Monster

Monster has started begging. He looks a bit like a puppy on hind legs when he does it - he jumps whilst sitting crossed leg up at you if you have food and he doesn’t. I discovered this today when a friend brought round some sandwiches and cake for lunch. Monster had already had his lunch (mushroom & squash risotto with steamed apple for pudding which mainly went in the dog!) but he would not sit still until he had been given a large piece of my sandwich and most of the ham that was in my half!

I know Ham isn’t the best meat to give an 8 month old but when he put up such a performance…

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We first tried carrot when Bruno was about to turn 6 months - we just hadn’t had it in the house before then I don’t think. Bruno was Not Impressed to say the least about steamed carrot but reluctantly tried a bit of roast carrot a few weeks later. It clearly was not a winner…. until now!

I was doing a very good Old Mother Hubbard impression this morning - thanks Ocado for not delivering my shopping yet again! We had 2 limpish carrots and some potatoes. Well Bruno wasn’t going to be eating steamed potato if he could help it so I thought I’d try with the carrot.

We were going out for lunch and I needed something portable so I did a mini picnic of steamed carrot, a few rice cakes & a babybel cheese (which actually came back home again). First off for Bruno was half a steamed carrot - no point starting him off on the rice cakes as he’d never eat his veg then!

We were in the park cafe with my friend and her baby, chatting away, not really paying a great deal of attention to the quiet babies sat in their buggies next to us. Bruno starts making noises that he wants more food so I’m looking around wondering where all the carrot went. I found a measly bite under his chin but nothing else to be found so in goes another half carrot.

So much for the boy who doesn’t eat carrots - I found them all again a few hours later, totally undigested in his nappy so he did eat them afterall What I want to know is why were the carrots undigested when other foods are?!

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Roast dinner. My favourite. We splashed out on a tasty rib of beef and had been debating whether Monster could have the rare bit or to give him something a bit more well done. We decided that he could have rare - it was safe to eat and very a happy cow at some point so nothing dangerous in there.

We needn’t have bothered - he was Not Interested At All in the meat as there was parsnip on offer. Now I know parsnip is yummy but Monster ate the best part of half a very large one indeed. He avoided the green veg (as usual!) apart from chasing a few peas around his tray and wasn’t that fussed about the potato either.

The only other thing he bothered to eat was the garlic. Yes, garlic. Roasted and rather delicious after the first few shocked tastings. He ate 2 cloves so it wasn’t a mistake either

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Monster hasn’t had raw apple before yesterday. I was always worried about him choking - even more so since the teeth have arrived but he’s 8 months now, he’s a big boy, he can handle it. I ate all the way round - saves peeling, yes BLW really is the lazy way of weaning your baby!

Monster had a little nibble round the edge but after all the hype & build up to a raw apple (gasp of horror!) he wasn’t that bothered.

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Just before Monster turned 7 months he developed the ability to sit unaided. He must have been secretly practicing as he could sit for hours as soon as he showed us he could sit. Just a few days before, he’d fall over immediately.

Once Monster could sit, it completely changed his life including BLW. Playing suddenly had a new perspective and it meant we could have mini picnics on the floor. Monster would nibble through some (not so messy) food and enjoy finding the crumbs between his feet.

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Well we’re still on our time travel trip. Monster started the settling in stage at nursery once he turned 6 months. They had never heard of BLW so I had to do lots of explaining, gave them loads of information sheets etc. After a few setbacks and the occasional forgetful moment, they have embraced BLW whilst having to spoon feed some of the older babies - way to go Monster!

Monster’s foray into eating hasn’t changed much other than he’s stopped gagging. Still not much going in there and when it does, it comes out the other end completely untouched! One success has been yoghurt. Its very messy but he loves it. Check out the September photos on our family website to see just how messy!

We had a mini breakthrough this month with the pitta melts from the BLW blog website. We’ve tried cheese & carrot and cheese & avocado. Whilst Monster didn’t eat any of the actual pitta, he loved sucking out the filling. This became a firm favourite for lunch. As the mixture is so squishy, Monster could easily pick up clumps in his hands and smear it across his mouth. There wasn’t much left in the end!

Now that Monster is over the 6 month mark we could relax a bit on foods to avoid so whilst on holiday he had a real treat - eggy bread! It was the best thing since sliced bread

As the month progressed and Monster got closer to 7 months we had lots of downs and not many ups. Monster seemed to go from cold to tummy bug to cough to cold etc. This really affected his eating and some days he had nothing. Other days he ate loads, you just couldn’t tell.

