Traditional weaning

[Mumof1DS]

Has anyone taken the traditional weaning approach rather than baby led? I have just started weaning DS who is now 6.5 months. He is not yet picking up food to put in his mouth but is eating veg mash, yoghurt, banana mashed from a spoon.
I have PND and anxiety and the idea of gagging/choking is worrying me which is why I am doing traditional.
When did you start introducing finger food and what did you start with? Did your DC have any teeth then?
When did you move onto blended meals rather than mashed veg? How gradually did you start making it a bit more lumpy?
Thanks

You can try from this age, just go with what you're comfortable. He will get as a babies bag reflex is much lower down. Avoid anything too little .. finger sized pieces are best.

Broccoli is great and a great sensory experience for them too. Cucumber is lovely on their gums.

You'll find your confidence will increase when you watch what your little one eats.

Hi, I did mainly traditional weaning because it seemed more natural and the gagging was frankly quite terrifying. Didn't introduce finger food until maybe 10 months. DS is fine and eats normally now aged 2! Go with what you're comfortable with. Baby led weaning is heavily promoted but it is a new concept and whilst I'm not denouncing the benefits, it's not essential! I think far fewer people do it than would have you believe.

Unfortunately they sometimes gag when spoonfed puree too, apparently because babies have the gag reflex further forward in the mouth than we do. They also aren't born knowing how to move the food around in the mouth so they can swallow it.
We did half purees, half finger food with my DD, but she has always had a strong preference for finger food.
She often ends up coughing with both purees and finger food but it's amazing to see how she learns to solve the problems herself

I've spoon fed since we began weaning at 4 months. She's now 7 months and I'm still spoon feeding. I have tried giving her some finger foods but she gagged on some soft banana early on and I really did panic and it put me off! I've bought some Ella's kitchen stuff though like the puffs for her to hold and they are great, go to mush in a few seconds. I don't give her stuff to hold for her "meals", she is spoon fed all of her meals like weetabix veg etc.. but I have just started getting her to hold things herself like dairylea soldiers with no crust. She loves the Ella's kitchen stuff and I do not worry at all with them! She uses a beaker with weak juice which has helped her hold things a lot better. I'd buy a couple of the puffs or wafers (they do them in Asda if you're in the uk) and give them a try first