The Breast Feeding Support Thread

Millem

catrionanic wrote: »

I pumped in work for around six months (although I only work 2-3 days a week), as I returned when baby was 5.5 months old. I was away from him for 9.5 hours per day. To be honest, it was stressful. I only get one break all day, which is 30 mins long, and did my pumping then. It meant that I often had to choose between pumping and eating - and usually chose pumping.

Once wasn’t enough. Two 20-30 min breaks, one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon, would’ve been much better. I often wasn’t getting enough milk during one session to feed my baby for the full day when I was away, and so I also had to pump on my days off and use that to supplement.

You also need a good pump. I bought the spectra double electric pump and it was a lot easier than my single.

Jeekers I don’t know how you managed it! Between washing, finding somewhere, pumping etc it took far too long!
Baby was almost 10 months and tbh I felt I was pushing it only pumping once. I hated it...felt a bit embarrassed trying to hide the milk in the fridge.

Was there any provision in your job for breastfeeding breaks?

catrionanic

Millem wrote: »

Jeekers I don’t know how you managed it! Between washing, finding somewhere, pumping etc it took far too long!
Baby was almost 10 months and tbh I felt I was pushing it only pumping once. I hated it...felt a bit embarrassed trying to hide the milk in the fridge.

Was there any provision in your job for breastfeeding breaks?

No provision, no. I work in the private sector and in an industry where they generally give very little to employees.

If baby is 10 months, and will be over a year when you return after the summer, surely there’s not much need to pump? Once my wee man turned one, he was happy on solids and water during the day, and had a feed before I left and as soon as I got home.

Millem

catrionanic wrote: »

No provision, no. I work in the private sector and in an industry where they generally give very little to employees.

If baby is 10 months, and will be over a year when you return after the summer, surely there’s not much need to pump? Once my wee man turned one, he was happy on solids and water during the day, and had a feed before I left and as soon as I got home.

Yeah I hope I won’t need to pump but tbh he still feeds so much.....including during the night!

I was doing contract work for a week so not in my usual place of work! I just felt so rushed.....

Fingers crossed all will be grand in September. My problem is there could be days where I actually dont get any break in work I have no control over my timetable.

lazygal

donkey10 wrote: »

What type of finger food do you recommend?

We started with roasted veg and soft fruits. Strips of chicken or fish when we were eating it. Well cooked porridge cut into strips. Whatever we had, minus salt basically!

shesty

How do you cut porridge into strips???
I think the bigger the piece you give them the better, it minimises the likelihood of them cramming a piece in that's too big, they have to bite.
Probably would hold off grapes and cherries for a month or so, just be sure you cut them lengthwise, and not widthwise (although that can be hard to identify with cherry tomatoes :-) ) I spend so much time cutting fruit, I do it for my fruit too without thinking!!!

bee06

Hopefully my attachment shows up ... my first time doing it.

Anyway, this shows the foods that should be avoided as they are choking hazards and what should be halved or quartered like Shesty explains. There is a really good Facebook group called baby led weaning - meal ideas and beginners help. It’s mainly a us group and strictly BLW (no combi feeding) but have tons of pictures and info like the attached on how to cut things etc.

waterfaerie

bee06 wrote: »

Hopefully my attachment shows up ... my first time doing it.

Anyway, this shows the foods that should be avoided as they are choking hazards and what should be halved or quartered like Shesty explains. There is a really good Facebook group called baby led weaning - meal ideas and beginners help. It’s mainly a us group and strictly BLW (no combi feeding) but have tons of pictures and info like the attached on how to cut things etc.

There's an Irish BLW facebook group as well. It's called Baby Led Weaning (Starting Solids) in Ireland. It's very active and has great info, too.

bee06

waterfaerie wrote: »

There's an Irish BLW facebook group as well. It's called Baby Led Weaning (Starting Solids) in Ireland. It's very active and has great info, too.

Yeah, I’m on that one as well and it’s great for specific advice but I love the visual aids they have in the US one.

Pocos

Wow ladies thanks so much for all the info! I might look more into the BLW! She is 24 weeks this week so have two weeks before introducing solids! Exciting stuff but also nervous also

bee06

Pocos wrote: »

Wow ladies thanks so much for all the info! I might look more into the BLW! She is 24 weeks this week so have two weeks before introducing solids! Exciting stuff but also nervous also

We’ll be starting at the same time I’ve done tons of research but I’m nervous as well. It’s only natural! Im going to do a first aid course as well just to set me mind at ease a bit more. It’s very very rare for a baby to choke because their gag reflex is so far forward but it will make me feel more confident and it’s a good thing to have anyway.

