Feeding your baby BLW style

Well now, that didn't take long.

Elsa if you have glanced over the post before I am sure that you have seen the pictures of Bianca feeding herself with a spoon. If you didn't here are two links to various pictures
www.moomie.co.za/forum/6-feeding-and-nut...it=15&start=30#84109
www.moomie.co.za/forum/6-feeding-and-nut...t=15&start=150#66658

This is what my original post said "...start 'solids' for 2 weeks and it went against my natural instincts because essentially I was force feeding my child."

I'm not going to start a fight, too each his own, this isn't a post about starting 'solids' (spoonfeeding whatever you want to call it) and I am encouraging moms who would like to try BLW. I did not take over a puree thread and call spoon feeding moms bad. Just using this as a platform to show people that there are other ways and help those who are interested. If you aren't interested, or don't want to try it, fine by me

Marijke, Sorry to butt in...I've glanced over this post a couple of times, but personally I just think this whole BLW thing is not for me.

So are you saying us Mom's who spoon feed our kids are force feeding them??

Also interested to know when you intend to start introducing a spoon/fork/knife to your daughter or is she going to be a 5 year old who only uses her hands because Spoons are so wrong?

Claudia, I actually 'started' (wrong word but anyway) with a toast finger, just the toast no margarine or topping every other day or so to see when B was ready. When, for the second time in a row she gummed off small pieces and actually swallowed it, the next day I gave her breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast and lunch I usually did 2 to 3 different types of fruit (like 2 slices of each) or for lunch even steamed or cooked veggies and dinner was what we ate

@ Marijke what food did you introduce first? James is heading towards the 5 month mark so ive started looking at foods more closely. I think fruit looks the easiest, but not too sure. Cant wait till hes ready to play with some food:)

Beatrice I know for working mommies BLW is a hard thing to do since we all feel a bit uneasy expecting anyone else to look after our child as well as we do. (it's a lot like cloth diapers - easier to do if you are home all day than to expect someone else to have to deal with it)

The thing with BLW is though that food isn't as imporant as we might have been led to believe by food companies. The BLW motto is food is fun until one, it encourages demand feeding breast or bottle and letting your baby 'decided' for themselves when they are ready to eat (and they instinctively will if they are presented with food 3 - 5 times a day) more and drink less milk (which for us was at 9 months) since milk contains all the nutrients and vitamins they need.

Don't get me wrong though I know that around 6 months milk doesn't contain the right amount of iron (for one) as their bodies will start to need, but they were born with a store of iron in their bodies which is topped up by milk, then around 6 months this stored iron starts to run out a bit 'faster' but it doesn't happen over night, it's a gradual thing. That is why with BLW you are encouraged to start introducing whole foods from 6 months on so that by the time they need iron they can already manage pieces of food quite well.

Also remember that especially iron is found in for instance the blood of meat and merely sucking on a piece of meat will provide them with the iron needed.

I know we all worry about this and believe me in the beginning I also did but I sometimes think that our understanding of food and our bodies are a bit compromised by companies hunting for profit.

I will encourage you to read the book, if you live near CT you can even borrow mine.

I'm not against purees per se but as I've said before I did at 4 months (at the sugesstion of the pead, hate peads now) start 'solids' for 2 weeks and it went against my natural instincts because essentially I was force feeding my child. It sounds harsh I know but I had this one teaspoon of cereal or one ice cube of butternut and baby would have one bite and want out of her chair or not open her mouth or whatever and it's like "your so tiny how on earth can you grow on liquid alone, eat!"

I got all these weird advice: "put her in a reclined position to feed so the food just runs down her throat" people actually do that. The thing is babies don't need as much food as we think and spoon feeding tends to lead to overfeeding or at least to the bowl being one bite away from empty, baby not interested and you go - just one more bite, please! Choo choo, here comes the train. And a big YAY for eating one more bite and your baby goes, hold on I'm full but I get loads of attention when I eat even though I'm full.

Okay, I'm sure someone will come crap on my head for saying that but look around you, see how many people have no idea when to stop eating?

I, personally, feel better knowing that my child is in full control. Even though she seemed very young, too young to be in 'full control', I quickly saw that her little body knew more about what she needed and when than I ever will.

2kidmamma, since your little boy is already 1.5 years old it really is hard to say but I would try to encourage healthy finger food at least as a snack and perhaps try going for one meal a day that is soft pieces of food, I wouldn't however go as far as giving him an apple just yet since you mentioned that he wasn't exposed to as many whole foods, but you can try softer fruits cut in slices. I also started B off with plum slices which is easier than apple. I still find apples a bit hard and it needs loads of chewing! Good luck and keep us posted