Baby lead weaning terrifies me.. anyone else?

So much judgement on lifestyle approaches around weaning. I sort of did BLW. By that, I mean I mainly gave finger food they could feed themselves but would spoon feed naturally runny things like weetabix or scrambled egg. (So the purists would probably say that is not BLW). I personally thought it was ott to follow recipes to bake runny foods into fingers they can hold, but each to their own.

Personally it was so much easier than purees. Instead of making a veg puree, I gave them some chunks of veg I was cooking for us. I made sure the floor (or mat underneath) was clean and then put the food they dropped back for another go! Out and about I could take things like a banana or cucumber sticks with me for them to eat (obviously took more as they progressed). It was cheaper than pouches which many did as easier than making their own puree.

I work as a SALT. Parents often talk about difficultly moving their child through textures and them gagging when lumps are involved because they can't figure out the change. For me it seemed easier to start as you mean to go on.

I had 2 bottle refusers, so lots of bf, but went back to work when they were 9m old and they were eating fine. I agree parents need to respond to their child's needs, and if they are dropping weight that's an issue. (Likely needing more milk as one PP said, as it's much higher calorie than puree). I understand there are reasons why people choose to do it differently, and there is likely some judgement from the evangelical BLW crowd, but some of the posts in this thread are a bit judgemental the other way.

Don't do it then- I didn't follow this trend and did it the traditional way
12 years later I have a very healthy pre teen who eats anything
Don't worry about it

Nonsense. I did BLW, didn’t bf either of mine and was not an SAHP. I found BLW far easier than the endless faffing with purées my friends did. Don’t be so judgmental 🙄

@FupaTrooper "I know other posters will say it was because those mums weren't doing BLW correctly... But I saw the weight drop happen time and time again. Far too often for it to be a one off "user error"

Interesting. How many babies are you talking about?

you’re right they weren’t doing BLW properly. Baby led weaning is baby led so with my 4 I continued to breast feed on demand alongside offering solids. 3 of them didn’t show any reduction in milk feeds until around 10 months. None of them dropped weight. You can’t blame baby led weaning for parental error.

They are just as likely to choke on purees as on finger food. That's a fact. Cut things how you're supposed to, cook things as soft as you're supposed to. It makes their eating long term so much easier. (And do a First Aid course - it gives you confidence.)

I’ve done it four times. No it didn’t scare me at all. Partly, because I’m a doctor with several years experience in paediatrics and I know how to deal with a choking child. Although also I’ve seen the outcome of fatal choking so I do take it seriously. However, none of mine ever choked - the whole point is that young babies have a very pounced and protective gag reflex and will deal with food that is too large for them in their own way. It’s not pretty sometimes but it is safe. I think it’s a fantastic way to wean and I loved that while other parents are letting their own food go cold spooning food into their baby I was just getting on with my own meal while my baby did the same. It felt much more like our babies were part of meal times. But yeah if it bothers you so much don’t do it although your any is going to have to eat solid food eventually.

I gave dd puree and then mushed up food. BLW when she about 10 months. Mine showed less interest in milk around 8 months. Gradually dropped her feeds from 4 to 2.

I think that was likely the case with a couple of them. I know for certain the most severe one was the baby had started to refuse milk and was showing an interest in solids, but simply wasn't consuming enough calories via the BLW and his mum wouldn't compromise.

In my opinion a combination of BLW and purees is a great option, especially if they are showing less interest in milk.

Everyone knows their own baby, but sometimes it can be hard to be truly objective when there's a philosophy or baby rearing idea that someone likes the sound of. Some mums feel like their baby is less capable or they are a failure (which is sad).

I did purées and spoon fed until my dts had enough teeth to chew. The idea of blw didn't appeal to me.

Did blw with my sons, one of the best decisions we ever made, they are teenagers now and have never been fussy, they eat anything - proper foodies. There's nothing to be afraid of. Remember gagging is not choking. Educating babies about normal food is normal.
I can't believe people are still faffing around with purees and being marketed "baby food pouches" of orange slop... Yuck.

You don't have to do it. If it feels wrong for your baby, then it probably is @MumofHennHals

I didn't do it. Nothing wrong with it, but I think it's overhyped. Both mine had purees, then I introduced easier foods and worked up. They both eat fine. Never had a full-on choke (so far and hope I never will..) but I think you will get some gagging whatever you do, as they progress.

Surely the problem here isn't BLW versus spoon feeding purees, it's that the parents (and others involved - the nanny?) have dropped too much milk feeding too soon?

Babies starting weaning should be fed milk as they were, whether that's breastfeeding on demand or maintaining the same schedule of bottle feeds.