Anne_cordelia

bee06 wrote: »

Hopefully my attachment shows up ... my first time doing it.

Anyway, this shows the foods that should be avoided as they are choking hazards and what should be halved or quartered like Shesty explains. There is a really good Facebook group called baby led weaning - meal ideas and beginners help. It’s mainly a us group and strictly BLW (no combi feeding) but have tons of pictures and info like the attached on how to cut things etc.

Surprised by no nut butters on a spoon. Don’t think blueberries need to be cut but it’s good apart from that.

jlm29

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

bee06 wrote: »

Hopefully my attachment shows up ... my first time doing it.

Anyway, this shows the foods that should be avoided as they are choking hazards and what should be halved or quartered like Shesty explains. There is a really good Facebook group called baby led weaning - meal ideas and beginners help. It’s mainly a us group and strictly BLW (no combi feeding) but have tons of pictures and info like the attached on how to cut things etc.

Surprised by no nut butters on a spoon. Don’t think blueberries need to be cut but it’s good apart from that.

I’ve always heard that blueberries need to be squashed a bit before giving

donkey10

scarepanda wrote: »

Whatever your having yourself. If I remember correctly we started with banana (coz I was very nervous at first), then we moved to other stuff like toast, carrot sticks (they make a great teether!, I think we started with slightly softened sticks at first), a little bit of pealed apple, orange segments, tomato etc. Make sure if you give grapes and cherry tomatoes that you cut them in half.

I always gave a piece slightly bigger than what she could fit in her mouth because she had a habit of trying to stuff it all in at once. But giving her a bigger piece meant that she had to take a bite and she learned very quickly.

Did you not start off with the baby rice to get them used to "eating"?
Did you give these foods one at a time?

scarepanda

No we never gave her baby rice. We started off on boiled, puréed carrots, Apple, pear, well mashed banana, all that kind of stuff individually and then started combining different ingredients. She was actually very good with the lack of gagging so we were able to move onto mashed food quite quickly. By about 7 months she was combi feeding between puree and finger foods like banana sicks, toast etc ( sorry I can't remember exactly what) and if we were eating something that was suitable she got a portion of that as well. But we didn't combifeed for long. A couple of weeks maybe. The only only thing i spoon fed for while was porridge breakfast, i started making that from cows milk when she 6 months and just used normal porridge, i just made it very milky. I used Anabel karmels book as a guide to get started.

Babies don't need baby rice to get used to solids, just make sure that whatever you give them first is well pureed and almost a watery texture. You'll know very quickly what your child's gag reflex is like. My little girl was very good. Possibly because I was the main one feeding her, if she had a splutter I'd let her clear it herself, while others (understandably) would be jumping to tap her back. With my girl there was always a very clear difference between a splutter and a choking sound.

Edit: I did buy one box of baby rice and when I got home sat down and read all the ingredients in it and decided there and then to skip it. In my opinion there shouldn't be that many ingredients going into starter food for a baby. So why not give them homemade, boiled, puréed carrot? Does the same job, has nutritional value, only one ingredient and you know exactly what it was.....

bee06

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Surprised by no nut butters on a spoon. Don’t think blueberries need to be cut but it’s good apart from that.

If I remember correctly from the discussion a thin spread on toast etc is fine but too thick like a spoonful and it could stick in a babies throat.

It depends on the size of the blueberry because I have a packet of blueberries at the moment where some of them are as small or smaller than a pea but larger blueberries are the exact size of a babies windpipe. There’s actually a more detailed post on blueberries in the group. Smooshing would be a lot easier than cutting though.

bee06

donkey10 wrote: »

Did you not start off with the baby rice to get them used to "eating"?
Did you give these foods one at a time?

Baby rice has no nutritional value and apparently tastes disgusting as well.

scarepanda

Once past 6 months we regularly give madam peanut butter on toast. Wouldn't put it to thick though. She loves it. As far as I remember nuts after 6 months isn't the issue, it's just their size and texture that are the problem due to the choking hazard they present, so butters are fine as long as there is no reactions going on of course.

bee06

scarepanda wrote: »

Once past 6 months we regularly give madam peanut butter on toast. Wouldn't put it to thick though. She loves it. As far as I remember nuts after 6 months isn't the issue, it's just their size and texture that are the problem due to the choking hazard they present, so butters are fine as long as there is no reactions going on of course.

