Lacking confidence...should I be weaning

[Cbell]

My DD is 22.5 wo and I am confused about the weaning process.

Over the last few days I have been giving her puréed fruit and vegetable.Some she likes eating but all she likes smearing on herself...lots of fun. I've been feeding her off of a spoon and she willingly opens her mouth for the next taste. However, I would like to give her finger foods so she doesn't only think food is delivered into her mouth. I'd like to try BLW

So my questions are...

1. Should I offer her FF alongside the purées
   
   Developmentally she is not yet able to sit up unsupported and her hand eye coordination is still a bit hit and miss (but she would be practising this skill using BLW)
   
   
2. Should I wait until the recommended 6 months when she might be better at biting and chewing.
   
   I don't want to put her off the idea of food by getting it wrong

[babybouncer]

Firstly, weaning is individual to your child, so the main thing is to think about them and what they're like. All babies develop differently, so 6 months is a guide. If your LO isn't sitting up on her own yet, it sounds like she's probably not ready.

There are different ways to do weaning. 'Strict' BLW would only be finger foods and at your stage this means just letting her take big chunks of food off your plate to play with/suck at/munch on. Many parents do a mix of finger foods and purees - some mainly do BLW with just a few things, like yoghurt, on a spoon while others do mainly purees with just a few finger foods to pick at. Other parents do almost exclusively purees and then move to more finger foods later. It's your choice, you need to do what works for your family and remember you can change and adapt your approach as you need to.

My DS refused a spoon (unless it had petits filous on it!), so my decision to do BLW was made for me, but if I had another child, I would choose to do it again. I found it very difficult to begin with as I saw my friends' kids eating loads from a spoon while mine didn't really start eating until he was nearly one, and I found the support threads on here invaluable.

Don't feel that you need to rush in to weaning. Be confident in your instincts and do what you feel is right for your DD.

HTH