'Baby led weaning', is there any reason I can't spoon feed (non purée)

[lau86]

I'm doing a variation on baby led weaning, normally I give all foods that she eats herself. She has weetabix most mornings and I spoon feed that. Today I made a chilli and it was lumpy with rice and kidney beans. I cut the kidney beans in half for her. She ate it all but I was wondering if it was ok (more thinking of choking hazards/ health wise). In the past I've always done purée or baby picks it up and eats it but I couldn't see how she was going to eat chilli and rice without making a huge mess!

 

[Twinmum87]

Just do what works for you! I have done a combo with all of mine but my youngest hates other people feeding him and always messes with the spoon before putting it in his mouth when he feeds himself so by the time it gets there there is no food on it. Tried everything going so atm, other the odd yogurt or bit of apple puree, he is exclusively finger food atm but I keep trying with a spoon. I have a sheet. Just got a wipe clean party table cover. tick him in the middle of that in nothing but a nappy and his food. It is very messy. I try the odd bits of smaller food and he scoops it/squidges it and sucks his fingers or tries to push it into his mouth but he isn't quite there with that skill yet. I get thru a LOT of baby wipes. :/ Seriously needs bathing after every meal but that is just not feasable haha!

 

[jodilee6]

I never really got the weaning labels, I did 'feed the baby'

If it's something that's better spoon fed then I spoon feed (tho DS2 is starting to get the hang of pre loaded spoons but can still make quite a mess)

If it's finger food he does it himself, if it's a mix of both then I give him the finger food and spoon the rest.

As long as baby is being fed why label what you do?

Chilli & rice is a huge hit here as well

 

[lau86]

It's not so much the label as I always give her weetabix, more that the food tonight was quite lumpy so I was wondering if there was a difference in choking risk in me giving it to her than her lifting it herself. I'm probably not explaining very well!

 

[jodilee6]

Ahh - nope, I'd say it's fine

Baby's are wonderful things, if it was too lumpy or too much then she would just gag and bring it forward in her mouth as if she'd put it there herself

 

[Bevziibubble]

I think it is fine to do that. There's no set way of weaning that works for everyone.
When my daughter finally started eating solids after refusing them for months, she used to like me popping the food into her mouth for her lol, but she always refused a spoon!

 

[noon_child]

I think if you were doing traditional weaning you'd be introducing lumpy foods with a spoon anyway, so I don't see how what your doing could be considered a choking risk.

Have you tried pre-loading? That's where you fill the spoon for them and hold it up where they can easily take it from you and put it in their own mouth. Sounds like it would be really messy but a lot of babies take to it really quickly.

For a different perspective, I always let my LO eat things like chilli, spaghetti bolognaise, casseroles etc. with her hands. Her hands and face were a mess but that was part of the fun for me!

 

[lau86]

She does eat most things with her hands, depending on what it is she makes a huge mess. Defo not part of the fun for me!! It's mostly the dinner I don't like doing it when I'm tired and have all 3 to bath and bed (often by myself). But she might take to the pre loading I will try that

 

[MindUtopia]

Yep, she will make a huge mess and depending on how adept she is at using her hands to scoop it up and into her mouth, she might not be able to eat much of certain foods (like rice) at first. That's okay. You either live with the mess for a bit and see it as a learning experience (she can only learn to eat those foods herself if she has practice with them, which will mean dropping a lot for a bit), or you make an effort to make more special things for her that are easier to hold and handle (like make your rice from dinner into rice balls or cook it into an omelette or something similar). Either one is fine. She'll eventually get the hang of it though if you just leave her to it. But no, if you want to do baby-led weaning, it's baby-lead. That doesn't mean you can't do a mix of finger foods sometimes and purees sometimes, but it's not baby-led weaning, if that makes sense. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, but it's just doing finger foods and purees.

But at the same time, I also don't think it matters too much if sometimes you help her if she gets frustrated or obviously wants something but can't get it in her mouth or she's sick or tired and just wants to eat. That's totally fine. I sometimes feed my 3 year old when she's poorly or really tired and she asks me too. She was never spoon fed as a baby though, but sometimes that's just what they need on ocassion and that's fine. But if you truly want it to be baby-led and you believe in that approach, then I'd avoid spoon feeding as a general practice, doing it only occassionally if you feel you need to, pre-loading her spoon to feed herself instead, and just let her explore on her own. You'll be amazed how she'll be able to scoop foods into her mouth with a bit of practice. It certainly can be more of a choking hazard to spoon feed chunky foods if she isn't already adept at eating them, but more just depends on how much tongue control she has, her gag reflex, etc. I would think certainly it would be more risky for a 6 month old who has had very little experience with any food at all than on average for a 10 month old who already has a pincer grip and is used to eating things like peas, beans, blueberries without much trouble.

 

[lau86]

I was just thinking my ds2 did everything himself and ds1 are purées for a loooooong time (which is why I did blw with ds2!!) so ive never given a baby as young as this lumpy textures. It did make me feel uncomfortable. Idk it's not easy is it!

 

[zorak]

I did a mix of spoon and finger feeding both boys. Both got to a point they preferred self feeding so I just went with it. I do pre loaded spoons sometimes but C really prefers his hands. We eat things like chilli and curry often. I put a dessert spoons worth on his tray at a time. I use decent bibs abs will take his sweater etc off. Yes loads goes on the floor but it's now built into the kids expectations that they have to stay in their seat while I sweep quickly. I keep cheap flannels in the kitchen to clean them up with. Honestly we have laminate abd it takes minutes to clean up.