BLW - everything is so slippery!

[DuskyPinkRoses]

We've started BLW but everything is just so slippery that my DD can't really hold anything for very longand struggles to get the food to her mouth before she drops it. So far we've tried banana, carrot, parsnip, swede and pear. Was thinking about trying cucumber sticks, toast and pasta next as they are a bit drier. Please share with me what you found worked or do I just need to be a bit more patient until she can pick things up without them slipping! Xx

Are you leaving the peel on? Everything is super slippery, but leaving peel on helps a little.

Yes, leave skin on & I bought a crinkle cutter to slice carrots etc. Brocolli is great as it has it's own handle.
Try & enjoy it, I was a bit hard on myself in the early days trying to do it 'to the letter of the law'. Eventually I realised that porridge on a spoon in the mornings was ok!

They do learn how much tension to use eventually, just takes a bit of time :) like callamia says, try leaving a bit of peel on to give it some grip, with bananas you could peel them half way then cut off the peeled part so it makes a handle for you LO hold IYSWIM?

The BLW cook book is well worth getting as it has loads of first food ideas. Mainly just enjoy it, its so much fun!

If you peel a banana, slice the end off and cut into 2 inch chunks. Then stick your finger into the centre of the banana chunk and it naturally breaks into 3 easy to eat pieces.

As others have said, leaving skin on or using a crinkle cutter work well. Not sure how you're cooking the carrot/parsnip/swede but roasted may be less slippery than steamed or boiled. Vegetables that worked well for us early on are broccoli, cauliflower and baby corn which are all easy to hold.

Also, if she's over 6 months, there are plenty of other foods you can try that are less slippery eg toast, pasta twirls, omelette strips, pieces of cheese, strips of meat etc.

I left the skin on the banana but the bit that was exposed just broke off. Good idea re crinkle cutter. Will try that. Probably just need to be more patient and also google other ideas. Thanks for the suggestions though!

I tried leaving the skin on banana and it fell off too - also he was trying to eat the skin. Then, when he helped himself to my banana, I found giving him the last bit still in all the peel worked iyswim. Mashing also helps - you can still do blw if you spread it on bread!

And you can cut 'handles' in things like wedges of peach, bits of melon, cucumber sticks etc - just cut a tiny notch on a couple of the sides and that helps too.