Does anyone else feel like BLW is taking a risk?

[becknnico]

There is so much talk about it but I still cant seem to think it is the best way to begin feeding DS. All parents that seem to advocate it seem to have a more naturalistic approach to parenting so I thought 'well, this has to be better' but feel like I would be risking my child chocking every time I go to feed him. This is not my only problem with it either. Although DS (8.5 months) gets most of his nutrients from my breastmilk, BLW would essentially ensure he never really started ingesting anything until he was over a year old. I do like the idea of him feeling out and looking at the textures and colors of food but picture myself giving him the Heimlich every time I think about it. The first time I gave him an apple he started chocking on it and dont think I will do it again. He is clearly a bright baby so no problem there. I just cant help but feel like our ancestors have been pureeing food for babies for sooooo long for a reason. Its kinda scary to start just giving them hunks of food. Anyone know where I am coming from???

Sorry choking. Did I really misspell that twice??!!!

I sort of did BLW with DD- she had some purees too and I didn't read the book so I might not have been doing it the 'proper way'! She hardly ate any solid food until she was about 15 mo and I spoke to my HV who said that DD looked perfectly healthy to her and not to worry about it. She never had any problems putting on weight and is still BF. DD is 2.2 now and eats lots of solids (although she's going through an annoying fussy phase atm).

I think the point of BLW is that they go at their own pace. I don't know exactly what the book says but I've heard a lot of people say 'food is fun until they're one'- 8.5 months is young so don't worry if he's not eating too much, it's about experimenting with different tastes and textures.

Apple might be a bit much because it's quite crunchy, I used to give DD things like ripe banana, pasta, cheese, bread and things she could gum easily or tackle with her 2 teeth

I too only gave softish pieces of food, eg stewed apple pieces not raw, & in stick/wedge type shapes so DS could break off as much as he felt comfortable with. That is one of the ideas of BLW - that instinctively babies will not take more into their mouth that they can swallow & will spit out if they do - compared to spoonfeeding pureed food where they have no control over how much goes in & it can vary, & they learn how to swallow properly much later.

I never had a choking incident, gagging once or twice tho. You could always try a bit of a mixed approach. With still bf-ing there should be minimal concern about babe getting enough & the right nutrients until after 1 yr old, if not later.

I doubt our older ancestors would have pureed food - they would have given bits that could be sucked and saved the smaller softer bits for babe, maybe chewed a bit up themselves then gave to babe so nowhere near as smooth as a puree.

My DD was eating (chewing, swallowing, pooing) proper food by 6.5 months with BLW. It depends on their skills, as well as arguably improving them. She certainly wasn't denied any nutrients. Has never yet gagged, let alone 'choked' and she's 16 mo now. But I'm sure if I hadn't felt it was going well for her I would have changed to a different weaning method.

Belindarose- She was chewing at 6.5 months? Or gumming? She could not have had very many teeth to be chewing yet which is also part of it. If they dont have teeth, it would seem they may not be quite ready for food food yet.

I did purees with ds1 and BLW with ds2. I have to say that I had more 'choking' issues with the purees and remember having to hold ds1 upside down!
Ds2 was sucking lamb chops after a few weeks!
If you like the idea of him exploring food, why not do half/half. Give him a bowl of puree alongside some finger food.
Ds1 is now 3yo and ds2 is coming up 2 and they both have completely different attitudes to food. Ds2 will eat anything you put infront of him, ds1 is very very fussy and part of me can't help but wonder if it had anything to do with giving ds2 the freedom with his food and using more of a forceful method with ds1.
You can only do what you feel comfortable with.
Bear in mind that Apple is quite a hard food and is tricky for little mouths especially with the skin on.
Maybe try roasted potatoes and veg (peppers, carrots, courgettes etc)
You can also now buy little fish-net bags attached to a handle, so you can put food in there for baby to chew on and they will get the flavour and juices without the actual food iywim.
I will look for a link

By 6.5 months my ds had 8 teeth, so that helped, but he was able to gum.

Xthe thing is they don't need to ingest loads of food before 1. Some days he would eat tiny amounts, but that quickly increased. Their stomachs are only tiny.

I didn't give him apple until he was older as it is so hard.

Ancestors wouldn't have pureed- how would they?

I did purees with DC1 and BLW with DC2. DC2 was weaned much later anyway as the guidelines had changed, so that helped.

I would say that at 8.5 months there can't be much chance of choking surely? There is more chance of choking in a younger child who has purees shoved down the back of their throat with a spoon.

At first I used to lightly steam or roast the veg anyway, just half of the time you'd normally cook it for. That seemed to help. By the time you move onto raw apple he should be fine.

Two of mine choked on food at about 8-9m old, choked so badly that they went blue and I had to take emergency action. They choked on purees.

I have weaned 3dc. One at 4m on purees with new foods every three days etc, one at 6m on purees, and one at 8m on mostly BLW. T he first and the last were the ones who choked. Yes, I know that does not make me an expert, but it's a reasonable range of experience.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the older the baby and the more freedom they have eating, the easier it is to wean.

Babies with over-cautious parents, who keep them on purees for ages, and restrict the flavours and textures in their diets, are more likely to gag and/or to refuse food than babies who have been given the opportunity to explore texture and flavour at their own pace.

