Mixing BLW and Spoonfeeding?

[tiarong]

I completely agree with the idea of BLW, but for some reason I'm still not confident enough using this method. I think my DS might still need some purees to top up more nutrition.

Is there any mums here combining both the BLW method and spoonfeeding? How do you guys do it? My DS is still 4 month old and hasn't started eating yet but let me know thoughts!

Thanks! ☺️

Just do what you want.

You don't have to do strictly one of the other, I think most people mix it up a bit.

Remember that your DS will be getting his nutrition from milk. Food is fun till one!

Finger foods alongside puree is traditional weaning. It's what I did with dd and ds.

We mixed both methods, and so did lots of other people I know. Just do whatever works best for you - and try not to worry too much. I did, but now my toddler eats pretty much anything :) Is there some specific advice you are looking for?

We didn't follow any sort of pattern. Some days - especially ones where I had no sleep the night before, or had been working - DD would have weetabix for breakfast, mushed up pasta with tomato sauce for lunch, and a jar of something for dinner - all spoonfed. Other days she would have toast and fruit for breakfast, sandwiches, cucumber, baby crisps, a biscuit for lunch, then something like roast dinner later on - all finger foods.

She's just turned 1 and is an amazing eater, her favourite foods are berries, apple, pasta, toast and roast dinner. As long as you don't give them any honey or unpasteurised stuff before 1, and no whole nuts til age 5, and be aware of choking hazards like whole grapes and popcorn, it's all good!

Embrace the mess and feed them whatever you're having.

So in the early days do something like steam/boil some carrot sticks. Purée half and spoon feed, throw the other half on the highchair to let baby play with. Worked well for us. Once DD was bigger and better at feeding herself then it depended on what the food was e.g. yoghurt was a definite spoon feed, pasta she’d do herself.

I didn't do any purees because I thought it was a faff, but I spoon fed food I had cooked for all the family ("normal" food) as well as finger food baby led style. It worked well.

We combined blw with purée/spoon feeding
Worked fine 😊

Exactly what @TroubledLichen said.

We would give dd whatever we were eating ( in decent chunky sizes though) and she'd sit in her high chair at the table with us munching/gumming on it whilst we ate
It meant we got to eat dinner whilst she was occupied with playing with her food
But to make sure she got a decent meal in her we also mooshed a bit more food and spooned some into her mouth every few minutes

Mixing it up is fine and actually what most people do.

Spoonfeeding plus finger foods is just traditional weaning and is what most people do.

Thanks for all the responses!
It's such a relief to know that there's no ideal way to feed your baby so I can stop worrying too much 😅
Oh one more thing, as it's a combined method, what was your baby first food according to your experience? @Kintan that would be my other concern since you were asking lol thanks a lot btw!

I did this with DS2 (DS1 didn't take to BLW so was mostly purée for a while) worked really well. You might find that your baby takes to one better than the other but you can't really get it wrong!

Hi op, you may find this helpful. It’s a free guide on weaning. Dd is only 3 months but saw it on Facebook so sent away for it and have had a brief flick through. Seems helpful. www.cowandgate.co.uk/five-step-weaning-plan?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=brand_weaning_bmm&utm_content=relevant&utm_term=+cow_and+gate_+weaning&PPC=WNG_PPC_0412&gclid=CjwKCAjwwo7cBRBwEiwAMEoXPKxOzafYuIU8fgcy60sLnN7OHI0VLysxAm1_Rw15-BeqxPYacvA-YRoCJp0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Sorry for the huge link!

The methods you describe would be called traditional weaning. This is important to differentiate because spoon fed babies need finger foods given to them in a different way to those who do baby led weaning. This is all due to gag reflex and safety of the baby.

I did both op, it worked brilliantly.

With DC2, I started off BLW but then found it easier to spoon feed "mushy" foods, eg shepherds pie/soup and just give roast dinners etc as they are. DC1 was weaned on purees, then a few finger foods thrown in (incidentally, she is by far the less fussy eater!).

So long as baby is getting milk and a good mix of other tastes and textures, go with what works most easily around your family life.

The first thing we gave our boy was a blended broth made with potato, courgette and carrot. Two books I found really useful were Baby at the Table by Michela Chiappa and The Baby-led Weaning Cookbook by Gill Rapley. If you use Instagram, I’d suggest following an account called babyledweaningideas :) Have fun!

Roast carrot was first food here

Between 6 and 12 months he'll be getting most of his nutrition from milk, not at all of it. Food before one is not just for fun. That's a slogan with no science behind it.

And just do it OP. There isn't an ideal way and even if there was, spoon refusers and babies who cba to hold it themselves and want it presented to their mouths both exist! What do you eat? Things you could give to him? Need to go easy on the salt.

@Zigazagazoo and OP it's made by cow and gate - how much do you wanna bet they're trying to flog something? You don't need their guide to weaning - speak to your health visitor or look at the free nhs resources.

Ive always combined spoon feeding with finger foods... Doesn't have to be an either/or X

What a kid of absolute nonsense on this thread.

‘A mixture of BLW and spoonfeeding’ is just called normal weaning and it’s what the vast, vast majority of the world do and have done throughout human history.

Spoon fed babies do NOT need to be introduced to solids differently from those who follow so-called ‘baby led weaning’. They are still humans who learn to eat human food in a normal human way.

Just look at your baby, judge what they can handle, and give them some food. Use a spoon, use fingers, whatever. In a few months they’ll be chucking it all on the floor anyway...