Yep, that’s it. You explained it better than me

donkey10

scarepanda wrote: »

No we never gave her baby rice. We started off on boiled, puréed carrots, Apple, pear, well mashed banana, all that kind of stuff individually and then started combining different ingredients. She was actually very good with the lack of gagging so we were able to move onto mashed food quite quickly. By about 7 months she was combi feeding between puree and finger foods like banana sicks, toast etc ( sorry I can't remember exactly what) and if we were eating something that was suitable she got a portion of that as well. But we didn't combifeed for long. A couple of weeks maybe. The only only thing i spoon fed for while was porridge breakfast, i started making that from cows milk when she 6 months and just used normal porridge, i just made it very milky. I used Anabel karmels book as a guide to get started.

Babies don't need baby rice to get used to solids, just make sure that whatever you give them first is well pureed and almost a watery texture. You'll know very quickly what your child's gag reflex is like. My little girl was very good. Possibly because I was the main one feeding her, if she had a splutter I'd let her clear it herself, while others (understandably) would be jumping to tap her back. With my girl there was always a very clear difference between a splutter and a choking sound.

Edit: I did buy one box of baby rice and when I got home sat down and read all the ingredients in it and decided there and then to skip it. In my opinion there shouldn't be that many ingredients going into starter food for a baby. So why not give them homemade, boiled, puréed carrot? Does the same job, has nutritional value, only one ingredient and you know exactly what it was.....

Yup i get you. Yeah it makes sense alright. I cant remember but you prob mentioned this already but what age did you start her?

foreverandever

Pocos wrote: »

Wow ladies thanks so much for all the info! I might look more into the BLW! She is 24 weeks this week so have two weeks before introducing solids! Exciting stuff but also nervous also

Giving puréed food is good because it’s a different texture in their mouth and actually a different swallowing technique to more solid food so it helps develop their oropharengeal development! So would recommend a combination of the two, esp if you’re a bit nervous!

Pocos

foreverandever wrote: »

Giving puréed food is good because it’s a different texture in their mouth and actually a different swallowing technique to more solid food so it helps develop their oropharengeal development! So would recommend a combination of the two, esp if you’re a bit nervous!

Thanks foreverandever! Look in a months time I’ll be better but the thought of starting solids! Not looking forward to it!

Honestly ladies all the help and advice is much appreciated! I thought I’d be that mum who would be well ahead in the books and research but finding the time to look everything up!!! I don’t know where I’d get time! Once she’s in bed I just want to throw myself on the couch watch tv for an hour and then go to bed early!!! During naps I’m doing housework! It’s busy and I can only imagine (and half fear!) what it will be like once I’m back to work! Totally worth it though

scarepanda

donkey10 wrote: »

Yup i get you. Yeah it makes sense alright. I cant remember but you prob mentioned this already but what age did you start her?

I started at 22 weeks, I think she was a couple days shy if 23 weeks.

Pocos, i am a mother that is very relaxed, too much at times I think some would say, but I was a nervous wreck starting her on solids, it's all normal. But you learn very quickly as you go.
I didn't do much reading up on starting solids, or at least not till we were about to start. The anabal karmel book I used as a guide was given to us when my girl was born! Sometimes I think not Having read every book and watched every video can be a godsend, because it's very easy to get overwhelmed with too much information, a lot of which can be contradictory as everyone's experience is based on how their little one was with starting solids, gag reflex, different textures and tastes etc.

mojesius

We started introducing solids at 4 months, baby was very interested in what we were eating and I gave her a bit of my mash and she loved it. I then bought that book mentioned above and it has a great variety of first meals, cooking techniques, foods to start with, foods to avoid and meal plans. I'm not one for baby books but this has been a lifesaver.

We have been introducing solids very gradually, a few teaspoons twice a day for the last month but main food is still breast milk. Usually go with a fruity puree for breakfast and a veg based one for lunch. I love cooking and creating my own little mixes for baby. Invest in ice cube trays, don't cook huge batches and be adventurous. Our little one's favourites are banana, blueberry apple and spinach mix and sweet veg medley. She now prefers the mixtures to the single purees. I don't bother with baby rice.

waterfaerie

foreverandever wrote: »

Giving puréed food is good because it’s a different texture in their mouth and actually a different swallowing technique to more solid food so it helps develop their oropharengeal development! So would recommend a combination of the two, esp if you’re a bit nervous!

That's a very good marketing angle put forward by the baby food manufacturers and spread around as if it were fact by certain "dieticians", PHNs etc.

Of course there is nothing wrong with giving puréed food if you want to, especially if it's home made, but it's not necessary at all.

