BLW for one meal, puree for the other?

[dodi1978]

I never thought I'd say this, but it looks as if I am increasingly doing BLW! Little man is six months, and we are generally having dinner and breakfast. For breakfast, he seems to really like feeding himself, and I am thinking of going down the BLW route altogether for breakfast.

This morning I did some Scotch Pancakes cut into stripes for him to pick up, and even though most landed on the floor and on his lap, it sort of worked. I also tried to feed him some Yoghurt, but he kind of clamped his mouth shut.

I am now thinking of doing the more BLW route for breakfast, and purees (moving on to lumpier stuff) for dinner. Has anybody got any experience with mixing and matching like that? It would work for us because my DH HATES a mess, and he is not around for breakfast (the kitchen this morning after the scotch pancakes was a picture :--)). I think it is better to have a clear structure like that, so little man knows what to expect!

I really never thought I would do any BLW, but here we are...

Also rather proud of the fact that, so far, I've home-made all the food for DS. I think I'm turning into Earth Mothe!

I'm doing a bit of everything - I'm not interesting in rule books or fashions about what I 'should' be doing!
I really don't think your baby is going to need to know that one meal is finger food and one is puree - as long as he is happy with whatever is being given to him that's the main thing so you aren't creating an emotional issue with food.
My son has meals on a spoon that he takes from me, plus some bits and pieces on the tray, but if he's feeling lazy he might want me to feed him more than other times. I'm not bothered either way and he's certainly not - just keeps scoffing it up!

I'm doing a bit of both too. DS was weaned early due to reflux, so had to start on puree/baby porridge. Now he is only 21 weeks but can stay sitting up without support, pick things up and put them in his mouth, so ive started giving finger sized pieces of fruit and veg for him to gnaw on. I give porridge in the morning so he actually gets some food (I know they don't NEED it at this age but he has been so much more settled lately so don't want to mess with that) and then BLW approach for either lunch or dinner, depending on how nap times fall. I'm being quite flexible about it and just trying to find what works for us :).

I have done both consistently and DS is 20mo. He has weetabix and fruit puree for breakfast which we take turns at spooning into his mouth. Sandwiches or toast for lunch then a spoonfed dinner with finger foods on his tray for when DH and I are eating. I do feel it would be better at this stage to have moved away from the spoon fed dinner but otherwise he will not eat any fruit or veg. I have tried every variety known to man and he will not eat any unless pureed/mashed into a meal, hence why we still do it this way. I believe it is important to eat some fruit and veg every day and since I am happy he is more than capable of eating by himself i incorporate it this way.

I started off doing Annabel Karmel purées etc but also giving toast. DS nearly 2 now and is happiest with finger food (fish fingers, chicken and spaghetti) but also eats cereals yoghurts etc with a spoon. He has toast and cereal for breakfast, pasta (fork, spoon or fingers) for lunch and a finger food tea. Annabel Karmel's finger food for toddlers is great (got mine in charity shop). Like Sharon, he will not eat veg as a finger food (apart from home made potato wedges) so veg has to be mashed into pasta sauce etc. He does eat grapes and raspberries willingly and of course eats everything he's given at nursery! The mixed approach worked well for us.

This is just normal weaning - some puree and some finger food. A great way to wean imo. Blw is where you do no puree at all and don't worry about how much goes in their mouth for the first year.
My advice would be go with your child (which I guess is baby-led in a way as you are picking up the signs from your baby and feeding appropriately.)

We do a bit of everything certainly not pure blw. Breakfast here is spoon fed with some sort of toast/hot cross bun snack an hour or so later. Then anything else is just how its easy someting like risitto I place bits of meat and veg on the tray for dd to pick up and spoon feed the rice. Soup I spon feed and give soaked bread to dd to eat herself.

We havn't actually pureed or mashed anything for dd2 (11months).

This is just normal weaning - some puree and some finger food.

Exactly! It's how people have weaned for years and is the approach Annabel Karmel advises - she hates BLW but suggests finger foods as well as puree. I just find the phrase "I'm doing a mixture of puree and BLW" funny; it's as if we think we've invented a radical new weaning approach while our parents are probably scratching their heads and thinking "But that's what we did! When did it get such a fancy name?"

So yes, it's a perfectly good way to wean!

Agree it sounds like a normal way to do it. Our Dd eats the same as us - so if it's mushy like porridge or stew then we spoon it, if it can be held then we give her pieces to feed herself like toast, broccoli, butternut squash.
The only thing we didn't bother with is purees bit that's because i'm lazy and can't be bothered and also waited to 6 months so I wouldn't have to do it!

Agree with everyone else. What you are doing is pretty normal. I wouldn't regiment it though so that you only offer finger foods at certain meals. Just do what works. DD has a mixture, sometimes breakfast will be all spoon fed so something like porridge or weetabix, other times it will all be finger food such as toast and fruit pieces. I think your DH is going to have to learn to embrace the mess. It's only going to get worse!

We do a mixture too - scrambled egg on.toast being a good example of both in one meal! My DH doesn't like mess either, but I have found if I give DD stuff one at a time, she still gets the choice of whether to eat it or not, and the motor skills, but mess is significantly reduced. Stops half the meal being swept onto the floor too!

Thanks everybody! Just want to get this right as my DH is a very picky eater and I certainly don't want DS pick up the habit. Things are going well though - he loves feeding himself on bread (prefers it not toasted though) and also likes feeding himself purees (I found these little dipper things in the supermarket - I preload it and then give it to him - works really well with purees that are not too runny).