juicers

It's hard to imagine just how much damage can be done with a humble strawberry. Take one strawberry and one baby. Combine the two and if done right you should get this result. Baby picks up strawberry and squeezes until the juice runs out & the baby shakes the pulp from it's hand. Picks up pulp and Repeat. Mummy takes a photo. Process is then repeated until remaining pulp finally comes to rest on baby's head. I think I should have taken the photo then.

Now does anyone know how to get strawberry juice out of white slieves?

10 weeks in...

MIL/FIL have been with us this week and commented on how much goosey loves his grub. It showed in last week's weigh in he got to the 22nd percentile - up a huge 20 percentile points in 7 weeks. When the phn asked if he was having one or two meals a day I was able to say "3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks depending". We then had a little discussion when she started to advise "introducing more lumpy foods" and I explained about the blw route. She was amazed as her little one was nearly a year and still having issues with lumps and she asked loads of questions. I think Goosey got a convert as she was off to buy Gill Rapley's book when I was leaving.

When I think about how far he's came I'm amazed myself. I no longer do "strips" of normal food. Food is given whole (e.g. fish cakes/rusks/bananas) or quartered (bread) and the only thing I'm wary about is raw apple & meat (unless it's well done).

Goosey's dad said yesterday that if feels as if we skipped a step this time around. With big brother I remember pureeing & freezing ice cube trays and mixing veggie cubes, slowly adding more lumps only for it to be refused. I remember being in tears after he'd refused 4 home made dinners but he gobbled down a shop bought jar I had for emergencies. Not this time around. If he refused the dinner I'd give him something else we'd had. I wasn't seeing hours of hard work being flung around. Yep we missed a step and I for one am extremely grateful!

Out & about

Eating out with a BLW can be messy but I tell ya it's not as bad as what you'd think. We went out for the parade in town on Tuesday & nipped in for brunch beforehand. Ok so some pizza ended up on the floor, bits of toast from the Irish breakfast was chewed & dumped & the beans were spoon fed on a tea spoon. Couple of baby wipes picked up the debris and we were good to go. I passed another baby, about Goosey's age, being spoon fed and that baby was covered in mush as was the surrounding area. Fact is all babies are messy eaters regardless of method. But it was a twist on the wearing of the green when broccoli reappeared 2 hours later smeared across his face - the little chipmunk had been at it again!

Drinks with that sir? Help wanted.

I know this isn't strictly a BLW issue but Goosey just won't drink from a sippy or open cup. I know it's important to be introducing them at this stage (well to be honest a good few weeks ago) but he either throws it off the high chair immediately or just clamps up if I try to put it anywhere near his mouth. I've tried a number of different types of cups but he won't go near them.

I've even tried dribbling some water into his mouth so he gets an idea of what's in there but he's not interested. Help!

the spoon revisited

Now that Goosey has discovered food he's devouring everything in sight. However for a variety of reasons we have recently been adapting a "combination" feeding effort.

Breakfast is usually spoon fed - I've been offering the loaded spoon and Goosey grabs it and stuffs it in his mouth. Takes about 2 milliseconds. Frustration levels kick in after about 5 goes and the yelling starts. It's like "you know I want it. I can see you lot stuffing your faces with the porridge why do I have to show you where to put it? Help me out!" So now breakfast is straight from the spoon, unless it's toast or fruit.

In fact everything we would "spoon" ourselves (e.g. cereal/yogurt/fruit pots) is being spoon fed, but nothing is forced, so no aeroplaning or any other kind of encouragement. I still give him the spoon to practice feeding himself but towards the end of the meal when he's not outraged at how slow he is.

Is this against the principle of BLW? I'm not sure but I believe it's better for Goosey and therfore us. I don't want him to link meal times with frustration and it's all about positive food experiences. And judging by the way he demolished granny's casseroled lamb yesterday it's not hindering his finger food ability in any way!

Restaurants

BLW in the local Indian restaurant or indeed tapas bar is much more difficult than you'd imagine. While it is perfectly acceptable (if not encouraged) to create a big mess at home, table manners in polite company dictates that parents need to be extra vigilant.

We're currently on holiday and last night all four of us went out for dinner. It was a very family friendly place - to the point that they had free jars of baby food available. When Goosey went into the high chair the mâitre d hurried over and asked which jar we would like. We politely refused saying that we would just give him what we were having he beamed a big "oh but they are free, choose one - it's okay". Rather than evangelise the cause we chose one and ordered some extra naan and a banana from the children's menu.

The meal was nice. The puree was brought over, lovingly warmed in a soup tureen and a special spoon for the baby was given. It wasn't going to go to waste so we dipped the naan in it & passed it over. Then Goosey did what Goosey does best and decided that it's easier to fling the bit left in his fist than actually eat it. So the game commenced - he flung while I turned catching into an olympic sport. Several hassling, long, minutes later the high chair was facing me and we were both perpendicular to the table & my lovely dinner was going cold. In the end I spoon fed him, it was just easier and the mâitre d was evidently delighted. Goosey still got the naan bread and ate the banana and we did manage to keep most of the food within the bounds of the high chair tray. Unfortunately big brother did not fare so well when he spilt his milk all around himself. As they say, there's no point crying...

Bibs

In a warmer clime Goosey would be dressed in a nappy for his feeds and that's it. Most of the bibs I have are useless. Those that fit are those nice baby white ones, which turn to an orange/veggie coloured mush that is impossible to wash out or those rubbery ones with a scoop to catch the bits. The latter ones seem to have such huge necks designed no doubt for the older non blwer finger foodie, so everything accumulates between neck and bib i.e. on the babies top. I have also tried the plastic ones you use for creative play (also too loose neck wise).

If anyone knows of a suitable alternative please let me know!