Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Rachael Led Weaning

I know I just posted, but as this will be an ongoing topic, I thought it deserved it's own post.
I am proud of Rachael and myself for having exclusively breastfed for 6 months.
As Rachael is now 6 months old, it's time to start introducing food other than breasmilk into her life.
After doing my research, I settled on trying Baby Led Weaning, as it makes a lot of sense to me.
As you may not be familiar with this approach, some info may be a good idea.

"What is baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning is a way of introducing solid foods that allows babies to feed
themselves - there’s no spoon feeding and no purées. The baby sits with the
family at mealtimes and joins in when she is ready, feeding herself first with her
fingers and later with cutlery.
Baby-led weaning:
* allows babies to explore taste, texture, colour and smell
* encourages independence and confidence
* helps to develop their hand-eye coordination and chewing skills
* makes picky eating and mealtime battles less likely"


Lessons learnt with Rachael so far:
-Don't bother to put food on a plate. A plate is the easiest way to ensure all the food ends up on the floor within 10 seconds.
- Pretty much every food discolours clothing
-A bib is designed to keep clothing clean, but a baby is more likely to eat the bib and skip the food

Attempted foods:
Banana. No luck- see plate comment above
Carrot. Some sucking acheived. Turns clothing orange
Toast. Sucking acheived. Small amounts broken off. Gagged a little. (Note. Gagging is ok. Babies gag reflex is quiet close to front of mouth as a safety mechanism. Gagging is different than actually choking).
Meat. Rachael loves meat. Has enjoyed sucking several pieces. Makes clothes dirty too.

Has she actually ingested anything? No, but that's ok. We've only just started, and she is getting food from table to mouth, and sometimes into mouth. It's a good start



Toast two days ago. Not sure if we got the roast beef on camera or not

6 Months

6 Months- Can you believe it? We made it this far.
Health checkup isn't until next week, so I'll have to add that info later.
Teething has started. I got my first tooth at 6 months, but Rachael's bottom teeth are still a long way down her gums, so it could be a long ride yet. Thankfully, I have been told about Baltic Amber teething necklaces.
For the uneducated, check out this onfo from the website http://www.whiskersonkittens.com.au/

"How does an Amber Teething Necklace work?
Amber has many therapeutic qualities and provides natural pain relief.   Amber works by the skin warming the amber which releases healing oils and the oils are then absorbed into the blood stream. Amber reduces red inflamed cheeks and stimulates the thyroid glands to reduce drooling. It is known to boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, accelerate would healing, reduce inflammation of the throat, ear and stomach infections and respiratory disease.

The active ingredient is succinic-acid which was analysed by the pioneer of modern bacteriology, the Nobel-prize winner Robert Koch who confirmed its positive influence and recent scientific research has also proved that succinic acid has a very positive influence on the human organism.

Succinic acid is a powerful antioxidant that helps fight toxic free radicals and disruptions of the cardiac rhythm, succinic acid has been shown to stimulate neural system recovery and bolster the immune system, and helps compensate for energy drain in the body and brain, boosting awareness, concentration and reflexes, and reducing stress."


I chose this supplier as I had seen good things about them. No point paying for an expensive fake. Teething/screaming started Friday, continued Saturday and Sunday. Monday I was able to borrow a necklace until the one I ordered arrived. Three hours (and one nap) after I put it on her, my baby girl was back to laughing at me. It's not a magic cure, but it does seem to help.

Rachael has improved in both her rolling and sitting. Her rolling is more turning really, she doesn't roll continously, just one 180 at a time. Sitting is semi-assisted at the moment. She can't sit up alone, but when she wants to, once sat can sit unassisted for up to an hour.

Besides her ongoing obsession of putting everything in sight in her mouth, Rachael's two current obsessions are blowing raspberries, and making a gargling sound in her throat.