Lazy weaning -is this ok?

[blushingmare]

I think I made a bit of a song and dance about weaning DD, so with DS just want to make it as easy as possible. I've just been giving him some fruit or vegetables as finger foods when I sit down with DD for a meal. Then for one meal of the day, usually dinner, I purée up a bit of what DD's having and give him that on a spoon (although there's no nice clean spoon feeding to be had - he just grabs the spoon and smears it all over his face!)

He gags lots (which I know is normal) and most of it gets spat out, so I don't think he's eating much, but he seems to be enjoying the new entertainment, as long as I keep it short.

If we go out, I've not been giving him any food - he just has breast feeds as normal.

It all feels a bit haphazard and there's no structure to it. Is this ok? Other people are checking off lists of "first tastes" and using baby rice, whereas I seem to just look in panic in the fridge at what I can chuck his way to keep him occupied for a bit.....

If you weaned a bit like this, how quickly did you get on to 3 regular meals a day and thinking about giving them a balanced diet?

[BigWLittleJ]

I'm doing exactly the same with DS2 (6mos), although I'm not pureeing, I just give him a stick of something or something off my plate at each meal, mainly to keep him occupied! I think it's just a case of being much more relaxed second time around. They'll get there eventually and probably be less fussy in the long run. I'm just following DS2's cues and keeping breast milk as his main food for now, he'll soon let me know when he wants less milk and more food.

[NoodieRoodie]

did this with DD (DC2), she's a dainty little thing who eats like a navvy!

Nearly 13 months and can (and does) eat as much as DS who's just turned 3.

We quite quickly moved from fridge panic to "a bit of whatever we're having, it's in big enough chunks"

[elsbethy]

I'm currently doing fridge panic weaning too. I give him bits of what we're having, bits of fruit & veg, or sometimes if he's tired or it doesn't fit in with our day, I just bf him instead. I'm finding it more difficult to devote time to it the second time around.

We only started a couple of weeks ago, so he's still learning. He prefers broccoli and preloaded spoons. Gets frustrated with other things. I figure soon enough he'll get the hang of it and be having the same meals as us.

I was pretty haphazard when BLW my DD too, to be honest. And she turned out ok!

[fixyourgardengate]

I did this with dd (except on her days with the cm when I sent in pouches)

She's 16 months now and eats everything, mostly feeding herself. Except if were having weetabix for breakfast because I can't deal with picking it out of her hair for the rest of the day....

Not sure when we moved from her playing to her getting the same as her big brother, but I think a couple of months in (with various blips for teething etc)

[sleeplessbunny]

I have found weaning a total pita for both of mine.
fridge panic weaning yes this is me
seems ok to me

[BikeRunSki]

Apart from the purée meal, this approach is called baby led weaning. I did it with both DC. There are blogs and books about it.

[HairyPorter]

Initially I mashed up our food (with a spoon) for dd but by 8m she just got given what we were having. So much less work this way!

[westcountrywoman]

This is exactly how I weaned my two and they are both great, unfussy eaters so I don't think it did them any harm.
TBH I didn't really bother pureeing, just chopped up dinners into small ish chunks (with knife and fork). E.g spaghetti bolognese, just cut it so no big lumps of meat and smaller pieces of spaghetti. This was from 6 months. For a roast, cut meat into strips for finger food chewing / sucking, give the veg as finger food too (cooked carrot sticks, broccoli "trees").
Both were having full 3 x daily meals by 9 months. Milk is main source of nutrition until 12 months so don't panic. If only milk is BF, get some abidec drops though for vitamin D (for baby, not you!).

[blushingmare]

Yes tbh I'd be happy to do away with the pureeing as it's another level of faff and he makes such a mess with it. But he has such a strong gag reflex - he will often gag so much he vomits - so I thought giving him some food as a puree might help him to start to swallow and override the reflex a bit. I know it's normal to gag, but he does seem to be particularly sensitive and it would be good to reduce it a bit. Anyone got any thoughts on that?