I had a busy couple of weeks planned to try and catch up with various people but it turned out that my car had other ideas and packed up, which meant we were housebound (and village-bound). But we did manage to see the Health Visitor and discussed weaning further. I told her that I was interested in Baby Led Weaning and that I thought that BB was pretty much ready – but I wanted her reassurance that it would be OK to start – it is advised to start BLW when babies are 6 months old and BB was just shy of this. BB has shown all the signs of being ready, she can hold her head up, has been sitting up when supported (and sometimes unaided) for weeks, brings items to her mouth, has started waking in the night having slept well before and is showing an interest in our food. To my surprise the HV was very supportive and agreed with me that BB was probably ready and to just go for it – but to keep going with normal milk feeds as these will still be BB's main source of nutrition until she is a year old.
I felt rather relieved
and yet also daunted at the prospect of having to come up with a
varied and fun diet for BB, so I was keen to update our online food
shopping trolley with lots of different fruit and veg to get her
started on. But in the meantime I started BB on a bit of banana,
which was a success at first, and then some steamed carrot and
broccoli, which wasn't quite as successful.
That afternoon and
evening we were all at a friend's wedding. When it came to the sit
down dinner, I had BB on my lap who was smiling at the other guests
and was generally quite happy. As soon as the food started to come
out she was suddenly lunging towards the food and trying to grab it
with her fists. So, with the guidance of a nursery nurse (who was
also a mum who had done BLW) who was another guest at our table we
held some bread to BB's mouth. Sure enough, she sucked on this rather
happily until it became a sticky lump of mush. Two slices later and
we had to go to the kitchen and ask for some more bread (it turned
out that they had received the same request from another two sets of
parents who were also starting to wean their little ones – their
bread must have been particularly tasty to babies!).
So, the following
morning, with the previous evening's success in mind, I offered BB
some bread and some more banana – both were refused, hhmmpphhh. The
following day I decide to give BLW a break as I wasn't starting to
wonder if BB was ready. But
Monday morning came, and with a fresh week a fresh start on the BLW
came about. Some bread, apple slices, banana, pasta and avocado were
all offered and I am pleased to say were all happily sucked and
chewed on by BB.
The
rest of the week carried on in the same vain. Food was offered. Some
was accepted. Some was turned down quite robustly. Perseverance,
which I am learning as a parent is an essential required 'skill', is
key here. If BB doesn't fancy something then I have to try and hide
my disappointment and offer her something else and trust that she
(and her body) knows what she needs.
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