BLW
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=34620
Printed Date: 22 August 2025 at 10:53am
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Topic: BLW
Posted By: MyLilSquishy
Subject: BLW
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 10:33pm
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Ohk before I even begin this thread... I just want to say that I am after peoples personal opinions. I dont want a debate please. I am discussing this with my PAFT lady who is bringing me info and will also be discussing this with my PN... but I would just like to know what people personally think about this. I dont want anyone to get slammed for any ideas they have.
Aaaaanyway lol... ohk, DS will be 4 months old on the 11th (Sunday) and i'm noticing that his formula isn't filling him up like it normally does and it has been like this for almost a week now. He still has wet and dirty nappies so its not like he is dehydrated and just needs to rehydrate. He ALWAYS has something in his mouth, chewing his toys, his dummy (has chewed through his 3rd dummy), his hands, his exersaucer and if any body part of mine gets in the way of his mouth he will clamp down... (including my nose when i went to give him a kiss the other day). He opens his mouth when i put his dummy to his mouth (or his bottle) and doesnt push back out with his tongue unless he is actually not hungry. he watches what I eat with intense interest. So basically my question is.... anyone who has done BLW... what age did you start... did you think it was too early/couldve started earlier... did you discuss with anyone (PN, GP etc) before you started? what did you start with? did you still do it on the same principal as formula first, then offer food afterwards? how much did you give them? TIA!!! |
Replies:
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 10:44pm
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at around four months babies do go through quite a lot of developmental changes that can be confused with needing solids...
that said... my kids all started at about 5.5 mths old and the last child was the only one i did BLW with. i wish i had discovered it earlier though cause it is so much easier. i think for me i would want a baby that can sit or at least have excellent head control -something i think they would need anyway... ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 10:54pm
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Both boys started solids at 6mths but Jack was give mush in the "traditional way" and Ben was BLW.
Personally I LOVE BLW! I have found it so much easier. Ben started on cooked carrot sticks at night when we ate dinner and then moved to other foods we were having. I think the nexy meal was lunch then breakfast. With BLW they don't swallow straight away (it was about 2wks before I noticed carrt chunks in his nappy!) so I never followed the milk first rule, I just gave him food when we ate if he was in a good mood. I find now that Ben is a very good eater and although he is a little suspicious of new foods, he will usually try them after an inspection! As Ben mainly played with food to begin with I just kept giving him food when he had finished throwing it over the side/mushing/was too small to hold etc. He probably goes through a bit of food and there is a bit of wastage but he seems to be alot better eater than his cousin who is nly 7wks older ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: Delli
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 11:05pm
We let Jude taste things at around 4 months but he didn't start really eating until 6 months. Which is a good thing because I wish I had waited until 5.5months to start offering him things. 4 months was way too early but we had pressure from MIL and FIL saying "I don't think we waited until 6 months for any of our babies" over and over and over. And everyone saying oh look he REALLY wants some food as he was trying to swipe things off our plate and drink from our glasses! I was steadfast about waiting until 5.5months - 6 months to start offering him anything but as Jude is my first everyone kept making me doubt myself! Damn. I bought the book and researched BLW thoroughly online before truly starting (as opposed to letting him taste a bit here and there). We started with fruit and veges in finger form. Quickly moved onto anything and everything. We weren't in a big routine with feeding but yeah, mostly at the start he would have milk first (and then afterward as well!) 
We gave him however much he wanted to eat. No limits and no trying to make him eat more. "Solids are for fun until they are one!" as they say  It's more about playing rather than trying to fill them up.------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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MyLilSquishy wrote:Posted By: Bobbie
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 11:09pm
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I love BLW too but my understanding is that you shouldn't start it before 6 months. The theory being that rather than starting mush at 4-6 months and then finger foods at 6-8 months you just jump straight to the finger food stage.
Gill Rapley argues that by then the baby's digestive system is developed enough to manage most foods that adults eat. Especially since with BLW the babies often don't start ingesting what they're playing with for a month or so. She advocates BM or Formula being the main source of nutrition for the beginning months too so in that approach it's the same as Plunket's recommendation of milk before meals. So in short IMO yes, BLW is awesome and I wish I'd done it with my first as Morgan is doing really well on it BUT I think you should wait a few more months to start. I'd recommend trying to get your hands on Gill Rapley's book - it's an easy read. -------------  
 
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Posted By: MyLilSquishy
Date Posted: 09 July 2010 at 11:17pm
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thanks ladies for your answers!
Delli - yeah I give him what he wants when he wants food wise at the moment anyway (demand feed) but for example, tonight he has had 350ml of formula before going down for the night (in saying that he does sleep through, but used to just spit the formula out the side of his mouth... he is a comfort sucker.... but he just powered through the lot! and he has just gone through a growth spurt so im not entirely sure whats going on. will keep my eye on it until i see my PN anyway. Yeah i reckon BLW is going to be fun lol. (i dont mind the mess. thats what the lino kitchen floor is for hehe)
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Posted By: WestiesGirl
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 12:22am
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We do BLW and also love it. I personally wouldnt start just yet, Their little tummies just arent ready for normal human food at 4 months. What goes in their mouth at this age is probably more to do with teeth moving around and also development. Remember they learn textures, shapes etc by putting things in their mouth.
