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Original poster

Please help me with traditional weaning!

36 replies

FolkyFoxFace · 30/09/2021 22:48

DS turned 6 months on the 16th, and we've been doing BLW ever since. The gagging has been horrible but tonight he choked properly on a piece of poached cod.

I can't do it anymore. It's making me a nervous wreck. Every finger food I give him ends up almost the same way. I'm now thinking about just mashing up food in varying textures with soft lumps and going from there.

Has anyone done traditional weaning and could I please have some advice on how to do it going forwards, including when to introduce more chewable food, etc?

He has two bottom teeth so he's already tearing off chunks as opposed to gumming things I give him.

I don't want to do BLW anymore, so please respect this in replies. I know it's advised and babies can choke on anything etc. but I'm not watching my son turn blue again if I can avoid it.

OP posts:
Original poster
FolkyFoxFace · 30/09/2021 22:56

Oh bloody hell, thought this was in Parenting. Still, any help would be massively appreciated!

OP posts:
RisingSunn · 30/09/2021 22:58

Sorry you went through that with your little one.

Yes, with my children, i just used to blend smoothly (5/6 months) then going forward just mash the food accordingly.

Offering snacks also eg. rusks etc

piglet81 · 30/09/2021 23:00

You probably want to look at Annabel Karmel’s books for guidance… and/or a first aid course? Sorry you’ve had a rubbish experience so far. Personally I did do BLW but it wasn’t hugely successful and in hindsight I slightly wish I’d gone for the spoon-feeding approach. Hope you find something that works for you.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Families Weaning
Ancientdecs · 30/09/2021 23:00

Of course! So just spoonfeed him some cod and mash next time. Or if you want get it on the spoon for him and give him the spoon. It's totally fine and normal and most people do this. Honestly. It will not mean that he ends up a fussy eater or can never feed himself or that he'll overeat. He's just at the very start and mashed food on a spoon is completely perfect.

SlB09 · 30/09/2021 23:01

Totally understand this having been through something similar. Do what your comfortable with and yes just gradually go from puree to slightly lumpy to bigger lumps etc. I looked at pre made meals as a guide for textures

Ancientdecs · 30/09/2021 23:02

Oh and the more chewable food will come in its own time. I used to use those Organix carrot stick thingies as sort of dippers for the mashed food. They are solid to hold but melt away in the mouth so no scary choking worries. Good to get started on.

McFarts · 30/09/2021 23:07

I used to make small batches and freeze in an ice cube tray, starting with pureed vegi's/fruit, and then adding meat/fish. Was easy to then adjust the amounts as DC started eating more food. Moving forwards i would then mash the food rather than blending. Use some of the veg water, breast milk/formula to get the right consistency.

MovingSchmoving · 30/09/2021 23:13

If it helps I totally regret doing BLW. My daughter is now 2.5 and hates anything on a spoon/fork and will only eat things that she can eat as finger foods!! So for example she will eat sausage and broccoli as you can pick those up with your hands but anything that requires scooping with a spoon eg curry, rice, casserole, soup, she will not touch. With my second I’m doing traditional weaning and just offering the odd bit of cucumber etc!

Original poster
FolkyFoxFace · 30/09/2021 23:14

Thank you all so much. I've been turning myself inside out over this. It felt like the BF/FF debacle all over again. I spent 6 months absolutely making myself deranged to finally reach EBF after months of problems, then was hit with this. I've felt very low.

I'll have a look at all resources mentioned here and order some books. He genuinely liked the mash I've given him on occasion so I'm hoping this will go down well.

OP posts:
Ancientdecs · 30/09/2021 23:21

Ah you poor thing!
I honestly never knew that weaning was such a THING before I came on MN ten years ago and discovered that BLW was making people all sorts of crazy. Don't get me wrong I absorbed some of the crazy too with my first, but ultimately there's a reason most people do mix - because it's been working forever.

Mine were quite small and breastfed and I was so tired after being exclusively responsible for their food that when it came to weaning, I was much happier knowing they'd eaten a decent filling meal. And fwiw I've weaned 3 now and I feel it's the one thing I did well.

you are doing spot on OP.

Wallabyone · 30/09/2021 23:21

I did BLW, but there's no reason why you can't just skip the thin, purée stage and go to mashed lumpy food. My daughter choked on a grape when she was almost 2-it was terrifying.

Are you on Instagram? Find SR_nutrition on there-she's a nutritionist and has some great tips for feeding/weaning x

mafted · 30/09/2021 23:29

My eldest (now early twenties) was traditionally weaned at 4 months, by 6 months they were eating chopped up food and finger food.
It's worth noting they still gag a lot and can choke with this way of eating. As you are probably aware babies gag reflex is further forward.

GTAlogic · 30/09/2021 23:53

Both my dc were spoonfed. I remember just offering a small bowl of mashed up food instead of/before their milk. Every few days I'd replace another bottle until after about 3 weeks they were having 4 mashed up meals a day alongside 2 small bottles of milk. To encourage lumpier food and chewing I gave them things like rusk, chocolate buttons, skips, mushy strawberries, chips etc: anything that they could hold and munch on safely.

Before anyone has a heart attack reading the bit about chocolate before 1, calm down. My dc now at 9 & 10 happily eat a whole range of food and appear to have a healthy relationship with it.

HemanOrSheRa · 01/10/2021 00:07

I second Annabel Karmel. DS is 16 now - he was traditionally weaned/spoon fed. He ate a wide variety of foods and flavours using the recipes from her books.

