Lots of butternut-squash

Today's portion of butternut-squash was rather large, not on purpose, I just wasn't that accurate when dishing out the puree into the freezer pots it seems. It all went down though and he managed most of his milk again, evenings are definitely the best time for munchies.

I'm not sure if the blog is going to be kept up-to-date over the next few weeks as I'm off to hospital and the boys are going to have to manage on their own. We have been joking all day about how I'm going to come home and Edward is going to be in a hessian sack, in the same nappy I left him in having eaten nothing but pasta and peanut butter sandwiches for two weeks....thankfully however I know that really Luke will do a fantastic job of looking after his level one human noob!

Rice glorious rice!

Today Edward had his food at dinner time rather than lunchtime, I tried moving the time of day as the last few days he hasn't drunk much milk and I thought maybe if I changed the time of day he may eat as well as drink, my plan worked well and he's back up to his usual amount.

I gave him 3-4 teaspoons of baby rice, however I'd accidentally poured a bit too much of the baby rice powder into his dish, and not enough milk so it ended up quite stodgy, however this all worked out quite well as I was able to give him the lumps of rice to eat BLW stylee!!

I feel there has been a shortage the last few days of food-covered-Edward photos and so today you can have two to make up for it, especially as he made such a spectacular job of smearing the rice over his arms, legs, face (including eyes) and chest to the extent he had to go straight in the bath afterwards!

Quick Update

Sunday Edward had sweet potato, again not terribly interested but it did go down.

Monday We tried some organic baby muesli, Edward seemed to quite like it and kept opening his mouth and leaning towards the spoon which I though was promising. For dinner he had some carrot to play with, he didn't really eat any of it, but he gave it an enthusiastic attempt.

Overall eating is getting less messy, the pair of us seem to have got the knack it of now and manage to get through a meal without smearing it everywhere....I think a secret naughty part of me is kind of disappointed about that hehe!

Six Months Old Today

Edward had about two tablespoons of butternut squash puree for his half-birthday it took him a while to get into it and then he wolfed the last bit down. Luke was laughing at him as he kept trying to eat the pot rather than the puree on the spoon.

I should write something far more enthusiastic, I should have done something more enthusiastic, but today has just been a very quiet day of sleepy cuddles for us all.

Octopus and Apple Puree

Shameless excuse to put up this photo of Edward concentrating very hard on his octopus it's just SO cute!

Edward was a bit fussy again with his milk today, however did drink more than yesterday overall. He had a tablespoon of apple puree which went down very well, certainly his favorite so far. He also had some pieces of broccoli at dinner, though I think he was too busy watching everyone else to really eat it, and mostly just slid it around his tray.

Just 2-3 teaspoons of baby rice

We did it, we stuck to the plan, just the recommended 2-3teaspoons of baby rice made up with formula-milk, eaten VERY neatly if I do say so myself.

Edward hasn't drunk that much today, which I find surprising as it's been quite warm, I'm not too worried though as he will probably drink extra tomorrow.

ROLLING!!!!

VERY exciting day today, Edward rolled over for the first time!! He's been gradually getting closer the last few days, and today has managed to do it lots of time as he's now finally figured out how to coordinate his arms, head and body in one 'smooth' rolling motion hurrah!

Of course capturing a proper full roll on camera is proving impossible he keeps doing it when I go out of the room and I come back to find him laid on his tummy looking highly pesty and proud of himself.

He also had a bit of a giggle today, but as with all the other milestones so far I don't really count 'odd flukes' I only get excited when he can do it consistently.

On the weaning side he managed a good tablespoon of butternut squash, it went down better than the sweet potato, and then he managed to drink all his milk.

His new Bumgenius Version 3 reusable nappies arrived today, they are really nice, and better for sitting in than the Blueberrys. I got them second hand, but you can't tell they are really nice and have hardly been used so I'm very pleased.

All in all a good day in the world of Edward-Tedward :o)

Rice, Shark Fin Soup and Roast Dinner.... this is basic weaning right?!

So another day, and some more weaning exploits for the Edward-Tedward. We tried having breakfast this morning. I used some of his milk to make up about a tablespoon of baby-rice, it went down quite well, and I was impressed at how much he ate and then drank as the mornings are his least hungry time of the day.

As Edward snoozed off his breakfast I read the organic puree book we got from the library. It had a rather evangelical organic rant at the start which I skipped, but overall proved to be a really excellent read with lots of very useful information all clearly laid out with nice pretty colours. I've decided to follow the suggested time-table in it, as it seemed very sensible and easy to follow.




For lunch Edward had very tasty shark hehe! I gave it to him to play with and thought that it was actually a really good toy for developing his 'finger-food' skills. By the time he'd finished it was utterly sodden and covered in milk, quite disgusting, but he obviously had lots of fun which is what it's all about really!

My intentions to follow the time-table in the book went out of the window at dinner time. I had made a roast and we had Karolina over and all sat at the dinner table. Edward isn't always awake or in the mood for food when Luke and I are eating and so I thought this was too good an opportunity for learning to be missed. So Edward sat at the table with us, and as we had our roast Edward had his. I don't think he really ate anything, but that wasn't really the point, I was just keen that he sat and ate with everyone else as I think the social side of eating is just as important as the food itself, that said I think I may be finding bits of broccoli and asparagus for days!