As for the different textures, the more variety you give to the baby in different tastes and textures, the better. You can give different textures without spoon feeding them purée. You can give them things that you would eat yourself that naturally have puréed or mashed textures, like hummus, yoghurt, mashed potato etc. You can put it onto bread, toast, crackers, sticks of soft veg or fruit etc. and let them eat it themselves.

Babies like to explore their own food with their hands and examine it and play with it. It's all very important and spoon feeding them takes away the autonomy they have over what they eat that they get with BLW. Parents also often tend to over feed their babies when babies are actually very good at regulating their own intake, just like with breastfeeding. Spoon feeding, like formula feeding, can be a large factor in leading to obesity later on as the baby gets used to being over filled.

Babies also like to eat what we are eating ourselves. It's a natural progression that the mother would just start sharing some of her food with her baby. It's also very time consuming to prepare separate food for one member of the family when it's not necessary.

I started my daughter at 26 weeks. She literally just had whatever I had including chicken, meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, bread, crackers, cheese, muesli, rice, potatoes, pasta, noodles, salad, hummus and other spreads and dips - whatever. I never prepared anything separately for her. I just made some slight modifications in our own food like steaming the veg a tiny bit softer than I would normally like and making sure not to add salt to anything. Apart from that, I just avoided honey (as recommended) and choke hazards as per that info that bee06 uploaded.

She's 15 months now and the only difference is that she eats a whole lot more and is attempting to use cutlery, although not quite managing it yet. She has a great appetite, will eat anything and loves trying new things. She especially loves spicy food like hot chilli. We make all of our meals and using herbs and spices so no jars or packets, but that's what we've always done anyway.

I know it's scary starting solids. I was terrified, too, but I would have been even if I didn't do BLW. The gagging can be unsettling at first but it's perfectly normal and is nothing like choking. As long as you avoid the specific choke hazards, there is no increased risk of choking with BLW than with spoon feeding. In fact, some argue that BLW is even safer as the baby has more control over what's going down their throat and when. One of the best guidelines I read and follow is that if you can squash the food with a little bit of pressure between one finger and a thumb, it's fine. And it's actually better to give them bigger things rather than smaller because they learn how to bite off the right amount for themselves.

bee06

That’s a great post Waterfaerie.

Here’s a visual aid on the difference between gagging and choking.

foreverandever

waterfaerie wrote: »

That's a very good marketing angle put forward by the baby food manufacturers and spread around as if it were fact by certain "dieticians", PHNs etc.

Of course there is nothing wrong with giving puréed food if you want to, especially if it's home made, but it's not necessary at all.

As for the different textures, the more variety you give to the baby in different tastes and textures, the better. You can give different textures without spoon feeding them purée. You can give them things that you would eat yourself that naturally have puréed or mashed textures, like hummus, yoghurt, mashed potato etc. You can put it onto bread, toast, crackers, sticks of soft veg or fruit etc. and let them eat it themselves.

Babies like to explore their own food with their hands and examine it and play with it. It's all very important and spoon feeding them takes away the autonomy they have over what they eat that they get with BLW. Parents also often tend to over feed their babies when babies are actually very good at regulating their own intake, just like with breastfeeding. Spoon feeding, like formula feeding, can be a large factor in leading to obesity later on as the baby gets used to being over filled.

Babies also like to eat what we are eating ourselves. It's a natural progression that the mother would just start sharing some of her food with her baby. It's also very time consuming to prepare separate food for one member of the family when it's not necessary.

I started my daughter at 26 weeks. She literally just had whatever I had including chicken, meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, bread, crackers, cheese, muesli, rice, potatoes, pasta, noodles, salad, hummus and other spreads and dips - whatever. I never prepared anything separately for her. I just made some slight modifications in our own food like steaming the veg a tiny bit softer than I would normally like and making sure not to add salt to anything. Apart from that, I just avoided honey (as recommended) and choke hazards as per that info that bee06 uploaded.

She's 15 months now and the only difference is that she eats a whole lot more and is attempting to use cutlery, although not quite managing it yet. She has a great appetite, will eat anything and loves trying new things. She especially loves spicy food like hot chilli. We make all of our meals and using herbs and spices so no jars or packets, but that's what we've always done anyway.

