Baby led weaning for dummies

[Purinea]

If you are the sort of person who says ‘dds first meal was a full roast dinner, just feed baby whatever you’re having’ this is not a question for you

I’m looking for the real dummy version. I’ve tried the solid starts app, I’ve tried some food. Baby just spits out any thing with any texture and I panic about choking

I would love to know

1. On day one of trying something other than milk, what did your baby have?
2. How did you prepare it?
3. How long until you felt your baby was actually consuming any of the food you were giving
4. How did you get over the fear of choking
5. If you can be bothered, what did they eat day 2/3/4/5?

thank you!

Day 1 - broccoli
cooked until v soft (need to be able to squish it between fingers)
placed on high chair tray for baby to pick up and feed themselves
next day broccoli in baby nappy showed they had eaten
wasn't afraid of choking as could see baby was confident and kept v close eye
day 2 - carrot, courgette, etc all veg, then fruit

that was baby number 1, baby number 2 couldn't cope with whole foods at all and I had to mash everything for sometime while he insisted on spoon feeding himself 🤣

Just started this with DC2 so it's fresh in my mind! Basically very similar to @Alwaystired2023.
Day 1 broccoli florets cooked soft. Don't think any went down!
Day 2 cooked courgette and carrot cut into sticks. Courgette was a hit, saw some in the nappy later on.
Over the following days, avocado, cooked parsnip sticks, butternut squash, green beans, tried broccoli again (much more successful than day 1), potato, sweet potato. Bit of toast dipped in expressed milk. Bit of banana. Increasing evidence from the nappies that bits are being swallowed. This is where we are right now.

From what I remember from DC1, my plan is to keep going with the veg and add in toast, fruit, yoghurt and maybe some pulses over the next week or so. After that will start thinking about egg, peanut butter, maybe some strips of chicken.
Then start with things that are a bit more like adult food, but obviously low salt versions. So e.g. homemade hummus, stews, savoury flapjacks etc.

Day 1 made something wouldn't open mouth
Day 2 made something wouldn't open mouth
Day 3 made something wouldn't open mouth

It was 2 weeks before she ate a mouthful.

I would start by looking in your fridge/freezer. There's no point buying something special for weaning as it might not get eaten.
We either cooked extra of the veg we were eating or steamed small portions in the microwave until they could be squished if squeezed gently between our fingers. We offered whole foods and mushed foods of the same variety. She favoured the mush foods and at first only accepted foods mixed with spinach.
I toasted pittas and cut them into strips with mushed veg on the end as edible spoons and batons or cubes of the veg in the mushed veg alongside. She had food allergies and it was hard to find weaning foods she wasn't allergic too. Broadly she didn't like prepared food and liked food big so 1/3 of a cucumber stolen from the fridge or half an apple over cucumber/apple slices but she was about 9 months by this point.

She was really slow to wean and didn't eat a meal until she was 13 months! It was one of the most frustrating parts of life with a baby. My friends all did a new food every day but my baby only ate once a week if that. I ended up with a much more relaxed approach and looked in the cupboards, fridge, freezer and looked at what might be eaten based on that week inclination. She absolutely hates carrots and still does aged 4 so we learnt quite quickly to stay away from them. She generally liked just 1 flavour - lord help me if I added fruit to her porridge.

Really you just have to play around with food different flavours, textures sizes and see what entices them. If you are worried about sizes there a websites that tell you how each food should be prepared.

I found a steamer made my life so much easier.

Their first taste was soft avocado and then as it was Christmas their next meal was finger sized veg from Christmas dinner.

Initially for evening meals I would steam broccoli, butternut squash, carrot, potato in finger sized pieces and put some on their tray. For lunch they would have leftovers of the above. Breakfast would often be some banana.

As we both became more confident I would offer a wider range of foods and a wider variety of textures.

Traditional 'meat and two veg.' meals were easiest but anything else I would ensure I had a portion without added salt. I also avoided sugar and of course no honey.

My boys all enjoyed their food although ds1 did not like meat and ds2 was more fussy on veg.

Learning the difference between gagging - an important and natural reaction - and choking - silent and concerning - is really important. I got more and more confident as my boys got older. They often gagged but only one of them ever choked.