The dog certainly enjoyed this period if nothing else!

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So what was Monster’s first experiences of BLW like? Its been 3 months so memory is not going to help that much. Luckily, I kept a diary

We were a bit naughty and didn’t stick to the same thing every day although as we started earlier than 6 months we did avoid the typical allergicky foods such as citrus, meat, gluten etc.

Monster’s first few weeks we offered food on a regular basis 2 to 3 times a day. He gagged, sucked and spat out a lot in those early days. The only thing that was truly successful in the beginning were rice cakes where he’d suck off the topping and cucumber where he’d grind it into his sore gums.

Did he actually eat anything? No, of course not! To be honest, I don’t think he swallowed for many weeks.

Today, for this blog, is the first time I’ve looked back at the food diary of those early days and I’m amazed at what progress he’s made. I often stress about the little amount eaten but in comparison to week’s 1-4 he has a huge appetite. It has been an eye-opening experience.

Favourite foods in the beginning were juicy fruit that could be sucked and the stable of all BLW babies, the rice cake.

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Well I hope to be able to get this blog up to date as soon as possible on Monster’s BLW experience. So lets kick off with when we started.

Monster was showing interest in food at 4 months. He’d happily launch himself at my banana and suck it until it was gooey and totally inedible. We had given him some cucumber for his sore gums which he would scrape along the sore area. Its a great teether when you leave all the teethers, gels & powders at home whilst out visiting.

Monster was due to start nursery at 6 months and paranoid mummy that I am, I was concerned about how quickly Monster would take to BLW. I didn’t want him starting BLW at the same time as starting nursery - too many challenges at the same time. So after much discussion, we decided to start at 5 months. Whilst Bruno could not sit up unaided on the floor at that stage, he was very happy to sit in his highchair and play around with food.

The guidelines do say to start from 6 months so we avoided the typical allergy type foods such as citrus, strawberries, bread, eggs, meat etc. As this is Baby Led weaning, we figured if he was ready & keen he’d go for the veg and if not then he got to play for 4 weeks!

As it turned out he was raring to go! He chomped, chewed, gagged and spat out a variety of fruit & veg within a very short space of time. By the time Monster was starting at nursery, he would happily sit and eat for 10-15 minutes although not a great deal was getting through to tum & nappy at this stage. We also got hard evidence which meant he wasn’t digesting it either.

By about 6.5 months Monster had progressed to eating properly with not much mess except the windscreen wiper manoeuvre known to all BLW mums!

Nursery were interested in the concept but are still very much concerned about the amount he eats. I think they expect him to eat toddler quantities because he’s eating toddler food. I frequently remind them that milk is the most important part of his diet and if he doesn’t want to eat then so be it.

When we first started out, I was concerned about lack of eating too until someone reminded me that he doesn’t know what I want him to do with these new toys he gets to play with in his highchair. You do have to keep reminding yourself to chill out & let him enjoy the experience rather than count the BLW equivalent of ice cubes of puree! However, I would say that now that Monster is 8 months, he is a good eater most days. Looking back on 3 months of weaning, I never thought we’d get here but things are looking up.

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Well what a week to start a blog for Monster! Monster is my son who is currently lying in hospital ill. Don’t worry, he’s on the mend but not a great first post!

Monster has been in hospital for most of the week and we’re hoping he’ll be home at the weekend. He’s had pneumonia.

Anyway, this blog has been created with the help of the wonderful TECH at www.babyledweaning.com so that we can share our travels through weaning with newbies following in our footsteps. Over the coming weeks, once the current crisis is over, I will be travelling back in time to the very first few attempts at BLW and Monster’s reaction to the new weird play stuff.

So while we’re here, I may as well mention the weird weaning stuff that’s been happening this week. Whilst in hospital Monster has refused milk pretty much at every offering. He is, however, clearly VERY hungry and wants everything he sees to eat. He will happily fight you for a morsel of dried bread if that’s all there is on offer. Decided it was best to try and satisfy his hunger even if he was off milk so we put aside our BLW beliefs and Bruno tucked into some weird orange gunk from Hipp Organics - funny how “butternut squash & chicken” has so many other ingredients in it!

He also wrestled a fair bit of my pasta tonight and adored the cheesy sauce that it was covered in.

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