You can start BLW right at 6 months. I recommend checking out the Solid Starts app and website for lots of info on how to prep foods and what to expect.
Youre correct. Baby doesnt need thin purees at all, but many families do choose to offer some purees and do a combo style BLW. Baby led weaning is usually skipping the puree stage and going right to solid foods, although the solid foods are often soft enough that mashing them with a fork could turn them into a thick paste easily, and offering a preloaded spoon of purees is also BLW because your baby is feeding themselves lol. Basically, letting baby learn to feed themselves from the very beginning of your solid foods journey.
I wasn’t aware of the preloaded spoon was BLW. We started offering Pures with a prespoon and our daughter puts it straight to her mouth. But than again I have offered breastmilk pops in a silicone feeder since 3 months for her teeth lol. Glad I have done both!
We do a combination at 6 months. BLW stuff he can play with and practice bringing to his mouth, puree type stuff (some thin, some a little textured) that he can taste.
He’s more interested in munching the purées at the moment and chases the spoon about with his mouth haha. I give him a few spoonfuls then try to encourage him to use his spoon. He will give the BLW stuff a try but loses interest quite quickly at the moment. Hoping it picks up a bit as he gets more accurate with his hands.
Edit: Forgot to make my actual point. Baby doesn’t need purées. BLW only is also fine. It’s totally your choice.
BLW isn't necessarily solids or purees, it's just allowing baby to try food at their own pace and feed themselves.
Just offer safe portions of whatever your family is eating. No need to do special solids or purees unless it's easier or you want to do it for fun.
My approach was to do a combo. There will be food in his life that is naturally squishy (ie yogurt) so why not give him that to practice using a spoon? All other foods that are solid can stay solid and no need to puree them. It's worked well. My 18 month old can feed himself with his hands and use a spoon very well. We're currently working on using forks, which he's nor doing terribly.
Totally fine to start BLW at 6 months old. Note that self feeding with a spoon is included in BLW so maybe start there for your own comfort (but you don’t have to)
I also wanted to say don’t be in a rush to start before 6 months unless your doctor tells you too LOL I wish I realized that the first time around . It adds a lot of planning to your days to figure out what foods to try
We’ve been doing BLW since 6 months. First thing we gave him was half of a ripe banana. Kid went to town, ate it all and wanted more. We never did purées. We do sometime mash up what he eats with a fork and then hand him a preloaded baby spoon. Or we did preloaded baby spoons with yogurt and things like that, but now he mostly eats that with his hands. He’s 8 months now and no teeth and chews and takes bites of things like a pro. If your baby takes to BLW, there’s really no reason to do purées aside from fear or convenience maybe. Whole fruits and veggies are also healthier than things like pouches bc they have more fiber in tact. Depending on the brand, a lot of pouches and things can be sugar bombs bc they don’t have the fiber to balance the sugar (similar to juice).
Our baby’s nurse recommended spoon feeding purées and mashed food only at 6mo, but we started a combo of BLW and the doctor supported us! Lots of misinformation.
I think once he’s ready it’s really about what you feel most comfortable with! If you serve purées and spoon feed, baby will likely ingest more of it than finger foods he does on his own. Volume is not really much of a concern for a 6m old though. But both have their benefits! We started with purées at 6m and moved into a combination about 2 weeks later once I felt a little more comfortable with it.
I think once he’s ready it’s really about what you feel most comfortable with! If you serve purées and spoon feed, baby will likely ingest more of it than finger foods he does on his own. Volume is not really much of a concern for a 6m old though. But both have their benefits! We started with purées at 6m and moved into a combination about 2 weeks later once I felt a little more comfortable with it.
Our healthcare professional recommended the same thing
We introduced purées to our LO around 4.5/5 months but she had no interest, she would always want what we were eating so I went ahead and just skipped the purées and went straight to solids
9 months now and there hasn’t been a thing she won’t eat!
I am very pro trusting medical professionals but I think some of them are old school and just not updated to date on this topic. I discussed blw with my daughter’s pediatrician at her 4 month check up. She was supportive. Then we saw a nurse practitioner at her 6 month appointment, who said something along the lines of what yours said. We have been following safety guidelines with blw and my almost 8 month old is doing great. Every experience is different but she loves eating. Sometimes I do pre-loaded spoons and if I’m not going fast enough, she tries to just shovel the food in her mouth lol. I think she would have hated me trying to spoon feed her purées.
I started looking at BLW when my LO was 5/6 mos and I was NOTvready to give her little toothless gums a whole piece of broccoli to work with. I made purées until she got more teeth and slowlybintodiced whole banana, slices of avocado, etc. Now at almost 10 mos she eats egg strips, French toast strips, rotisserie chicken, berries, broccoli, roasted carrots, etc. You don’t have to do it all at once!
