Baby Led Weaning for Asian

ABC soup for your BLW baby

2009-11-23T15:36:00.000+08:00

Please don't ask me why is it called ABC Soup. I really have no idea but everybody call it this name. Here are the ingredients:

2 carrots (sliced the carrot to a size that your baby can grab)
2 potatoes (sliced the potato to a size that your baby can grab)
2 Australia big onion
1 clove of garlic
500g of pork ribs (you can use other meat as well such as chicken wings)
4 ripe tomatoes

This soup is pretty tasty. The carrots, potatoes and pork ribs can be used for BLW.

Brocollini

2009-10-16T07:13:00.003+08:00

My son's favourite. He eats it everyday. Whether it is steamed, grilled or stir fried.

Removing Oil from the Soup

2009-10-15T17:36:00.000+08:00

When the soup is cool, put it in the fridge. This is the best way to scoop out the oil.

Butter for Babies

2009-10-14T05:26:00.000+08:00

If you want to give butter for your babies, this will be the one. No salt and it is organic.

To understand more about BLW

2009-10-13T23:57:00.002+08:00

Please watch this BLW video from Youtube. Click here.

Eating Apple

2009-10-12T22:20:00.002+08:00

Manage to catch it. Apple dropped from his mouth.

Eating Fish

2009-10-11T06:57:00.002+08:00

Any idea how to do BLW with fishes? As for me, I'm feeding fishes to my boy using chopstick. It is too soft for him to grab and put it into his mouth.

One Grain of Rice

2009-10-10T22:53:00.003+08:00

We had our dinner at this Ginza eatery thingy at Orchard ION. Fed my boy rice and this one grain stuck on his mouth for very long.

Teething Problem

2009-10-09T23:02:00.000+08:00

If your baby is teething, it will affect his food intake. Especially when your baby is doing BLW, chewing food in their mouth may hurt their gum. Because of feeling uncomfortable, they will eat lesser or throwing food away.

What you can do at this stage is feed them some puree or soft food. As my boy is teething now (5th and 6th), he is rejecting food like corn, carrot and potatoes. Instead, he likes me to feed him steamed fish. He still loves his brocolini though, but only the flowers portion. He will chew the stems like the way he chews those teether.

Just Be Prepared For The Messiness

2009-10-08T22:34:00.004+08:00

When doing BLW, just be prepared for the messiness. Not just on the floor, but your baby as well.

Every BLW session requires a bath thereafter.

Is He a Happy Baby Today?

2009-10-07T23:56:00.002+08:00

Depth Perception

2009-10-06T22:17:00.002+08:00

Is it true once they can see clearly, they start to throw things from a particular height to understand depth perception?

Happy Baby Brown Rice Cereal and he is happy!

2009-10-06T22:15:00.004+08:00

What do you think? Is he a happy baby?

罗汉果汤 Luo Han Guo soup

2009-10-05T10:01:00.003+08:00

This soup clears lung and helps to improve cough if there is any.

Basic Ingredients:

1. Luo Han Guo 罗汉果: 1
2. Candied Dates 蜜枣: 2
3. For BLW, suggest adding Chicken drumettes, If not use lean meat.
4. Watercress 西洋菜: 200 g (optional)

There are 2 ways to prepare item 1. Either you crush it and throw into the pot, or you prepare a clean cloth bag and crush it inside. As for me, I prefer method 1. After the soup is done, I will scoop out the Luo Han Guo.

Use a claypot to cook if possible. After boiling, turn to small fire and continue to cook it for half an hour. Do remember to scoop out the oil. If not the soup can be very oily.

Today's dinner

2009-10-04T19:10:00.001+08:00

Today's dinner for him or for me? This is what happened when daddy doesn't feel like cooking.

Let's eat sushi!!!

Eating Cereal

2009-10-03T10:20:00.003+08:00

Yup. You may wonder why is he taking cereal? Well, during weekdays, we have to send him to his nanny's place. Thus, definitely we won't have time to do BLW. Furthermore, our nanny doesn't understand what is BLW. I think, it is best we feed him cereal in the morning. This is something the nanny can do too.

Perhaps, we shall do BLW for breakfast during weekend.

No Mess Mat

2009-10-02T15:18:00.001+08:00

When doing BLW, it is pretty essential to have a no mess mat. If not, you will have a difficulty cleaning the floor.

Anyway, I left it on the bamboo to dry and it flew away. I discovered it at 3am and I had to rush down to the void deck to search for it.

Luckily, I got it back.

He is dropping food everywhere

2009-10-01T19:19:00.001+08:00

Is your baby doing that nowadays? If yes, then we are sharing the set of challenges. My boy is just 3 more days to 9 months. According to the development chart, he has depth perception. Does it mean he is trying to find out the distant between the high chair and the floor?

