Lumpy purées - ok for first foods?

[LittleTopic]

DD is 23 weeks so I am busy preparing her first foods. I’ve made up some batches of food to freeze - cauliflower cheese, broccoli, swede mash - which is mashed, fairly liquified but still has some small lumps in. Is this OK or do I need to be doing actual smooth purée first? Can she not handle lumps immediately?

I’m planning on BLW as well as DD has a tendency to grab at your plate and try to help herself but want to get some foods prepped ahead of time so I have a pot of dinner for her when she starts eating more.

I started with proper puree because they have a tendency to gag on lumps but you can try it.

I would say that we tried single foods to start with especially with allergens like cheese and milk. I suppose that would depend on if she's formula or breastfed though.

Good luck. It takes some a while to grasp swallowing and not just pushing it back out!

If you can, video the first few times. It's incredibly funny to watch back on!

I started ds at around 5 and a half months and never pureed I went straight to mashed or lumpier foods. He gagged for a week occasionally (this is a good sign, you want them to be able to gag, it means they're stopping food going far enough to choke) and now eats everything! I always gave a finger food along side spooned food (I think I started with broccolli) for him to play with too.

Oh, just to add, sometimes it can make them gage more if they have very smooth food with the occasional lump as it's more unexpected, so dont fear the mashed texture

I would say either proper purée or blw style actual finger food. If it’s a bit inbetween I think there’s probably a greater potential for gagging and swallowing prematurely as it’s a bit of a confusing texture.

I never pureed or mashed, my DC weaned themselves by stealing off my plate then i fed them normal food, including scrambed eggs, toast, hummus and falafel, whole bananas etc. They were fine.

I never pureed I just mashed with a fork and shredded meat. With banana I just gave small pieces

I never did any smooth purees, just mushed up food and finger foods, both of mine managed fine.

If you're going down the BLW route there's really no need to puree anything or give lumpy puree. BLW is literally giving the food you are eating to baby besides honey and whole nuts. She can have a steamed broccoli floret from the off. It's about them feeding themselves. Read Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley. It's a brilliant book, packed with information and it really gave me the confidence to BLW.

Nothing against traditional weaning by the way! DS was weaned on purees. But as you said you're doing BLW, I think mixing it with lumpy purees will confuse things, as baby will learn to chew then swallow through BLW.

Never puréed anything. Straight to normal food for us just before she was 6 months.

My kids first food was sliced avocado so I’d say lumps are just fine

Just popping back in to say thank you to everyone for their advice we’re going to start with BLW and see how we go! DD snatched a banana off me today and shoved it in, almost choking herself, so I reckon she will like feeding herself