is there a 'middle ground' between blw and puree

[flourybaps]

My dd is 21 weeks old so have been reading around weaning. ( not weaning until 26 weeks, just want to get my head round what im supposed to do) Tbh im dreading it really. I'm all for making life as easy as poss . I have read about blw and can see the benefits but tbh I'm very nervous about the whole gag/choking thing and the mess!!

Just wondering if anyone was a bit wimpy like me and gave some puree and some finger food or does this defeat the whole appetite regulating theory of blw?

Anyhow, gotta dash, any help would be much appreciated and Ill check back later. tia

I did a mixture of both with DD, and it worked well with her, she had cereal or toast for breakfast, finger food at lunch which she fed herself and then puree in the evening.

hi floury, I do kind of agree that overall it could defeat the whole appetite regulation thing.
but, we did it with ds2. well, at first he refused point blank to be spoonfed, so it was BLW all the way.
but once he would take stuff from a spoon we tended to mix it simply because in the mornings it's far quicker to feed him his porridge than wait for him to eat it himself or feed himsefl toast etc.

babies who BLW do gag. but tend not to choke. the gag reflex is there to stop them choking, and because they're putting the food at the front of the mouth and then chewing it about they're highly unlikely to choke.

the mess is horrendous tthough! lol

I did a combo with DS as I wasn't convinced that any finger food was going down!
In terms of appetite regulation, I think it depends on the child! My DS was/is on the dinky side anyway so a bit of extra food didn't/doesn't matter (as long as its healthy food) iykwim

Hiya thanks for reply's. Think I'm going to just keep an open mind and see what dd prefers, perhaps do the odd puree just for ease/lazyness! Although the thought of her sat in a high chair feeding herself christmas dinner does sound quite apealing!

• appealing!

Well, I'd say we're doing BLW 'properly' but I don't go all out to make him stuff he can always pick up. He has porridge or weetabix in the mornings, for instance, which we always give him on a spoon, but offer it in a way that he can say 'no' or 'stop'. He has yoghurt, again on a spoon (on my more tired days, I also try to stop him sticking his fingers in it, because it ends up in his hair, my hair, back of his neck, etc...), and if there's anything that's easier to feed from a spoon than with fingers, that's what we do. He likes guiding the spoon in his mouth and I do let him have a go at putting it in himself. If he doesn't want it, ot any more, he makes that quite clear!

I don't think you should try to be a purist about BLW - we all live in the real world and you should adapt it to what suits you both best.