Is it ok NOT to puree at 6 months?

[milkmummy1]

hi
have started my almost 7 month old on baby rice a few weeks ago, then tried a few fruit purees made by myself. my HV said that the good thing about waiting until 6 months is that i dont need to puree anything - just to mash them. i said i thought i woudl pureee as am worried abotu choking. have tried mashign now and was surprised how smooth it still got. my question is though, is it ok for his tummy not to have purees and go straight onto lumps? she also said that i can go straight for it now and introduce EVERYTHING (becuase of his age) and not to introduce foods slowly like the books say. whats everyones thoughts on this?

[showbiz]

i have weaned all my four children from 4 months like the old method of slowly introducing different tastes, purree first then mashing etc etc. when the rule changed from 4 months to 6 months after my second child i chose to carry on the old way as my child was ready and wanted it. i'm sure it is safe otherwise they would not advise you, however i prefer the old way of gradually making the food lumpier and by slowly introducing tastes you can tell what they like/dislike and if there is any reaction to foods it is easier to spot with only one taste

[gillhowe]

I very quickly mashed DS's food as I couldn't see any point in pureeing (can't see any tummy problem). Also lots of foods are smooth anyway (yoghurt, weetabix, ready brek etc) We have no history of allergies so I was fairly haphazard and fast in my introduction of everything, some of the books recommend an almost ridiculously slow process (but they are written for four month olds)! I was a bit more vigilant about things that are commonly allergenic - I spotted his egg sensitivity immediately for example as that was the only new thing in that meal

Even if you are not going to do BLW give him finger foods from the beginning - they help with coordination and chewing and all sorts of other good stuff. They will help him learn how to deal with lumpy food. I know it can be a bit scary but if you start with things that dissolve or are too small to choke on then you don't have to worry too much. DS had toast first.

The BLW (baby led weaning) website of aitches is really good for thinking about finger foods. Even if you are not going to go the whole hog (i didn't) it is worth a look (babyledweaning.com)

There is a difference between gagging and choking btw, I didn't worry about DS gagging a bit and it didn't seem to worry him, don't let it scare you if he does it!

[lulumama]

this will explain it all! you can absolutely give your baby finger food from the get go.....also , there is a forum on the site, so when you join ( which is free of course! ) you can ask experienced BLWers any questions you have

your baby will be just fine eating finger food, but don;t be surprised if he gums food, and doesn;t eat a huge amount

[EscapeFrom]

No baby needs to have stuff pureed if you wait until they can eat properly. If he can get it into him tummy, he can probably digest it. Ds2 was eating pasta with broccoli trees, whole, unmashed or chopped, at 7 months.

They will gag the first few times but this is a normal part of learning.

[Aitch]

according to the NHS it is.

[ruddynorah]

what a fab HV you have! it does seem odd doesn't it when you expect you have to puree, but you really don't. so much easier, and more fun for your baby.

[Aitch]

true, norah. round of applause for milkmummy's HV!

[gillhowe]

NHS's weaning advice doesn't mention puree's at all.

[Elibean]

My dd2 refused anything mashed or pureed from the start - she would eat maybe 3 spoonfuls of babyrice, then refuse the spoon. At 7 months she was losing weight, I moved her on to BLW (HV's idea, I have a smart one) and hey presto. I have a 9 month old little guzzler, who eats raw peppers, broccoli, chicken, toast etc with no teeth.

[Aitch]

gill, is that right? that is interesting. are you sure? i'm sure i've read mashed or pureed.

[LadyTophamHatt]

DS4 will only eat totally smooth food(ie pureed) from a spoon but will happily eat biscuits, toast, bread sticks, and anything else he can get his hands on if he does it himself or I post it into his mouth.

[gillhowe]

Aitch, NHS advice I think usually reads mashed (which is what Milkmummy's HV advised), certainly does in the leaflet I got and (on a brief skim to double check!) in that birth to five book. I think the official advice is that you offer mashed family food as a preference (and finger foods). Certainly should be no need for a blender at 6 months!. Mashed is better as it is 1. less time consuming, 2. less washing up and 3. gets them used to food with texture.


Ladytopemhatt, DS doesn't mind lumps but really hates it if spoon food is too dry(OK with fingers though)

[Aitch]

god, i wonder why so many people think annabel karmel is the be-all and end-all, then? mind you, i suppose that jars wil have had an impact on people's expectations as well. the longer it takes to get off jars, the more money to the companies...

[UCM]

Aitch, I promise you I have only given DD one jar when we were away from home, but apart from that I have been following your lead.

Sometimes though, it doesn't seem as if she is getting enough, so I grab a fork, mash it and spoon feed.

