BLW - why is it better that purees? What is the theory behind it all? and other questions that I'm sure have been asked 1001 times....

[BigBadMouseInHauntedHouse]

Firstly I apologise, I know there are loads of threads on BLW but I've been searching the archives and can't quite find the answers to my question .

My DDs were weaned on purees but for DS I'm interesting in finding out more about BLW. I have to admit to being a bit concerned about trying it. DD2 has a very strong gag relex and couldn't take any lumps until she was 9mo, she is 2.5 now and still can't eat things like peas (the skin comes off and makes her gag).

Is BLW going to make me even more of a nervous wreck than weaning DD2 did?

Why is BLW thought to be better than the baby rice / puree route?

I've had a quick nose at forum.babyledweaning.com/ and bookmarked accordingly btw.

Thanks in advance

hello bbm

I'm guessing lots of folks will be along to explain BLW to you better and faster than I can. Just wanted to say, I kinda mostly did it with ds (some mashed stuff, never bothered with any puree) and it was totally fine. He rarely gagged and handled it perfectly fine when he did - though once dh got a bit sweaty.

I met a mum yesterday whose dd was such a gagger she ended up having to be examined in hospital in case there was something wrong with her and the mum was still jumpy, 13m later. So I can kind of see where you're coming from, but my point is they are all different! If your ds gives you as much worry as your dd did, just change what you're doing

the whole idea behind it is that a baby's gut and digestive system will mature in tandem, with their physical capability to pick food up, transfer it to mouth, chew and swallow it.

it means that your baby's appetite is regulated by baby, it isn't overfed.

baby experiences a wide range of tastes and textures and learns how to get to grips with food properly, rather than havign to move through varying stges of lumps before being able to cope with proper food.

the gag reflex is fine. most babies gag., it is normal, and gagging is OK... it is what stops your baby choking.
a blw baby is highly unlikely to choke, because whereas with a spoonfed baby the food is being placed at the back of the mouth, with a baby that feeds itself the food goes in right at the front and is moved back.
the baby controls this. if baby gags then s/he will spit the food out and not choke.

there;s a really good article from the independent by Annalisa Barbieri here which explains it all well

I have only recently heard of BLW but my two dds were weaned at 6 months and fed themselves mush with a spoon as well as having finger food. What I don't get is that the reason for weaning at 6 months is that babies iron supply has run out and they need iron to fight infections. How can you get iron into them if it's not in mush?

About the gagging thing - the nursery staff at dds nursery suggested starting finger food straight away to avoid gagging. My NCT friends of the time weren't given that advice and a few of them had real difficulty introducing lumps later so I was really grateful for it.

Their iron supply hasn't run out at 6 months - in fact breastfed babies certainly (theres a recent research study on this) have a good iron and ferritin level at this point, and are absorbing iron from breastmilk well. From 6 months, they do need to start getting nutrients from other than milk, but don't need considerable amounts of food until they are one year old

Thanks for all the replies DD2 had to be checked out at the hospital for her gagging too - apparently she has a tiny throat ( she has a tiny everything) and her tonsils are a funny shape

it isn't a better way of feeding, it's just a different way

arguably it is a better way.
read the link I posted, there are many aspects of BLW that make it safer and healthier for baby

ramonaquimby - better or just different, I wanted to know the pros and the theory behind them.