Food Wastage

2009-09-29T19:55:00.000+08:00

Food Wastage is a daily affair for BLW. What can you say? It flies everywhere.

Eating Rock Melon

2009-09-28T19:00:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, he had his first taste of Rock Melon. I thought he would love it. In the end, his favourite is still brocollini.

Poor Man's ginseng with Wolfberries soup 党参杞子汤

2009-09-27T00:08:00.012+08:00

This soup nourishes blood, vital energy, enrich liver, blood and eye sight. The soup is tasty and our baby will love it.

Basic ingredients:

Poor Man's ginseng 党参: 15g
Wolfberries 杞子: Palmful
Either lean meat or half chicken.
For BLW, suggest adding Chicken drumettes.

Optional ingredients (for BLW purpose):

Corn. Chopped into few pieces.
Carrot. Chopped into few pieces. Do not peel the skin.

Suggest using claypot to cook it for an hour.

Sweet and Bitter Almonds, Candied Dates Soup 南北杏蜜枣汤

2009-09-26T13:17:00.009+08:00

For this soup, it nourishes our lung and relieve cough. It is also good for dry cough, reduce sores and ulcers. If your baby always like to sleep late, this is a good soup for him or her.

Basic ingredients:

Sweet Almond 南杏: 20g
Bitter Almond 北杏: 10g
Candied Dates 蜜枣: 4

Optional:

Wolfberries 杞子: A palmful. This is to enrich the function of liver, blood and eyesight.

If everybody is healthy, use the following ingredients:

Apple (with skin and core remove)
China Pear (with skin and core remove)
Chicken drumettes (for BLW)

If someone is having cough, use the following ingredients:

Butternut pumpkin or pumpkin
lean meat

Remember:

No seasoning. Babies are supposed to drink clear soup.
Use just enough water to cover the ingredient.

How to cook:

Option 1:

Use clay pot. Once the soup is boiled, turn to the smallest fire and cook it for 30 minutes.

Option 2:

Use clay pot. Use medium fire to stew for 2 hours.

Sweet and Bitter Almonds, and Lily Bulbs Soup 南北杏百合汤

2009-09-26T12:46:00.009+08:00

I love soup and I recommend drinking soup as part of your baby BLW diet. Different herbal soup nourishes different parts of our body. It helps to strengthen the baby organs and prevent certain illness.

For this soup, it nourishes our lung, relieve cough, reduce phlegm and asthma.

Basic ingredients:

Sweet Almond 南杏: 20g
Bitter Almond 北杏: 10g
Lily Bulb 百合: 30g

Optional:

Wolfberries 杞子: A palmful. This is to enrich the function of liver, blood and the eyesight.

If everybody is healthy, use the following ingredients:

Apple (with skin and core remove) or
China Pear (with skin and core remove) or
Rock Melon or
Butternut pumpkin
Chicken drumettes (for BLW)

For the fruits, use either 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or (1 + 2)

If someone is having cough, use the following ingredients:

Apple (with skin and core remove) or
Butternut pumpkin
lean meat

Remember:

No seasoning. Babies are supposed to drink clear soup.
Use just enough water to cover the ingredient.

How to cook:

Option 1:

Use clay pot. Once the soup is boiled, turn to the smallest fire and cook it for 30 minutes.

Option 2:

Use double boiler and cook it for 2.5 hours.

Eating Sushi

2009-09-25T19:15:00.001+08:00

So I guess it right this time. Since this sushi roll is no longer new to him, he will definitely put it into his mouth and he did.

I realize one thing also, eating sushi is messy!!! The rice was everywhere. His mouth, the pram and on the floor!!! haha...

Here's the video. You should look at his facial expression when he was eating the sushi.

BLW for Asian

2009-09-24T00:32:00.000+08:00

You may start wondering why this blog is about BLW for Asian. Basically, Asian has a different diet from the West. Our main stable food is rice.

However, we can't be feeding rice to our baby. They can't handle that at all. Well, the purpose of this blog is mainly to share with you my experience with my boy on his BLW journey. Very soon, he will be 9 months. Looking back, I have no regret doing BLW with him.

It was fun, but I have my fair share of headache too. What do you need to prepare in order to do BLW?

