Forgotten how to do this weaning thing

[TotallyFoxed]

I'm just starting to give food to my 6mo ds. He's my second and the first is barely out of toddlerhood yet I can't remember how to get started. I'm relatively happy with BLW/finger food though will spoon feed some purees and porridge etc helping him to use the spoon himself. But do I need to start with just fruit and veg at this age or is cereal and toast ok to start with? How about yoghurt? And what about harder finger foods like rice cakes with toppings? The rice cake packet says 7 months. Last time round I was all clued up with loads of reading etc but this time I'm just stumbling head first into it!

[BonaDea]

They can basically eat anything from day 1 if you are doing blw. The normal rules around not giving salt or honey apply.

[TotallyFoxed]

So rice cakes are fine?
Feel confused in a way I never was before! V strange.
I'm just overthinking the 'rules' and how it can suddenly be fine to let them eat all manner of things their bodies haven't had before. Like maybe traditional weaning had a point.

[ExBrightonBell]

The "rules" are that they can eat anything bar honey, too much salt and obvious choking hazards such as whole nuts.

The thing about BLW is to begin with very little goes in, so it is a gentle start to solids. It seems very natural to me, unlike spoonfeeding a specific sequence of purees for a set amount of time. That seems very artificial and unresponsive.

[Sid77]

I'm in the same boat! With DS1 I was weaning along with a load of other friends with the same aged babies (NCT) - this time I'm all alone and have no confidence!! I'm doing sort if mixed BLW and so far have discovered that my DS2 is allergic to something in aptamil baby porridge (came out in a rash) so he's had cucumber sticks and mango sticks, both if which he sucked for a bit, and some sweet potato from a spoon mixed with some breast milk. I intend to do veggies and fruit for the first few weeks before moving onto bread/cereals and meat. I think that from 6 months their digestive systems can take anything, but it makes sense to me to work them up it the more difficult to digest foods. HTH

[TotallyFoxed]

Thanks. I agree about trying to start with the more natural stuff. When he's had finger foods he has just sucked them which led me to worry about it being sucked too fast out of his control to the back of his throat and being a risk. I understand about him learning to chew and manipulate things in his mouth but had forgotten about the sucking.