Feeding your baby BLW style

Hi Ladies

Thanks for the support. Marijke I am so glad I found your thread and am giving this a go.

Sarah, sounds like Skye is loving her food as much as Paige, Paige can sit in her highchair for up to an hour playing with her food I dont know how much is going down her throat, but at this point she still has plenty of breastmilk, so I am happy to let her play.

I havent had a chance to read through the entire thread yet, please can I ask a few questions ?

In terms of water, do you offer cooled boiled water or tap water, and at every meal ? (I am still breastfeeding)

Eggs? the book says they should be fine after 6 months, but is this something you avoid ?

Paige got a bit of a red rash on her cheeks last night, its still there a little but much better this morning, do you think its just skin irritation from all the food on her face or a food intolerance ?
Did your babies have the same ?

Will post updates regularly on what she is eating and some pics, loving this new exciting chapter

I will definitely update! So far Skye has tried: grapes, watermelon, corn, broccoli, biltong, droewors, wors off the braai, butternut, rice noodles, a sweetcorn and cheese souffle, meatballs, rice, carrots. I'm enjoying BLW. I must say, having done puree's with other baby's in the past, BLW is so much easier! I can just look in the fridge for something to feed her, not worry about puree or 'something suitable'. In my previous nanny jobs I would have never been able to give a 6 month old grapes!

In my current nanny job the 1yr old and Skye make just as much mess as eachother so the clean-up involves shaking off the kids and calling the dog inside lol! The 1yr old was eating only puree 4 weeks ago. Now he feeds himself YAY!!! I let him play with his food and don't mind the mess, although he does up-end his bowl when he's had enough!

Sarah, MommyN and Niki, you really have to share your experiences with us!

Post at least a monthly update of what your babies are eating (MommyN, when you actually start you have to do it for us ) what they have tried, what they love, how their skills have developed in the past month and a pic or two. PLEASE!?

Niki, when it comes to BLW I really enjoy being the odd one out

Love the variety that Paige has tried already, I know 2 year olds that haven't even tried half of it! And the best part is that you followed her cues on when she was ready to start solids, amazing how, even at 5.5 months their bodies just know and we can only sit in amazement at how 'wise and wired' they already entered the world.

I also found it a bit daunting in the beginning because I was the only one I knew willing to give it a try, I remember posting a question about it on the old pampers and getting the reply that its not worth the risk and I could be doing more harm than good etc and it put me off completely. So I took myself to the baby aisle and read all the labels on the baby cereal boxes and it sent shivers down my spine.

Then later when it just didn't work for us (B REFUSED a spoon near her) I went online again and found someone who guided me through it and for her advice in those early days I am still ever so grateful.

The hardest part in the first year was
a) listening to people telling others that their children didn't sleep through the night because of hunger (between 4 and 6 month olds) and even 2/3month olds getting cereals in their bottles and mothers raving about the amount of sleep this has assured them of
b) others listing the amounts their children eat (for example: 3 tablespoons of cereal for breakfast, a whole bottle of purity for lunch and 2 for dinner, or 150ml puree) I could never measure it. "So how much does B eat" Uhm "Enough?!"

It's hard swimming upstream while others are more comfortable just following the flow.

But I will tell you this - everyone who has ever seen B eating (when she was smaller) were convinced, even my mother expressed her regret that she didn't know about this when she had us (said during a visit to a coffee shop with an 11 month old sitting next to us on her own chair eating salad off her own plate.

Guess I'm just not a mainstream fish!

@ Niki - take lots of photo's!! Our friends think we're mad lol!!! So far Skye just eats whatever is on our plates. Tonight before we had dinner we had some watermelon so she tried some and LOVED it! She gets so excited for food and when I put her in a highchair she is already looking around for food and reaching for plates! I love this method of weaning.