BLW with a spoon

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BLW podcast

I was writing some weeks ago about me participating in a podcast about BLW.

Here's where you can hear me.:)

A podcast and BLW

Some days ago, I took part in a interview about BLW. The interview was hosted by Meredith who herself has a 6 months old little girl and on the verge of starting BLW.  The idea behind it was to basically tell our BLW experiences: how we heard about it, how was in the beginning, what our fears were etc.
After I got the questions and started to prepare for the podcast, I read Rapley's book one more time and I was so amazed again by the easiness of it as well as by the informations I discovered going though the book regarding Bryce's stage, that I've decided to share some of those right here:
- "Babies and small children seem to know instinctively which foods will give them the nutrients they need"
- "Babies who crave a particular food seem to be responding to a need, so it's important to trust their instinct and let them make these choices"
- "Most mealtimes battles with toddlers are the result of a mismatch over what the parent thinks the child needs and what he thinks he needs"
- "Children have a strong survival instinct, especially when food is concerned. They have an extremely reliable sense of when they need to eat, what to eat and how much"
- "A baby-sized portion IS a baby-sized handful" - a portion is roughly the amount each person can hold in one open hand
So, we should try to include in our every-day toddler's menu:
- vegetables and fruits: five (three of vegetables and two of fruit)
- grains and starchy vegetables (rice, potato, pasta, bread etc)  two to three
- meat, fish and other protein rich foods such as lentils: one
- cheese, milk, yogurt and other calcium-rich foods such hummus and small-boned fish :one
- healthy fats (such as olive oil, nuts and seeds) : a quarter of a portion

BLW -6th month

It's been half of year of BLW. I really don't know how all this time went by, but here we are, close to our first birthday.
For us, BLW was the perfect choice. I'm so happy I've learnt about it (one more time, thanks so much MQ for sharing with us) because I gave my baby the opportunity of being himself and choosing for himself, discovering for himself and learning how shapes and textures work and how they can melt into a delicious meal.
As time went by, Bryce evolved from playing with solids to the degree of actually understanding what solids mean :that they can fulfill bellies, that they have different tastes, that he can ask for more 'cause something is very yummy, that meals are fun 'cause he can see both mom and dad and that he is free to choose and free to go and never forced to do something he doesn't want to do.
By doing BLW, I was never forced to invent stories or behave like a clown or trick my baby just for the sake of eating. And after only six months, I can see the benefits: how independent he is, how grown up, how he sits in the chair and really enjoys every piece that goes into his mouth, asking for more or refusing when he is full.
For some reason, even if he's my first born (or maybe because of that) I just was so confident and just trusting him in the way he approached this concept. For some reason, I've never freaked out that one week went by and he may be he only ate some grapes and blueberry. I guess that the concept :"Solids are fun til' they're one" kinda of sticked in my brain really well.:)
And now, at almost one year, he's eating well. Well for him 'cause I know he's smart to choose what he needs. Mom will just offer and baby will do the rest.
Way to go, Brycy, mommy is so proud of you. Bon appetit!

BLW - 4th month

The 4th month of BLW was by far the best one . It was like the revelation month as he suddenly would eat foods because he would understand what foods meant. And I truly believe he does. He's definitely into more cooked foods and flavors. He really enjoys flavors and I didn't hold back on anything. Having my mom with us, I've also introduced him to a lot of the Romanian traditional foods. So, this month, he tried: stuffed bell peppers (ardei umpluti), meat balls sour soup (ciorba de perisoare), chicken soup( supita de pui cu galuste), beef sour soup (ciorba de vacuta), cooked cababge (varza calita),moussaka (musca de cartofi), pizza, pasta with chicken, stake, carne asada, chicken wings to name just a few. 

He still loves the fruits especially the blueberries and grapes but generally all kind of fresh fruits and of course some vegetables.

We have a little video of this month. So, enjoy it!!!

BLW - 3rd month

It was not a proper BLW month. Being away for most of the month, it was more of a purees month more than he ever ate purees since we've started the solids.
Nevertheless, I still offered him bananas, mum-mums, biscuits, dried apricots, mainly fresh fruits and more vegetables purees.
Now that we are back home and grand ma' Rica joined us, the next BLW month would be so much more interesting to describe.

The first big trip - 1st week in Sofia

The first's week challenge in Sofia was, of course, the jet lag. It's annoying for a grown up, imagine how annoying this can be for a baby. Add to this the teething and the unhappiness is there.
Anyway, the first days he would wake up like in the middle of the night, and be all wake and ready to play. The funny thing about it is that he would not sleep throughout the day as if it would be the night. He would rather have naps or maximum a 3 hours long sleep.
With the help of grand ma' Myrna, we've managed to somehow survive (we would take shifts, like she would sleep more in the evening and be wake for him in the night, while I would be awake during day time and sleep during night time). But, all in all, if you travel somewhere where the difference hour is significant (more than 3 hours) then you need to take in consideration having someone with you to help you with the shifts, otherwise is just 1 week of sleep depravation.
By the end of the week, he started sleeping a little bit better: he would go to sleep somewhere around 9-10:00 pm sleep till around 4:30- 5:00 am ( with some little waking for the feedings), stay awake for another 2 hours or so then go back to sleep for another hour. All in all, around 7:30-8:00 am he is totally awake, ready for a new day.

