Questions about weaning -BLW or spoonfed?

[xxLeighxx]

Hi ladies,
my son will be 6 months old on 20th jan, he has been exclusively breastfed. When I had my daughter it was your pretty basic purees etc but now with blw i need some advice. How should I go about weaning, or how do you do it with your LO? Can I do both spoonfed and blw? Feed him some but put finger foods on the side? What do you give first? HV said pureed veg for a few days and then mash it and then introduce meats and finger foods fairly quickly as ive held off until 6 months to wean him?
Just really asking for your personal preferences and opinions on weaning, blw and spoonfeeding?
Thanks

 

[special_kala]

what you just described is TW. Puree with finger food as well.

Baby Led Weaning is no puree at all, just normal food from the get go.

I have only BLW and wouldn't ever TW. Puree at 6 months seems pointless to me as they are capable of eating proper food so why not just give them it.

 

[xxLeighxx]

Do you ever worry about choking? Not eating enough? What kind of meals do you give for example? What do you do if you give them porridge for brekkie? Feed them or give them the spoon? This is what I get confused about it! I wasnt really planning on pureeing, only chopping, but im still unsure about trying full on blw! Thats why I wanted some opinions

 

[xxLeighxx]

Also do you still nurse on demand?

 

[special_kala]

Do you ever worry about choking? Not eating enough? What kind of meals do you give for example? What do you do if you give them porridge for brekkie? Feed them or give them the spoon? This is what I get confused about it! I wasnt really planning on pureeing, only chopping, but im still unsure about trying full on blw! Thats why I wanted some opinions

A 6 month old is as physically able to eat as a 1 year old. A babies gag reflex is alot further forward so they may gag during the learning process but its not like us gagging.

I have never had a choking incident.

I love BLW because I get to trust my baby to eat how much they need to eat. The same as i trust them to nurse as often as they need too.

Porridge i pre load the spoon and give it to them.

 

[cocosianelle]

Some great advice from PP.

From my own experience were now about 7 weeks in and it's going really. With the choking if you let it worry you then it will just make mealtimes stressful. You'd be surprised at how well babies can adapt to food. Just tonight we had chicken and veg and our LO had some asparagus tips which she ate most of but the last bit went in whole. After she pushed it round her mouth she swallowed and gagged it out but this is her way of telling herself, too much!

With regards to food I stuck with finger foods for the first week just to get LO used to holding stuff and bringing it to her mouth. I now offer 3 meals a day so today she had mango for breakfast, dairylea sandwiches for lunch then chicken and veg for tea. Yesterday we had mango for brekkie, scrabbled egg on toast for lunch then we had our roast beef dinner which she loved.

For porridge you could always make porridge fingers which they can eat themselves. I've posted on another thread but I mix 3 tablespoons of oats with 3 tablespoons of milk let it soak then microwave for 2 minutes, cool and chop into fingers.

 

[xxLeighxx]

So no purees at all, not even the first few days? What would you recommend on the first few days, cooked carrot fingers? I keep reading on blw but dont know anyone personally who has done it so the advice you are giving me is fab what foods should you avoid? Apples etc or are the okay if they are skinned? The comment on comparing it to nursing is great, never thought of it like that! How long does it take you LO to eat a meal?

 

[special_kala]

No puree at all.

Good first foods are cucumber fingers, steamed carrot fingers, parsnip, toast, banana, melon.

I've never peeled anything, the skin helps them grip it.

They can eat everything bar honey and whole nuts.

I avoid grapes until 8/9 months. At around 8 months they will start to master the pincer grip so they can eat things like peas.

Dinner time can take s while but it's worth it. I love watching them explore food.

Gagging is normal, it's how they learn what they can and can't do.

 

[xxLeighxx]

Do you leave the skin on the cucumber? And what kind of proportions do you do? Sounds silly I know but I havent a clue! Do you make more to allow for throwing on the floor lol? Also how big do you cut cumcumber/carrots etc? Xx

 

[special_kala]

Do you leave the skin on the cucumber? And what kind of proportions do you do? Sounds silly I know but I havent a clue! Do you make more to allow for throwing on the floor lol? Also how big do you cut cumcumber/carrots etc? Xx

Yea skin on.

