'I will be doing a mix of BLW and puree'. Discuss.

[Alstarofwonder]

Popwatson, I am assuming from your post that your little one is 4 months. If so then you might want to rethink starting blwing now. For blwing it is important to wait until 6 months or at least until the baby is able to sit without assistance. The reason for this is so they can manipulate food in their mouths and reduces the risk of choking. If you really want to start weaning at 4 months as per Dutch advice then you will need to do puree. But it really isn't necessary to wean that early, just wait until 6 months and you can give your baby anything except honey and whole nuts. It's worth the wait!

[popwatson]

Aaah ok I hadn't thought of that. I was just planning to sit her on my lap and let her explore some cucumber. She's got good neck control etc, but does need support to sit. But in any case - assuming we wait until 6 months - how do other people manage daycare?

[Kitcameron]

I haven't had to deal with child are but I think a lot of people start with BLW at home and co tongue with just milk at nursery, at least until lo starts to actually swallow food and want to eat properly, which can be a few months.

Also, does your childcare have a toddler room where the toddlers eat proper food? That could be a possibility. There's a Gill Rapely leaflet about BLW as well somewhere which could be good to give to the carers to explain a bit about the principles and practicalities of BLW. Make sure you discuss with the carers what it is you want them to do as if this is a new concept they may well feel that they need to get your lo to eat even if she doesn't seem interested.

[somerandomchick]

Aaah ok I hadn't thought of that. I was just planning to sit her on my lap and let her explore some cucumber. She's got good neck control etc, but does need support to sit. But in any case - assuming we wait until 6 months - how do other people manage daycare?

I don't think your 4 month old really has the awareness to be jealous that other babies are eating peas and they're not. Telling the daycare providers that you aren't introducing solids yet is probably all there is to it. But if you really want LO to have something to do during mealtime, I would give them stuff they can play with in the high chair--'lunch' time is 'play with a baby spoon' time or 'have a sippy cup with a bit of milk and try to figure it out' time, etc.

I think sometimes people attribute motivations/thoughts to their babies that aren't there--your baby will probably watch the other babies eat but that doesn't mean they are jealous or really want to eat pureed bananas. A lot of people start baby food early because 'the baby is watching us eat, he wants some!' Dude, at 4 months my daughter would have stared intently at me if I was getting a tooth pulled too. It's what babies do. They observe! I don't think your baby will be mad about it or anything.

[mommanurse]

My little one just started BLW, we have been good about it at home (not feeding him, giving strips, etc), but daycare today is a bit resistant to try it (and to be honest, now that I've dropped off some food - canteloupe, scrambled egg, string cheese - I'm totally freaking out about him choking even though we haven't had any problems at home)... opinions on doing mashed things (like mashed sweet potatoes, avocado, banana...) at daycare and requesting that they let him still feed himself, but then we forgo the choking hazard discussion when I can't be around? Or should I just suck it up? LO is not quite 6 months, but sits independently and is able to grasp food, get it to mouth, and gum it fine... has gagged a couple times, but thats it. Would love some input!

[pookiecub]

As a nursery nurse myself, I would put your foot down and if necessary state you are paying for your child to be looked after in the manner you expect.

We catered for MANY different diets, religious, allergies, preferences... so many reasons, and every reason was respected and followed to the very letter. Your preference is no purée and that should be followed by a good nursery.

We had to learn about feeding a Jain child...now THATS some restrictions worth talking about! Simply requesting they give him a toddler meal instead of a baby meal doesn't sound like rocket science!

Your personal feelings and fears I can't really comment on, I would worry as well, but be assured all nursery staff should be first aid trained... ask and find out if that would help you feel re-assured.

