Anyone done a mixture of purees and BLW (oxymoron I know!)

[LittleMisscantbewrong]

My dd2 is 23 weeks so plan to start weaning in a few weeks. My older 2 were weaned the old school way as guidance then was 4 months so I did all the ice cube tray pureeing etc.

I planned to do BLW but when I started thinking through the practicalities I don't know how it will work.

Could I do some spoon feed ing and give her finger foods too? Or will that confuse things?

Am due to go back to work in September which is part of it, I don't know if asking someone else to do the BLW bit for me while I'm out will be difficult.

Sorry for mudlled post, in a rush as going out but any advice would be appreciated

BLW purists would say there is no need, however I think in fact most Mums find a compromise! We use the spoon for some messy things like yoghurt.

As long as there is no forcing a child to eat from the spoon, nor cajoling or 'here comes the choo-choo' types games, then there is probably a place for it. You can also explore the possibility of loading the spoon then letting the child put it in their own mouth. Or having a spoon each.

Other methods are to thicken things (like soup) with bread or quinoa flakes (or even baby rice), which make it easier for baby to feed themselves. Or spread runny things on a rice cake.

Also, use the spoon when you really need to keep time and keep things clean, but otherwise when you have the time and patience, let them do it themselves - even with yoghurt! Just strip to a nappy and hose them off afterwards - they get so much from exploring their food in this way, it's half nutrition and half science experiment!

Good luck - and keep the camera handy!

I did. Weaned my daughter early due to bad reflux at 18 weeks. So started off with pureed fruit/veg/babyrice. Also gave her rusks at about 5 months and watched her carefully. Then she grabbed my pizza from me and started chomping on it at 6 months so started giving her breakfast as finger food only (toast and fruit) and sometimes one other meal a day as finger foods too. She really likes it but also eats a lot of my homemade casserole etc from a spoon. She likes to do that herself too and is now 7.5 months. I thiink do what you feel comfortable with - I mixed it up and we get on really well with that!

Yes yes yes! Surely it's the only way? Well, the only way that suites us, anyway. BLW only meant that she took so long to eat that she was hungry, but go frustrated without doing it herself. Until fairly recently (12 months) I did both at every meal. Now she pretty much feeds herself, apart from yoghurt etc.

I did this with DD(now 17 months)- just sort of fell into it really (being from the School of Lazy Parenting!) - she was very keen to pick bits of food up from when I started weaning her at 5 1/2 months, but I also felt that spoon feeding her some of the time kept things simple if we were in a rush/I didn't feel she'd eaten that much earlier in the day/if we were out. She eats really well now. Better than her brother (4.4 years!) - I was spooning bolognese into his mouth yesterday ...

Thank you - that's very reassuring. I felt this may be the way to go for us as I feel stressed now when picturing mornings in September trying to get me to work, 2 older dc's to school and baby trying to eat breakfast on her own!

I feel like I'm a first time mum all over again

I do a sort of combo - mainly because my baby enzed refused to let a spoon go into her mouth when she was suffering with teething. I tend to give her finger foods for her snack (rice cakes, banana, chopped soft fruit) and then spoon feed meals - mainly because when she feeds herself, most of it goes on the floor and she ends up hungry 1/2 hour after lunch! I'm a bit confused by total BLW - my health visitor told me I should try finger foods while telling me all the nutrients that my baby needs (I should be feeding chicken, fish, red meat etc as well as veg, but I'm a bit confused as to how she should chew these at 9 months).

I could've written your post LittleMisscantbewrong. Am reading a book about BLW and also thought of comibining the 2. DS1 was spoon fed and is fussy beyond belief so want things to be different for DS2

Kingsroadie, did weaning help with the reflux?

I LOVE Lionstar's response.

I'd like to think we're doing BLW but actually doing a mix. (DS 6.5months) Not least because I made up a whole load of pureed pear before I decided to BLW which is still in the freezer and I abhor food waste! I am certain that DS will not lose any of the BLW benefits (motor skills/food acceptance) by doing a mix rather than pure BLW.

So for us, most meals at the moment are a bit of puree and a bit of finger food. DS definitely prefers finger food in that he will not take anything from spoon at all unless he is holding something to ram in afterwards! He will eat anything if pasted onto toast or rice cakes.

Anyway - IME it is a myth that BLW = more mess/time. We manage to make an ENORMOUS mess when a spoon/puree is involved.

In case you're interested as some examples - here's what is typical for us at the moment, i.e. what DSs menu tomorrow looks like
Brekky: porridge with pureed fruit (spoon), toast (sometimes with puree on top!) and some kind of fruit as finger food - tomorrow will be apple and banana probably.
Lunch: last night's adult dinner pureed (spoon), rice cake & roasted veg finger food.
Dinner: Sweet potato (mashed), BLW recipe fish/potato cakes.

I'll be honest though - I am finding weaning the toughest bit of being a parent so far. Think this may be a lot to do with the ability of my DS to cause an enormous mess 3 times/day!