Tomorrow I will aim to return to the plan...just 2-3 teaspoons of baby rice for the boy!

7.32 Kg

As I'm sure you can work out from the title, Edward weighed in at 7.32Kg or 16.1lb in old money...not bad considering he started at 2.040kg :o)

My little chubby monkey I'm so proud of him, he's done so well to gain so much weight and is midway between the 50th and 75th weight centile.

The health visitor , as I suspected, wasn't overly helpful regarding the weaning, and actually suggested I shouldn't really be trying to wean him yet as his adjusted age is only 4 months. (they call it adjusted when you calculate backwards based on how premature he was) However as Chelsea and Westminster hospital told me to wean him at 5-6 months non adjusted and they are the premature baby unit I think I will listen to them! Coupled of course with the fact that Edward is showing all the classic 'ready to wean' signs such as grabbing food, stuffing things in his mouth and not always being satisfied by his milk.

Weaning aside however she was actually very helpful and gave me lots of information about local resources, both for entertainment/education purposes and also help for when I'm ill type purposes. She is going to refer me to the local children's services team and assign me a proper health visitor who will come and see us and assess what kind of help we need. I always feel a bit of a fraud asking for help when I'm relatively well, however I know that just a few weeks from now I could be practically housebound and on oxygen, at which point even the tiniest caring duties become a monumental strain and it is my responsibility to make sure that Edward has someone to fall back on other than Luke when I'm not up to it.

Edward had all his bottles today, and managed to eat about a tablespoon of sweet potato though I got the distinct impression he wasn't that fussed about eating it, so I didn't force the issue.

Someone wrote in a thread about BLW that 'food before one is just for fun' it's a nice motto to go by I think as it curbs the impulse to get frantic, it means you can take a nice relaxed approach to the whole thing, which I think in the long term will develop a much more healthy relationship with food.

It occurred to me that neither Luke nor I have particularly great relationships with food. Luke is very fussy and doesn't eat a wide variety of foods, up until recently he has refused to eat any other veg than carrots and peas, however as he feels he needs to set a good example he has gradually been trying and succeeding in his attempts eat more different types of veg, I'm very proud of him.

My relationship with food is long, complicated and painful. I suffered from anorexia for a LONG time, not that anyone ever bothered to diagnose it as such, but it was. Pretty much all of my childhood memories of meal times are bad, and full of arguments and forcing myself to down pints of fortified milk supplement, not to mention the constant search for new ways to dispose of my food without eating it. I then had my tube fitted and ate very little for years and relied almost entirely on feed. Since I was about 14 and left home things began to improve, initially just because my boyfriend at the time used to cook for me and I felt rude refusing to eat, but eventually I got to the stage where I eventually came to like food and really enjoyed cooking. I also got a lot braver about trying different things, which is always a bonus! However even now whenever I'm unwell or stressed my appetite is always the first thing to go!

I think a very large portion of people have an unhealthy attitude to food, eating too much or too little or taking no care or interest and just shoving in the easiest thing. I understand how it happens, however I don't think it is right, and I feel it my duty as a parent to try and foster a healthy attitude to food in Edward, you are what you eat after all! That is why I have him in the kitchen cooking with me so often as I feel it is important that from a young age he is exposed to 'proper cooking' not just oven heating and microwaving. I don't want him to be like one of those kids off of 'Jamie's School Dinners' who could identifiy every fast-food chain under the sun and yet couldn't identify something as basic as an onion!!

Anyway enough evangelical food ranting....

In other news Edward and I registered at the library, Edward choose his first ever book, and I have to say I approve of his choice .....

Oh well so much for good intentions!

Well as you can see I didn't wait till the end of the weekend or till the rash had gone. This may seem kind of irresponsible but I decided that the rash was entirely the fault of the sun-cream and the sweet potato only aggravated things and caused a rash because it got smeared over slightly dry skin.

On Saturday night I was cooking dinner and Edward was 'helping' me by very convincingly waving a spatula (visible in the bottom of the shot) however as I picked at bits as I cooked I decided it was unfair that Edward didn't also have something to nibble on, well other than the spatula, so in the end I gave him another rusk despite accusations being leveled at me that I was weaning my baby onto nothing better than digestives! Though I understand the persons point I'm not relying on it for nutrition, I'm just trying to give Edward the opportunity to start getting the hang of eating and rusks are much more convenient than trying to steam a piece of veg each time, they are also nice and soft, so I feel it will be encouraging to him that with very little effort or skill he's still getting 'rewarded' for trying.

He did pretty well eating it, I think! It's always hard to tell how much has gone down the hatch and how much has just been smeared. The new plastic bib was quite effective, however after a while he got bored of eating the rusk and started eating the bib, and so some of the rusk ended up getting on his trousers anyway, which was a shame, it seems I need to develop my 'catching skills' or he's going to have to change clothes every time he eats, or more likely eat naked!