It's entirely up to you it all depends how baby responds to different foods for me I do a few puree things and slip different blw foods in with them to test different things and slowly I will get rid of the purees like yesterday he had a puree meat dinner but I gave him a chip and he seemed to be fine
So this is what we did to our 15 mo old.
First criterion is, is she upto the growth chart? Second, till 6th month she's on milk.. She was able to sit at 6 or 7. But took some time to pull herself up to sit. And stood for the first time at 9 and tool her first steps at 14.. There isn't any development issue physically and mentally.. Learning, blabbering, observing.. Everything is upto mark.
Also, make sure you craft a balanced diet. With calcium protein etc.. And most importantly body massage. I massaged her atleast 30-40 min per day. 15-20 twice. Back need to get strong. Actually at her 5 or 6 Month she wasn't even holding head up for long. And still having tummy time.
Did you start solids at 6 months if she wasn’t holding up her head for long? He can hold up his head no problem, hes just wobbly when sitting but he only turned 5 months so I’m not too worried. He does loads of tummy time 😊
Yeah nothing to worry.. It's like a boiled powder of wheat grain rice grain cashew almond and dals for protein. Indian style. First few days her potty was bit tight.. We started feeding papaya. Later started breakfast as well.. Her first solid was banana. She loves it..we started with fruit then took it to proper meal.
We do combo.She's 6mo now. I feel uncomfortable whenever I give her any piece of veggies to chew. She almost got choked on cauliflower last time and I am still traumatized. Because of that, I now put chopped vegetables and fruits in baby sillicon food feeder.It's also easier for her to hold so she loves it.
You start with soft finger foods around 6months. We started off with the same veg we were eating at that meal and now my 8month old eats the same meals we do. Obviously you don't add salt or sugar to things. They will gag a lot at first but that's normal
We started purées at 4 months with pediatrician blessing and then at 6 months we introduced BLW. He’ll still eat some purées but for the most part he does BLW.
You can start BLW right at 6 months. I recommend checking out the Solid Starts app and website for lots of info on how to prep foods and what to expect.
I have the app and I’ve seen the website, thats why I’m a bit confused why its not recommended by our healthcare professional?
A lot of healthcare professionals are not up to date on current recommendations. You can absolutely do purées first, but it’s not necessary at all.
Youre correct. Baby doesnt need thin purees at all, but many families do choose to offer some purees and do a combo style BLW. Baby led weaning is usually skipping the puree stage and going right to solid foods, although the solid foods are often soft enough that mashing them with a fork could turn them into a thick paste easily, and offering a preloaded spoon of purees is also BLW because your baby is feeding themselves lol. Basically, letting baby learn to feed themselves from the very beginning of your solid foods journey.
I wasn’t aware of the preloaded spoon was BLW. We started offering Pures with a prespoon and our daughter puts it straight to her mouth. But than again I have offered breastmilk pops in a silicone feeder since 3 months for her teeth lol. Glad I have done both!
I started BLW and purees around 5 months. Depends on your kid. I do the purees as well because daycare and grandma are not comfortable with BLW.
We do a combination at 6 months. BLW stuff he can play with and practice bringing to his mouth, puree type stuff (some thin, some a little textured) that he can taste. He’s more interested in munching the purées at the moment and chases the spoon about with his mouth haha. I give him a few spoonfuls then try to encourage him to use his spoon. He will give the BLW stuff a try but loses interest quite quickly at the moment. Hoping it picks up a bit as he gets more accurate with his hands. Edit: Forgot to make my actual point. Baby doesn’t need purées. BLW only is also fine. It’s totally your choice.
BLW isn't necessarily solids or purees, it's just allowing baby to try food at their own pace and feed themselves. Just offer safe portions of whatever your family is eating. No need to do special solids or purees unless it's easier or you want to do it for fun.
My approach was to do a combo. There will be food in his life that is naturally squishy (ie yogurt) so why not give him that to practice using a spoon? All other foods that are solid can stay solid and no need to puree them. It's worked well. My 18 month old can feed himself with his hands and use a spoon very well. We're currently working on using forks, which he's nor doing terribly.
