Weaning - does this sound OK as a first food?

[sweetcorn6]

I will be starting my DD on solids next week as she’s now six months. I’m hoping to do a mix of baby led and traditional weaning, and was thinking of puréeing up some avocado to give her as her very first food - what do you think?

Also, what could I move on to after that - any ideas?

Thanks!

Just slice with a little bit of skin on so she can hold it and let her go for it.

I do a mixture of the two with 10 month old DS and the finger food is so much easier. He loves fingers of cucumber

I would say it would be too thick puréed and become a choking hazard. Having tried blw and puree I would just go with blw it’s so much easier.

I would say it would be too thick puréed and become a choking hazard.

Omg What are some other foods I could get her going with? Would puréed broccoli or carrot be ok in terms of choking risk?

I'm weaning in 2 weeks. I did purées with my first and she took to it much easier than my friends who did pure BLW. I was thinking carrot mixed with a bit of breast milk/formula, peas, parsnip, pear then introduce a bit of texture like mashed sweet potato, mashed avocado (it doesn't keep mind), mashed banana. I'm going to read up a bit though as it's been 3 years. I'll do finger foods alongside too

Broccoli I'd hold off on for a bit as it's uncomfortable for them to have foods with too much fibre too soon :-)

I just started with well cooked root veg like carrots mashed with the back of fork - one taste at a time to start with.

I also gave something to hold as well like a green bean or carrot baton.

Some cooked carrots, chunks of cooked sweet potato, broccoli or cauliflower cooked until very soft, fingers of melon. At 6 months baby can have pretty much anything tbh. I never puréed anything.

Also something like this is really useful once you're started as you just make dinner with less salt and mash the babies' in this

https://www.nuk.co.uk/nuk-fresh-foods-masher-bowl.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwz68BRBkEiwA3p02VRrCFKkhz168asgLc8-EzC3EIIWLxZZgGZhlctKI6uEKWsDoydg1RoCQJ8QAvDDBwE#93=433

If you can get some baby recipe books they will give you ideas for purée combos. If your local library is open yet they should have some. Or the BBC has some weaning purée recipes here www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/weaning-recipes - just pick the simple ones that say they’re for early weaning.

Not every baby finds BLW easier.

My DD started on purées and now, at 10months has a good mix of spoon fed and finger foods.

We started on purées using the ellas kitchen book (I'll post a photo when DD wakes up from her nap on me)
I think first it was mashed potato, then cauliflower. I can't remember in what order, but I think her first 2 weeks included broccoli, peas & green beans)

You could always make purées but keep a bit while for baby to try both. That's what we did with things like broccoli & green beans

Do some reading on BLW. It's better not to do mixed feeding for several reasons.

The old 'food is fun until you're 1' will stop you worrying about how much they're actually eating.

My baby didnt take to BLW either, purees were better for us at the start. 5 weeks into weaning and im just starting to offer finger foods - hes only just getting the hang of it

OP you can think purees out with a bit of formula. Thats what I did at the start. In fact every puree at the start I mixed with a bit of formula to make sure they were thin enough. My baby LOVES avocado. I cant get it in his mouth quick enough. If you want to give that first you can, just add in some formula/breast milk to make sure the consistancy is right.

OP if you are interested in BLW then please do some reading around what to expect. At first baby won’t eat much(if anything) which is when people tend to panic that their dc hasn’t taken to it but longer term they will eat and there are many benefits. For me the main benefit is that dc learn to self regulate their food intake and I see this is my own dc now who are older.

I don’t think that their is anything wrong with ether option but it drives me mad when people write off blw after a couple of weeks.

Babies self regulate anyway, regardless of feeding method. They pull themselves off the breast when they're done, they push a bottle away, they wont take anymore purees and turn their head away and they wont eat anymore finger food thats offered.

Its really down to what suits that family.

A mix of spoon feeding and finger foods is traditional weaning. Baby led weaning is where you totally let them feed themselves without you putting anything in their mouths.

Mine were all a bit younger than 6 months when I started, but any veg is fine to start with. At 6 months it doesn't really need to be a puree though, you can just mash what you're having with a fork.

Pieces of soft fruit, well cooked veg, toast to gum on, rice cakes are all fine as finger foods too.

I'd try not to make extra work for yourself and just give the baby what you're having as far as possible. If you get in the habit of adding salt when you're eating rather than when you're cooking, you can just give her some bits off your plate.

My baby LOVES avocado. I cant get it in his mouth quick enough. If you want to give that first you can, just add in some formula/breast milk to make sure the consistancy is right.

Oh ok, that sounds good. Since starting this thread I’ve added avocado to my shopping basket, deleted it and now added it again!

We started with blended avocado and pear my DD loved it and still does. We started early due to silent reflux at about 5 months. She could sit up unaided and had great head control from very early. It definitely wasn’t too thick with pear. We do some finger foods now at 7 months as DD is putting food to her mouth but at 5 and just 6 months she was smashing food into her highchair and squishing everything, defo not attempting to feed herself. At 7 months she getting the hang of feeding herself and some goes in and some goes on the floor for the dog so we do a mixture of BLW and textured purée. Holly Willoughby’s book is good for ideas and as a guide. She’s not evangelical about either method of feeding. Good luck. Try and see how you get on.

Also, one tip I would say is that when you're doing it, it feels like A LOT of food at the start because you're still giving all the milk feeds. Try to remember though that they wont be fed this much forever. I keep having to remind myself this!

Avocado mixed with banana I’ve found has always been a winner

This is the ella's kitchen first 2 weeks guide we used except we swapped a couple of things out.
I found the Ella's kitchen book handy as a starting point for weaning using purées, and just included a piece of the veg cooked through but not mashed

I love how all the feeding experts come out on threads like this

OP, babies are very clever creatures. Just follow their lead and do what suits you as a family best.

Lol @ScarMatty too true. We did a mix of purée and finger foods and it was fine, started with all different kinds of veg. Moved quite quickly from purée to just lightly mashed up. DS 18 months eats anything (except avocado lmao because we never have it in the house. Awful stuff)

OP, just give her what you're having for dinner! Stick it in front of her and see what she makes of it. DS2 had fish pie as his first taste of real food, which is actually a good start. Nice and mushy, so easy to 'eat'. Bear in mind it's just experience at the moment, don't expect her to eat much.

Leftover spuds in the fridge? Maybe some leftover quiche, or pasta swirls? Pop them on her tray. Really ripe pear cut into slices is good. Sweet potato, cut into chip sized pieces, coat in oil and roast at 180 for 20 mins until soft - always a Winners

Also, sweetcorn fritters - whizz in a food processor a small tin of sweetcorn, and egg and a spoonful of flour. Fry like pancakes.

@Abouttimemum

It's very funny. We didn't read a single weaning book/follow charts etc

Simply tried a food blended, if DS liked it he liked it, if he didn't we tried again at a later date. Gave him soft finger food if ever he saw something he liked on our plate and just gradually built it up. He's now 2 and eats me out of house and home and I am so very glad I didn't stress over weaning and what was the 'correct' thing to do

I had a friend who charted everything and followed Annabel Karmel to a t, and my word was it stressful for her

I find this a lot with feeding in general. I used to chart how much formula my son has, what solids he'd eaten, how much he'd eaten. URGH! Now I just mash something up and go for it. He stops when he wants. I do hate it how BLW seems to be pushed on here.