Feeding your baby BLW style

What does Bianca eat? Some ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Remember, no added sugar, salt or msg's (read the labels!)

Breakfast:

* Toast fingers, either with a little margarine or marmite (oxo, or boverol, whichever you prefer)
* Rice Cake
* Once or twice a week we offer her a piece of cheese
* Weetbix the kind with no added sugar or salt (the box written in red) add a little bit of water to make it a bit more mushy
* Otees (you'll be surprised what those little fingers can pick up)
* Full Fat Yoghurt
* Fresh Fruit

Lunch:

* Fresh Fruit
* Scrambled egg well cooked (about once a week)
* Pasta any kind but B loves the different coloured screw pastas
* Any kind of cooked vegetables, soft but not mushy.
* Full Fat Yoghurt
* Left-overs from last nights dinner

Dinner:
* Anything that we are having which includes
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Rice
- Stews
- Salads
- Cooked vegetables - any kind
- Mince, in any form, plain or as meatballs
- Pork, beef, chicken, fish
- Once a week we have pizza
- For desert we usually have yoghurt

The key is to give a variety 2 or 3 different kinds of food at the same time so your baby can choose what they would like to eat and how much of it. Remember to keep some extras of everything you are offering in case your baby wants more. Don't put pressure on them to eat everything. Your baby will decide how much they need or want to have. The above mentioned is what we have given our baby to eat over the last month, you can leave out or add anything that you might prefer.

So how do you know that your baby is getting enough because it seems like everything she eats lands on the floor?

This was my biggest concern a couple of days into BLW. I know some things make it to her tummy but some just seem to land on the floor untouched. But here's how you know: their milk intake stays the same. Over time your baby will begin to cut down on milk feeds as their solid intake increases, this happens for every baby at their own pace. Some babies take to eating like a duck to water, others take their sweet time.

And yes gross as it may seems, some solid food eaten comes out the other end looking exactly like it went in. This only means that their tummies are still adjusting so don't be concerned. The only reason why you don't see that with pureed food is because the purees already look like poo

Because babies grow the most during their first year of life they need the biggest source of nutrients they can get and unfortunately this isn't found in food. I sometimes feel like I want to stuff my baby with cereal before she goes to sleep so that I can have a decent nights sleep, but this takes away the nutrients she needs from her night time milk feed. If your baby isn't such a great sleeper then increasing 'solids' will mean little. In time, as your baby starts to realise that the food they eat actually fills them up (around 9 months) they then start reducing milk feeds and can even start sleeping better (or not - depends on your baby)

So you heard that at six months your baby needs extra iron or that breast milk/formula isn't enough. Although this is somewhat true - here's what I've read. Your baby is born with a certain supply of nutrients that is topped up with milk. At around 6 months your babies nutritional needs very gradually shifts, your baby isn't going to run out of iron overnight. At around 9 months when babies require more nutrients than what is found in breast/formula they already have the skills to eat what they need to balance out their bodies requirements if they were introduced to solids at 6 months. A baby can get enough iron as is needed by just sucking the juices out of a piece of meat. (Find out what to give your baby to eat that contains iron if you are a vegetarian)

The bottom line is - just because your baby isn't measuring up with another baby who eats a whole bowl of cereal/purees 3 times a day rest assured that your baby is in fact getting the nutrients they need from their milk - the way it should be until your child starts to eat more - in their own time by themselves.

It is also said that babies who are allowed to feed themselves naturally shies away from food that they are allergic to. When offered a variety of food they eat only those they aren't allergic to and sometimes will even throw the food they are allergic to on the ground or just ignore it. I can't confirm or deny this as my LG doesn't have allergies. But just a thought - perhaps babies are smarter than we give them credit for!

Bianca eating her first proper family meal, potatoes, chicken and butternut. 5 months 3 weeks old.


Having peaches and plums for lunch. Same age as above.


Meat is still her favourite, just like her daddy! 6 months 2 weeks

OH MY GOSH, WON'T SHE CHOKE?!

The short answer is no. She will gag but don't overreact to this natural reflex because it might scare your baby. Here's what I know:

Babies are so brilliantly constructed. Their gag reflex is so much closer to the opening of their mouth than adults. (the gag reflex moves back in their mouth as they grow older) Your baby might gag on big pieces bitten off but this doesn't mean that they will choke on it. Because the gag reflex is so far forward the food isn't even close to their airway yet, gagging and coughing out the big pieces is a vital learning curve that your baby has to go through. This teaches them to bite off smaller pieces and to use their tongue to manipulate the food. My LG gagged 6 times at the most and for the last 2 weeks she hasn't gagged at all because she has already learned what fits into her mouth.

