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BLW feel like giving up already...please help!

we have been BLW for about a month although only 3 meals a day for the last 2 weeks since LO turned 6 months, we dont seem to be making any progress and we seem to lose his entire milk feed through projectile vomiting every meal time! he is happy to suck on cucumber, bread sticks, carrot, brocolli etc but everytime he gets any bits in his mouth he reaches and is very sick, it doesnt seem to bother him but i am worried as he isnt a great milk eater taking 5 or 6oz 4 times a day. How long was it before your LO's started to gag less and eat more? I have read the book and love the idea of BLW but am starting to panicking that we should have some progress, how long is it acceptable for my DS to be puking most of his milk?

Replies

  • My LO is 2.5 months into it and its just this past 2-3 weeks that she is chewing better, gagging less and generally eating and digesting more food.

    Their nappies will tell you a lot wether they are consuming much. She always had much more solid poo's so she was eating some even though it seemed to be everywhere in her hair, on the floor, on me, in the dog, up the walls etc! image

    I have always and still do offer some form of spoon fed food like a puree of whatever finger food she had or an organix or ellas pouch, a yogurt, mashed up foods anything to make sure something went in.

    I think if you started a bit earlier then 6 months then his motor skills and hand eye co-ordination may not have been advanced enough or his jaw strong enough to mush the food up enough to get it, they really recommend 6 months due to baby needing to be strong in a few areas to fully feed themselves so give him time, make sure he is getting calcium rich foods to make up for his milk or you could offer purees and things with finger foods on the side to build him up to it.

    Xxx
  • We didn't go down the BLW route but had a similar problem when it came to introducing finger foods. I was really beginning to think she would never manage to eat anything other than puree but finally within the last couple of weeks she seems to have mastered the art of chewing and now rarely gags on anything (she was previously sucking on foods and then trying to swallow without chewing and would projectile vomit as a result) She is now 9 1/2 months so it will come with time. I believe (despite the HV telling me she should have been having finger foods months ago) that she is only just ready for moving on from puree.

    Hope this helps
  • are you giving milk feeds at the same time?

    Toby is 7 months oh and 1 day old and has mastered the technique now - he chews food with his gums and swallows most things now and his weight has really stabalised as i trust him to eat what he wants. The gagging has really calmed in the last 2 weeks and every day it gets better. BLW was the best decision i made i love the fact that he has such a healthy attitude to food and emaltimes are fun though very messy!

    i never give toby a milk feed near a meal because if he did gag and it came up i know it would be all of his milk too!

    7.30am milk
    8am breakfast

    11am - milk
    12.30pm - lunch

    4pm - milk
    5.30pm - food

    6.30pm - milk
    bath
    7ish milk
    bed!

    HTH x
  • I agree with summer to leave milk feeds separate to meals and offer water to help keep the mouth moist to get food around easier.

    I do
    7am milk
    8:30 am breakfast

    she's just dropped 10am feed
    1pm Lunch

    3pm Milk
    5pm Dinner

    And Milk for bed.

    Xxx
  • I think we were quite lucky with our ds in that he didn't gag at all when we weaned him. In the early days BLW is supposed to be more about exploration than eating so I wouldn't worry if he doesn't seem to be eating much. I'm sure the book says anything up to 8/9 months is normal!
    Personally I wouldn't supplement with purees as it goes against the whole ethos and like Summer76 has said to begin with I'd try and offer milk feeds at different times where you can.
    Good luck, I've loved weaning this way and our ds will literally eat anything now x
  • thanks ladies for all your replies,
    at the moment we are doing
    8am-milk
    9am-i offer toast, melon, or other fruit
    12noon-milk
    12.45-i offer veg (brocolli, carrots cucumber and organix biscuit)
    3.30-milk
    4.30-more of the same or sometimes vegemite sarnie and breadsticks with houmous (he does seem to love those and think he manages to eat some breadstick)
    6.30-milk and bed!

    I will try to distance the milk feeds and solids a little more but with naps i find there are hardly enough hours in the day!! i think i need to relax as he seems to really enjoy the food but i was a little concerned about the of milk he was losing..i guess like anything....practice makes perfect!

    Thanks again ladies x
  • it sounds like you are doing a fab job and the wonderful think about our little bundles is they will take what they want. I also give toby an apple ricecake or a pice of dried apple to chew/suck on at the end so his dinner has a chance to go down - and whilst i didnt have projectile vomit he was usually a little sick with every meal- this is almost non existant now.

    I would maybe space milk a little more apart but think about how things are today and then next week reassess - hopefully with a small improvement.

    Purrees are also more likely to make babies gag/sick as they suck off the spoon it flies straight in and a baboes gag reflex is not right at the back but more the middle of their mouth so therefore more likely to choke. blw honestly is amazing - just offer him one thing at a time and try to stay calm when he gags.

    This was the most difficult thing but i know say - come on toby bring it round you can do it becasue to start babies will take the food in their mouth gag - work it back round to the front and either spit it out or chew again and then hopefully swallow - this is what the blw said and this is exactly what toby does - just incredible x
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