Finger foods for 6mo - he wants BLW?!

[MathsMadMummy]

Hello
My DS has just turned 6m. We've had some success with weaning, and he certainly loves the taste of foods he's tried, but he doesn't like being spoon fed. He's always happier when he grabs the food himself.

What finger foods are good? HV didn't have many suggestions and said things that he can mush up with his gums are good - but DS already has 3 teeth so he is good at biting now and keeps getting bits that are too big, which makes him gag.

I'd rather avoid rusks/breadsticks etc for a bit longer because of all the added stuff/processing; also DH is coeliac so I don't want to give too much gluten.

With all that in mind, what finger foods did you give a 6mo?

TIA

I BLWed DD (now 2.3) and am BLWing DS (9 months), you really don't need to make special things for your DS. Just give him what your having. Even with no teeth both my DC were capable of dealing with steak at six months. Those gums a very hard and the suck is forcefull...

But, seriously, just give him normal human food

You can give him a loaded spoon for sloppy things like yogurt if you don't want him scooping it up with his hands, he'll have no trouble getting the spoon into his mouth after a few tries.

The only things you need to avoid are honey, nuts and known allergens. It's important to keep an eye on his salt intake too.

The gagging thing is good, nothing to worry about at all, it's part of the normal process of learning to move food from the front to the back of the mouth (ready to swallow) in a controlled way. 'tis usually a short phase.

Strawberries
Cooked sticks of carrot
Roast veg
Chicken
Rice cakes and cream cheese
toast
mashed potato

Thats what we started with, but that was what we were eating (apart from the rice cakes). At 10 months now, there is nothing he won't eat - save nuts and honey.

Thanks
I s'pose now he's 6m I can relax a bit more. He's certainly dunked his hand in my dinner several times

Ooh another question - does it matter about DS having food at the same time each day? Or how often or whatever... we were so much more organised and confident with DD, I'm a mess this time. Can I just give him food whenever he seems interested?
TIA

bump

I've always just given food as and when TBH

any time - easiest is when you are eating, obv!

My DS (6mo) has eaten:

Courgette sticks (steamed)
Broccoli (steamed)
Rice cakes with mashed avocado
Pears
Mango
Cooked chicken slices
sliced peppers (lightly stir fried)
Toast triangles

When we've been out, I've given him a chunk of a panini or toastie that I'm eating and he's gobbled it down! Yesterday he had homemade lasagnejust pulled a noodle bit out, some mince, and some of the courgettes slices I used in the sauce. Today he had a chicken quesadilla. He just eats whatever we're having, sometimes have to think of a way to adapt it for less salt (like if making fajitas we take his chicken and pepper out of the pan before adding the saucetoo salty).

He has come so far in just 2.5 weeks. The gagging really does get better very quickly if you just let them do it and learn how to move the food around their mouths. DS vomited a bit only twice at the very start, gagged a few times after that, but already he hardly gags any more and is definitely chewing and swallowing (we know due to the very adult looking poo he produced today )

Wow that's amazing Yankn! DS is really not interested atm. Offering him anything (taken the advice to just relax about it!) but this boy is all about the boob! He's got a rotten cold now which doesn't help.

BTW when I said amazing, I was of course referring to the amount of food your DS has eaten, not the adult poo

who successfully weaned a baby with puree?

BLW sounds fantastic but to be honest i am barely having meals much less peparing them for baby to 'join in'. I am really busy and a working mum and not really having a healthy diet at the mo (i will work on that later).

However.....DD won't take spoon feeding so feel in a catch 22. i really want to persevere though. anyone been through anything similar. she is drinking 34oz of formula a day should i try to cut back on that and offer food before bottle??

I would really appreciate any advice

sorry to hijack thread...i think i'll start another?

yentil, one of the good things about BLW for us was that it sort of forced us to eat a bit healthier. Saying that, there's lots of stuff you can do quickly for baby to have if you don't want to give her what you are eating.

Toast triangles and rice cakes are very quick, and you get spread stuff on them like cream cheese and mushed avocado. Pears are very quick too, just chop ends off, cut into quarters, cut out seed bit. Online shopping helps too if you are busy. As long as you are in the room to supervise, you can just dump some stuff on the baby's tray if you are busy. IMHO, it takes less effort than spoon feeding! If you do use a spoon, you can try pre-loading it and letting you DD put it in her own mouth. We do this for fromage frais--messy, but no more so than if I was trying to shove it in a moving target.

The thing with BLW is, there is a mantra 'food is fun until they're one'. Wouldn't cut out milk feeds now. My DS certainly isn't taking any less and don't expect him to take less for a while. At the moment they don't associate food with being hungry anyway, they don't understand it will satisfy them (and tbh it probably won't satisfy them until later).

Really interested in this! DS just turned 6months today - started weaning a few days ago as he started taking food from my plate. Have read the BLW book, and really keen to go this route - but super paranoid about choking. I know BLW book says that they will not move food to back of mouth until they are ready to swallow, and they often don't eat anything at first. DS is really keen and eats whatever i have given him (very tentative - a few roast veg sticks and some pre-loaded spoons of rice cereal)- but am scared to give him same food as we eat. Any one else been so paranoid, and any advice?!

NK, I would suggest reading the bit about choking vs gagging many many times. It is scary seeing them gag, but gagging is necessary for learning how to move food around, and they are NOT choking! I was pretty scared too. DS did gag at the beginning, and twice vomited a bit as he gagged. But we kept the faith that it was going to work, and it really has. He still gags, but seems to recover very quickly and is not bothered by it. We just have to try not to freak him out by leaping up and digging in his mouth!

As for giving him what you eat, I read a lot of labels, never really thought about salt content in my food before so this has been a learning experience. Main difference is not adding salt while cooking, and checking any prepared sauces carefully.

Today DS had a fish finger, a few oven chips, steamed carrots, baked beans, and an apple.

Thank you YanknCock, been following advice - re-read the info, and trying to keep calm. That and going for lots of slightly softer food - so far DS is enjoying it, so i will persevere!