Yeah - I've converted my Mum!

I was at my Mum's yesterday having tea, as is usual on Sunday for us, and she suddenly came out with 'I like this baby led weaning'.


YEAH.

She wasn't keen at first, especially when she saw Anya gag, but now she's loving it.

And so am I.  Anya just sits with us at meal times and enjoys the whole eating experience.  As soon as I put her tray in front of her she grabs for food, then spends the rest of the time happily laughing and smiling at us as we're all eating.  The only exception is when we're eating at home.  I tend to eat with my two daughters as my husband arrives home later than we eat, so we eat with the telly on.  Anya is often turning around when something interesting comes on.  Especially Zingzillas!

She ate loads tonight.  She had a cheese and onion bite, some bread, some pasta, then finished it off with a full pear (no skin).  It's 11.30pm and she hasn't woken up for a 10pm feed.  Perhaps this is the way to go!

Note to Self - feeding a child does need some form of organisation

As I've previously mentioned I'm not the most organised person.  Well actually, when it comes to big things, organising parties, moving house (and even countries!) studying, I'm very organised, but when it comes to everyday things I tend to take things as they come.

Which is why blw suits me just fine.  However, I keep forgetting that Anya needs to eat now.

I went into town today unexpectedly and got a pasty for Mia and myself.  Mia was fine with her cheese and onion pasty and I had a vegetable curry pasty.  It was just before dinnertime so I thought I might be ale to get back and cook Anya something but once she saw us eating, that was it.

Basically in baby talk, this is what she was saying, "Mmm, Mummy that looks nice.  Mummy, please can I have some?  Mummy, I'm getting hungry and your food looks nice, please can I have some?  Mummy, please please please can I have some food?  MUMMY GIVE ME YOUR FOOD?  NOW! MUMMY FOOD NOW! ARGH ARGH ARGH. JUST GIVE ME YOUR FOOD".

I managed to break a bit off of my very hot pasty (both hot and spicy) and cool it down.  I wasn't sure if she would eat it as it was quite spicy but she loved it.  She would suck the sauce off it then suck the pasty until the pastry was suitable for her to eat.

Then she decided to let me hold it and she moved her head from left to right and rub the pasty all over her face.  She loved it and I found it absolutely hilarious.  She was wearing a lovely white coat, which now isn't a lovely white coat!

I was quite surprised that she enjoyed the spicy pasty but then I do eat a lot of curries (not too hot as I'm a wimp) and I breastfed both my children, still breastfeeding Anya, so she's probably used to it.

So, hopefully, I've learnt my lesson.  Take food anywhere I go in case Anya goes mental and WANTS FOOD.

I'm thinking either fruit, sandwiches, breadsticks, cheese, falafel, or quiches.  I'll keep you filled in on what foods are appropriate when you're out and about and using blw.

Exciting times

Well I have to confess I don't normally get excited when I change Anya's nappies but today I noticed her poo is changing from breastmilk poo to food poo.

Yes I know this is somewhat disgusting for most people reading this but it's very exciting to know that she's actually ingesting food herself and her body is now making use of it rather than just letting everything go through her.

The only unfortunate thing was that it was from a veggie burger which I didn't make myself.  It was a Dalepak veggie burger and she absolutely loved it, hence eating most of it.

Oh, she also got her first tooth on Saturday.  The fact that I can give her cold fruit from the fridge to ease her gums, is a great example of how I can use baby led weaning to my advantage.

Don't worry, I didn't take any photos of Anya's nappies!

Week 3

I'm not sure if the Baby Led Weaning plays a part in this but Anya absolutely loves her food.

We went for a meal with my Nan at the weekend, celebrating her 96th birthday, and when the food arrived she just shouted and shouted until I finally gave her some food (Anya that is, not my Nan!).

At home, I daren't bring out her food if it's too hot otherwise she'll shout until it's on her tray so I have to let it cool in the kitchen.

I've noticed lots of changes recently.

Nappies
Her nappies are showing visible signs that she's eating more.  Some of it has been digested and others have just gone straight through, but I believe this is totally normal until the body adjusts.

Eating skills
She's finding different ways of eating different foods.  I gave her some thin strips of lasagne and some how she wrapped it over her thumb.  However, she discovered she could suck all the sauce off then bite into the pasta.  Very clever I thought, especially as she has started to do this with a few kinds of foods now.

Gagging
The gagging seems to be getting less and less, thankfully.  I can't say I enjoyed this part of baby led weaning.  I'm sure no-one wants to see their baby gagging, but it is reassuring to see the gagging reflex doing what it should be doing.  But what is very interesting is seeing the way Anya has learnt how to eat to avoid gagging.  She doesn't put food so far into her mouth now.  Once she has decided there is enough in there she'll happily chew until she either swallows it or decides to spit it out.  Even my mum gave her some pitta bread the other day so she must feel comfortable enough with her eating 'normal' food at the moment.

A friend wanted me to film Anya gagging as she wanted to try baby led weaning and wanted to know what she was in for, however I've been waiting for ages to do it.  At first I could've got some great footage but I was too concerned about watching every move she made to film it.  Now, we all sit at the table chatting and I can even turn my back on her for a few seconds without getting paranoid!  So I suggest anyone looks on youtube for baby led weaning clips as there are a few on there about gagging.  I'll try to find a good link for you.

Enthusiasm
As discussed, Anya just loves her food.  Three weeks into the weaning process and she just loves food and shouts for it when she sits down to eat.  It doesn't matter what I put infront of her she just grabs anything on her tray.  What is also interesting to see is my other daughter has started to try different foods when she sees Anya eating it.  Not too much, but little bits at a time.

Eating out
We've eaten out a few times in the last week and I've found this a bit tricky.  Not really for the food and what to give her but I'm conscious about what might happen if anyone sees her eating proper food and not cutting it up, not squashing food or feeding her and even what would happen if she starts gagging.

The first time we ate out was at a small cafe for lunch (my mum treated us!) and Anya had some of my wrap with peppers and mushrooms.  The second time we ate out we had a very healthy pizza (!!!!!) but I have to admit I was searching Anya's highchair for pizza and I couldn't find any.  I only gave her a thin strip about an inch wide and four inches long but she absolutely wolfed it down.  She also enjoyed munching on rocket but I didn't think it was too suitable for her just in case it got stuck.  Herbs are so much harder for her to spit out so I took it off her.

The third time we ate out was for my Nan's birthday and we went for a carvery.  I had the vegetarian lasagne option and Anya loved this too, but particularly loved the yorkshire puddings.  I learnt my lesson by the third outing and remembered to take my plastic floor mat!

Spaghetti is a big favourite in our house!

Anya getting very excited with the spaghetti.  She loves to eat it and play with it.

And this is where most of it ends up.

As fit as a baby led weaning dog!

Our first proper outing.  Anya ended up sitting on my knee eating as I wasn't happy with the cleanliness of the highchair or plates but then I ended spilling most of my food on the floor!  Luckily I could just blame the baby.

Anya discovering that if she wraps lasagne sheets around her thumb it's much easier to eat.  She's started doing this with a lot of food now.