When to introduce 3 meals?

[Ariel269]

I feel silly asking as this is my 6th baby- however our other 5 all did BLW at 6 months and I feel that was a different pace, as they “ate” very little and mostly just made a mess with food for the first little while.

Baby no.6 started weaning around 5.5 months at paediatricians advice due to issues around reflux and it being a bit trickier to get medication into him to manage this, due to me EBF. It’s been great in terms of reducing reflux symptoms and he is currently 7 months and getting breakfast and dinner. I’m using purées rather than finger foods as we found he manages these better, however, I’m so used to BLW that I feel a bit unsure of myself in terms of timing. Since he is taking in a lot more food than if he was doing BLW, should it be a slower progress to 3 meals? I’m certain he would happily have a little lunch introduced just now, he devours the other two meals. But I’m sure if it’s far too early. We aren’t due to see the paediatrician again for another 6 weeks to run it by them.

I didn’t do BLW as couldn’t be doing with the amount of mess for so little food in 🤣 but that was 11 years ago and times may have moved on! I started my daughter with purées at 6 months and she had a varied diet with 3 meals a day including main course and pudding. She also had breastfeeds 3 times a day/night too. All was well, she tolerated the meals fine, no vomiting/reflux, she wasn’t overweight (and never has been) and not fussy either 😃 I think you’ll be fine x

I did do BLW but both my children were absolute fucking gluttons so they were eating quite a lot at that age. If you give him a breastfeed before mealtimes then you'll know he's still getting enough milk, and then he doesn't have to eat all the lunch if he's not hungry enough.

Milk is still main food as you know. Do BLW as you still want them to experience the textures and get used to the experience of chewing food. You already know it’s a mess but do the purées for the medicine and then what you normally do. Don’t second guess yourself as you have experience. Unless medical guidance says otherwise

I think the NHS currently say between 8 and 9 months, taking baby’s lead but if he wants it at 7 months I wouldn’t be too concerned about intending the third meal now, as long as it doesn’t result in him waking more in the night for milk. I suppose you could try lunch fkr a few days and see how you get on?

Thanks so much everyone!

Sorry about the typos!

Why not introduce blw at lunchtime for textures? Could it be the best of both worlds? A mixture can work fine, that’s how we fed my much younger baby sister many years ago. If it would suit your baby’s medical needs of course.

I think no matter how many kids you have every one of them manages to find new ways to worry and surprise you 😅

I’d probably start introducing a finger food snack at lunch time. Lets them explore some more flavours and textures and join in with family meal time without really upping their intake of solids a lot

I did blw but left doing regular lunch as late as possible with all of mine. Just as it was too time consuming and meant there wasn't enough time to fit in getting out and about around cooking/ eating/ naps. I think i waited until they could eat something less messy when out before we did routine lunches, so maybe 10 months. I never bothered with snacktimes until 3 or 4years either.

Thank you everyone- I think finger foods for lunch might actually be great shout for him.

There are some good suggestions of finger foods to try in this guide from the Caroline Walker Trust