Your baby must be able to sit up well. That means, he or she can lift their neck up. If not, they are not ready to start solid food.
Once you start BLW with your baby, do remember one thing. His overall food intake should be milk, not from the solid food.
Always feed your baby first before doing BLW. A hungry baby is a angry baby. An angry baby will not do anything except crying for milk. Feed your baby full first. Thereafter, wait for an hour or so to do the BLW. I find this is the best timing to do it.
Start one meal per day and do it for 3 months. Let's say if you are going to do BLW during dinner time, then do it exactly the same for the next 3 months. Thereafter, the next 3 months will be focus on another meal. Thus, your baby will have 9 months to develop his or her BLW motor skills.
Always do pre-emptive activity before BLW. This is to signal your baby that you are going to do BLW now. For me, I will bring him to the basin to wash his hand. Establish this routine daily and your baby will have the right expectation on what is going to happen next.
Do you have a organic cleaner at home? If you have, they can help you to eat whatever food is dropped onto the floor. If not, just expect messiness. The food will be everywhere anywhere. All over the place. On him, on the floor and on you.
He will play with his food for a start. This is will last for days to weeks before he realizes this is food. However, it is also important for us to eat the food in front of him. To show him that these stuffs are edible. Babies are smart. They know what we are doing. If we don't do it, you will slowly observe they are not going to be very adventurous with the food in front of them.
Give them the time they need to explore. Their BLW session can range from as fast as 5 minutes to an hour. Always stay with them. Never leave them alone during BLW.
Be prepared to see the gag effect. They look like they are going to get choke but they are not. This is something you really need to control yourself when you see the gag effect. Just let them be. They will slowly learn how to handle it.
Be prepared to hear a lot of comments around you. As long as you know what you are doing, just let them be. Focus on what you need to do to help your baby develop his or her BLW.
Be adventurous with the food but, be very careful with the food too. Do not give them food that may choke them. Example, fish ball. This is a no no.
Give them food that is easy to grab. Start them with vegetables first.
Give your baby all kinds of green vegetables with solid stems.
Give your baby all kinds of root vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and etc...
Pumpkin and butternut are nice too.
In BLW, no rice and no porridge.
In BLW, all food is presented in its purest form. We do not add anything to it. Salt, sugar, light or dark soya sauce and etc...
In BLW, it is good to give fruits. But remember to take it from the fridge first and let it warm up to room temperature.
Whatever you give, buy organic. Baby's liver is not fully developed yet.
If you are not buying organic, at least use vegetable wash to clean the vegetables.
When the baby is chewing, do not feed them with water. Let them finish their food first before giving water.
Do not give water from a bottle during BLW session. This will choke them. Use spoon instead.
Instead of giving water, our Chinese soup is the best. Soups cook with bones are very nutritious.
Always eat as a family. This gives baby a sense of security. This is because everybody is eating the same food as his.
Always eat in front of your baby. This is to let them copy your action.

I hope these pointers help.

More information about BLW

2009-09-24T00:15:00.001+08:00

To all mummies out there,

If you would like to do BLW for your babies, I will suggest you research the following websites and read this recommended book:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyledweaning.htm
http://www.baby-led.com/ (The detail of the book is in this website)
http://www.rapleyweaning.com/
BLW in youtube. Watch it. You will love it!!! Click HERE
http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/5/2426466.html?1248865840
http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/

Enjoy!!!

What is BLW to me?

2009-09-24T00:11:00.001+08:00

My son has been doing BLW for the past one and a half months already. And I just realize BLW is not just about letting the baby to eat by themselves. There are more to it.

To me, BLW is a multi-sensory approach to develop the baby fine motor skills such as grabbing, hand-eye coordination and understanding different texture and temperature of the things that he takes.

This is what I do daily for my son BLW session.

I always put 3 different colours of food on his food tray. This gives him visual simulation.
These food has different texture and temperature. They are either warm or cool. It simulates his touching sensation.
He needs to put the food into his mouth. He gets hand-eye coordination development.
He needs to grab the food using his fingers and pass it from one hand to the other. He gets to develop fine motor skills.
He needs to chew the food in his mouth. He gets jaw muscles development.

In fact, I never notice all these pointers until recently when I start to observe him closely. He wasn't able to do all these at the start. Nowadays, he is actually pretty advance in doing it.

I would recommend you to do it, however, I will still encourage you to read about it first before starting it. Whether to do BLW or not is a personal choice.

After gagged and threw out the carrot, life as usual

2009-09-18T18:26:00.000+08:00

After gagging and throwing out the large carrot from his mouth, life is back to normal. He continues to eat and have fun. What else can we say? He is just a baby.

Here are the videos. Part 1 and Part 2.

BLW, not for the weak heart

2009-09-18T18:06:00.003+08:00

He gagged, he threw out a large carrot from his mouth. This is what BLW is all about. The ability to learn not to get choke.

If you are going to do BLW, I suggest this video is not for you.

Here's the video.