That is why it is important that your baby is always sitting upright when playing with food (so they can expel big chunks) and that you never force anything into their mouth. If you are overly worried about choking, learn CPR but in a month of doing BLW my LG hasn't choked once. And above all remember that gagging doesn't equal choking and that you have to leave your child to gag out whatever is in their mouth. Some babies even vomit a little but that doesn't stop them from trying again.

Spoon-fed babies tend to choke easier because they suck the pureed food off the spoon like you would suck a liquid off a spoon and the food bypasses the gag reflex, that is why, when food starts to get chunkier these babies haven't learned to chew the chunks and just sucks it up which could more easily make them choke.

So when you see your baby gagging or coughing on too big chunks, rest assured that your baby is in fact dealing with the problem and learning at the same time. Remember to never leave your baby unattended with food. At around 8 months (if your baby hasn't been introduced to solids in this way or has been spoon-fed until now you should be more cautious of gagging as the gag reflex slowly starts to move backwards)

So your baby seems ready, what now? I know my LG was more than ready at 5 and a half months because we gave her pieces of food every now and then and when she was ready she started to "chew" off small pieces, gum them and spit them out again. We were also sure that she had no allergies.

You can start with any meal that suits you or you can start with all 3 meals on the same day, or just one - whatever you prefer. The GOLDEN RULE is that your baby shouldn't be hungry, milk feed first. Solid food at this age isn't given for its nutritional value but only as a complimentary element to their diet. Give your baby anything (except in the case of allergies then you have to cut out the allergen) that can be cut into finger sized portions which is soft enough to gum but not so soft that it will get mashed instantly when they pick it up (they are going to crush it until they learn how much force they can exert on different textures) but when they hold it in their hand there should be a piece sticking out of their fist to suck or nibble on. So think chunks and pieces big enough to be grasped but small enough to pick up easily.

The reason why you can give your baby anything to eat (except in the case of an allergy) is because you waited until 6 months of age and your babies immune system is more mature and can handle solid food better.

Things to avoid: Choking hazards which includes small foods such as nuts or big seeds found in some fruits should be cut away. Another no - no is salt and sugar as well as MSG's, whole wheat, honey and of course coffee, fizzy drinks, cows milk etc.

So what exactly is BLW? It’s not about instantly weaning your baby off milk (be that breast or bottle) this is a process that starts very slowly and it starts with the first time your baby is introduced to solids. Milk is still the most important part of your babies nutrition and should be given whenever your baby is hungry.

BLW allows your baby to participate in family meals and sit with the family eating the same food in small manageable pieces (without added suger, salt or msg's - healthy food made from scratch with fresh ingredients). It takes away the schlep of having to cook separate meals or having to bulk freeze tons of pureed food cubes, or pay through your nose for bottles of ready made baby food. Your baby gets the opportunity to explore food on a different level and encourages your baby to play with their food, learn about different textures and tastes without all of it being pureed into a pulp that tastes the same with every bite. Your baby is encourages to feed him/her self without help from anyone or without being spoon-fed and with this approach they also eat as much or as little as they want to.

The rule of thumb is that you can start your baby on solids at 6 months. The book also mentions false signs of readiness for solids which include "Waking at night, Weight gain slowing slightly, Showing an interest in food, Not going straight to sleep after milk feeds, Small baby and Big baby" True readiness is described as certain skills your baby has mastered which include sitting with little or no support, reaching out to grab things and take it swiftly and accurately to their mouth and are able to make chewing motions with their mouth.

The easiest way to see if your baby is ready is to give your baby real food and see if they can put it into their mouth on their own.

First of all - if this way of feeding solids is something you are interested in then you should read the book about it. (and no, I don't get paid to say that ) It's a brilliantly written book that not only explains the how, where and when but it also has a great part on feeding in general that made me feel very differently about how much, what and at what age to start feeding my baby.

Written by Gill Rapley (masters degree in infant feeding and child development) and Tracey Murkett (freelance writer and journalist) The name of the book is Baby-led Weaning and I found it at Exclusive books for R117

I'm going to try and explain it as best I can and at times I am going to quote from the book, so if you can't afford it then just bear with me. If you have any questions, thoughts or comments you are more than welcome to type away! I don't consider myself an expert as I've only been doing this for a month, so if your doctor has a solid medical reason for why your baby can't try this then go with what he/she suggests, please