To puree, or not to puree, that is the question

[FreddyFireflyCanFeckOff]

So now we are being advised not to give pureed food when weaning as it can delay speech development.

What happened to the concept of balance? I thought I would be a 'by the book Mum', but turns out I am no such thing in many instances.

No wonder new mums get anxious!

[minipie]

What a load of bollocks

Of course giving only purees for ages wouldn't be great because they'd never learn to chew and move their mouth but nowt wrong with purees alongside lumpier stuff and finger foods.

[TheWeeBabySeamus1]

I started my son on purées and gradually moved on to solids. He's nearly 2 now and his speech is great, really clear, and he eats most things.

I nodded in agreement with the HV most of the time - and then I just did what felt right for me and my son.

[NoCapes]

DS1 had breathing problems so was on purées for a lot longer than most babies
He's 7 now, speaks perfectly well and never bloody shuts up!

Load of old tosh!

[LetsJunglyJumpToIt]

I did purée with my first and BLW with my second. Much preferred BLW, so much easier. However my first DC's speech is miles better. It's just how they are.

The only thing with wanting to do things by the book is that the babies haven't read them!

[Sirzy]

Who is advising that?

Alongside purées finger foods are used generally anyway

[mrsfuzzy]

do what feels right for you, i went from milk to some puree with ds, but it was such a hassle, time consuming and he wouldn't always eat it, so we moved on to solids at 4 months and were flying as did the rest of my gang. no speech problems whatsoever, all thrived and are teens and 20's now.
bloody mine field for newbies now, i feel sorry for you with all this update shite keep changing. wee bang on the money. smile and wave boys, smile and wave.

[SpeakNoWords]

Do whatever you'd like and prefer to do. BLW is not compulsory and plenty of people do puree, probably still most people. There's no such thing as "by the book". As long as you're feeding your child age-appropriate vaguely-healthy food then no one will have a problem with that.

[Crazycatladyloz82]

We pureed and my 15 month old (who was also a month premature) is chatting up a storm and says about 15 words.

[mrsfuzzy]

meant to say, there is one good use for the 'book of babies care' and that is generally the loo for when you run out of paper. .

[FreddyFireflyCanFeckOff]

Sirzy - both District Nurse and Health Visitor. I was advised to swiftly start solids and told horror stories by DN about parents who havent...

[Nanny0gg]

Three of my DGC have had speech delay.

No problems with chewing or hard foods.

I think babies need both puree and finger foods.

[missyB1]

I did purées and finger foods, most parents I know did the same. It's not as if you're going to use purées till their 2 years old!! I'm sure BLW is fine but it's another bandwagon for people to jump on.

[Sirzy]

I can see how still using Ella's kitchen pouches (similar products are available) when a child is over 1 and not using anything else may start to cause problems. But a balance of foods from purées and finger foods isn't going to cause any problems IMO and I would be interested the read the proper research which suggests it does.

[LetsJunglyJumpToIt]

Why would a district nurse be giving advice on weaning? I'm a paediatric nurse so genuinely asking.

[FreddyFireflyCanFeckOff]

She came for home visit when HV wass busy

[RiverTam]

What a load of drivel. DD had purées, mashed stuff, lumpy stuff, whatever. She's also veggie so she didn't have as much chewy stuff as a meat-eating baby would. Absolutely no problems with speech at all.

I've heard some utter nonsense about not doing purées, you just need to learn to ignore it.

[Notso]

This thread will be pointless as it will be full of posters saying their child had purée and they won the Guinness world record for talking etc.

The tongue movements used when chewing do help with speech. Due to the practice of later weaning the process of weaning has been pushed back a couple of months. Previously it was purée at around four months and lumpier foods at six months. Meaning some babies are having smooth food later and for longer.
There isn't really a need for purée for baby who is showing signs of being ready to wean at around six months. Mashed food, finger food and whole food is fine.

[NerrSnerr]

My just turned 2 year old was weaned on purées but didn't really want to eat food until she was one. She'd have a spoonful or two of mushed up food but anything solid went straight on the floor and nowhere near her mouth until about 14 months. Her speech is really good and clear. I haven't got onto Guinness World Records yet as I have been busy but reckon she's up there....

[HopelesslydevotedtoGu]

This thread will be pointless as it will be full of posters saying their child had purée and they won the Guinness world record for talking etc.
The tongue movements used when chewing do help with speech.

This.

What happened to the concept of balance?

Balance between what?
As most babies don't need purées, why should your HV advise 'balancing' purée with solid/ mashed food? (Some babies do need a large solids intake asap eg severe reflux, so would benefit from purées).
My HV recommended purées though, so the advice hasn't changed in my area. I listened to what she said, did some research, and decided to do things differently to her advice. That's fine to do. I didn't feel like a rogue parent, just someone who reached a different conclusion.

You can obviously give purées if you want to. I used them sometimes.

[MargaretCabbage]

I've never heard this before. I went down the BLW route as that's what worked for us, but I don't see an issue with purée - I think most people my age were weaned that way initially without problems. I'd love to see any research on this, if it exists.