Confused about BLW - Help!

[Leafy]

My baby girl is nearly 8 months, she mainly has pureed foods, with little bits of other food (eg: tiny bit of biscuit or toast)

I think we're both getting bored of her dinners, i tried making my own purees a few times but that was just carrots, sweet potato and parsnips mixed up which i felt was really boring for her all the time. She has jars too but they make me gag just looking at them, i want her to have some proper food, and i think she would enjoy this.

Whenever we are eating she wants some, so we have started giving her little bits but im so nervous, wondering if it is suitable, etc - the other day my OH gave her a little bit of sponge cake and she liked it, but i was worried she'd choke or if she should be having it.

So anyway, i want to give her proper meals, is that what BLW is? I've looked it up on google but im still confused! Is it like giving her mashed potato and fish fingers cut up small as a meal rather than pureeing the whole meal?

What meals do you give and how do you give them? I see people saying they give banana alot, how do you give banana? cut up into slices? please give it to me in laymans terms i really am brand new to this lol xx

 

[Whisper]

Basically just give them what you have but don't puree any of it, some stuff you can cut up if you think she will have trouble biting and chewing it (most often meat) but just give them a meal with or without cutlery and let them tuck in. Keep a close eye if you are worried about choking but their gag reflex is so far forward at this age they are pretty adept at bringing up any bigger lumps.

Its fun and messy but my son is an amazing eater which i put down to BLW.

 

[MindUtopia]

Yep, just give them what you're eating, but just with some adjustments. For instance, you'll want to cut out added salt and sugar still at this point. So just season after if you're someone who tends to add lots of salt to food while you cook (I am, so I keep having to remember not to!). This would also mean avoiding ready-made pasta sauces or curry sauces and ready-meals, as they are often very high in salt. And you'd want to avoid things like raisins, whole grapes, whole blueberries, etc. because they are more of a choking risk in babies.

But yep, just give whatever you are having. It forces you to be a bit more creative with your meals and try new things yourself. We've found steamed broccoli and baby sweet corn is a big hit. As is toast or pita with hummus on it. Penne pasta (with or without sauce) was also good. We're trying spaghetti for the first time later. Rice cakes (the baby size ones, salt free) are also a big hit. They don't taste like much, but she likes the size and texture. We get the baby ones from Boots, but Organix also does some. For bananas, I just cut them into 1 cm slices, about the size of her fist. Banana is really slippery, so I tried sticks (too slippery!) and I tried just giving her like 1/4 of a whole banana (too big for her to pick up). The little chunks/slices seem to work best. She can pick it up and then still chew at the end or smush it and eat some that way.

Don't worry too much about choking. Of course, you should know what to do if it does happen. But they really are very good at keeping themselves safe. It's an in-borne instinct. My daughter has gagged a few times (gagging sounds like what you think choking would sound like, like a cat about to throw up!), but gagging is a good thing. It helps them move food to the front of the mouth that's gotten to the back of the throat and is too big to swallow. They really do know what they are going. It's actually great to watch. The first time I thought, oh, should I do something? But she gagged a bit and the bit of carrot just got spit out. She was fine. She knew it wasn't chewed up enough for her to safely swallow it.

If you are into reading books, you might think of getting the BLW book (or borrow it from your library). I actually found it really reassuring and there is lots of great finger food ideas in there. I think there's also a finger food list on here somewhere.