We kinda did a mixture of both. But I don't think I really thought of it that way. It was just a question of the easiest way for her to consume whatever was on the menu that day. If dd2 could eat the same as dd1 by picking it up and chomping on it, she did that. If it seemed easier to chop it up a bit and give her a spoon, I did that.

Having said that, she wouldn't let me do more than load the spoon for her in any case. So maybe that counts as BLW anyhow? I sort of find the whole idea of giving it a special label a bit silly. It's just food.

dd1 was spoonfed strictly by the Annabel Karmel book. She is now a relaxed and open-minded eater. dd2 took charge of her own food from day one. She too is a relaxed and open-minded eater. I don't think it's a big deal really. IMO the main thing is to make it as easy on yourself as possible, and for me that meant being able to serve both girls the same meals rather than preparing batches of icecubed purees.

don't bother with rice cakes til older, i always found these a nuisance for gagging. did a mix, my ds didn't really eat anything til 10 months, which i later found out was normal, after stressing for 4 months!

I sort of do a bit of both with DS but I initially did BLW/Finger foods only. I weaned DD on purees and it was ages before she'd have any lumps or finger food, so I didn't want to make the same mistake again. DS had just finger food for the first few weeks and once he'd mastered it, I started introducing some spoon feeding (mainly breakfast and puddings/yoghurts etc.). It seems to have worked well

Yes, thinking about it I did just the same as Tillyscoutsmum. We started off on chunks of fruit and veg.

I only spoonfed things that were runny anyway, like yoghurt or ready brek, everything else was just cut into finger food sizes.

I BLWed DS (now 3.5). He is beyond fussy and will only accept a v.limited range of foods. so don't expect BLW to help with pickiness! I didn't have the confidence to do pure BLW this time around with DD (now 13 months) apart from anything else I felt that many friends/relatives were secretly thinking that BLW was to blame for subsequent wierd eating habits of DS! Although I know this isn't really true I wanted to try something different second time around. So we do a mixture - for example porridge is spooned in for breakfast (and I do encourage/distract if needed which isn't very baby led but she doesn't seem too traumatised). Lunch might be bits of veg/breasticks/houmous but I also give some Ella's kitchen or some homemade mush as well. I let CM do whatever she feels comfortable with. DD eats very well and tries new things and is very healthy and happy - good enough for me.

Just beware that you don't put pieces of finger foods in your baby's mouth to 'help'. If it's finger food then I strictly let my LO take control. I only spoon feed in mushy stuff.

I don't call it 'mixing BLW and purees' though - it's just weaning with lots of finger foods. Purist BLWers (e.g. Gill Rapley who 'invented' it) reckon that if you are spoon feeding then you are not baby led weaning.

You should just do what's right for you and your LO!

I have gone down the BLW route which is great fun, but there are definitely times I wished I'd done a combination (ie am going to a pub with colleagues tomorrow afternoon and will need to feed DS, and the mess will be quite spectacular!). Although I have seen some spoon fed babies unbeleivably messy at the end of a meal so it's swings and roundabouts I suppose!

For me one of the main reasons and also stresses of BLW has been that DS is on control of what goes in. i'm lucky as he's always been pretty enthusiastic but there are days when I worry about his intake. I am a firm beleiver that they take what they need and I just need to trust him but some days this can be hard. I really like the fact that I have done no cajolling him into eating (no choo choos here!), and I am definitely more relaxed than some of my friends who are puree feeding about how much he eats in a day. But it is also quite challenging handing over that responsibility to your child which is why I can see that a combination of the two is tempting (or necessary) for some parents.

DS is good now though I know that that may change as he gets older, but I am determined that food will not become a battle ground for us and this is a pretty good start. But, when I see friends babies happily opening their mouths for the spoon to be popped in then I don't see an issue with combining at all.

Also BLW doesn't mean no spoon use at all, just put stuff on a spoon and hand it to them (we always have 3 in use at once). They need time to learn but they eventually work out that they need to pop it in their mouths and suck the stuff off!

Just do what you feel comfortable with. But I do recommend reading the Gill Rapley BLW book to see her philosophy on weaning and trusting your child to eat what is needed. It may help on those days when not a morsel has passed your DC's lips, as you know they will not starve and is NORMAL!

Good luck

Yes, we mixed it up. And those were the days when BLW hadn't been invented! Just go with what works for you.

I havne't read all the posts, but my lo enjoys purees as well as finger foods. Finger foods can be given at anytime and are useful to keep them quiet if hungry and puree not ready. Purees allow them to experience flavours of foods that are hard to chew/eat when they are v little, e.g. meat.
We are enjoying a mixture of both and don't see why others can't but I would also take the cue from your lo I know paretns whose babies won't touch spoon feeds and therefore are naturally doing BLW and others who won't eat finger foods so see how u get on with yours.

Spoon fed messy purees, yoghurts and porridges but alloed baby to eat other fingerfoods by feeding herself. I think that this struck a good balance