to really not understand why I shouldnt wean DS on purees???

[dal21]

I mean...really, am I missing something? I have visions of DS living on Innocent smoothies and refusing to eat anything else for the rest of his life.....

Helibee, the main reason for weaning onto purees is because the baby is unable to physically eat harder foods at 4 months, which is why it was done that way, BLW just cuts out the puree stage, doesn't mean a baby is going to be less able to eat properly when older.

As for fussy eaters, BLW and pureeing both need to introduce different textures/flavours and hopefully fussiness will be combatted.

do i need to get my hard hat?

hats off to those who waited 26 weeks before weaning. DS was ready to eat the kitchen table.

i'm aware of why babies eat purees at 4 months, i was just saying that my nephew was never encouraged to eat different foods and tastes-i'm not suggesting that all blw babies are like this.

mrs badger-i never distract my ds and shovel in stuff he doesn't like (that is inhumane!!) I was meerly pointing out that a mixture of purees and finger foods is a good way of doing things!

purees are supposed to encourage good mastication practice

Excuse my ignorance but what does BLW mean? Sorry new to this!

yes speech and language therapists recommend purees to start with to all babies to practice mnoving food around their mouths and to the back of their mouths to swallow, but again if your baby doesn't take to purees then thats fine, each mother has to do what she thinks is best x

You can if you want to, it's probably less messy, but it's easier to just give them the food and let them get on with it.

yup hatrick, he is my first.

scottishmummy - how does runny puree help them practice chewing? surely non-runny things like (er) broccoli would be better to practice chewing on?

what's with the Innocent smoothie comments .. an Innocent smoothie is not a puree to the consistency that a baby puree is is it? .. it's much thinner

have to say purees or batons .. do what feels right to you

I have never heard a SALT recommend purees. They recommend them to elderly stroke victims, I know that, but how did babies learn to use their mouths before blenders were invented?

the great ormond street hospital clinical guidance for babies weaning by salt's say purees and my aunt is also a salt but there are obviously different schools of thought even within salt.

i really don't think it's worth arguing about though, every baby is different and as mums we just have to do the best for them as individuals

I'm happy for mums to do blw or pureeing, we should support and encourage one another in whatever they decide

Well, I had never heard of BLW until I came on MN for the first time 2 weeks ago, and had just started weaning DC 2 on purees. BLW sounds a lot less hassle, but I bet EVERYONE that it doesn't matter which way you go, your LO will still turn round somewhere between 18 months and 36 months and suddenly decide that everyone goddamn delicious, lovingly prepared, organic, homemade morsel you put in front of them, including a gazillion dishes they have previously found "mmm delicious" are suddenly "yucky" "disgusting" and that mummy had better "put it in the bin". [ seriously grrrr face]

No, I don't see why not. Although my two older DCs were weaned at 4/5 months, on purees, DC started on puree at 6 months but moved much faster onto finger food, and DC4 is having purees, but her preference is finger food (though I really am not sure about what to give her). i'm giving her a combination of purees to introduce tastes and textures, and letting her pick up cooked brocolli/pasta/carrot batons.

My DS started on purees at 17 weeks, he is now 6 months and enjoys mashed food at breakfast and dinner, but I feed finger food at lunch - that way we can eat lunch together and he loves it....

Oh sycamoretree, how very true!

but that's because between those ages most children develop neophobia, sycamoretree, which it is thought may relate to their increased mobility and the likelihood of them ingesting poison. how they were weaned a year previously has nothing to do with that at all.

nothing wrong with purees other than the hassle, dal. and the whole 'my baby won't eat lumps' thing that sometimes comes up. if they've never eaten anything but lumps then they don't know about that.

the other slight issue is that if people get very hung up about amounts and give the baby lots of puree they could encourage the baby to ditch milk faster than might be healthiest for them, because carrots are pretty empty calories by comparison. but i reckon that sort of behaviour is rare, i've seen it, but not really on MN iykwim?

how old is the baby anyway? if you're weaning 'early' then if he's really ready anyway you might find he is capable of self-feeding. there have certainly been a few babies on here who started feeding themselves broccoli etc at 4 and 5 months, and personally (and non-medically, i should stress), that's always seemed to me to be a good indicator that it's time to wean.

Aitch - any difference IYO, to how LO's react to fingers foods (if under 6 months) if they're used to purees? DS 5 1/2 months and have been on purees for a couple of weeks. He did do a bit of a choke on some not particularly zealously moulied spinach the other day, but he, bizarrely, seemed to find the experience hilarious . He will pick up and put anything within reach (or shuffle bellyflop) into his mouth.

Yes, I have heard the neophobia thing from someone who posted on my "help, by 2.5yr old has suddenly stopped eating" thread, which is sort of what got me started onto MN. I have since stopped trying to broaden her range of foods, as she had a great balanced diet anyway, and since going back to give her meals she is familiar with, ALL the time, she seems to have regained a bit of mealtime trust and has started to eat reasonably well again.

NOT AN EXPERT BUT:

scottishmummy mentioned that you should feed them anything they will eat, i think.

i'm not sure that's true. i think there's something like this as an explanation:

they're saying not to give things like wheat, citrus, fish, nuts and some other things before six months - in any form. the LOs gut lining is very immature and the particles passing through it into the bloodstream MAY be the reason that intolerances are triggered off.

'BLW' is what my first kid went for (although it was more like clueless-mum-weaning as didn't realise you were supposed to do pureeing and so on). LO took over naturally at six months. ended up eating olives and garlic and all sorts - no probs eating whatsoever. Or speaking.

hard foods are also supposed to be good for their gums - to help teeth come up more easily.

don't know about that, as can't remember any teething events at all. May have been some but i was out of it!

ahem i stated my personal anecdotal opinion, not suggesting you all go scoff nuts and allergens

BLW wasn't around when mine were that age, so purees all the way for ours for the first couple of months. But then weaning at 4 months was the norm back then and often younger. Perhaps purees were better for the younger babies whose stomachs weren't ready for chunks? Introduced finger foods/mashed up foods at 6 months.