Thank you everyone, especially silvermoon. This is all very helpful. And yes, I suppose what I meant was soften-not puree as far as our ancestors go. I do not limit or restrict what he eats at all as he eats different things all the time. I think maybe I will start with some roasted carrots and such...see how it goes!

beck The good thing about roasting is that it really brings the sweetness out in the veg.

I couldn't find a link for the bag thing I was talking about but I have seen them in Tesco (the larger stores)
You could always boil apple slices for a few mins and then give them to ds once they've cooled down.

Babies don't need teeth to chew becknnico. My DD is 9.5 months and still doesn't have any, not a single one. Gums are hard though, so it doesn't hold her back.

I think the theory goes that the later you leave it to give finger food, the more likely the baby is to choke. At 6 months, the gag reflex is still set quite far forward in the mouth, so any big lumps will be gagged out before they come anywhere near becoming a choking hazard. As the baby gets older, the gag reflex moves back, so if the baby isn't used to lumps then they are more likely to choke. But really, it's very rare, BLW or not.

As for "essentially ensure he never really started ingesting anything until he was over a year old", it depends on the baby. Some start eating real amounts of food very quickly. For breakfast this morning, DD had a weetabix and a whole banana, I should think this is comparable to a puree fed baby?

Roast veg is a good place to start as they're nice and soft, but not too slippery to hold.

Beck - at 9m dd was eating the same food as 3yo ds1, albeit generally a bit mashed up, and she ate 2-3 times the amount he ate. As well as breastfeeding about five times a day.

Ds1 has always been a tiny eater, ever since day 1 of weaning on purees. He is robustly healthy and very fit, tall and very slender, and still seems to live on air. Dd has always packed it away, loves her food, and just like her brother she is healthy, tall and slender.

Food is for fun until they're one. And all babies are different!

My dd chewed with no teeth, it wasn't a problem. And I disagree that blw is a choking risk - most babies can cope fine with chunks of food, as long as you follow sensible precautions like not giving them anything too hard. In fact, I would argue it is safer because the baby is more is control of what is in their mouth. DD has never choked. Gagged, yes, but that is a totally different thing. And she doesn't even do that now at 10mo.

And as others have said, plenty of babies eat loads with blw.

But I'm not sure why you are so bothered about it really. If you don't want to do blw, don't.

I did it with both of mine. Ds is now 13 months and dd is near 4.5. No choking. No issues. Both good eaters now. Never doubted it.

Just to add one thing - you say that with BLW that they won't really get the hang of eating til one - but that's not true for everyone. My DS was eating, chewing and swallowing loads from his first few days. You can tell from the nappies .

Also the history of baby-feeding is highly speculative as it is only in the past century and a half or so that people have thought it worthy of record or study so we can't say much for certain about how our ancestors fed their babies. But they definitely wouldn't have had a Magimix.

Ds had finger foods from 6 months as well as mashed food spoon fed (never pureed anything smooth).

Yes, there was occasional gagging at first - completely different from choking and not dangerous - but that was all about him learning to eat and being a leetle bit too enthusiastic at times.

DCs don't need teeth to chew. I wouldn't have given him raw apple or carrot at that age but boiled carrot batons, wedges of sweet potato, a banana, strips of chicken and bits of fishfinger - teeth not required.

Remember it's molars that you use to chew and many children don't get them for a good while. You wouldn't expect a one year old still to be on purees whether they had their back teeth or not.

dd1 ingested a lot from the start
i have pictures of her eating a roast dinner when 9mo at her first christmas

we started on softer stuff - cooked veggies, toast, strips of omelette. i also served naturally more mushy food such as cottage pie, dahl, baked potatoes from a spoon. i didn't puree, and hope not to with dd2.

I also should note that I thought most of you were very rude with the exception of few. This is an open forum for parents to help each other not criticize and compete through their children. Belindarose-Does your infant eat with a fork and knife as well?

Umm. A fork and spoon, not a knife yet. Have only scanned the thread, but didn't notice anyone being rude, just sharing their experiences.

I dont think anyone is trying to compete honestly becknicco, just trying to explain that it honestly isnt a case of "BLW would essentially ensure he never really started ingesting anything until he was over a year old."

But if your ds is already 8.5 months old and already eating food as opposed to milk you wont be doing 'BLW' now. BLW is offering your infant food from around 6 months and waiting until they self feed.

You are looking for advce on 'finger foods' which everybody whether the choose to follow the BLW course of action or not eventually have to introduce.

It is worth looking at advice on food stuffs recommended by BLWers as they can prob outline things that are good first food, cooked carrots are ideal, and things that are harder, apples arent great due to the way they break down. When you do offer apples for instance, it is better to take a bite and the pass the baby the whole apple rather than cut up slices as there is less chance that they will bite off 'more than they can chew'

Oh and babies dont need teeth to chew, the teeth are there just inside the gums all along. DD didnt get her first tooth till she was 1 and didnt have enough to make much difference until she was about 18months but i have pictures of her gnawing away on plenty of stuff.

Have just read the thread. Nobody is being rude or 'competitive'. You even thanked posters in your last post. Seems like an odd interpretation of responses.

I would just like to state that I have never found any research to support the statement "Food before one is just for fun."

There is plenty of peer reviewed research available that actually disproves this, e.g.

www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs342/en/index.html