Singinginshower · 01/10/2021 00:10

Just mash the food OP. No need to purée.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 01/10/2021 00:10

@piglet81

You probably want to look at Annabel Karmel’s books for guidance… and/or a first aid course? Sorry you’ve had a rubbish experience so far. Personally I did do BLW but it wasn’t hugely successful and in hindsight I slightly wish I’d gone for the spoon-feeding approach. Hope you find something that works for you.
Annabel Karmel is the book you want,I warned ds and lots of other kids I looked after from this book 25+ years ago. I would use it again now.
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 01/10/2021 00:11

I was agreeing with piglet81 I wasn't clear!

Original poster
FolkyFoxFace · 01/10/2021 13:30

@Ancientdecs

Ah you poor thing! I honestly never knew that weaning was such a THING before I came on MN ten years ago and discovered that BLW was making people all sorts of crazy. Don't get me wrong I absorbed some of the crazy too with my first, but ultimately there's a reason most people do mix - because it's been working forever.

Mine were quite small and breastfed and I was so tired after being exclusively responsible for their food that when it came to weaning, I was much happier knowing they'd eaten a decent filling meal. And fwiw I've weaned 3 now and I feel it's the one thing I did well.

you are doing spot on OP.

Your post made me a bit teary with relief! Thank you. I think I was expecting to get shot down posting this - I asked a similar question in a mum's group on Facebook and got told I was being absurd, am obviously uneducated, and not doing my best.

Knew I should have asked MN first. It is very much crazy making, some of this stuff! I quite honestly never thought I'd be crying over mashing up some fish and veg! My boy is only small, too, and although he's a happy boy he has lots of allergies, so I want to make sure he's getting as much nutrition as possible. Choking aside, slobbering over a roasted parsnip for ten minutes was certainly not helping him there!

Thank you everyone. I'm going to check out everything you've all recommended, and make a fresh start this evening. You've all made me feel so much better, and a half decent Mummy again!

OP posts:
Original poster
FolkyFoxFace · 01/10/2021 13:34

I had actually worked myself up so much over this, that I'd been waiting until DH got home from work (7) to feed DS. It's disrupted his nice routine awfully, and I made me feel totally useless as I can't even give him breakfast or lunch. With mashed food I can feel confident.

Pulling my socks up and starting a fresh!

OP posts:
Rosesareyellow · 01/10/2021 13:43

I tried BLW for one day - some people love it and if it works for them great, but it took me a total of 5 mins to see that the food waste and extra mess for me to enjoy cleaning up was not my idea of fun. I only did proper purées for about 2 weeks and then was able to move on to just mashing food. We kind of went from there onto food that was cut up quite small. Pasta which is soft anyway, can be cut small if need be and comes in loads of different shapes to try was very versatile.

wetfloor · 01/10/2021 13:53

Annabel karmel book is really great. Gives you a good pace and idea on when to do things. With my first I did spoon feeding and purée, then gradually made it lumpier and as she got older, started offering Finger foods and did a bit of both. She's a cracking eater now. But did have her fussy stages too.

HallieP · 01/10/2021 14:30

@FolkyFoxFace

I had actually worked myself up so much over this, that I'd been waiting until DH got home from work (7) to feed DS. It's disrupted his nice routine awfully, and I made me feel totally useless as I can't even give him breakfast or lunch. With mashed food I can feel confident.

Pulling my socks up and starting a fresh!

@FolkyFoxFace You’re doing great! Please don’t ever feel useless or guilty over choices that you make for your baby ❤️ Generations of babies were all spoonfed and are fine - do whatever works for you and your baby 😊

I wasn’t entirely comfortable with BLW so I started with mashed foods for my baby at 6months. Started with them very mashed then left them a bit lumpier as time went on and introduced small things for texture (like star pasta or lentils etc). By about 8 months he was onto finger foods etc and I felt far more comfortable at that point.

Right from the start I also offered a pre-loaded spoon to him so he could practice putting it to his mouth 😊 DS is now almost 11m and happily eats most things that I put down to him! He can also pretty effortlessly use his spoon himself so happily sits and feeds himself his bowl of porridge in the mornings while I eat mine 😊 so you can use the spoon as a great learning opportunity from the start too! I have a friend who followed BLW and her baby is also an amazing eater and doing SO well - but he point blank refuses to touch cutlery or eat from a spoon now at 18 months 😬🤣

Every baby is different - start with whatever YOU are comfortable with then follow baby’s lead and add texture etc when you feel they’re ready.

HallieP · 01/10/2021 14:32

@FolkyFoxFace I should have also said - i agree with all the others recommending Annabel Karmels book - it’s a great place to start 😊 and I second SR_nutrition on Instagram that @Wallabyone recommended!

birdglasspen · 01/10/2021 14:37

Honestly a mix of the two is the best thing for your baby! You say you had problems with bf? Could your baby have tongue tie? It’s possible to have posterior tie which may. It have been picked up on and this can cause issues when baby is eating solids? I mainly gave my children mushy everything but with the odd whole piece of food to try, they seem to be perfectly normal fussy children! 😂

SGChome20 · 01/10/2021 14:47

Sorry you’ve had a fright with your baby. This was a big fear of mine when starting to wean DD10months. I was pretty adamant that BLW wasn’t for me but have sort of ended up doing that now as it seems to suit my DD. I did start off with purées though and now we do a bit of a mix of both. I’ve been told with traditional weaning you should still offer finger foods but you have to go with what you feel comfortable with.

I’ve found it good to buy a few of the jars that are suitable for different ages. 4+ 10+ 12+ months to give me an idea of what consistency my DD is ‘expected’ to eat. I’d definitely check Annabel Karmel as well. We bought a small blender for about £15 and have used it quite a bit, just blitz what we had for dinner.