The city challenges:

- no sidewalks for pedestrians or/and strollers ( I mean the sidewalks exist but they are full of parked cars);
- the remaining sidewalks are full of holes making the stroller stride a real adventure;
- smoking everywhere ( in the streets, on the terraces, in the parks, in the restaurants, even in the hotel- I smell smoke coming under the door of our apartment); basically, it's smoke everywhere, you can barely smell the nice breeze of the spring;
- no high chairs in the restaurants ( so far, the first one that we found was in the Hilton), but for one week we didn't find any restaurant that would have a high chair for the baby; (this was kinda of hard as we are going out a lot in LA and Bryce would always have his highchair, basically he would sit with us at the table and eat with us, one of the concepts of BLW); here, instead, he would either  sit in his stroller or in our laps;
- not so many but still here and there some stray dogs and you never know how they will react so, you just need to be cautious when you pass them by;
- stairs, stairs, stairs, lots of stairs and no other choice for people with disabilities or moms with strollers; even the shops have lots of stairs but no ramps or some other access ( malls not included, as they do have elevators);

As for the food and water: to be on the safe side, we are drinking only bottled water, even Bryce's fruits and vegetables I wash them with the same bottled water; I still do a little bit of BLW ( I don't cook too much but I offer him carrots, apples, bananas, grapes etc) and I also bought some little bio Hipp jars that he eats from time to time; he was only one day constipated right in the beginning but after I gave him some prunes puree, he started pooping on his daily routine.

It turned out to be great to have a a lot of Orajel tubes with me, as he started teething right here and right now; so, having the Orajel helped a bit as well as cold cucumber and apple finger cuts.

My hubby was free for the weekend, so we spend some time just the three of us as we needed it so much. It was just great.

Now, the first week is over, we're looking forward to the 2nd one and some more things to discover.

BLW - 2nd month

This is how the second month went by. So fast and so enjoyable. He's still interested in solids. Of course, he doesn't eat them with the purpose of filling up his tummy but aside the playful intake, he gives me the impression that he wants to put something in his little belly. :)

Things we've tried this month: fish, watermelon, yogurt, grapes (he just loves them, I can say that it's his favorite fruit, by far), belle pepper, rutababa, mushrooms;

Even if I'm not the best cook in the world, I try my best to come up with something new for him every single day. Can't hardly wait for papa to come back home so he will make one of his great pizza so Bryce can enjoy it, too. :))

Until then, more fun in the 3rd month of BLW.

A toute a l'heure!!!!

BLW - week 2

So, we managed to end our 2nd week of BLW and it was another success. As the days go by, he seems more and more interested in the stuff I give him and he really puts something in his belly, too, 'cause I check his poop every day. :) So, the progress is there. Good for you, my little one.
I will write the new stuff we tried this week :

VEGETABLES : baked zucchini, steamed parsnip, raw, ripe avocado

FRUITS : cantaloupe, kiwi, pear,

BREADS: rice bread, toast and pita

DIPS : hummus, organic peach jelly, eggplant salad

Although, he didn't seem to hate anything from the above, I can say that he LOVED : the toast with jelly and eggplant, the pita with hummus, the kiwi, the steamed parsnip.

For the 3rd week of BLW, I will start on giving him some meat, pasta and rice.
Until next week, enjoy our little movie!!!

BLW - week 1

We've ended our first week of BLW. Overall, I can declare myself content. Bryce was interested in the food and although he didn't eat everything, he, at least, played, sucked, chewed on some stuff.
So, this week, I introduced him to :

VEGETABLES : carrot, broccoli, sweet,red potato, summer squash;

FRUITS : nectarines, peach, banana, apple,

and MUM-MUM

The fruit and vegetables were either steamed, baked or just raw.

FAVORITES: sweet potato, summer squash, peach, banana (THE MOST), apple and of course the MUM-MUM

NOT SO FAVORITE : carrot and broccoli

PS: Wednesday was the grand-parents day. He spent most of the afternoon with his grand parents and had his lunch/diner with them. Grand ma' gave him half of a pureed banana and some apple sauce. She told me he ate everything like a champ. :)


I've just bought new stuff for him to start our 2nd week of BLW, until then you can enjoy our little montage from the 1st week.

BLW - first day-first week

Today was our first day of really BLW. We've experimented it before but now that Bryce is 6 months old, I made a plan of how to start and continue this process.
For his first day of BLW, he had a sweet, baked potato and some steamed carrots. He was very pleased with the potato, he chewed on it, maybe even swallow some; the carrots, I believe they were a little bit too soft, but I was afraid to leave them "al dente" as they could have been a choking hazard.
Anyway, we will continue every day by offering him something new and I will try to make a summary of my notes at the end of every week.
Until then, I wish everybody: "Have fun with the solids!"""

Banana's on the menu

This week was Banana week!!!!

The recipe: 1/2 of a ripe banana and 1 tablespoon of formula, I smashed the banana and mixed everything in a bowl.