We started solids at 5.5 months and when I look back now, I should have waited until 6 months, there was no real need to start when we did. I recommend the Gill Rapely BLW book as well, its a fantastic read even if you dont do BLW  ------------- Our Angel July 08  Gone but not forgotten
And to complete our family, our princess has arrived 
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Posted By: MissCandice
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 8:23am
Have you tried the formula for hungry babies? I dont know what its called, but i know a friend of mines son was on it because he was hungry all the time.. Drinking 350-400ml of milk each feed! |
Posted By: crafty1
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 8:36am
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i have had the same thing with both my boys at about 4.5 months where i thought they were ready. But with my first i think it was more a gs, but we kept on anyway having tastes. This time i waited it out and the hunger after feeds went away so i'm thinking gs. They have such big jumps in ability with trunk, head and hand control between 4-6 months that if you are wanting to do blw then i'd try and wait till 5 months at least. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 10:54am
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We have just started BLW (on Thursday), DS has just turned 6 months. It is so easy and so much fun to watch him figure it all out. I'm glad I waited, even though I was getting pressure left right and centre to start already.
I would say that is possibly is just a phase, from about 5 months Cooper started taking both breasts at a feed, whereas up till that point he would only take one. And yeah, the sticking everything in their mouths is really just learning taste and texture and experimenting with things. I would definately try to hold off if you can and get the book too if possible, it is a good read and has heaps of great info. -------------  
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Posted By: MyLilSquishy
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 11:25am
ooooh no i havent heard of that. will talk to PN about it though! thanks! yeah he has amazing head control so im not worried about that and can sit if propped - chair or us so im not worried about that. but really wanted to hold off for a while longer, but now that i know about the hungry baby formula we might give that a go 
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Posted By: ?Lolly?
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 12:28pm
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I'd really want to wait until he is 6 months at least. We started solids at 5.5 months and spoon feeding is SO tedious. It didn't take long for us to switch it BLW and we never looked back! Wish I had known about it when DS was younger. The girls will eat anything and Ethan is still a very hard to get new things in him. ------------- Captain Chaos (5) & the Trouble Monsters (2!) 
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Posted By: palomino
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 5:54pm
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I tried around 4months but he just wasnt ready, he really got into it around 7months.
Just something i thought of you could try is those muslin feeders, you could put a bit of cooked soft pumpkin or similar in them and let him suck at it. Just for something different? |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 7:43pm
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The idea with BLW is that if u dont give solids until after 6 months then you dont have to give purees cos the baby has developed enough with their co-ordination, mouth/tounge control and their digestion that they can manage whole foods.
I agree with MamaT about babies going though a big developmental stage at 4 months, and the putting things in his mouth is part of exploring his world. Almost all of the babies in our Jan 2010 thread started waking more frequently at night around this age too- even the ones that had slpet though for ages, and the ones that were waking in the night started waking more too. Aiden is 6 months today. We offered him a few things ( persimon, clerey sticks and crust of bread) about a month ago, thinking that he was ready, but he would just lick and have a suck and drop it, the same as what he was doing with any object. So we didnt continue. Today he had some pear, crust of homemade bread and celery and the difference it how well he managed now to a month ago was amazing. He had it while we had dinner and he was leaning forward and opening his mouth and reaching out to our food, he ate quite a lot of the bread and the pear and only coughed a bit and could handle it really well in his mouth now. Going to give him some pumpkin and brocolli tomorrow night when we have a roast! |
Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 8:42pm
Completely agree, I am getting 'some' pressure but most of my family keep saying she is too young for solids and will choke 
Anyway our plan is to hold off until at least 5 months (just over a week away) but preferably 6 months, am seeing PN this tues so will talk bout it then. I head Plunket don't agree with BLW, But I have a paft lady too so will ask her opinion as well. Lily is going through the 'phase' Riley is going through, everything in the mouth, etc. She also seems a little hungrier. But we're bf so who knows?? She used to have both sides but at 4 months I had to change it to one side a feed and imo my boobs adjusted to that but lately she won't go down at night unless she gets both. iygwim Everything ends up in her mouth, EVERYTHING! It is kinda cute to watch, usually she doesn't get frustrated by it, but sometimes she does. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 10 July 2010 at 9:03pm
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Aiden always feeds different amounts too. He has gone through stages of increasing feeds to 2hrly, then other times 4hrly, and for a while went back to just one breast per feed too.
Depends on who your plunket nurse is. They wont actively endorse it, they may not even have heard of it. Plunket NZ would not comment on blw in the recent article in the littles treasures mag. They are sponsored by watties which may be why, as they would be out of the baby food buisness if eveyone skipped the puree stage! I spoke to our practice nurse about blw when i took aiden for his 5 montsh injections since the blw book says to dicuss it with a health professional before starting if you have a family history of allergies which we do. She had never heard of it, but after i explained it, she said she didnt see a problem as long as we avoided the allergy food groups which we would be doing anyway. |