[Vero]

I'm in the same boat here as the original poster, blw + puree. I tried from 6 months to 12 months exclusively breastfeeding and only blw. However my baby just had his checkup, he's a year old, weighs 7.2kg and is 70cm long. Head circumference is ok, in the 70-90 percentile. If it wasn't for me giving a daily raw puree of banana and apple, he'd still be under 7kg. Since he was 7/8 months old, he drops every solid food over the edge of the table. He doesn't even try it once! So unfortunately I have been forced to give him puree. Now I'm under the gun, with very harsh criticism from my mother and to an extent my husband, which just makes me feel very sad
I do think that blw is best, but for some reason my baby decided that he doesn't want solids for the most part. He does like rice though, and pasta, so when I make those items he eats those.
I think in general, maaaaybe it's the chair? Or a lapse of 1-2 months when I didn't have a tabletop for the Tripp Trapp chair because that expensive clear tabletop from another brand broke off. I think as a word of advice for future mums and moms, buy the most comfortable baby chair you can buy, and start blw as soon as possible. Things went wrong in my baby's case, so now I'm just not only giving him his apple banana puree, only AFTER offering solids, but I also have the dilemma that he's fussy! He doesn't like many foods, so now I have the dilemma of figuring out what else I could give solid and/or puree that he would like. I am hoping this will pass by quickly and that one day hell miraculously want to eat! Until then, mow I'm adding a scoop of tahini to the banana apple puree, and fortunately he likes it. Gotta get the iron count up because it's low...

[EnigmaFish]

If you've been doing BLW for six months, you probably already know everything I'm going to tell you, but here goes:
It sounds like you need to get calories and fat into your boy, not just food. Traditional purées are not the way to do this, as they are mostly water. Your apple-banana-tahini combination sounds like a winner, since I'm assuming you're not adding water to it. Have you considered other healthy fatty foods like avocado? Porridge could be made with full fat milk or even cream to bump up the calories. (Also, I serve porridge with tahini, if you think he'd like that.)
It's possible to do spoon feeding in a baby-led way. BLW doesn't have to mean no spoon feeding and it shouldn't mean that you feel guilty!

ETA: breast milk! It's full of calories and fat. Considering I'm sat here feeding while I type, it's frankly surprising I forgot that one.

[Vero]

Thanks EnigmaFish! I think the recent addition of tahini is a winner too! It's a sneaky one, since baby doesn't like tahini by itself. And yes, I do not add water, so its all pure delicious raw freshly made puree. He hates avocado, I have added a bit of avocado to the banana apple puree, However he doesn't go for that one. My next mission is to figure out what salty puree he'd like, avocado + ????

Any ideas everyone?

As of the chair, now I use the Chicco caddy, which clamps onto the dining room table. However sometimes when I'm putting him in this seat he starts crying. It's a comfy seat, so that can't be it. I figure that it's because he just doesn't want to leave my arms, but then if I let him share my breakfast plate, he proceeds to throw everything to the floor. Delicious tropical fruits (papaya, banana watermelon, strawberries, kiwi, etc), and baguette bread or toast. I don't want to give ALL the food to the my 2 four legged vacuum cleaners! Lol, some, not all.

[pookiecub]

How about other nut or seed butters? My little girl has tried almond butter this week, and I have sunflower and pumpkin seed to try as well. You could try peanut if you have no family allergy to worry about.

Marscapone cheese is high calorie and very smooth, blended with something like strawberry or raspberry... heck I'd eat that!!

[Ramsel]

Hello every one here! This is my first post... I registered to learn more about blw, and to ask for help...hope this is the right thread!

Here goes. My lo is almost 9 months. We started on purees at 5 months, till about 7 months when he started grabbing bits off our plates and he made it more and more clear he wants to eat what I am eating!
Since I am attachment-y parent, I listen to him

Bits of bread were a hit and still are, and as finger foods worked great because he developed pincer grasp and is now very skilled with putting small bits of bread in his mouth.
However, he is no longer into purees except really sweet ones, and porridge, but mostly when we eat it (like oatmeal family breakfast for instance). And bread is not that nutricious
He loves yogurt, if I eat it too, off a spoon but he makes it perfectly clear he wants some (bangs hand on his table top of the highchair with open mouth lol).

I started looking for recipes and found some blw veggie muffins he really likes...

My dilemma is as follows:
If I give bigger chunks, he bites off and crams too much into his mouth and gags and we had two partly blocked airway scares.
If I give smaller chunks, he is ok but he won't learn to bite or chew.