Conclusions:

- he liked it very much;

- no allergies or any other weird side effects;

- a daily, very good poop, a little bit harder, darker and smellier ( actually I could see bits of bananas in it), but no constipation, diarrhea or vomiting;

This week I also teased him into BLW a little bit. Meaning that I went out to a lebanese restaurant and they gave some unsalted pita and as Bryce was reaching for it, I gave him some. He was a happy camper to just chew on it. So, I'm confident that in the very near future we will do some more of that.

I notice in delight that he has a very good hand-mouth coordination ( e.g: he grabs the spoon and puts it right into his mouth with an amazing precision) and that he develops very good skills in grabbing all kinda of stuff ( sometimes food is on his way :))

Next week we will try some pear. Hope it will be another hit. We will let you know.

Apple's on our checklist

So, we finished our 6 days trial with apples;

Conclusions:

- overall, he really liked lit;

- he opened his mouth, dipped his hands in the stuff I've made;

- no allergies or some other weird reactions;

- good poop ( I could see bits of apples in it, the color became darker);

We will take a 2-3 days break and next week we will try something new. This time: bananas!!!

I'm still reading and trying to gather as much information as I can about the BLW method. I've also joined the BLW yahoo forum where I can have a glimpse into other's people experience with this method.

I still believe this concept is really interesting and developing some of the baby's skills, the only thing that I'm a little bit scared of and concerned about is his ability of swallowing little pieces of food, my ability of being cool when I will see him gagging ( that most of the time looks like choking) with his face turning red and his eyes being in tears, my ability of just knowing how to react on the spot if something would have happened etc.

So, discussing these issues with my husband too, we came to the conclusion that a mixed approach at this stage would be more appropriate for our family, meaning that we will combine the classic method with the BLW; so like for example, when I will make the pureed carrots I will also try to offer him a boiled finger carrot son long and so forth...I know it is not true BLW anymore but who cares....What cares is that our family feels comfortable, safe and happy...

The thing that I know for sure is that I will not force food into his mouth.

So, we will meet next time with some banana experience until then enjoy some "apples" pictures...:)))

PS: One more thing that I would like to add about spoon feeding. Sometimes I get intrigued and irritated by some of the statements that I read in different books. This time it happens to be the one that says that spoon fed babies are more likely to choke that BLW babies because with the spoon fed babies you pushed the pureed food back in his mouth.

Well, let me tell you my experience with Bryce. Bryce DOES NOT slurp the food from the spoon, Bryce DID NOT choke on the pureed food ;what Bryce DID DO was to start to chew on what went into his mouth. Just like that, as natural as it can gets!!!!

PLEASE, let's not make moms feel bad about their decisions!!!!

I think I like apples...

Today my son is 5 months old. Yuppiii!!!!! Happy B-day kinda of my little sunshine!!!

Because mommy can not bake yet a cake for him, we thought we will celebrate with some apples-baby style!!!

So:

- I mixed 1/3 of a raw Gala apple ( looks like the Romanian "Ionatane") and one tablespoon of rice cereal; the result had a nice consistency and a good taste ( as I tried it);

*these apples are not too sweet but not too sour either, somewhere in between, my favorites ones and I'm picky when it comes about apples;

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he ate everything I made. He opened his mouth in delight, I didn't push the sauce all the way in the back of his mouth but left it somewhere in the middle of his tongue and he started chewing and eventually swallowing all that it was to swallow; I loved that he didn't push it out with his tongue nor turn his head away.

Of course, this is his first day trying this new thing; I'm planing in having a six days trial, than take a little break and after that continuing with something new.

As we are approaching 6 months, I will also want to see how he will handle the BLW method. I didn't give up on it.

It is hard and challenging to raise a child but the rewards are priceless; this is one of them.:))

The play with solids

So, we're slowly approaching 5 months of age. One more month and we will be kinda of ready to start on solids.

Thanks to a great mom, I got introduced to the concept of BLW or Baby led weaning. In her blog, she is writing notes about how this method works as well as her experience with her baby.

The book is called " Baby-led weaning" and is written by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. As the authors agreed themselves, this is not a new concept at all, moms used it involuntarily or not during the years. This method makes so much sense and gives the baby the chance of choosing and playing and discovering and having fun and all with a great result: LEARNING TO EAT!!!

The first thing I did was purchasing a high chair; Bryce was already joining us at the table, but he was either in the bouncer or in our lap. He LOVES being around us and watching us doing stuff but wait: WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO IGNORE HIM!!! He needs to be a part of what we're doing!!! :))) Geez, so much personality, already!!!!

So, since we got the chair, I tried to see if he was interesting in some other edible shapes. So, I peeled a banana and offered it to him. He grabbed it and after that it was a crazy chase of the banana in the tray, on his face, on his lap, on his clothes etc....

In the book, they kinda of advise you not to: stare, laugh, appraise....Believe me it is very hard...

I look forward to more food adventures...Good bye clean kitchen....And, oh, BTW, we do have a doggie ( MQQM, you know what I mean -:))) - my alive mop. LOL!!!!

More stories to come...until then.....HAPPY NEW YEAR AND AN AWESOME 2010!!!!