Can 6mo eat food that's not pureed?

[Terramirabilis]

Apologies for my cluelessness but we are just getting started on weaning. DS has no teeth so does that mean we can't offer him anything that's not semi-liquid? Or can he eat some finger food? Which food?

Apart from the usual absolutely nots (honey, salt, whole grapes etc) just give him whatever he likes. If its too hard he will just suck it and gum on it. He doesn't need to eat a lot at that age, its more for fun.

Neither of my dcs would touch pureed food at 6 months. I tried everything as I had bought a great new liquidiser. In the end they just ate what ever we ate. I didnt mash or puree anything. It was very messy, especially chilli or spag bol but they ate with their hands and gummed their food. They are now 1 and almost 3 and eat anything and everything.

I'd highly recommend the BLW cookbook by Gill Rapley. The intro will answer all your questions and the term of it has decent family recipes (though quadruple double the herbs / garlic).

Rest. Not term. Sodding phone.

Yes absolutely they can have solid food - that's what baby led weaning is. Their gums are incredibly hard, and they manage just fine with gumming away at things.

My 6 month old has eaten porridge fingers, cucumber, bread, rice cakes, chicken, cheese, pasta and mince, soft carrot sticks. He gums at them and swallows a bit. If you ever let DS chomp your finger you'll know that they can have a hell of a strong 'bite' even with no teeth! I have the BLW book and it's great.

It is surprising how they can bite and chew with just their gums! They really do take to finger food straight away in my experience.
My dd is now nearly 9 months old and has one tooth that she is enjoying using to bite her food with!