What would you suggest? I would love to transition to blw, slowly, because I love the idea of family meals, me and hubby eating healthier and LO sharing the table fun!

I considered trying a big stalk of cooked broccoli or baked potatos for instance.
Or give bigger chunks of muffins/meatloafs etc and he will learn to bite off smaller pieces?
Give smaller chunks and he will chew eventuwlly? Go gradually smaller to larger?

PS he is a veeery active baby, crawling since 6 months, now standing and furniture surfing, so he is gaining lenght but not weight for last 3 months, so I try to offer food all the time. No teeth yet. He breastfeeds (plenty).

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

[StJuniper]

You might get more replies if you started a new thread in the New to BLW section, but here goes...
All babies have to learn how much is too much to put in their mouth. Stuffed mouths and gagging are a normal part of this process. Are you mostly giving breads? Because a mouth stuffed with bread is obviously going to get very dense and slick. If you tried softish fruits or veg, though, they're not going to get that kind of texture. Finger-sized sticks of melon or pear, roast veggie fries, or steamed broccoli are some great starting foods that your LO can feed themselves and practice with how much to bite off.

The purée-weaning route is to start with small chunks and work your way up, but in BLW we tend to start at 6ish months with finger-sized sticks and work our way down as pincer grip develops over the next few months. You will need to keep monitoring your LOs safety, of course, because being used to purées they're going to have different expectations of what they can do with food in their mouth.

[Ramsel]

You might get more replies if you started a new thread in the New to BLW section, but here goes...
All babies have to learn how much is too much to put in their mouth. Stuffed mouths and gagging are a normal part of this process. Are you mostly giving breads? Because a mouth stuffed with bread is obviously going to get very dense and slick. If you tried softish fruits or veg, though, they're not going to get that kind of texture. Finger-sized sticks of melon or pear, roast veggie fries, or steamed broccoli are some great starting foods that your LO can feed themselves and practice with how much to bite off.

The purée-weaning route is to start with small chunks and work your way up, but in BLW we tend to start at 6ish months with finger-sized sticks and work our way down as pincer grip develops over the next few months. You will need to keep monitoring your LOs safety, of course, because being used to purées they're going to have different expectations of what they can do with food in their mouth.

Thank you, St.Juniper, for the reply!
I tried today with finger sized pieces of pear. He had fun, bughting of pieces and spitting them out I think it is a strange consistency but he should get used to it.
We had american pancakes with bananas and blueberries and this worked great. I think I will stick to smaller pieces for bread-like textures, and offer larger pieces of soft fruit and baked veggies.

I see your point, it is very different since we started with purees already... What gives me hope that it will work out is that he learned to mush up bread pretty quickly, so it should be possible for him to learn to handle other new consistencies. I hope, at least

[adan57]

I STRONGLY feel that this BLW is for the selfish and lazy people. I am not being rude, just being honest.

This idea of not allowing your baby food for 6 months and then to give him uncut food to try to figure it out with is child abuse.
As well it is selfish to BF your kids long after it is necessary, this entire idea is for the people who are too busy doing I don't know what to take the time to prepare fresh, healthy, and homemade baby food that is safe for a baby to eat and will satisfy baby. How would you feel if you had nothing to eat but this unsatisfying liquid and no food? This is NOT what a mother does, she does not put her selfishness or laziness above the good of her baby.

Do NOT tell this woman that it is not a good idea to do a mix. She is clearly confused by all the nonsense and is trying to do the right thing.

[RachelS]

Wow Adan. You are entitled to your opinion, however if you look at the WHO guidelines , breast feeding is recommended for the first 2 years.
Also what do you think our ancestors did re weaning? Early weaning only has benefit for medical reasons. You wouldn't see our closely related animals preparing different food to what they were eating. It, IMO, is not lazy. It's allowing the child to engage in development appropriate diet. How can a child ever know when they are full of you keep shovelling puréed food on a spoon. If you are BLE the child decides themselves.
There is nothing wrong with FF or traditional weaning if that is what you choose to do. This site is a support network for those following a BLW approach. That doesn't necessarily mean they are EBF however lots are.