If you decided not to do Baby Led Weaning...

[PlaytimePolly]

Looking for advice from anyone who started with purée. My DS is 6.5 months and we have been weaning for 3 weeks as per the NHS guidance. Unlike the recommendation to start with BLW I have gone with puréed veg and then moved onto puréed or mashed fruit and veg, natural yoghurt, scrambled egg... so far. I found that when the moment arrived I couldn't get my head round BLW or finger foods and felt too nervous. (I'm not a nervous mum generally so I surprised myself).

Yesterday I tried him with a small bit of finger food (sliced avocado and soft pear sticks) but he struggled to do anything much other than mush them in his hands and down the chair, and when he did eat a bit he started choking, which was scary. When we use a spoon he eats well and is able to hold the spoon and feed himself.

For anyone who started with purée and not BLW, how on earth do you progress from here? (Ie now that he's confident eating all kinds of purée and mash). He has now tried a vast array of veg and a bit of dairy. What next? I have the River Cottage book and another 'mummy cooks' book but they just have normal recipes in them like frittata, muffins, pancakes, pasta, pizza etc. I know how to cook so I don't really need recipes. I just need advice on what to start introducing now in order to move him into normal food.

That's true, I was spoon fed purée and I have always eaten everything!

Thanks all for the reassurance. I think I will do a bit of both. I want him to actually eat food and he loves the purée (hoovered up spinach today) but will include finger foods to play with as well.

Another vote for a bit of both.

Dc is 7m old and we strayed at 5.5m on sweet potato and mashed stuff. We never puréed but mashed.

Sometimes we spoof feed and others we just Chuck down what we’re having. He’s great with fruit but bread/toast he just rams in and I can’t cope with that yet.

Tonight we had shepherds pie and I roll it up into balls and he feeds himself. Messy a f but he loves it.

Just going to echo pps, I did a bit of both with my DD. At this age it doesn’t matter if they don’t eat much it’s just exploring new textures and tastes.
Let it be messy it doesn’t matter. My DD is now 2 and I remember having days where I was stressed that she hadn’t eaten much, didn’t like it etc but one day it all kind of clicked into place and other than usual toddler pickiness at the moment she’s a pretty good eater

I'm not nervous so it never scared me if they gagged a bit. Is how I progressed from purees.

Its just a bit of a gimmick really, isn't it?. Purees, finger food, a mix - at some point pretty quickly they progress to finger food regardless of how they start. So I just wouldn't worry about it and do what is easiest for you.

My DS1 was weaned on purees then moved to finger food fairly naturally. Hes not particularly fussy and never has been (he's 9). DS2 refused all purees and would only feed himself so was BLW quite against my will (it just made life messier for me!) - we just fed him what we ate. He's always been a fuss pot and is only now growing out of it at 7. Fussiness is pretty normal for kids, especially around 2-4, and its much more important how you deal with it then than for the few weeks/months you wean. In my opinion anyway.

I did a mixture of both. Started off with purées as DD literally had no idea how to lift something up to her mouth but I would always give her a bit of the food to play with. Then progressed making things slightly more lumpy. She will now eat anything of any consistency including feeding herself a full roast dinner at 9 months old.
I got her more into properly feeding herself using those huge finger crisps from Ella's kitchen as they melt in the mouth so they don't choke or gag on them. Once she got the hang of those, she would give anything a go.
It takes time but I am comfortable with the way I did it and it worked well for us. It's a lot less messy and I could actually tell how much she was getting to eat compared to when she is let loose on her own.
However, we are now at the stage where DD is trying to grab the fork/spoon from us while eating so I think we will soon have to give in and let her do it all herself

We do purees not blw but my dc are fussy in that they all refused lumps/texture we literally had to do smooth purées 6-10 months then some finger foods then they just got it but lumpy or stage 2 baby foods nope 🤣

They eat fine now btw ! They just missed out that middle stage of lumps and texture

Start to mix flavours and gradually reduce how much you blend it, until it’s just mashed or still has soft lumps in. I then served easy finger foods on the side for him to start to learn to grab and grip. If you’re nervous, baby crisps/puffs are great. I also did a mini first aid course and this helped to feel more confident in spotting gagging vs. Choking and what to do if he actually was choking. 3.5 now and eats a wide range of foods well.

I did BLW with my twins, much less effort for me.
Now 12 one won't tolerate textures, raspberry seeds are too much.
The other one isn't bothered at all.
I don't think weaning has that much long term impact.

Both mine ate puréed food and will now happily eat pretty much anything.

Anyway, when weaning and getting them used to textures and lumps, we just gave them lumpy stuff alongside the mushy stuff. Things like fruit, bread sticks, chips, cooked carrots, biscuits, toast soldiers etc were good for them to hold and chomp on whilst also being spoon fed.

