To really not understand baby led weaning?

I couldn’t get away with it either. My youngest was not interested in food placed in front of her in the slightest and it ended up all over the floor or down her.

She has a very healthy appetite now a few years later.

I heard a saying which I believe is true that ‘food before one is just for fun’ I wouldn’t let it worry me

I highly recommend sticks of soft boiled courgette as a finger food (as an accompaniment to a puree). Both of mine shovelled it in, with all the water dripping everywhere. Quite revolting! But it does help get your confidence up!!

i tried BLM with my little one when he turned 6 months and found that he’s only recently really started showing a proper interest in food (he’s 8 months on the 23rd).

For the first week he wasn’t interested at all. Then the next few weeks or so he would put food in his mouth and suck it a bit but didn’t swallow much or chew. He spat puree out too.

When he turned 7 months he definitely became more interested and would chew a lot more, but it’s probably the last week when I’ve noticed him properly swallowing.

I give him a mix of food that I feed him (puree, porridge, rice/pasta type meals) and finger food that he can feed himself!

I wanted to give up in the first few weeks but I’m glad I stuck with it. It just takes time. They don’t have big stomachs so aren’t expected to eat much anyway!

Ideally BLW involves hardly any thought or work on your part - I always interpreted it as eg make myself some toast and cut a chunk off and put it on the tray of the highchair. If eaten, a chunk more, if not, well it’s not like I went to any great effort or it’s a great loss.

Making dinner, put a few pieces of pasta or pieces of veg on the tray. And so on. At least at first, just let them play with the food and maybe decide to eat it. But just what you’re making anyway! Otherwise of course it’s expensive and stressful. But an extra potato or handful of pasta isn’t.

I did exactly the same. My DD is a wonderful eater. I always gave her the option of a puree and finger foods with each meal so she developed the motor skills etc but also I could be sure she had a good meal rather than not knowing if she'd actually eaten with the finger foods. She always chose the puree first. Now she's 15mo and eats our meals, no puree in sight. That's BLW to me, she's also not fussy, other than not liking raw spinach, salad and yoghurt. But we can't all like everything.

I did a mix of BLW and some softer food with both of mine.
DS ate up everything presented to him (with a fair bit of mess) and DD took until 12-16months before she really got into food. She just didn't seem that fussed for a long time.
But it's about exposure. Think of the food as a toy for her right now. She's exploring it and seeing what she can do with it.
There will be lots of waste and mess. It's a process. An infuriating process 😂

I hadn’t at your stage either. I was just doing pouches and bits of veg, like you. I was super stressed and overwhelmed by it. I even cried a lot thinking I was behind and letting her down. It suddenly just became easier and she would eat more, when she got to almost 9 months. Hang in there!

I felt super anxious about this too and couldn’t bear to give my baby anything other than purées. At almost 9 months she decided that wasn’t enough anymore and would scream if I tried to feed her, so I was forced to give her things to eat herself. I’ve been absolutely amazed at how well she’s taken to it. Only a month later I would feel confident giving her almost anything. It will get easier with time, don’t rush into anything you don’t feel comfortable with and also massively recommend Solid Starts to help serve food correctly.
I also get a lot of recipes from instagram, nothing massively fancy just things like little muffins, fritters, etc. I’m quite enjoying it now!

My DS2 was similar at first. He was super enthusiastic about food but had no teeth (still now has only just cut his first one at 8 months), he just couldn’t seem to physically manage the food very well in his mouth. He vomited dramatically after gagging on more than one occasion. We did (and are doing) a mix of mashed up foods, like lumpy purées, and finger food. He mostly has what we eat but prepared to suit him. Like many others I recommend Solid Starts for this. We persevered with it and only over the last couple of weeks has he grasped the chewing and swallowing and seems to be getting lots more down. He’s stopped gagging now and it’s much easier. Some of them just take a while longer to get to grips with it. They definitely can chew with their gums though. Wishing you an easier journey very soon!!

At that age solids aren't supposed to be 'a feed', they're just a taste and texture experience, not a lot is necessarily supposed to go in. Just keep offering a variety of foods with no pressure or expectations and see how it goes.