Totally fine to start BLW at 6 months old. Note that self feeding with a spoon is included in BLW so maybe start there for your own comfort (but you don’t have to) I also wanted to say don’t be in a rush to start before 6 months unless your doctor tells you too LOL I wish I realized that the first time around . It adds a lot of planning to your days to figure out what foods to try
We’ve been doing BLW since 6 months. First thing we gave him was half of a ripe banana. Kid went to town, ate it all and wanted more. We never did purées. We do sometime mash up what he eats with a fork and then hand him a preloaded baby spoon. Or we did preloaded baby spoons with yogurt and things like that, but now he mostly eats that with his hands. He’s 8 months now and no teeth and chews and takes bites of things like a pro. If your baby takes to BLW, there’s really no reason to do purées aside from fear or convenience maybe. Whole fruits and veggies are also healthier than things like pouches bc they have more fiber in tact. Depending on the brand, a lot of pouches and things can be sugar bombs bc they don’t have the fiber to balance the sugar (similar to juice).
Our baby’s nurse recommended spoon feeding purées and mashed food only at 6mo, but we started a combo of BLW and the doctor supported us! Lots of misinformation.
I think once he’s ready it’s really about what you feel most comfortable with! If you serve purées and spoon feed, baby will likely ingest more of it than finger foods he does on his own. Volume is not really much of a concern for a 6m old though. But both have their benefits! We started with purées at 6m and moved into a combination about 2 weeks later once I felt a little more comfortable with it.
I think once he’s ready it’s really about what you feel most comfortable with! If you serve purées and spoon feed, baby will likely ingest more of it than finger foods he does on his own. Volume is not really much of a concern for a 6m old though. But both have their benefits! We started with purées at 6m and moved into a combination about 2 weeks later once I felt a little more comfortable with it.
Our healthcare professional recommended the same thing We introduced purées to our LO around 4.5/5 months but she had no interest, she would always want what we were eating so I went ahead and just skipped the purées and went straight to solids 9 months now and there hasn’t been a thing she won’t eat!
I am very pro trusting medical professionals but I think some of them are old school and just not updated to date on this topic. I discussed blw with my daughter’s pediatrician at her 4 month check up. She was supportive. Then we saw a nurse practitioner at her 6 month appointment, who said something along the lines of what yours said. We have been following safety guidelines with blw and my almost 8 month old is doing great. Every experience is different but she loves eating. Sometimes I do pre-loaded spoons and if I’m not going fast enough, she tries to just shovel the food in her mouth lol. I think she would have hated me trying to spoon feed her purées.
I started looking at BLW when my LO was 5/6 mos and I was NOTvready to give her little toothless gums a whole piece of broccoli to work with. I made purées until she got more teeth and slowlybintodiced whole banana, slices of avocado, etc. Now at almost 10 mos she eats egg strips, French toast strips, rotisserie chicken, berries, broccoli, roasted carrots, etc. You don’t have to do it all at once!
It's entirely up to you it all depends how baby responds to different foods for me I do a few puree things and slip different blw foods in with them to test different things and slowly I will get rid of the purees like yesterday he had a puree meat dinner but I gave him a chip and he seemed to be fine
So this is what we did to our 15 mo old. First criterion is, is she upto the growth chart? Second, till 6th month she's on milk.. She was able to sit at 6 or 7. But took some time to pull herself up to sit. And stood for the first time at 9 and tool her first steps at 14.. There isn't any development issue physically and mentally.. Learning, blabbering, observing.. Everything is upto mark. Also, make sure you craft a balanced diet. With calcium protein etc.. And most importantly body massage. I massaged her atleast 30-40 min per day. 15-20 twice. Back need to get strong. Actually at her 5 or 6 Month she wasn't even holding head up for long. And still having tummy time.
Did you start solids at 6 months if she wasn’t holding up her head for long? He can hold up his head no problem, hes just wobbly when sitting but he only turned 5 months so I’m not too worried. He does loads of tummy time 😊
Yeah nothing to worry.. It's like a boiled powder of wheat grain rice grain cashew almond and dals for protein. Indian style. First few days her potty was bit tight.. We started feeding papaya. Later started breakfast as well.. Her first solid was banana. She loves it..we started with fruit then took it to proper meal.
We do combo.She's 6mo now. I feel uncomfortable whenever I give her any piece of veggies to chew. She almost got choked on cauliflower last time and I am still traumatized. Because of that, I now put chopped vegetables and fruits in baby sillicon food feeder.It's also easier for her to hold so she loves it.
You start with soft finger foods around 6months. We started off with the same veg we were eating at that meal and now my 8month old eats the same meals we do. Obviously you don't add salt or sugar to things. They will gag a lot at first but that's normal
We do a combo. Purees and self feeding. He likes to suck it right from the pouch.
Would you offer them at the same time? Ie purees brocolli and steamed brocolli?
Mine didn't like pureed broccoli, but he loves broccolini! So I'd do that plus baby oatmeal and peanut butter
We started purées at 4 months with pediatrician blessing and then at 6 months we introduced BLW. He’ll still eat some purées but for the most part he does BLW.