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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Am I missing anything by skipping purees??

21 replies

Paris2019 · 07/06/2021 19:01

Hi, DS is 6 months and I'm going down the BLW route. I've read a lot about it and am pretty sold on it, but a lot of my friends are doing a mix of purees and finger food, so it made me wonder whether I'm missing put on anything by not doing purees??

OP posts:
makingababy · 07/06/2021 19:02

Placemarking as I’m wondering the same thing!

Crimblecrumble1990 · 07/06/2021 19:12

I don't think so. I ended up doing a mix as I started BLW and my son just didn't seem to do anything over than throw it in the floor for about a month so I added in some purées which he loved and got him used to the idea of taste and swallowing etc. He probably would have got the hang of BLW in the end but I think a mix helped us both gain confidence.

LapinR0se · 07/06/2021 19:14

It's entirely up to you and your baby. A lot of people end up doing a mix because it works for them (I was one of those people, my baby liked to explore the finger foods but was hungry and needed the puree spooned in as well).
You can try BLW exclusively and see how you go, why not? The theory behind it is perfectly sound.

fallingsnowflakes · 07/06/2021 19:16

No need to do purée at all if over 6 months. We started with purely baby led but did end up doing some purée because baby was getting a bit frustrated at the amount he was able to eat.

karmakameleon · 07/06/2021 19:16

No you’re not. My eldest refused purées so ate the same as us from six months and it was all fine. He’s nine now and eats well.

But if you want to do purée or think it would work better for you, that’s good too.

Sideofnoreturn · 07/06/2021 19:17

You’re not missing anything except extra prep and washing up!

Moonshine11 · 07/06/2021 19:19

As pp, I done a mix, purée for hunger and finger foods to play with and try. My LO loved both down the line tbh.
I did want to go down just BLW route but my fear of choking put me off until I know he was confident in swallowing etc
But I don’t think you really miss out on much other than your basically feeding them the purée as opposed to playing around with the finger foods as they to tend to end up on the floor until established.

passenger19 · 07/06/2021 19:20

I did BLW..dd really took to it and we never bothered with purees .....just play by ear and see how it goes..initially it's not really about feeding..more getting used to it.if that makes sense.

BikeRunSki · 07/06/2021 19:21

You’re not missing anything at all. DS grabbed a sandegucg out of my hand on the third day of weaning, 12 years ago, and refused purées from there on. It was all BLW from day 3. My HV was Hmm, beating in mind it was 12 years ago. 3 years later I BLW’ed DD, and the HV was all over it like she’d invented it, shortly after sliced bread!!

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 07/06/2021 19:29

My younger DD refused to eat anything she couldn't pick up herself. Preferably from my plate if she could reach.

AliceW89 · 07/06/2021 19:36

I’m the only one in my NCT group who did/is doing full BLW (not fully through choice, my little rotter angel point blank refused purée on a spoon - only wanted to self feed). Talking to the others, purées are given as they are convenient to take out, there is a perceived lower risk of choking, it’s less mess and you know you are filling baby up. AFAIK is absolutely no difference in nutrition outcomes.

I have to say, I found the early weeks of BLW a little soul destroying. Most food got thrown, spat, smeared…chose your verb. I had no idea how much he was taking in. All the NCT mums were just happily feeding their LO’s purée where as my DS was a horror 😂 At a year now though it’s the easiest thing ever - minimal mess, eats to hunger, accepts all textures and flavours, will now accept a pre loaded spoon as he gets ‘food’ and in the last week or so has been giving cutlery a good go. This is purely anecdotal but I probably have the best ‘eater’ now so I don’t regret it, even if the first few months were tricky! Good luck with weaning x

Paris2019 · 07/06/2021 19:59

Thanks all for the reassuring responses! We've been at BLW just over a week and it's going ok, albeit very little has actually been eaten! I keep reminding myself that doesn't matter at this stage but I can see why people might do purees just to make sure their LO is actually consuming something!

OP posts:
passenger19 · 08/06/2021 07:01

@BikeRunSki

You’re not missing anything at all. DS grabbed a sandegucg out of my hand on the third day of weaning, 12 years ago, and refused purées from there on. It was all BLW from day 3. My HV was Hmm, beating in mind it was 12 years ago. 3 years later I BLW’ed DD, and the HV was all over it like she’d invented it, shortly after sliced bread!!
That's really interesting. my DD is 12.,I had never heard of BLW but was invited to a session about it by the gp surgery. ... was ever so slightly horrified after that session but went with it!
BikeRunSki · 08/06/2021 10:07

*sandegucg = sandwhich!

Where does autocorrect get these from!

There was an MNer by the username of Aitch who was something of a leading light on BLW. She posted about it a lot and had a blog, with a photo of a baby in a high chair gnawing it’s gums in a chicken leg.

This is not the original blog from c. 2009, I was thinking of, but looks to be a later evolution BLW blog

Eminybob · 08/06/2021 10:13

I was a BLW purist with DS1. I actually found it pretty stressful, but he turned out to be a great eater.

