I don't get it.

[fairy1303]

DS is only 17 weeks so my freak out is premature BUT he is interested in food, always hungry despite having 7oz bottles every 3 hours (none overnight) so I'm not sure he will make it to 6 months (or is that not even a thing? see? clueless.)

HV did a talk the other day about purees if starting before 6 months, after 6 months anything you want but blended. so then when do they have it NOT blended? and do you literally just blend up a whole meal?? like Roast soup?!

And THEN I've been reading about BLW and that just throws a spanner in the whole thing anyway...

Please can someone very slowly and clearly explain it to me as if I were a small child.

I'm terrified and clueless.

I read quite a few books, but the one I found most useful was 'Stress Free Weaning'. I got it from the library, and it's really worth a read.

www.amazon.co.uk/Stress-free-Weaning-Teach-Yourself-General/dp/1444103059

I started around 5 months with purees, but from 6 months-ish gave DS things like pieces of avocado to gum a bit as well. I couldn't deal with exclusive BLW as I was obsessed with feeding DS up and didn't believe he'd get enough food if I wasn't spooning it in. I expect either way works out fine in the end though.

good luck!

If you want to introduce spoonfed rice/purees a couple of tips from my day (both DD 7 and DS 5 were before blw came into existence)

1. Pointless trying to spoon anything until they hve lost the push reflex (ie their tongue automatically pushes stuff away if anything put on mouth)
2. When you start try and keep some foods "pure" in flavour. Ie try brocolli puree on its own, carrot puree on its own. If you mix the or only do pureed spag bol etc then they will not get used to the (sometimes odd if you think about it) flavours that are around.
3. If you have frozen a load of stuff and a few weeks later you want to use it but are on a "lumpier" stage then a handful of rice crispies are a great way to add texture to something you have already blitzed to perfect smoothness.

Mine are now brilliant eaters and pretty much always have been.

Babies are just as likely to choke on purreed food as on solids. The thing to do to make it safer is ensure that they are sat upright and that they feed themselves (that what they know what the food feels like before they eat it). Never feed my child or mushed up her food

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/05/foodanddrink

We weaned dc1 early at it was awful, took ages to feed him a little bit of puréed veg or fruit and ages to prepare. Bottles every 3 hours is normal and not at all excessive at this age and taking an interest in food is normal too. It would be more of a worry if Lo wasn't interested in what you were doing.

I'd wean when your baby displays the signs of readiness. If that's before 26 weeks you should only give them fruit and veg, but they should be able to pick it up and feed themselves. If its after 26 weeks you can give them virtually anything. The few things to avoid are listed here.

Agree that baby's are just as likely to choke on purees as finger foods too. There's also a huge difference between gagging and choking. If you are worried, see if there are any baby first aid courses in your area.

And yes, if you wait till 6 months, you really can give them a roast dinner, no need to mash or purée. Have a search on youtube for "baby led weaning 6 months chicken"

So glad you posted this. We've just started weaning and I feel the same. All very useful!

lem did you search for the youtube video? Sorry I can't do the link.

In the meantime, if baby seems extra hungry whilst they have a growth spurt just increase milk from every 3 hours to every 2- 2.1/2

And there is usually a sleep regression around 4 months which some people interpret as hunger, it isn't and as others have said, if you think your baby is hungry just offer feeds more frequently.