I know it's scary starting solids. I was terrified, too, but I would have been even if I didn't do BLW. The gagging can be unsettling at first but it's perfectly normal and is nothing like choking. As long as you avoid the specific choke hazards, there is no increased risk of choking with BLW than with spoon feeding. In fact, some argue that BLW is even safer as the baby has more control over what's going down their throat and when. One of the best guidelines I read and follow is that if you can squash the food with a little bit of pressure between one finger and a thumb, it's fine. And it's actually better to give them bigger things rather than smaller because they learn how to bite off the right amount for themselves.

I don’t know would I say it’s put forward by the formula companies, as I look at it, most of us were probably puréed fed and we turned out okay :-) I think obesity is more linked to highly processed foods, junk food, take aways etc rather than spoon feeding. And swallowing different textures is definitely an oropharngeal skill- sure look at elderly people needing to get their swallow assessed and having to take different textures once more.

I think BLW is one of those things as with all of children rearing- if it suits you and your family, then go for it! But if you want to do puréed and prepare the food yourself, then do that too. I just felt the OP had been getting a lot of BLW advice and I thought it was important she realised there are other options.

I’m sure in 20 years people won’t be asking in college- did you have BLW or purées when weaning ;-)

waterfaerie

foreverandever wrote: »

I don’t know would I say it’s put forward by the formula companies, as I look at it, most of us were probably puréed fed and we turned out okay :-) I think obesity is more linked to highly processed foods, junk food, take aways etc rather than spoon feeding. And swallowing different textures is definitely an oropharngeal skill- sure look at elderly people needing to get their swallow assessed and having to take different textures once more.

I think BLW is one of those things as with all of children rearing- if it suits you and your family, then go for it! But if you want to do puréed and prepare the food yourself, then do that too. I just felt the OP had been getting a lot of BLW advice and I thought it was important she realised there are other options.

I’m sure in 20 years people won’t be asking in college- did you have BLW or purées when weaning ;-)

You're absolutely right that everyone should choose what's best for their own family. The only right way is the way that suits each individual but it's important not to scare people away from a choice that might be good for them if they knew more accurate facts about it. I just wanted to clarify that BLW does not hinder any development as you suggested.

The fact is that most people do purées. There's nothing wrong with that in itself until you ask how many people don't do BLW simply because they're scared away from it either by fear of choking or by claims like you've made above. Just read back and see how many people here have said they like the idea but they're too nervous! I think that needs to be put in perspective.

I suppose it's a bit like breastfeeding vs formula feeding. If people choose to use formula because that's what suits them, that's absolutely their choice and they should be left at it. The problem comes when people really want to breastfeed and people who would be up for giving it a try are given poor support or misinformation that scares them and leads to them formula feeding either because they didn't get the right help or they didn't know any better. I know BLW is a different issue but I feel it's similar in that scare tactics and marketing are heavily used to steer people.

And if anyone thinks that particular ways of doing things aren't put forward and pushed heavily for profit based reasons, even by health care workers, they should seriously think again.

shesty

The only other book I would recommend besides the Baby Led Feeding one is one called "feed your child well".It's not a cookbook, it's written by Temple St. dieticians, and covers feeding from birth to10years, and all the common problems you can experience from day 1.It looks at breast and bottle feeding, reflux, allergies, introducing solids, explains the gag reflex excellently, gives some sample meal plans, food refusal, balanced diets,constipation etc -all the topics you can think of. It is a really handy reference book to have.I bought mine on Amazon, if you want to google it.

Outside of that, I wouldn't be worried about spending too much time doing research on these things.You will just confuse yourself so just do what works.Once solids are introduced, the rule book goes out the window (ie, unlike feeds you can't say X ounces of food every X hours!), and every child is so different anyway.

And then all your hard work goes to waste anyway when they become toddlers and on any given day will refuse all food on a whim!!!!

Pocos

Obviously it’s a topic people feel very passionate about! We installed the high chair today and to say she loves it is an understatement! LO was only delighted with herself!

Thanks again for all the replies! It’s great to hear other people’s experiences

scarepanda

For what it's worth, it was my husband's sister, who doesn't have any kids, but is a dietitian and has worked in pediatrics, that started us on finger foods. As soon as I realised that it wasn't this big scary thing and that my daughter was well able for it, I quickly switched to mainly blw. I found it so much easier, less effort, my little girl loved playing with her food and was so proud of herself when she succeeded in doing whatever she was doing with the food. It is messier, but two dogs on 24/7 clean up duty sorted that right out for us!

In my opinion as long as the food is healthy and nutritious it doesn't matter a blind bit what form it is given to baby. It's like every other new stage, it's scary till you have to do it and then it's ok and you know for the next time. As shesty says the rule book goes out the window when they turn into toddlers!