Day 1: toast soldiers with the crusts cut off, half a banana split into three pieces length wise
Prepared as above!
Probably a good couple of weeks before I stopped finding everything in the bib 😂 after that it was a pretty gradual thing as he just started consuming more and more. I never actually worried about how much he was consuming as he was still getting everything he needed from his milk, it was more about him developing the skills to pick things up and put them in his mouth!
Choking - I did a very brief online course to teach me what to do if anything happened, and felt a lot better after I read that spluttering and going red was fine (I would just give him a few sips of water) and only to be concerned if he was quiet and turning blue (the thought of this still freaks me out!) but it helps that I never leave him alone when he's eating so would always be able to react quickly
After the first week or so I started giving him a bit of everything (always finger width with no salt) just to get him used to different things, he had steamed apple slices, steamed chicken strips, broccoli, omelettes, homemade chips with the ends cut off, pasta in a cheese sauce, bolognaise, steamed carrots, avocado, boiled eggs... everything really! We went to Majorca on an all inclusive when he was around 7 months old and he had a whale of a time trying everything on his little plate 😂 around the same time I also downloaded an app called Baby Led Weaning which I still use now and he's 13 months old. There are hundreds of recipes and it tells you how to prepare them depending on age. I batch cook now and always have a week of lunches and dinners in the freezer for him.

Broccoli also for us (if I remember right), also porridge (readybrek) made with formula/breastmilk with a dippy spoon for baby to get it to their mouth. The flavour is familiar enough to encourage eating it but different enough to be exciting.

Thank you
and when a big piece breaks off in their mouth
what do you do? …I’m guessing panic isn’t the correct answer…

What I've always gone with is if they are gagging, choking etc but making noise and actively clearing their mouths then it's fine just let them get on with it, panic if they are quiet. I completely understand some people are more panicky about this sort of thing though, try and help yourself as much as possible by making everything super super soft etc?
For me with my first I just could tell she was fine and could handle it, the second would choke on anything with a consistency thicker than air

It is actually easier for them to manage big bits when they have 'created' them themselves than when they are given lumpy food. Learning how to move food around their mouth is crucial and if a piece that is too lumpy gets too far back then they will gag and the lump will come back out. Over time you will get really good at being casual about gagging as gagging is life saving.

7 month old GC (my DD and i joke about my being co-parent) started their weening process at about 5 months. nothing solid for 4 weeks, but she tried GC on baby rice and porridge for 1 meal a day, normally breakfast.,

At 6 months GC was clearly ready for food! Watched everyones every mouthful and DD calmed down a bit and introduced puréed fruit for 1 meal a day and just gradually made it lumpier.

I DD has anxiety and the whole weening process has terrified her. at just over 7 months GC yesterday had half a roast potatoe (he loves his spuds), half a yorkshire pudding, a cocktail sausage and enjoyed a small bowl of sugar free jelly! He still only has 'proper food' for one meal a day, but is offered a bit of what we have. for example, if we go out for coffee and i have toast, he gets a crust.

the gagging is scary at first.. but they have to gag to learn their gag reflex.. hope it helps, take advice but at the end of the day, your baby, your rules

I can't remember what I gave on day 1 exactly, but there was always something of what I was eating that they could try.

Sandwiches? A bit of bread or cheese, or a pat of butter to lick.
Roast? Cook a few of the veggies a tiny bit longer, lots of olive oil etc.
Meat was always a hit, just thin strips ripped off.
Scrambled eggs.
Green beans.
Cooked pasta with sauce to dip in.
Squashed chick peas or beans.

Both of mine also absolutely adored mixed frozen veg. Still eat it as a snack now.

How old is baby?
Food should be soft enough that if you press it with your finger it goes to mush.
Cut things into thin narrow pieces.
Watch a youtube video on how to deal with potential choking first aid- it's upsetting watching them whack a dummy dolly on the back but having the knowledge to deal with worst case scenario situations is empowering.
Nothing wrong with doing a mixture of BLW and pouches.
With dc1 I was letting him get really messy like put his hands in porridge and all kinds and painstakingly preparing all kinds of special meals. Alot more relaxed with baby 2.
Peas is a good one and good for practicing pincer grip. Spaghetti cooked until very soft. Scrambled eggs is a good one.
Every time you eat something offer some to baby as long as it's not high in salt or sugar and not a choking hazard.
Don't forget cant have honey until age 1.
Both of mine had peanut butter from age 6 months- try with tiny quantities first if your scared of allergies.
I also tried to introduce savoury/ bitter foods early on to encourage a taste for veg.
I find all the baby food pouches ridiculously over sweet, even the veg ones, but I do use them and they're handy for out and about.
Natural yoghurt good also even if not quite BLW. Nothing wrong with doing spoon fed as well as finger food.
Sorry if this was a bit stream of consciousness was just typing as I thought!

