BLW & purees?

[zastle]

Hello all!

My LO just turned 5 months old and at his 4 month checkup his doctor gave us the OK to start solids at 5 months. I plan on BLW so at first I was intent on waiting until the 6 month mark but my son has been showing an interest in food. He tries to grab whatever I'm eating, he sits up on his own for a few seconds and is trying to eat anything he can get his hands on! I'd rather wait until 6 months before giving him finger foods. I was thinking that in the meantime I could give him purees/mashed foods with a spoon and then maybe in the next couple of weeks start introducing finger foods.

Would that be too confusing for him? Should I just wait until 6 months or should I start giving him finger foods now?

xx

He only sits up for a few seconds? I wouldn't say that was a baby who is ready to wean. He isn't trying to eat anything he gets his hands on, he's using his mouth to explore the object he's grabbed.

I'd wait a little longer.

@Wizadorawobble
Thanks for your reply! I'm a FTM so all of this is new to me, and no one in my family/social circle has tried BLW.
Do you have any experience with feeding both purees and BLW? Just curious about everyone's thoughts. Do you find it unnecessary to do both?

If you give purees that isn't really baby led weaning. The point is they lead how much they eat. I did traditional puree weaning but just did finger foods on the side later on when he was ready.

It's just 1 month so I will just wait
There's nothing more soul destroying than cooking and pureeing food just for baby to Chuck it on the floor. And the mess is horrendous

He tries to grab whatever I'm eating, he sits up on his own for a few seconds and is trying to eat anything he can get his hands on!
Babies put everything in their mouths - car keys, toys, fingers. They dont know what is food and what isnt, so the fact that he tries to grab food doesnt mean much. Generally babies should be able to sit unaided (for more than a few seconds) and have lost the tongue-thrust reflex. If you put something unexpected in his mouth does he stick out his tongue to push it out? If so he isnt really ready for food.

If you want to do BLW just wait a few weeks and do it at 6 months. He isnt going to starve in the next 4 weeks by not eating solids.

DS has reflux so I introduced solids at 17 weeks. I did purées until he was 6 months and then switched to BLW with the odd purée thrown in if we were out and about. I started adding in a few finger foods about 5.5 months just to get him used to it.

He didn't seem confused at all by it and is a fantastic eater now at 16mo.

I've just started weaning my 5 month old and do a combination of BLW and purées, but my DS is sitting up unaided and can pick things up and put them in his mouth very easily.

I do BLW so DS can get used to feeding himself, different textures etc and purées so that he gets used to having a spoon in his mouth and I found the purées best to start with so they can get used to swallowing food down rather than pushing it all to the front and all over themselves.

I only gave DS1 (4 years old) finger foods from 6m and it worked well in that he's not a fussy eater now, but he doesn't really like soup or yoghurt so with DS2 (5m now) I think I will do a mix, mainly finger food and the occassional soup/yoghurt to see if it will make a difference.

I think I'll make soup that we can all have rather than puree though so I'm not cooking twice.

You can do both. I like the practicality of blw but it’s too messy for my liking . I do purées , jars, what we were eating cut up, what we were eating without cutting it up. Baby is maybe bit young but if interested I don’t see why they can’t have little tastes of things.

My baby (ftm) is 6.5 months and we've been doing purees and slightly lumpy mashed veg for the last 2 weeks. He's had ready brek too. This weekend we're starting finger foods, like grated cheese, soft cooked veg like carrot pieces and brocoli for him to pick up and try. It is usually at lunchtime.

We'll probably do a mix of homemade and pouches etc.

Does that sound OK? Will I be OK to introduce stuff like bread, pastas etc soon, in small amounts?

I started both mine on purees or mashed food, specifically allergens such as peanut butter, scrambled eggs and porridge with milk as well as mashed veg. This was on advice of allergy consultant and pretty every doc I’d spoken too based on the EAT and LEAP studies on food allergy. My dc transitioned to solid finger foods with absolutely no problem, and they are both brilliant non fussy eaters. I don’t get all the fuss about BLW tbh, it just seems like another badge of honour for new parents with PFBs to collect. Given we have an absolute epidemic of food allergies in the U.K. it seems more beneficial that babies are weaned before 6MO and this is supported by strong research. Also there’s nothing wrong with babies learning to feed themselves with a spoon in time

Sorry, to actually answer your question. I would only give finger foods once they are 6months and can sit up completely independently.