If carers are withholding milk and expecting a baby to eat food to regain the lost calories, then the process isn't baby-led, is it?

I was a professional, trained nanny for years. The amount of babies I saw doing baby led weaning who dropped enough weight to concern the HV at weigh-ins was crazy.

One mum was so insistent on continuing to do it, despite the dropped weight that the HV referred her to the GP for closer monitoring.

I think a mixture is the way to go. Purees are a fab way to get nutrients in them and fill up their little tummies. They can play and investigate whole foods alongside that.

I know other posters will say it was because those mums weren't doing BLW correctly... But I saw the weight drop happen time and time again. Far too often for it to be a one off "user error".

No one who does BLW likes gagging when eating! What a weird statement. It’s normal and I’ve seen babies who were weaned with purées do it too, their gag reflex is very immature and further forward than ours. My two rarely did it, often if they shoved the spoon too far in or tried to eat too much at once.

I did BLW with my youngest 2. Started with soft avocado sticks at 6 months. As long as the food can be squished it's fine. I had my moments where I freaked out but honestly it's not as bad as you might think. There are so many benefits to feeding them whole soft food. If you breastfeed I recommend boob to food on Instagram if you are on SM.

Finally someone who says this. Tbh I've been feeling guilty for not doing BLW.

The book "how to feed your baby" is excellent and I also found having done a baby first aid course really helped put my mind at rest when dealing with gagging / fear of choking.

I didn’t even think of attempting BLW and both of my dds have grown up to have normal healthy appetites and are healthy weights. So don’t do it if you don’t want to op!

I am not making a judgement on what everyone else does, everyone should do what suits them, but for me it felt wrong intuitively, so I didn’t do it.

I felt pretty confident that I could read my babies reactions and expressions as I fed them, and I felt I had more control over the nutrients I gave them and the amounts they were eating when I fed them myself.

I enjoyed making purees and gradually making them thicker and then only partially pureering dishes as my older babies teeth starting coming in.

It all felt entirely natural to me and as I dislike gagging when eating I couldn’t see why my dds would like that either or why it would make them look forward to meals?

They started instinctively reaching out for food when a little older and that’s when I introduced finger foods. It all felt like a fairly smooth and natural progression and I have fond memories of sitting there feeding my babies, singing nursery rhymes etc.

I know what kind of parenting you're getting at, but I didn't do either of those things and thought BLW was great.
It was perfect for being lazy tbh, negligent parent that I am I've got pictures of DH and I drinking cocktails at brunch whilst 6 month old DD knocks herself out on peanut butter on toast. We ate out regularly and it was easy to just cut her a strip of meat off our steak or give her a slice of our pizza. It actually felt quite intuitive and I feel DD weaned faster and easier as she got the pleasure of enjoying food.

There isn't a higher risk of choking with BLW, it's the same risk as a spoon fed baby.

I don't think this is necessarily true. For me, I only tick the "extended breastfeeding" box. I've never been a SAHP and certainly don't have infinite money or time. In fact I'd say BLW is great if you're naturally lazy, like I am, as there's no need to prepare then purée everything. You just prepare it and plonk it down in front of them.
"Food is fun before they're one" seemed like a valid slogan to me. They are supposed to be getting most of their nutrition from milk at that age.

DH's family thought we were nuts. But they were happy to do things like put rusks in a baby's bottle at 2mo to make it sleep better, so I was happy not to follow their lead!

It’s really counter intuitive Ie. Weirdly the younger they are the larger the pieces you need to give sometimes. This means they kind of gnaw on it rather than choke on smaller chunks.

There’s a great app which shows you all the ways to cut the food into the right shapes and sizes for each age range. It’s an app by solid starts and has a food database.

https://solidstarts.com/foods/

Some pics attached so you get an idea of what I mean..

Do whatever works for your family. All these doing purées must either have a wedge in the bank, shares in Ella's Kitchen (e.g.), or a whole lot of time to make them from scratch!

We did BLW because it worked for us and cheaply. Both my children ate off my place or DH plate, saved so much time energy and money for us doing it that way, literally eating what we were and are eating.

My first and only experience of choking was with my eldest, 4yo, who shovelled in too many chocolate fingers and the top broke off one and got stuck. Thankfully I had done a paediatric first aid course so managed to handle it but sh!t! The terror was real when they started turning blue! This was a couple of months ago.

But anyway do whatever works for your family. It's an exciting time, weaning!

It didn't scare me no, but I'm not an anxious type. If I was I might have stuck to traditional weaning. As it happened my kids did great with BLW and I enjoyed it too. I think weaning is one of the fun parts of having a baby really, but I probably would have enjoyed it just as much either way. The whole puree thing does sound like much more work unless you use prepackaged food for every meal.