Steamed broccoli
It doesn’t actually matter whether they eat it or not
Learn the difference between choking and gagging and learn the Heimlich manoeuvre for babies

Yes even if they just play with it and don't eat it don't get discouraged it isn't a waste, it's all getting used to the different senses and textures of food. At least that's what I told myself when half of it ended up on the floor! Start with small portions as well in case they launch the lot on the floor haha. If they eat it you can always add more.

Good to know we’re not the only ones where much isn’t actually going in at first.

Thanks everyone, so far homemade purées are fine, I also tried mashed stuff that was a bit lumpy but every mouthful was immediately spat back out and then she quickly refused to accept more. I tried some ‘baby led’ style to see if she was more interested in textures that way but she immediately bit a huge chunk off and I panicked. I left her to see what she would do and obviously she was fine and just spat it out but I just felt like I wasn’t doing it right and I stopped and went back to purée. We’re only on day 5 tbf so maybe I’m expecting a bit much. At least the dog is loving all the mashed vegetables hitting the floor.

Day 1 - DS picked up a piece of cucumber from his brothers plate and ate it. Wasn’t quite yet 6 months (5.5 I think) and I hadn’t actually planned on starting weaning yet but went with it!
Day 2 - Cooked wagyu beef burgers with mushrooms and corn on cob for us and DS1 and gave a thin slice of burger to DS2, some thin sliced cooked mushrooms, and cut about 2 inch of thick piece off a corn on cob. Dragon fruit afterwards which he was unsure about.
Day 3 - Nappy showed meal from night before had been well eaten (couldn’t tell at the time as was all just very messy!) we had a roast and DS2 had carrot battons, green beans and broccoli (boiled) a not-to-crispy roast potato, some thin strips of chicken.
Day 4 - As before, nappy showed lots had ben consumed.

Clearly he was very ready for weaning as he just started himself.

When he gets a large chunk of food off (much more common now at 10 months with 8 teeth!) I just watch to see what he does, usually spit it out or chew/gum for a long time. I don’t panic as I’m right there watching him and can always hook it out with my finger if he begins to struggle, but I have tried to encourage spitting out my showing him the movement with my mouth (opening mouth, sticking out tongue, making ‘urgh’ sound to encourage him to use throat muscles to move food forwards, and saying ‘spit it out’ calmly and encouragingly) and would always try this before putting my finger in their mouth.

You don’t have to be calm but you do have to appear calm, if they sense your panic it won’t help them manage a piece of food either by chewing or spitting.

Giving hard food such as a mango pit or corn on cob is great for mouth mapping and the better aware they are of their mouths the more likely they can spit out food or move it around to make it easier to manage.

We were told not to put fingers in their mouth if they gag because of the risk of pushing it further down. With DD, if she was gagging, we would say “too much” in the hope that, as she got older, that would prompt her to spit it out and it does seem to help.

We tried different steamed veg to begin with - following the order on S R Nutrition - but it gave DD terrible tummy pain/wind, so then we introduced sweeter flavours/fruit. Bread was lightly toasted because it can go gummy easily and then be a choking hazard.

• On day one of trying something other than milk, what did your baby have?
The day before he was 6 months old, DS helped himself to a shop bought tuna baguette I was eating.

• How did you prepare it?
See above!

• How long until you felt your baby was actually consuming any of the food you were giving
Straight away, he was never interested in purées

• How did you get over the fear of choking
I wasn't fearful of chocking

• If you can be bothered, what did they eat day 2/3/4/5?
Blueberries, toast and butter, pancake, cucumber

Big pieces aren't something I worried about as it's the tiny throat sized pieces that are dangerous! The bigger pieces I just left him with and he either mushed them up in his mouth or spat them back out when he realised he couldn't swallow them 😂