Sunday I gave Edward a whole bottle that he wolfed down after which he was still looking about for more, which I thought would be a good opportunity to try some more food. Just to be on the safe side I gave the sweet potato a miss and instead plumbed for the apple puree. Edward seemed to have improved in his puree eating skills already, and was much better at opening his mouth to eat, and managed the table-spoon or so's worth of food well. It was nice because it was also the first time I fed him at the new dining table, and it made everything much more comfortable.


I'm pleased to report that there has been no dire reactions or horrible poos, so it seems that Edward's tummy is coping well with the new food.

I have found out where and when the baby weighing clinic is held and so we shall be going to that tomorrow. I'm hoping that the health visitors may be able to give me some advice and guidance...however I'm not holding my breath!

The Sweet Potato Trial

Edward practicing those eating moves!
Well today as I had plenty of time I began experimenting with the purees. I fed Edward one portion of sweet potato, which was about a tablespoon for breakfast, and the same again at lunch, as well as offering him his usual amount of milk, most of which he drank.

It was messy and took a while to go down, and he seemed a bit confused as to what was going on, but didn't struggle or gag once which I was impressed with. It was quite interesting to see him trying to work out what was going on, and how to move his tongue to get the puree from the roof of his mouth and lips down his throat.

He was very helpful as I was feeding him, and stuck his fingers in the bowl and stuffed them in his mouth, he seemed to think that was a much better way of eating, it did look more comfortable and natural for him and so it's made me think quite seriously about BLW as in a way I feel like I'm breaking his natural instincts teaching him to eat puree only to then have to teach him how to handle solids at a later date.

I had intended to give him some more at dinner, but sadly across the afternoon he seems to have developed a rash across his face. I'm not sure of the cause, though suspect it may be a hangover from a reaction he had to some suncream the other day. However in the interests of safety I'm going to give the weaning a rest until it's cleared up.

He has ruminated/ posseted a little more than usual today aswell, nothing dramatic or projectile but enough that in combination with the rash I think it may be best to slow down a little. I must admit I may have gone a bit over-board, but it is an exciting time and both he and I are on a learning curve together with this!

Inroduction

The initial aim of this blog is to plot the early days of Edward's weaning process as it is quite exciting for us all, however I imagine in time it will meander into other things!

I feel this is a good point to give a quick summary of Edward's eating to date. Initially like most mothers I planned to breastfeed, however as Edward was eight weeks premature things didn't quite work out. He was very small, only 4lbs, and found feeding quite tiring and difficult, and much easier from the bottle than the breast. I found breastfeeding very stressful as I worried that he was not getting enough and may become weak and unwell, so eventually decided to exclusively express my milk to feed him with.

This was also a good strategy as it meant Edward could still have my milk if I had to go into hospital and hopefully would be less confusing for him as he wouldn't have to keep switching between methods, I also hoped it would make my absence less distressing as he wouldn't be loosing his breast-feeding as well as him mummy.

Initially it worked well, and I stocked up enough spare milk that Edward was able to go completely without formula through my first course of IV's. However sadly my second course of IV's came so quickly after the 1st it hadn't been possible to stock up enough as so we had to start using formula. I also got a bad tummy bug that badly affected my milk supply so I was struggling to keep up with him.

Then finally at five months I moved Edward onto formula full time. I had to pour my milk away for most of month four due to my drugs, and then found out to my horror that the drugs wouldn't leave my system for another month. As I had planned to stop at six months (mainly due to pressure from my hospital team) I decided it was pointless to carry on, due to the amount of time and effort required.

I found it very hard to stop as despite the hassle involved I was incredibly proud of myself and my body, and given everything it's not often I get the chance to say that. However I do appreciate not having to do endless hours of milking any more, and I think overall my health has been better since I stopped, though this may be due to the doctors taking out an infected implant that I had which I think had been dragging me down for a few months.

Real food wise, untill today Edward's adventures have been limited. He licked a chocolate button about a month ago, and sucked some pitta-bread and some carrot the other day in the park, however today was the first time he properly ate something.

I cannot, and still have not made up my mind exactly how to go about weaning Edward. The two main methods on offer are purees which you gradually make more solid, or Baby Led Weaning (BLW) which skips out puree all together and goes straight for finger foods.

Both methods have aspects which appeal to me and others that don't. Puree is a hassle to do, however can be store bought in the lazy moments and in all instances stored conveniently. It is also the most common method and so wouldn't be hard for various baby-sitting friends and family to understand.
BLW is in my opinion more natural as it has the mentality that if a baby has the motor skills to get food to it's mouth it must be able to eat it, however it is difficult to store the small portions of food needed to do it in my opinion (eg. a slice of butternut squash what are you supposed to do with the rest of it?!)

So for now I'm messing about with both until I decide which I find most convenient. So I have pureed a bunch of butternut sqash, sweet potato and apple, aswell as buying a selection of baby rice's and cereals. I have also however bought some rusks and rice crackers as these are easy to store and should enable him to feed himself.

Despite having made all my puree's there wasn't really the right opportunity to feed them to Edward today, and so BLW won out and he got given a rusk, and here is what he did with it, his first ever meal other than milk :o)