way about purees. I really want to do BLW, but I was just curious. So last night I cooked some butternut squash and pureed it. I put some onto a spoon and then gave it to her. She still made the face, but kept sucking on the spoon until it was all gone. Now I don't know what to do. Should I try purees first? Or is she just not ready for solids yet? I really like the idea of BLW...

[spmamma]

Anyone else had this happen?

We gave DD a wedge of pear tonight and she happily sucked on it and bit off large chunks. The best part was that she spit out large chunks and didn't gag too much. But then I went to nurse her about 30 minutes later and she wouldn't latch on. Finally I looked in her mouth and noticed that she had a chunk of pear lodged in her palette! Anyone else had this happen with your LO? I'm not too freaked out about it but I'm wondering if I should give her even softer foods for a while...

[acp]

Nothing that extreme, spmamma, but sometimes DD will be chewing on something quite a bit later, after I thought she was done eating - I'll see it still in her mouth. I've had the same experience as you, though, where when she's eating something like banana or pear, if she bites off too much, she eventually spits it back out (and then sometimes dips her fingers in the mushy rather gross chunk she just spit out and tries to scoop it back up... ewwww....).

As for green beans, we've only given them to DD once and she loved them. They were just regular fresh green beans. However, the way she ate them was to chew on them until the little beans inside popped out, and those were what she ate. SHe didn't really eat the skin, which I think would be too tough (given that she doesn't have teeth) unless it's really overcooked.

The only rather "nontraditional" things we've given DD (meaning, other than fruits and veggies, all of which she's had in non-puree form) are guacamole, roasted red pepper hummus, and a lentil and rice dish I made. I also gave her a couple pieces of macaroni from some mac and cheese I was eating the other night. She seems to like spices! She was a big fan of all of those, and while none of them were super spicy, they were all pretty heavy on things like garlic and onions and (in the case of the lentil dish) cumin. I want to give her chili the next time I make some, but I've been holding off for a bit on tomatoes and beef. Oh - she does love toast too. I initially planned to wait on wheat, but it doesn't seem to be causing any problems, and it's often an easy way for her to eat something like avocados, which I'll smear on top. I just give her a bit of toasted whole-grain bread from whole foods.
I don't think it has honey in it, but I've also heard that the honey issue only has to do with raw honey (which wouldn't be an issue in the bread you buy) - they just tell people no honey, period, because it's too hard for most people to know to differentiate.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by tankgirl73

Here's DD at 6mo:
http://flickr.com/photos/lovecat/604...7600330803313/

We also started her with a Sigg bottle, which she loved, around the same age (7mo):

http://flickr.com/photos/lovecat/841...7600330803313/

We've never bothered with a sippy cup, we just use regular cups at home and the Sigg for out and about (if at all).

And no, it certainly didn't reduce nursing, no more than the gradual introduction of solids did. At 13mo, she NOW nurses less often than before, but that was very long and gradual process and she still nurses at least 3x/day plus several times at night.

Oh and she only gets water in her cups. Juice is pointless and dairy is icky.

What's she wearing over her clothes in the highchair and where can I get one? (I showed it to dh and he said "cool! a Hazmat suit for babies." )

[tankgirl73]

Heh... it's a big from Ikea! Just sleeves and a front, with a 'pocket' at the bottom to catch spills. And spoons. It's quite remarkable what we find in there sometimes...

[ssharon]

Originally Posted by tankgirl73

Heh... it's a big from Ikea! Just sleeves and a front, with a 'pocket' at the bottom to catch spills. And spoons. It's quite remarkable what we find in there sometimes...

I hate to promote Walmart, but they carry something similar without the sleeves. They are big though and have the pocket. They also sell out quickly as people really like them.

[brandnewmommy]

Originally Posted by ssharon

What kind of rice cakes (brand?)? What age was he when you tried cantaloupe--my "guidelines" mention waiting on melon until older (closer to a year). Any thoughts on that? Also how did you (or anyone) do green beans? Did you buy fresh or frozen? How soft did you get them? I would definitely be worried about the choking with green beans. The only thing I thought of was the canned green beans which are often thicker and really soft--I just don't like the thought of giving her canned food.

I'll definitely check out the blog. Thanks!

Well, we just did the cantaloupe this last week, so 6 1/2 months. It wasn't really planned. We were out to eat and our plates were garnished with the cantaloupe. He LOVED it. I'm not sure why the guideline suggests closer to a year. DS did fine with it, so I'm not going to worry about it. It was just in a wedge. He held the wedge and sucked it to death. I used frozen green beans, although next time I think I'd try steaming fresh ones to see if maybe I could get them a bit softer. I don't think he was actually able to eat any of the outer part (a bit too tough). In fact I didn't think he ate any of it until I saw a little bean in his poo. I'd be leary of canned food because of all the added salt, unless it was sodium-free.


Good luck!