Possible to mix TW with BLW?

[flamingpanda]

We started weaning Hadley very early on the advice of our doctor as she was suffering with terrible reflux. Weaning did indeed sort the problem and now she's hardly sick at all however I feel we're trapped in a routine with jars! She has 3 meals a day and has dropped to 4 smaller bottles. However I'm really keen to get her at the table and eating with us. Any suggestions on how to make the transition? If I start giving her bits of what we're having should I drop the jars altogether or should I slowly introduce the idea one meal at a time? Also what would be good foods to start with to get her used to the texture change and feeding herself? Can you mix both weaning methods?

 

[missk1989]

You could start by offering something like toast after her usual breakfast. Maybe give her slightly less than usual so she still wants to eat. If you sit and eat the same she will learn what to do.

 

[Casey3]

You can't technically do both as finger foods with purees would just be tw (finger foods is the natural progression of tw) but you can switch from tw to blw now that your LO is old enough.

It doesn't really matter what you call it though! I'd just start giving her finger foods and decrease the purees

 

[socitycourty]

don't worry so much about the "label", just give your LO what you feel she needs

 

[Ktothema]

I weaned both mine from 17w, so purees to start with obviously. When they got more able with their hands I also introduced finger foods. Like Socitycourty says, don't worry about the labels and do what feels right for you both.

 

[flamingpanda]

Thanks everyone! It's not so much the label I'm concerned with and I know she's happy being spoon fed and honestly I enjoy still being a big part of that. All I wonder (and I'm sorry if this sounds stupid) is how we get from me spooning food in to her being able to eat solids and feed herself. We've been weaning since 15 weeks (I know that's early but it was medically advised) and so by now she's a little expert. She loves her food and has 3 good sized meals a day. What do I do next? Just move onto the next jars? Do I offer finger foods and keep her spoon fed meals as they are? What finger foods should she have?

I tried a bit of broccoli yesterday just out of curiosity and she just smushed it. Ate hardly anything. So I don't think switching would be sensible at all as she's used to having good meals and I just don't think she'd get anywhere enough this way. So I'm guessing finger foods are the answer but I just feel so lost with what and when. She's our first and it's all new to me too. Any more advice would be welcomed.

 

[Ktothema]

How I did it with DD was to keep her meals as purees/lumps/etc but during snack times I'd give her finger foods, eventually we worked up to one meal as normal and another where she could feed herself with her fingers (I think she was about 11m when we started that so very in control)

 

[ktod]

I don't think it really matters. In fact I think being too strict about being one way or another is just adding unnecessary stress. I started off BLW but i found there are times when it is just not appropriate depending what we are having as a family meal. My main priority is LO being part of our (healthy) family meals. Sometimes the things we eat, he just can't do it himself and he needs a little help from us.

 

[flamingpanda]

Thanks guys. What I think might be an idea is getting her onto our food even if it's still pureed. Then at least she's getting a taste of home cooking. The only question I have there is - what about when we make spicy food? Tonight I'm making a curry, it's usually very mild - to us at least - but should I just avoid giving her that kind of thing altogether or is there a way to make it baby friendly? I thought I'd be sick of advice from HV's by now but they don't seem to help at all with weaning. I brought it up at our last weight check and I was told to just start handing her things. When I asked what she said Yorkshire puddings and chicken. Maybe I need a book...

 

[Randianne]

If it's mild, I'd let her try it. We give LO spicy food and she loves it. I think the spirit of BLW is that you give them what you eat as appropriate. We started off with purees and finger foods and gradually went to a BLW approach because she hated having anyone else feed her but couldn't quite do it herself. Now she eats the pouch purees when we're out because it's easy and not messy. I'm not too concerned with the label. We did what worked for us.

 

[Radkat]

Maybe you could try feeding her slices of avocado or banana so she gets used to eating something that isn't pureed. Then get more creative from there.

 

[Mrs Mc]

Tbh I don't do either tw or blw. We do it that whatever we eat with a fork and knife the twins get spoon fed and whatever we eat our fingers the twins do. I still get a little confused how u teach a baby that even though u have eaten everything with your hands u now have to use utensils. Probably because I haven't done any research into blw so me and OH made up our own weaning technique
Finger foods we offer:
Toast
'organix crisp things
fruit slices

I wouldn't be concerned about 'switching' to blw just follow lo's cues.

 

[mandimoo]

I think a mild home made curry would be a great tasting experience for your LO. You probably already know this, so excuse me, but if you are using a shop bought cooking sauce / paste I would be very wary indeed of the salt / sugar / additives content.

If you are totally starting from scratch ..... can I come round?

 

[korndogger123]

I do whatever my heart desires. LOL, yesterday LO had green beans on her tray while OH fed her pureed green beans (from a jar). Sometimes she just wants to munch oh the finger food, and sometimes she feels like being fed.

 

[flamingpanda]

Thank you so much for the tips everyone. We've decided we will continue to spoon feed and just try and offer something solid with a meal too. So with her yoghurt at lunch we've offered some organix snacks. With breakfast this morning I gave her a bit of my toast to suck on - which she thought was really exciting lol. It might be slow but I think we're more comfortable with that method. We also went out and got her a highchair which she seems to really like being in.

Oh and - yes the curry is a start from scratch curry! My partner is a bit fussy with spicy food so I tend to make anything like that from scratch so I can control what goes into it. I guess that's a good thing for Hadley too!