How big chunks of banana for BLW at 6 months?

[ReadingTeaLeaves]

Hi all, just started weaning DS, 6 months. Doing a bit of a mix of puree and BLW - so far purees at 'lunch' at finger food at breakfast. Plan to up the ante on the BL part as he gets the hang of it. It's early days but he has so far wolfed down carrot and green bean, but less keen on fruit - pear, apple, banana.

When I give him pieces of fruit to try it seems to be a bit too mushy. Banana in particular I thought was supposed to be a BLW staple. I've tried giving him quite small chunks (cotton wool ball sized) and much bigger bits (champagne cork sized!) and even third of a big banana in one go sized. He basically licks the end once, thn generally drops it as he can't really get a grip. In trying to grip the banana he squishes it, making it even slippier and harder to hold.

Any tips on how to make it easier for him please? Thank you!

Also, any tips for pear/apple/other fruit?

Half a banana, then peel the skin of the top inch or so and the bottom inch or so, leaving an inch or so band round the middle - this gives them a grip. TBH in the beginning they will only lick and squish and not each much, but before long they will be inhaling whole bananas in front of your eyes.

Top tip though, banana STAINS and nothing gets it out, so feed in nappy only, or well covered up!!

The secret is to cut a banana in half, then stick your finger up the middle where the little brown bits are - this splits it into three longways and they are easier to grip.

Or, just cut a couple of cm of peel off a whole banana (scissors are easiest) and let him have it all. Cut down the peel as he eats it.

Apples/pears, just nibble some peel off, take a small bite, and hand over the whole fruit

Oh and the leaving a bit of skin on as a grip works for other fruit too. Mine used to suck the bits of fruit off and spit the skin back out.

Some fruits like plums and apples I would give in segments with the skin on, but use a sharp knife to 'score' the skin so if they bit a piece off there wasn't a big bit of skin to choke on.

I'm shocked at how quickly my memory is fading - DS is 15mo now - but I think DS also struggled to make much impact on a banana for the first couple of months. Like you I worried as I thought I was doing something wrong!

I suspect it's just that children develop their abilities at slightly different rates. Keep offering it, and just let him play. The key thing with BLW is that it doesn't matter if they don't actually eat any of it, as they're still getting plenty of calories from milk. It will probably all come together in a couple of months.

Good luck!

PS I also ended up giving purees, as DS really couldn't manage much solids when he had bad teething. So I would also say be prepared to be a bit flexible about what form the food comes in, respond to what your DS is doing at the particular time, and try to be relaxed about it. I thought I would be feeding DS purees forever at one point, but he is doing just fine now on solids. Some days/meals better than others, but I've come to the conclusion that is just babies for you

Thanks ladies. As ever you are wonderful.

Anyone know if little segments of dried prune are ok as finger food at this age?

I think they're fine. 8mo ds likes squidgy dried apricots.

Watch out for the nappy though - boom!

I give most fruit in segments - peel on as it makes it easier for them to hold.

One of the first things DD managed effectively was a slice of apple as a garnish on my mocktail at posh hotel. Banana took us a couple of weeks too but now she can't get enough and in fact i have to ration due to constipation issues.

My daughter also has a munchkin, which is like a net bag with a round grip that shuts fast and they can chew and suck on the net bag and it mashes up the fruit/veg inside into so they can choke. I started my daughter on this and she loved it and is now progressing on to more finger foods.

In the first couple of months I think I actually fork-mashed the banana and spread it on bits of toast or rice cakes, because DD had the same problem. When she was more expert at feeding herself and handling slimy food I just gave her half a banana at a time.