Should I give up BLW?

[hermitzero]

My baby is 10 months old. I started weaning when he was 5 months old. I spoon fed him. I did this for 4 months. I have been doing BLW since he was 9 months old. At the beginning he ate well and he had a meal three times a day. These days he eats only small amount of food and have a meal twice or sometimes only one time a day. I exclusive breatfed him until he was 8 months old. I give him formula twice a day but he doesn't eat formula that much either.

I'm worried he may not get enough nutrients as he sometimes eat much less than when I spoon fed him.

I try many recipes and offer him a variety of foods but I struggle to find the food he likes.

Shall I give up BLW and try spoon feeding again?

Giving finger food isn't BLW. It's a normal and inevitable part of weaning.

To that end, no, you really can't go back at this stage anyway. A 10mo is unlikely to tolerate being spoonfed and babies need to develop the skills of handling food, biting and chewing.

Your baby is undoubtedly doing fine. Continue to offer a range of foods; they will do the rest.

Could you do a mixture of both? Food on the tray that he can finger feed/pre loaded spoons for him to try and you sit and spoon feed him too? Do you have mealtimes together? Are you using vitamin drops to boost his vitamin intake too?

Can you do both? My 7 month old gets a tray full of finger food but also a bowl of purée that I can spoon into him too.

I don’t think you can just swap to blw at 9 months. I think you need to got back to spoon feeding him and I assume you were giving him finger food too. If he is having less than 16oz of formula you will need to go back to gibing him a multi vitamin.

Is he teething? This will make him not want to feed or drink milk. Try anbesol liquid before feeds.

He needs the skills. You can't spoon feed forever!

Just do both. My 2 year old lets me spoon feed her if she’s hungry and tired and can’t be bothered to spoon herself or if we are in a rush.

Traditional weaning is a mixture of spoonfeeds and the baby feeding themselves. It's fine to use a combination of both.

I think you can spoon/fork feed and let him help himself as well it's OK to help him.

Do you or the HV have any concerns about his weight?

If not, and if he's enjoying the food he is eating and you're offering him a good range of healthy options, then there's nothing to worry about.

You can give a mixture of things. Finger food and mushy stuff (for want of better words)!

Agree, I don't think you can switch to BLW after you've started...?

To answer your question, yes, I'd give him a mixture of things at this point if you want to. Bit of trial and error

And I also think it's fine to help him at that age.