@PlaytimePolly we just did purees for 2-3 months (just mashed sweet potato, normal potato, carrots and some parnsnip and can't remember if anything else) then slightly chunkier and at the same time gave things to chew on (anything that was available and age appropriate).

He eats anything (including non-edible things, sadly!). I think it's all about luck and the baby - how they are in general. Like all adults, we all have out quirks. Good luck!

I started my son on purées at 6 months for a couple of weeks, then introduced really soft mushy broccoli, cauliflower - stuff that will disintegrate. Moved on from there really and now at 10 months he eats anything. I was really nervous at first but in reality we wouldn’t have evolved as a species if babies weren’t able to tolerate finger food.

A lot of people confuse choking with gagging, which is normal.

A children’s dietician on Instagram is actually weaning her baby at the moment and doing updates daily, she also has lots of useful information that might help - sr_nutrition

My 2 totally different:
DC1 would only be fed from a spoon. (Hands by sides, totally uninterested in doing it themselves) Wouldn’t eat otherwise. Now eats anything.
DC2 Would NOT be fed from a spoon, so I was forced to do BLW! Now is very fussy!

I did puree for quite some time and also gasp used jars graduating to the lumpier ones. Once I put DD on family food she no longer liked sloppy stuff at all and still doesn't. She also hates everything about pasta, maybe because I never lovingly fed her plain pasta and bits of broccoli. I had PND, there was no way I had the headspace for all that steaming veg.

I know there's sometimes a lot of salt and sugar added to jars, I'd watch the fruity puree ones. Mine got very attached to those. I don't think there's a right or wrong as long as they get variety and graduation to lumps. Fed is best!

Older ds - purées, Annabelle Karmel, gradually moved on to more texture / lumpier foods. Happy to be spoon fed as he was both lazy and always hungry.
Younger ds - BLW as it had become a 'thing' and he wasn't keen on being spoon fed.
Both are brilliant eaters now because we always eat together, try new things, enjoy cooking and share that with the dcs. Neither are fussy, neither have issues with diet.
The moral of this...go with whatever suits you and what your dc responds best to.

We started with puree and soft food too, and then I just gave her bland versions of whatever I was eating but chopped up very small. She was a very tidy eater on the whole. I'd feed her soft liquid food with a spoon but veg and meat she would eat with her fingers.

Until she was about 3 she would eat absolutely anything but she has got fussier as she has gotten older.

I think a mixture of finger food and spoon feeding works well.

We did purees and when I started to notice a pincer grasp at about 9months started to give tiny bit of bread and small pieces of cheese - ellas kitchen puffs etc. Once she was able to do that she actually started refusing spooned food from me and insisted on feeding herself!

I started with puree / mashed food for both of mine and both of them eat pretty much everything now.
They let you know when they’re ready for normal food (usually by taking it off your plate!)

Never really did massively smooth puree (my blending skills are shit) - had to do puree as one didn't have the motor skills because of prematurity and the other we weaned early on dietitian advice. Purees > fork mash > bits of lumps > lumps... then generally I got distracted and had to answer the door mid-lunch, came back and found they'd fed themselves lasagna or whatever.

Dd was BLW and she is the fussiest child ever. And now she’s 4 she often asks me to ‘feed her like a baby’ when she won’t finish her food it was easier though, because I am extremely lazy and couldn’t be faffed with steaming and blending everything.

I think a mix works well. I would definitely suggest finding a zoom first aid course so you know what to do in an emergency.

Remember if they’re loud and red - let them go ahead (you stepping in to help a gagging baby can actually make things much, much worse, so leave them to it) and silent and blue - they need help from you.

BLW is just a label forget about labels and do what suits you. I have weaned 3 kids, my eldest is 30, youngest 10!
To answer your question about moving forward from purée, just gradually thicken and add more lumps. Also offer finger foods alongside the purée/ mashed food.
What is much important is to offer as wide a variety of food as possible. I recommend Annabel Karmel books for that. Get your baby used to trying lots of different tastes.

I did purees because I was petrified of choking. If you are nervous then I really recommend the melty puffs as a good first finger food. They literally melt (try one yourself first). You can move onto the cooked veg after that!

We are doing a mixture of both I think.
Baby is 9 months. Absolutely loves food so far.
He will have spoon fed porridge for breakfast, finger foods (cheese, veg, toast, eggs, fruit) for lunch and a dinner.
Dinner is either finger food or spoon fed mashed version of what we have.
He seems to be happy with either.

Do whatever feels right to you though.
Apparently food before 1 is just for fun.

Regret not doing blw so damn much. I started then worried he wasnt eating enough then switched, i always worried and stressed so much, Should have stuck it through next time ill know to just relax and trust that he or she will eat the amount that he or she wants. Years of struggling have followed.