What is this cold thing?

2009-09-12T18:23:00.003+08:00

Today, we were shopping at Vivocity. During dinner time, we went to this Sushi shop opposite Giant supermarket. We love to go there during evening time.

Every evening, they will have this 30% clear stock discount. You have to go there early in order to get some good deals.

Since it was dinner time, I gave him a sushi roll. He didn't eat it, just passed from one hand to another, trying understand what is this thing in his hand.

Please click here to watch the video.

I'm growing up!!!

2009-09-11T19:02:00.001+08:00

What can you say? A BLW baby is a happy baby!!!

This gadget is useless

2009-09-07T18:31:00.000+08:00

Bought this gadget from Robinson. I thought it will be useful for BLW since you can stuff food inside.

In the end, my boy rejected it. I guess, this is not a real food and the colours are pretty artificial. What a waste of $$$.

You can watch the video here.

Makan Makan

2009-08-18T18:10:00.001+08:00

Yes. As you can see, I have downgraded from large veggies to small ones. I think it is time for him to start eating rather than playing.

For today, I had grilled broccolini, sweet potato, corn and carrot. In the end, he ate the broccolini.

Please click here to see the rest of the photos.

What a big veggie!!!

2009-08-06T17:57:00.001+08:00

I continue to give him large flower veggie. He just couldn't resist staring it for long.

"Papa, what is this???"

Please click here to see the photos and video.

Just another messy day

2009-08-04T18:21:00.001+08:00

What else can it be today? Messy messy messy...

I wonder is he a right hander or left hander?

Eating his baby rice cake

2009-08-03T20:09:00.001+08:00

After eating that big rice cake 2 days ago, I bought baby rice cake for him. Baby rice cake is more challenging for babies because they need to grab it tight and put it into their mouth.

It requires more fine motor skill to handle it.

My boy is demonstrating how to eat the baby rice cake.

Click here for more photos.

Eating big rice cake

2009-08-01T20:23:00.001+08:00

I bought this big organic rice cake for myself to snack on it and I gave him a piece too. I was a bit concerned that it maybe too dry for him.

In the end, he put a lot of saliva at the corner and ate a chunk of it.

Smart boy.

Click here for more photos.

What kind of dinner is this

2009-07-29T18:10:00.000+08:00

Please click here to watch the video.

As you can see, he was holding a large cauliflower in his hand. I actually steamed an apple, pumpkin and this large cauliflower for him. This is to give him the varieties of food he needed for BLW.

In the end, he chose to grab this large veggie. I guess it was easier for him.

I love steamed apple!!!

2009-07-28T18:12:00.000+08:00

I have been cracking my head for many days, thinking what fruits to give?

This is because as a typical Chinese, we believe we cannot give cooling food to baby. So after much thought, I decided to steam an apple for him.

I put the steamed apple on his tray but he didn't pick it up. Furthermore, the skin was quite smooth and this was even more difficult for him to grab.

In the end, I stuffed it into his mouth and he loved it!!! I guessed it was sweet. He just sucked and sucked the juice out of it.

Click here for more photos.

The mess is yet to be

2009-07-26T14:17:00.000+08:00

I just bought this Ikea high chair for him. He loves it. Starting today, he can throw his food anywhere everywhere.

Oh yes, I tried to give him some brown rice but I guess it didn't work out. The rice was everywhere. On the table, on the floor, except his stomach.

Click here for more photos.

Yummy yummy

2009-07-17T06:09:00.001+08:00

Steamed broccoli and carrot. Yummy yummy

Today is potatoes dip in pumpkin puree. Messy!!!

2009-07-14T18:24:00.000+08:00

Oh my God!!! Puree is everywhere!!!

Today I will eat my potato

2009-07-13T18:11:00.000+08:00

Today was the first day he started putting food into his mouth.

This is how he looks like when he has finished his food. He will do this everyday to tell me he is done with his food.

Time to bath!!!

Click here for more photos.

BLW in Action

2009-07-06T18:12:00.000+08:00

It's been quite a while since he first started his BLW. I have been giving him real food to play with. He is actually not eating yet, just exploring them. In this photo, you get to see steamed apple, carrot and potato. I had peeled off the skin for both the carrot and potato.

Click here for more photos.

My son first BLW session

2009-06-20T11:03:00.000+08:00

This is his so-called first BLW session. You may wonder what is that? Well, I made some puree for him. Initially, I wanted to feed him with a spoon.

But after much thought, I changed my mind. Since BLW does not encourage spoon feeding, so I let him used his fingers to play with the puree. He did actually eat some, licking his fingers with all the puree on it.

So, this will be his so-called first BLW session

Click here for more photos.