Been thinking lots about weaning (BLW question also)... Talk to me :)

[Mummafrog]

I'm so excited about starting to share foods with my little girl! She is 3 months now (exclusively breastfed) and can't believe that when she is 6 months I can start to offer things and we can get messy

I've been thinking about the traditional and the BLW routes... I am not into purees or jars from the shop and much more partial to the BLW ideas and method.

I want to give my daughter what we are eating and lots of finger foods and foods in their 'original' forms.
However it seems natural and 'animal' to me, if you will, to mush up things a bit and let her get them to her own mouth that way or pass them to her with my fingers. It doesn't quite make sense to me to just start with what everyone calls 'finger foods'.

But I suppose you could start with naturally mushy foods, like porriage or potato oor a strawberry. Or your own dinner if you were having a nice vegatable packed pasta sauce.

I guess I keep hearing BLW to just be sticks of food, but that doesn't make sense to me? It seems naturally to offer things that a baby will find easier to eat?
X

 

[Rachie004]

I'm in the processs of reading the BLW book by Gill Rapley. It's a fab book so thoroughly recommend having a read

It's not all finger foods, it is, like you say, having them eat whatever it is you're eating (within reason). My friend's little boy had haggis as his first taste of food. I say taste because they're not likely to actually eat much or anything initially, it's all about exploring tastes and textures

 

[Teri7489]

Hi there,

We have really enjoyed BLW with Isabella from 6 months. We threw ourselves right into with all kinds of food, not just easy to eat finger foods. To start with she made a right mess, loved squashing everything in her hands but now she actually eats the food (she's 11 months old now) things like scrambled egg/omelette. Toast with banana or cheese. Really thick chunky soup, steak pie, mashed potato, or simply cooked veg. I do feed her yogurt from a spoon, but that's all. (Mainly because it's practically impossible for them to eat off a table) She doesn't like purée texture so I don't need to mash anything up at all. She's eats food as they are meant to be.

I absolutely love watching her munch on a sandwich (albeit a very small sandwich) or chomping on grapes like a real tiny little human. It's also very cute to watch her giggle as she tries to pick up peas from her table. Sure she misses on purpose most of the time

I'm really glad we did BLW and hope you have the same success as us if you try it xxxx

 

[Miss_Cellany]

I think you'll be surprised at how much they can do at 6 months which means solid food doesn't seem that unusual. Finger foods don't have to be hard and chewy either - in fact they are definitely not initially. We started with overcooked veggies like carrot, sweet potato, broccoli etc so they're soft enough for beginners.

 

[Lovn.sunshine]

I agree with the other ladies. And the biggest thing about BLW is that you want them to eat things other than mush... mush allows them to learn to swollow and then later learn to chew, instead you want them to learn to chew and then swollow. It reduces the risk of choking. For the first few times/weeks they will just move things around in their mouth, spit it out, play with it, squish it up, throw it but eventually they learn to eat it. It's so much fun!

 

[Popples1]

I've just posted in another thread about BLW so won't repeat it all here bit I often give small or mashed foods (grated carrot, mashed avocado, baby pasta with a sauce) - not traditionally 'finger foods' perhaps but my LO has no problem picking them up.

 

[the why bird]

There's no reason you can't feed her some things and give her finger foods for other things, if that's what feels right for you.

That said, my daughter was happy to eat mushy things with her hands like mashed potato or even fromage frais. Yep, it's messy, but it's all good learning. Another option is to pre-load a spoon for them to try and feed themselves.

 

[patch2006uk]

We've just been plonking whatever we're eating on DS2's plate, and so far he's had fish pie, curry and rice, chilli, eggs, sunday roast, fajitas, noodles, pasta, pizza, tuna, sweetcorn, strawberries, sweet potato and a load of other bits off our plates. We took a bit more care with DS1 to do 'chunks' of food, but tbh DS2 hasn't really struggled with anything and he seems to enjoy the variety. As long as you don't cook with salt, and you use a good range of vegetables, basically just give them whatever you're having

 

[Mummafrog]

I really appreciate all the answers ladies, I think I'm starting to get it, if you cook soft/mushy, they can have that And they will enjoy playing and gumming with sticks of veggies and fruit.
I've bought the gill rapley book, I'll give it a read.
3.5 months old now, getting closer!

 

[patch2006uk]

You'll also find they mush stuff pretty competently themselves with their hands. We've never mashed anything for either of ours (except things we eat mashed ourselves, like potato) but give them anything vaguely squashy and it gets pureed in between their fingers and smushed into the tray and licked off! If they want to try it, they'll get it in there somehow! The BLW book is a good read - makes a lot of sense

 

[MindUtopia]

Definitely read the Gill Rapley book. It will explain a lot. To start, I would just feed whatever you eat, but maybe make a few special things that you find are easier for her to pick up (roasted sticks of vegetables, cucumber sticks, pear sticks, toast, roasted potato sticks (chips), etc.). She should have no problem within a week or two picking up a big chunk of banana and eating it, so there's really no need to mash it (and I'd also agree, it's safer if you leave it whole so she can control it in her mouth a bit better). But there's no reason you can't also serve some things blended or mashed or soft that you'd normally eat yourself - banana/avocado mashed and spread on toast is delicious, and blended soups with toast dippers are great too. Initially, she may struggle a bit to pick up things that aren't in more stick shape, but there's no reason to avoid offering them if that's what you're eating. She'll eventually work out how to stick her hands in and scoop with her hands or lick her fingers.