Bark and broccoli - its time to test the bibs!!

Bit of a lazy Saturday morning - which meant it wasn't really appropriate for him to try anything this morning. We all ate separately and at awkward times.

Then we decided to take a walk up to the high street as one of our local pubs was having a BBQ, live music etc! Again not much opportunity for him to try anything here as the only things on offer were hotdogs and burgers. I've no issue with meat (at all!) - but for his first tries I'd like it to be something I've made myself just so I know the salt content etc. 

*Annabel rocking the wellies and sunglasses look!*

After the little family pub crawl - we know how to treat the kids to fun day out! We came home for films and playing. 

Alexander had a bottle around half an hour before Annabel and her friend were due to have tea so he was able to sit down with them tonight and tried broccoli, roast potato, yogurt bark and a piece of apricot. 

He approached all with his usual gusto and got stuck straight in! All seemed to be hits except the yogurt bark - which I think was too cold. As expected none was actually eaten - just played with, gummed, explored etc.

Broccoli!

This is his face as he gagged some out - he tried to shove it in too hard!

Potato (this was just cut into small wedges and roasted with olive oil)

Yogurt bark - as you can see he's not a fan! 

Then just as I had cleaned up his bib - he saw me giving his sister some apricot and so I thought - why not! He really loved gumming that!!

I didn't have my phone camera to hand as it was a last minute decision to give him apricot so my husband took the pictures - hence the fact they are quite arty!

And finally a bonus picture of me in full BLW swing! 

Right, now I am off to watch Strictly!! 

Banana trick and carrot

Ok so as I have broken my own rule already I figured I might as well get on with it. A time hop popped up on facebook too of Annabels first day of BLW -she had peach, banana, yogurt, broccoli, pasta and bolognaise! I'm taking a bit of a slower starting pace with Alexander!

We started the day with a bit of banana (this was about half an hour after his morning bottle when he wasn't hungry and wasn't tired). To begin with you're not offering the food as a source of nourishment - they get everything they need from their milk. So its good to offer things after a bottle and when they are in a good mood! This might mean you are offering things at random times of the day but that’s fine - they will get into your “normal” meal routine eventually!

*TOP TIP ALERT!* Someone taught me a really handy trick once and its perfect for making a banana into grabable pieces.  Firstly press your thumb down on the tip of the banana...

The banana will start to split into three - you can then gently encourage the splitting!

And hey presto you will have three handy shaped sections of banana! 

Its worth noting at this time in the process that babies tend to grab the food in a fist and put their fist to their mouths - so if you can make to food "finger" shaped they have more chance of getting some near their mouths to explore!

As the banana was quite soft he managed to gum a couple of pieces off but they pretty much came straight back out of his mouth!  He also enjoyed squeezing it! Another exciting thing about bananas is that when they do finally start to digest them you might see what looks like tiny black worms in their poo! Freaky but at least you know they’ve swallowed some!

Then we popped out to the library, doctors (pre-school jabs for toddler) and as we were out and about we had a naughty KFC - so I didn't offer him anything at lunch time! He might just be a little young for a zinger...

After his 4pm bottle and while his sister was having his tea I offered some carrot batons which I had boiled almost to the point of them breaking up. I cut them to about the size of my finger.

I ran cold water over them to cool them down and offered one a a time. He enjoyed grabbing them and putting them to his mouth - as with the banana he managed to gum a couple of pieces off which were swiftly ejected from his mouth! And he swiped quite a bit onto the floor! 

*TOP TIP ALERT* - run your finger around your babies mouth to check for any pieces they might stored hamster style in their cheeks - before you leave them after food.

I also made some yogurt bark - but he started getting a bit ratty after 20 mins playing with the carrot so I decide to leave that for another day. 

Attempt at uploading a video!

Ok, so I might have broken my own rule...

Of not giving him any food before 6 months...

He is 6 months in 7 days... and today I had people round so I had some left over cucumber sticks just lying around... I figured they'd be more like a teething aid than actual food right?

Needless to say he liked it! None of it eaten but he gave it a good "gumming"!

How will I know he's ready?

World Health Organisation guidelines advise to start to introduce "small amounts of food" from 6 months, so I won't start earlier than that. I'm also going to wait for him to be sitting up properly in his high chair and showing an interest in food. Good news is that he is definitely showing an interest in everything we put in our mouths - the prosecco will have to wait though. And he is sitting up well in his high chair.

He'll be 6 months on the 16th September and 26 weeks on the 14th September so I'll probably aim to start some point around that time.

In preparation I've been putting him in his high chair while we eat and when I'm in the kitchen so that he gets used to being in it - so far it's a hit!

Preparing to start Baby Led Weaning

Based on my previous experience I've bought a couple of new smock type bibs. They were advertised/recommended on a faceboook blw group I follow. The fact they are breathable and washable and have elastiated cuffs appealed to me. I found that fabric cuffs on my old ones got grimmy and smelly - even though I washed the bibs. So we'll see how we get on with these!

 

I also invested in a Sticky Matt thing which will stick to the high chair. This isn't

Essential though. To begin with I just put the food straight on the tray. 

I've also joined a load of blw groups on Facebook (good for tips!), downloaded the baby led weaning recipe app by Natalie Peall - good for recipes and meal plans.  

And I've dug out my baby led weaning cookbook by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett - absolutely essential!! This book describes the ethos of baby led weaning so well and has loads of yummy recipes which the whole family can eat. 

Over the next week or so I'll start to think about what I'm going to start him on - given the gusto with which he currently shoves stuff in his mouth I have a feeling he's going to enjoy this and probably gag quite a bit!

On that note it's important to understand the difference between gagging and choking. Gagging is completely normal for babies trying solid foods for the first time. Their gag reflex is very close to the front of their mouths and whilst scary to watch its NORMAL!! If you can hear them making noises coughing etc try not to panic. Choking is SILENT as the airway is blocked. I would highly recommend going on a baby first aid course to learn what to do in the event of your baby choking - I did a St Johns Ambulance course before BLW with Annabel and I definitely think it helped me relax while she was eating. 

So now I've got the high chair out, bibs, cook books, recipe app - I think we are almost ready!!