[UCM]

Oh and I am very very proud of not spending our limited money on jars. Today I made an AK (sorry) barley soup and DD doesn't like it. She will like it because there are about 14 little containers of it.

[Aitch]

oh i profoundly Do Not Care about people using jars etc, i was just meaning that there's clearly been almost a conspiracy to get women to believe that babies 'need' pureed foods, and that commercial interests will have some bearing, whether jar manufacturers or authors etc.
the NHS certainly says that finger food is fine from 6 months (but they're suggesting that accompanied by mashed, so that's where it diverges from BLW), but where did the whole puree thing come from..?

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

oh jar food saved me with DD.

And a little bit with DS..... I always felt less aggrieved if DS refused a jar of something than I did if I had prepared him something fresh

[Aitch]

try letting her dip bread into the soup, dd always loved that. or she may like barley more if she's got a pincer grip, dd really adored barley then. the thign about BLW is that you specifically don't feed them because you want them to have a bit more, you let them decide when to stop eating but don't limit milk because that's where they get most of their calories at that age.

so basically it's not for everyone, though, for a zillion different reasons. i was talking to a friend tonight who has twins and two other boys, and she said that sometimes she spoon feeds her twins because she simply can't be arsed with/doesn't have time for the mess, which seems perfectly reasonable to me.
but the fact that she can give her boys finger food from 6 months, and can give them other meals made up of finger food entirely, is something that she wouldn't have done prior to reading a bit about BLW, so that can only be a good thing imho.

i don't think BLW undermines anyone (i bloody hope it doesn't). i think it should encourage people to do What They Want and What Is Appropriate for their child and their family, but at least know what their child is capable of, iykwim? whereas i don't think that's the case with some weaning authors i've read (naming no names, obv).

[Aitch]

try letting her dip bread into the soup, dd always loved that. or she may like barley more if she's got a pincer grip, dd really adored barley then. the thign about BLW is that you specifically don't feed them because you want them to have a bit more, you let them decide when to stop eating but don't limit milk because that's where they get most of their calories at that age.

so basically it's not for everyone, though, for a zillion different reasons. i was talking to a friend tonight who has twins and two other boys, and she said that sometimes she spoon feeds her twins because she simply can't be arsed with/doesn't have time for the mess, which seems perfectly reasonable to me.
but the fact that she can give her boys finger food from 6 months, and can give them other meals made up of finger food entirely, is something that she wouldn't have done prior to reading a bit about BLW, so that can only be a good thing imho.

i don't think BLW undermines anyone (i bloody hope it doesn't). i think it should encourage people to do What They Want and What Is Appropriate for their child and their family, but at least know what their child is capable of, iykwim? whereas i don't think that's the case with some weaning authors i've read (naming no names, obv).

[gillhowe]

AK etc's advice seems very contrary to NHS advice to me, that annoys me quite a lot as the 'official' advice never gets publisied. People get all worried about choking for example because that's what an non medically qualified 'guru' thinks.

Personally I think a lot of it might be about quantities, people think "Oh that recipie was great he ate loads of it", a baby will eat more thin pureed food than thick lumpy food, particularly at first. It all becomes about amounts rather than experience.

Also AK advocates in one of her books distracting the baby so that you can sneak a few mouthfuls of food in - again this is contrary to 'official' advice, if you are having to distract the baby doesn't want the food

NHS advice is actually rather good I think, it seems to be based on your baby having fun with food and developing, not about the amount they eat.

Oh and jars are v. useful sometimes imo , although, going back to the quantity thing, it is quite easy to get stuck on a lower stage.

[Aitch]

me too, particularly a NHS Northern Ireland document i link to on the blog. It's very sensible, i think.
i think you're on to something re: the amounts. another thing i like about BLW, btw, is that you're not explicitly not thinking about it in those terms, so you can't really get bound up in 'but he had a whole jar/three cubes yesterday, why not today?' tbh at the beginning there's so much food gettign dropped it's only when you see the nappies you realise some went in.

[gillhowe]

Its hard though isn't it, it is a great feeling when your baby eats loads and really enjoys the food and awful when they seem to eat nothing! You must get that stress with BLW too (but presumably you are expecting it!).

We've had an eating nothing (and drinking no milk) day today, I know he will be fine but its still horrible!

[Aitch]

well yes, i think you are pretty fore-warned with BLW that it might take a while, but i was also given some very good advice before i started weaning (from a friend, not someone who'd done BLW).
she said NEVER to pay attention to what a child eats in a mealtime, but only to note what they'd eaten in a week. such a good idea i think.

[scienceteacher]

Yes, it's OK to not puree