BLW questions

How come no one worries about choking with BLW?? Ive read about the whole thing of them only pushing food to the back of their throats when their ready to swallow etc

But my son has choked on a few things so ive backed right off from things that dont dissolve in his mouth or puree. He choked on a hotchip and threw up when he brought the chip up and he also choked on a small peice of pork when i let him chew on a big peice of roast pork.

It seems that for those doing BLW anything goes and no one worries about choking??

So my question is are there any special instructions you follow or is it anything goes??

I worry, that's why I am not doing it lol.

What does it even mean baby led weaning? How is the baby leading? I mean, the baby is not choosing what to eat, you still give the baby the food and still choose when to give the baby the food. Some terminology is dumbo. Bit like attachment parenting....just coz I don't co sleep and carry my baby around all day does not mean I am not attached to my baby. Just wanted to moan because I can so there.

Lou interesting you bring this up. I just read an article on BLW in the little treasures magazine this morning.

I will scan and email you the article because it is long. The publisher has a book on BLW, she did say that people should read her book before introducing it because there are actually rules on what to give and what not to give and not to go straight into it. I think everyone has a different opinion on it, but think you may find it interesting.

Edited by Kazper

Yeah totally random terminology really. I am being totally unfashionable and sticking to mashes and things in the mesh feeders! He has loads of time to learn the other skills I reckon.

If they choke its a good sign, its when they don't make any noise you should be worried. Babies gag reflexes are quite far forward in their mouths, not like with us adults where it is at the back of our throat so choking can be quite common, although in saying that the only thing DS has choked on so far is his hand

Like Bizzy said, the choking is all about learning. They learn if something is too big to fit, they learn how far in their mouths they can put things. Its all natural

 

Also, it is baby led in the sense that out of the 3 or 4 things you put on their plate, or in their reach, they choose what, when and how much of it to eat. For instance, the other night DS has carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and steak, he didn't touch the steak or mushrooms.

Hope that makes sense and answers some questions.

I think that we all worry about choking. There is a difference between gagging and choking tho, babies will gag on puree too.

The problem with giving puree foods as well as whole foods is that with the puree they are learing to swallow the food first, before they learn to handle it in their mouths, and move the food to the back of their mouths themsleves, and then eventually to swallow. When u are doing both- they are learning to swallow the puree, so then when u give them something else taht is solid, they are going to straight away swallow it like they have done with puree, which then could lead to choking.

The baby led part refers to them moderating their own intake, opposed to the parents choosing how much to spoon into the babies mouth. It doesnt mean the baby goes out and hunts/gathers and prepares their own food!
It is the follow on from a baby who is demand breast fed- they have been choosing when to feed /how often and how much they want to have at each feed, so blw is an extention of this as there are not expectations for the baby to eat x ammount of puree per meal per day, but they are offered family food at meal times that they share with their family. Firstly to particpate and play with the food, disovering textures/colours/tastes and learing eating skills and motor skills, and they will eventually begin to actually eat it!

Thanks Kellz that is a clear description.

I have been looking into an infant resuc course but havent found one in my area yet....maybe i could organise one for a group of mums.

I did it with my first a resuc course and it was awesome to know, it should be done more around and free for all parents!!

Ah blah, still not interested..we will move onto finger foods when I am ready and confident haha. Right now, he is having fun messing himself up with mash, playing with the spoon so I don't think I am traumatising him too much.

Delli wrote: Anything goes here. Jude has never choked on anything. He has gagged a little bit but not much. I'm guessing it varies between babies. I'm super confident in Jude's ability to eat whatever - if you aren't, there is no point stressing about it, do whatever is right for you and your bub!

So what your saying is no food is off limits??

Curious to know what if there is anything i should be staying away from.
theres still that whole making sure their digestive systems are ready, just cos they can swallow doesnt mean the other parts of their bodies are ready for some things yet I would assume??

I am just adapting it to how i feel comfortable. Im by no means forcing food into my sons mouth, and he enjoys meal times as much as the next baby. Mine gets a variety of soft pureed food and other finger food so that all bases are covered basically. And he eats many things from my plate, i find something every meal im comfortable sharing with him.

Edited by Chickielou

Anything we eat - Jude can eat. The only things we restrict are things high in salt or sugar. However, our family meals and snacks don't tend to be high in either. We don't give him whole nuts yet - but we don't usually have them in the house anyway. One exception is honey (because of Botulism) and we will start to introduce that soon as he gets closer to one. We are not big peanut butter eaters so he has had tastes but not a lot.

Starting off, things in finger form were super helpful but now he knows how to open his hand to get at the food - he will eat anything in all shapes and sizes.

If there are any foods in particular you are wondering about I'd be happy to tell you whether we have given them to Jude or not. I highly recommend the book on BLW by Gill Rapley though if you'd like a more expert opinion