introducing lumps... when and how?

[Ribex]

My 6mo refuses anything with lumps and pretty much only accepts ella's kitchen super smooth purees. Anything I cook and blend just isn't smooth enough. He gags and pushes it back out of his mouth with his tongue. I assume this is a texture thing. How can I get him off the super smooth purees and get him used to a few lumps?

He's ok with finger foods, so maybe I should just go with BLW - but he doesn't seem to swallow anything, just mush it up then spit it out.

Any tips?

Once they are 6mo you start introducing lumps. You can start mashing with a fork, then work up to adding things like minced meat, chopped eggs, lentils, and couscous into the purees. I guess your first step is to get your LO to eat your home made food! Obviously he hasnt learned to chew and swallow, and have been drinking the Ella pouch. Don't worry how much he eats your home cooked stuff, he is learning to handle it in his own time.

Maybe your LO isn't gagging on finger foods because it feels so different from liquids that he isn't trying to drink it? Instead he moves it around the mouth and explore them?

I can't remember which weaning book says this. But it's about 9 months when their diets should no longer be purees (it could be AK's book). So you don't need to hurry and worry at all.

DD (8.5 mo) was like this to start with. It seemed to just suddenly click though. I remember the first time she accepted the lumps was when I had mashed up a bit of banana, it still had lumps in but because she loves banana so much she was willing to persevere. After that, she has moved on to more like mushed up stuff rather than smooth purees, and has become much more adventurous.

I suppose the point to my post is, been there, it just resolved itself, but they might be more likely to bother to 'learn' to do lumps if it's something you know they love!

D

I wouldn't expect a 6MO to swallow much solid food at first but if you persevere with the finger foods, he will learn how to chew etc and get the hang of lumps. It's early days so don't worry. He'll still be getting all the nutrients he needs from milk.