Please could someone talk me though doing a combination of puree and finger foods - I'm having a common sense failure.

[IceCreamCastles]

Did BLW with dd who is now 3.

Things I liked:
-no stress about 'how many spoonfuls etc'
-no stress about moving onto lumps and bigger lumps or whatever
-kept her occupied whilst I ate / cooked / cleaned kitchen.
-introduced her to a variety of flavours early on
-she enjoyed it
-cute photos.

Things I dislike:
-waste
-mess - in fact in a bid to reduce mess I tended to give her 'clean' ish foods and now have trouble getting her to eat things like spag bol and other 'mixed up' foods
-no improvement in sleep (though I know this doesn't always happen with any weaning.

So, with DS I was thinking of doing a bit of both - finger foods for fun but also spooning in a bit of yoghurt, porridge or whatever we're having mushed up in the hope of taking the pressure off breastfeeding a bit.

But how do I know how much to give him? All the weaning guides I've seen say things like 'the tip of a spoon for 1 week, 2 teaspoons at each meal for a week etc. I can't deal with that level of precision but obv don't want to overload him too early on.

He's only 18 weeks anyway and am planning on waiting until he's at least 5 months (I know all the signs and he hasn't shown any of them yet)

I did a mix with both my boys, they got whatever I was making for tea in front of them if it was remotely suitable it I also did baby porridge at breakfast, and a little mush to fill them up! Don't worry at all about th show much, he will tell you very clearly if he wants more or is full,the just cling film it and fridge it! If you make your own and freeze into cubes, the cost per cube is tiny, so you don't worry about the waste. By boys were ( and still are ) disgustingly messy, I have learnt to embrace it!

We started at 5.5 months as that was when ds was ready.

I had pre made frozen portions of mashed carrot, butternut squash etc. He had baby porridge for breakfast and finger foods of sticks of veg to start with. We introduced one new food a day in case of allergies but other than that didn't follow a set routine. As he had finger foods all along he never had a problem with lumps and just ate anything we put in front of him. I would say he was predominantly spoon fed until about 7.5 months, when he just took over himself. Now he is only spoon fed yoghurt and other things an adult would use a spoon for. He eats anything. The only limitation he has is his lack of teeth!

But, it has been messy all along. He now wants to try and use a spoon or fork which is really messy as he doesn't have that level of co-ordination yet at 14 months.

For us, it made total sense not to strictly follow one plan or the other, even though as a first time Mum I desperately wanted a plan to follow!

We started weaning DS with purees, as he couldn't sit up well enough for finger foods until about 7.5 months (and before anyone says anything, he was prem and we were advised by doctors to start weaning at 6 months).

Weaning with purees does not stop it being messy. DS, from the beginning, has been strongly opposed to anyone other than himself putting a spoon in his mouth. He would bat the spoon away with his arms, and clamp his mouth shut unless he was holding the spoon all by himself. It was horribly, horribly messy.

As soon as he was showing enough weaning readiness signs for us to feel happy giving him finger foods, we switched to that, and the amount of mess created dropped overnight. Even with things like spag bol.

Thanks- sounds good.

Still a bit confused about the one new food at a time thing. With blw I just plonked everything down at once.

Suppose mess is inevitable either way

I did only puree until 6 1/2 months and then introduced toast at breakfast alongside baby cereal, for lunch I would make a mushy meal followed by sticks of banana and other fruit. To begin with I just gave her whatever she would take before she turned her head. I never measured food out. Sometimes it would be two spoons, sometimes more, if she spat it out or turned away I stopped. My DD was like a little bird opening her mouth for more! I would say in the first week she probably took a teaspoon full, but quickly moved on to wanting more and more. Look for the signs that he has had enough rather than try and measure the amount x

It depends on your DC amount wise, we started at 5.5 months due to huge intake of milk and after speaking to HV. Started with small amount such as one cube or couple of tea spoons and he very quickly went to three meals a day within about two weeks. When I say meals I mean baby rice and fruit puree for breakfast and pureed carrot, sweet potato etc for lunch and tea. Soon started introducing Annabel Karmel recipes for protein, he had meat, lentils and fish introduced within about 1 month of weaning.

Gradually gave him finger food to eat before and during his meal, such as bread sticks, bits of toast and soft fruit. Now he will feed himself pretty much anything he can hold, but due to the mess at all meal times I feed him the Annabel Karmel recipes, which I batch cook and freeze and he will eat everything and anything. This is based on my pig of a son through

He eats for England but will let me know through noises and pushing the food away if he is full. If your DC is finishing everything and showing signs of still being hungry have thing to hand that don't need lots of prep, e.g. natural yoghurt and fruit puree (just mix a little of both together) bits of fruit etc.