My two DC now aged 11 and 12 are not at all fussy compared to their peers. I spent many hours letting them play with food during weaning and the toddler years. I avoided traditional kids food, a chicken nugget has never crossed the threshold, they just ate what we ate. A mum I respected said if they average one small meal of normal food a day at that age you are doing well, and my mother-in-law always said you need to try something at least 12 times to get used to it so I persevered and I swear it paid off. The river cottage baby cook book was good as it had family meals in it.

You sound like you’re stressing out and taking it all a bit too seriously. What are you blending?
my babies were big eaters and went from mush to full plated dinners pretty quickly. The first fail safe foods were:
mashed potato ( lots of butter)
banana
avocado
pears
berries
yoghurt
bread and butter with soup to dip.
cereals
scrambled egg
beans
fish pie
cottage pie
stew and dumplings
Pop the tv on or chat casually to her while she tries it/ plays with it and potter about a bit don’t sit and stare at her and make her feel pressure. Mine used to cover themselves in food at dinner and would get put straight in the bath… it was the making of an evening routine .
you can batch cook and freeze stuff don’t waste all your money on pouches and stuff . It’s an absolute rip off.

DS2 is a few days older than your DD. I also have a DS1. I also hate weaning with a passion. Both of mine have been ardent spoon refusers so BLW it is. It’s messy and wasteful.

BUT. DS1 was exactly like your DD. Gagged and vomited and threw food and smeared and squashed. His poo basically didn’t change from EBF poo until about 9 or 10 months when he figured out swallowing. From 10 months onwards he has been an INCREDIBLE eater. No fussy phases, great appetite. A joy to eat with.

Im hoping it’ll be the same with DS2 as I am already feeling the despair. I think you have to view these early months as the long game. At least that’s what I’m telling myself as I pick up untouched food from the floor…

We started with one of these as I was anxious but he happily progressed on to proper BLW amzn.eu/d/5Mx8cnb

I hear you! My baby is three weeks older than yours. Every day for over a month I have been putting her in the highchair and either giving her homemade purees, shop bought purees or cooked veg and other finger foods. We both end up covered and the dog has walked mushed banana and avocado up the stairs. I hate it. And day after day she ate nothing but just chucked things about or spat it out. Until a few days ago when suddenly she started eating and it's actually going in. Still a lot on the floor but feels suddenly less pointless. She'll get there.

I work with mums and babies - weaning is a process, it can take ages before they eat a meaningful amount of food, initially it is about tasting new flavours and learning about textures and chewing. It feels pointless when they play with it but it's an important development stage in learning to eat so try to go with it! Don't put either of yourselves under pressure, just let her see you eat and if she wants some, give her a go!

Also to those saying BLW is a "fad" - it's literally how we evolved to wean babies, giving them bits of "adult food" Can't imagine they had blenders making purees in caves!!

Also OP, babies are actually more likely to choke on purees than safely prepared finger foods as they have less control over how much goes in and it flows down their throat more easily when they might not necessarily be ready to swallow it. Second all the recommendations to Solid Starts, their videos are brilliant (obv not recommended by my professional persona as are not UK based but they are great in my opinion as a mum 😉

@Springbaby2023 sounds like we do agree.

When your baby was gagging, you stopped and tried again later- when they were ready and didn't gag.

Have you tried eating with her and modelling what to do? Grab some toast, plonk her on your lap and start eating. If she seems interested, then break her off a bit. I find my daughter wasn’t keen initially, but we sat with her and ate the same stuff and she very quickly came around

I really think it varies baby to baby and how they take to food.
I did baby led weaning from the start, didn't do any purées but my now 10 month old somehow never choked or gagged on anything. I think we've been lucky in that respect. Whereas I have mum friends who gave the same food and baby gagged with everything.

If it's not working for you and you're finding it stressful then stick to purée ! There's nothing wrong with just doing purée

Disagree, babies have a gag reflex further towards the front than adults so gagging at times is likely. Like with anything I imagine some babies are prone to more gagging than others. If my DS was struggling with something particularly though I’d take it away and try again in a couple of weeks or so.

She doesn't need to eat a lot of toast though. Shes just coming up to 7 months. Just let her try a bit and don't be concerned about the amount.

I used to give porridge a lot at this age, with mashed banana. Then very slowly moved on to toast.