Feeding your baby BLW style

Apple is great!! i slice it up and then put it in the micro for 10sec just to make it a little softer and juicier, my lg loves it. No steamer required!!

Claire, I have put off giving B apple purely because it is so hard. I have heard that other BLW mommies steam it first to make it softer, so you could try steaming it and seeing if it gets softer, but I haven't yet so can't tell you if it does!

Are you sure that he is in fact losing weight? Isn't he perhaps just gaining slower? It is normal around now that they gain slower, I know he was a nice chubby baby but around this time they do 'outgrow' it. I'd say give him enough time to just play with it. Perhaps he doesn't spit everything out as you think he does but don't give up on it. The more he plays the better!

Thanks Honeylove - it was hard for me to type that reply since I had to run upstairs to attend to baby like 3 or 4 times. I hope not to offend anyone, please keep in mind the rush I felt while typing that reply!

Thanks Marijke, so for example can he have apple, because apple is really hard?

He actually chews really well. He just puts way too much in his mouth. I have always given him finger foods on a daily basis. He gets a snack of otees or a marie biscuit and cheese (he also really loves cheese) and I always feed him off my plate whatever I'm eating. Problem is he chews it to a pulp and then spits it out.

I should add that I really wanted to do BLW with him but I have always been worried about him not eating enough. He is a really big boy and even eating from a spoon, since we started solids, he's been losing weight.

Wow that answer is great Marijke. Thank you very much. Im sure to try the BLW style with my next baby

Sorry Honeylove, didn't see your post there!
Please keep in mind that this BLW post is about feeding yes but not feeding purees and or baby cereals, in the world of BLW spoon feeding (where the baby isn't 100% in control of the spoon) is a no no. BLW is about following your babies own queues for eating and starting solids.

That said, I will gladly answer your question.

6 months is a guide I personally think. It would be the time when most babies have sufficiant control of their limbs and neck control to be able to feed themselves. It is also said that at 6 months the tummy is mature enough to handle food. The guide for BLW states that your baby is ready for food when he/she can sit supported, pick up food in their first and take it swiftly and accurately to their mouth and make chewing movements with their mouth. Most babies from 4 months on are unable to do this.

Until 2003 the food companies (like purity/gerber in USA/UK) in my opinion dominated the market and 'scared' people into believing that a baby needs to eat purees (i mean who wouldn't if your cashflow depended on it!) before 6 months of age because until then everyone agreed that 6 months was the age to introduce 'finger foods'. In 2003 the UK actually announced that babies should be exclusively breastfed until 6 months of age, but they never forced the food companies to change the writing on their packaging.

I think BLW and it's principals isn't as popular as it should be because it's a lot more work in the cleaning and healthy cooking department. Lets face it, it's easier to just have a stash of purity pots. And it's a difficult thing for women who have control issues () because BLW is completely in the hands of your child and a lot of mothers can't stand not knowing how many cubes/bottles of purees were consumed.

I will tell you this though, my pead said at 3.5 months that I can start feeding my LG and I said to him goodbye and have never been to a pead again. When it comes to feeding my child I'd much rather take the advice of a nutritionist (or someone who specializes in food/feeding) over a pead.

Oh yes and to just touch your point on milk not being enough for some babies, yes it could be the case. I started at 5.5 months because my LG was ready, perhaps there are babies that are ready sooner to feed themselves but when it comes to milk feeds we would like our children to be in a routine (like every 4 hours) and as soon as they need more or more often we run for the baby food isle, that is why BLW encourages demand feeding until 1 year of age.

Food is fun until one is the motto. And anyway, "Babies grow more in their first year than at any other time in their lives and they need nutrient- and calorie-rich breastmilk or formula to do this; solid foods - whatever they are - don't contain anywhere near as much nourishment."

Yeah no, cleaning the floor 3 times a day becomes really boring after a while