BLW advice please - starting too early?

[Reesie]

My daughter is nearly 23 weeks and since she has been sitting
upright on her own for a while - the last couple of days I've been
sitting her in her highchair at mealtimes and giving her bits of
food to play with just to get her 'used' to the idea. I'm still
exclusively breastfeeding. I haven't expected het to start eating
for a while.

However, she has started eating with gusto - she appears to be
managing to pick food up and put in her mouth with no problem(and
then suck furiously at it!). Some chunks are falling out of her
mouth but quite a bit does seem to be getting through...(obvious
when it comes out the other end......!)

I'm not sure if I should continue to give her food to play with now as
she's so young (only just over 5 months) but it seems cruel to take
away and she's obviously developmentally able to do it.

Also - what food can I give her - do I go straight onto whatever
we're having (ie. such as cheese on toast or bread and buter dunked in home made soup etc etc) - or just keep giving simple veg/fruit as she is still
young?

Any advice would be great!

Donna and Eve

From what i read the idea of BLW is that they will only eat using their fingers when they are able to eat BUT I would be very careful what you give her. I would avoid gluten, dairy, citrus, until at least 6 months. My lo was very nearly 6 months when we started and he only really had steamed veg and soft fruit such as steamed apple or banana for the first month or so. The advice is to not start weaning until 6 months but do what you feel is best for your lo.

agree with lorisparkle, really. the logic is right that if they can do it, they can do it, iykwim? however... the guidelines are 26 weeks for all foods (within reason) so be careful what you give. stick with fruit and veg, i'd say. to be honest, you could give her something other than food to chew on if you want to wait another 3 weeks but it's up to you, obviously. no gluten, though, i'd say.

Hi,

I'm in a very similar situation. My daughter is 23 weeks and has also been sitting up for a while. In a flush of BLW enthusiasm (had been looking at babyledweaning.com and mumsnet!)I put some steamed asparagus and broccoli from our dinner on her tray the other night and she picked them up and sucked frantically at them (although could be argued she does that with most things at the moment!). As you say, there was definite evidence that she had swallowed some of the broccoli. She made some very excited noises (and again today when I put more broccoli in front of her) and seemed much more interested in the food toys than the inedible toys on her tray. Was a bit worried that she isn't 6 months yet(although having said that a lot of her peers have been on the baby rice/purees for a few weeks now) but was planning to stick to fruit and veg til she is. Looking forward to lots of messy times ahead!

Thanks for your advice. Will keep giving her soft fruit/veg to play/eat with but keep the whole thing very relaxed for a few more weeks.

x