I do tend to allow extra as they drop alot to begin with. Though after a few months you will be shocked how much they can eat.

Early on making the food into big chip like sizes helps them pick it up.

 

[xxLeighxx]

Thanks for all the advice appreciate it! Got his highchair today and a big mad to put underneath lol, catch the mess! Cant wait to start in a couple of weeks now

 

[cocosianelle]

Let us know how you get on

First foods we had were steamed carrots, broccoli, toast, sweet potato 'fries'.

Now tonight she had home made burger and wedges with us, it's lovely seeing them enjoying all the different flavours and textures.

 

[Rachel_C]

We just started BLW with our normal meals minus salt, honey and whole nuts. My youngest's first meal was spag bol; my first LO had a snacky salad type lunch with rice cakes. Both meals were what I was having anyway. Part of BLW is that you can give whole normal meals from the start, no need to give just veg unless that's what you're eating anyway. I usually start off giving LO a small portion, maybe only a tablespoon or two of something like bolognese, but have more to give if it's wanted.

Things like apple, carrot, cucumber I've always given how I eat them - slices of apple with skin on, sticks or chunks of cucumber, peeled sticks of carrot with a dip. The only thing I ever did differently were cherry tomatoes and grapes which I cut in half as they can be hard to 'pop' with the skin whole.

I've never spoon fed anything and only did the pre-loaded spoon thing once or twice. From 6 months, I just gave things like porridge and yoghurt in a small bowl with a couple of small plastic spoons and left LO to it. Sometimes she would dip her fingers in and lick them clean, other times she'd dip the spoon and lick that - no scooping until maybe 8 months but with just dipping they can eat a surprising amount and it encourages them to learn to scoop. If you want, you can make porridge quite thick to help a bit.

 

[xxLeighxx]

Im not starting for a couple of weeks so will let you know
If you eat things like noodles, spaghetti, do you just put some in a bowl or on the tray and leave them to it? Or do you chop it smaller? Also do you put a spoon down on the highchair as an option for them? Spoke to my OH about it and he thinks its a great idea, so its fab that hes on board

 

[special_kala]

I tend to just put it on the tray the first few months, although Fox is now on a booster seat at the table so i might start using a sucky plate to save my table from his mess.

Spaghetti i cut in half but thats mostly because if its too long with the older kids it just flicks around everywhere and it takes them 3 minutes to suck up one piece

 

[cocosianelle]

Rachel what age did you do the sticks of carrot, apple ect? I suppose I'm just cautious as our LO still has no teeth so not sure how she would get on? How did you find your LO's with pasta was it easy enough it pick up?

Our LO is getting really good with picking things up but sometimes I find certain foods a little slippery still. I've just put rice cakes on my shopping list so will try them for lunches next week. I might take the plunge and try yoghurt too as I've yet to introduce a spoon to her for foods although I have given it to her a few times to see if she would bring it to her mouth.

It's great to see more people going down the BLW approach as you ladies have been there before so have great advice

 

[special_kala]

My middle one didnt get teeth until a year old but she ate everything i put in front of her.

Babies have very hard gums and they will just suck and gnaw at things until it breaks down.

 

[Lemonflower]

Thanks so much guys - brilliant thread.

My LO was TW and it's hard getting him off purees now - he's lazy and can't be bothered to chew. I've vowed this time when next LO is 6 months to do BLW though i'm nervous and will feel like like a first time mum again!!

Where did you get your mat from Leigh ?

 

[xxLeighxx]

Thanks for everyones advice cant wait to get started now next saturday we are starting so OH will be off work and Seth will be 26 weeks!

Lemonflower - I got it from kiddicare, it was a prince lionheart one for a tenner but im sure you can get loads of different ones if you google it! Ive read some people just use cheap shower curtsins on the floor but i just got a proper one xx

 

[cocosianelle]

Our LO had salmon last night and she loveddddd it! We're having lasagne tomorrow with wedges and garlic ciabatta so looking forward to seeing what she thinks.

I'm getting a shower curtain on the weekend to cut up as it's just so much easier than picking bits up from everywhere!