With DS2 I used pouches and jars of purée, alongside finger food and it was a lot easier, especially when out and about, but will he put a vegetable anywhere near his mouth now? Not a chance he’s a terrible eater. No idea if there is a link but that’s my experience.

AutumnLeafDance · 08/06/2021 10:40

I started BLW with my daughter when she was between five and six months old - she had very strong neck control so a Dr friend said it would be fine to start her on solids a bit earlier. The most important thing to remember with BLW is to follow the safety guidelines - so be sure to read up on them. For example, the child must be sitting upright in a high chair and under close adult supervision at all times. We started with thick chip-sizes pieces of steamed veg and fruit that she could easily handle in her chubby little fists. Yes, most of it ends up on the floor in the early days but it's such a positive learning experience. She's now 21 months old and is a fabulous little eater - she eats exactly what we eat so there's no need to prepare a separate meal for her and when we go to a restaurant or someone else's house for a meal she's happy to just eat what's on offer. Good luck with the journey!

Sunny4876 · 08/06/2021 10:47

My first dd was feed purees first and I had he'll trying to get her onto lumpy food,she's still the same now at 15 with textures,lives mostly on pizza,my second dd who I blw eats anything and everything,especially veg and fruit.

Mummytomylittlegirl · 08/06/2021 10:50

@Sideofnoreturn

You’re not missing anything except extra prep and washing up!
Agree!

If you’re on Facebook there’s a group called ‘baby led weaning for beginners and beyond’ massively helped me confidence. DD is an amazing eater aged 3.

I’m having twins soon and won’t bother with purees. I will definitely be more confident this time telling the in laws to bugger off!

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 08/06/2021 11:01

I was sort of forced to do BLW with my eldest, as she flatly refused to try purée or allow me to put a spoon anywhere near her mouth. The stubborn thing wanted to do it all by herself.

Her little brother on the other hand, was quite happy to sit and be fed like a little baby bird, and in fact it was quite a struggle to get him to start feeding himself.

They're 9 and 7 now, and DD is and always has been the better eater, she has very varied tastes and will try anything, whereas DS is quite a fussy eater and nervous of new things. He's getting better over time though.

Anyway, personally I think as long they're getting plenty of milk it's fine, and actually a good thing, to just do BLW.

Cormoran · 08/06/2021 20:39

Somehow the original BLW philosophy has been perverted to be about the presentation of the food solid (BLW) vs liquid (puree) .

There is a taste acceptance window which is quite small and for this reason, food before one is anything but fun or unimportant, because it will shape a child's food preferences likely for life.

For this reason it is very important to present the widest variety of vegetables when they are accepted, to encourage the preference, and a gut and mouth microbiome that thrives on them.
Soups and purees or other smashed food, allow to massively increase the variety of vegetable offered. In soup, you can play around with taste, thickness and flavour by combining vegetable together. This is what cooking is about, the combination of flavours, which you can't exactly obtain when offering single softened veggies.
A carrot-pumpkin soup, a pea-potato soup, a minestrone, chicken soup, even fish soup...... will develop a taste not only for the single vegetable ingredient but also an openness to taste combinations.

In the end , what matters is not the form (liquid vs solid) or the way it reaches then mouth (spoon vs hand), but what the food is.

What will determine a fussy eater is the food the child is given. Give melty puffs, rice cakes, rusks as snacks, or even pouches with their weird combination and overly sweet tasting and the acceptance of food will be pushed towards industrial, packaged or processed food.

Weaning isn't a choice between solid or liquid. You would be missing on risottos, stews, couscous with veggeis and so many food that comes in different form. As adult we eat some foods with our hands, other with a spoon. I know people will be posting pictures of babies covered head to toes in asparagus risotto to prove that you can BLW yoghurt, soups (by sucking fingers) and so on. Weaning is also teaching "how " to eat, yes mess is fine, expected, food going many places minus the mouth, but sucking mum's fingers for soup (as we read here...)

Think "celery" , too hard for baby, disgusting boiled, but chop it, braise it in a pan with chopped carrots, chopped onion and after 5 min chopped tomatoes, let it sweat and mix with baby pasta, or a ladle of broth and couscous, you have a great dish.
Still celery, very hard to eat, but if cut in tiny stripes and then slices as thinly as possible, put in bowl, squeeze half an orange on top, extra virgin olive oil, fresh parsley . Leave aside for 30 min, it turns super soft and you can give it in its juice (half a spoon with plenty of sauce)

You might have slightly more vegetables to offer by just weaning without any label .

So my advice to you @Paris2019 is don't think about spoon/finger, but focus on the food. You don't have to pick, because as adult we eat in many forms. Start with the vegetable you want to give that day. Which form is best, softened , roasted to eat with hand/fork or with some form of liquid or grain hence the spoon.

Horehound · 08/06/2021 20:43

I would just be aware that hair because you want to do BLW, the baby may not.
I thought I'd only do BLW but in the end turned into more the purée route

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