Weaning

I weaned my baby at 4 months so I’m confused on this also 🤣 I’ve started giving her them melty stick things but I’m not sure how to introduce blw. How I think I’m gonna do it is still do some puree but also give her the option off solids on her tray and slowly do it like that but I’m not sure that’s the right way 😬xx

Not a silly question at all, it’s a bit of a minefield when you first start off. There’s no need to wait until exactly 6 months, it’s just guidance, they don’t magically change at 6 months and if you think they’re ready go for it. The main thing is that they can sit up, hold their head up and have lost the tongue thrust reflex. You can do BLW from the start or do a mix of both. Might be helpful to start with something like porridge to check their tongue reflex. I do a mix of both BLW and purées but mainly because he’s refusing milk now that food has been introduced so I want to make sure he’s getting enough calories and with BLW they don’t actually eat much at the start because a lot gets dropped. Your baby might favour one or the other method too. My boy likes to feed himself (annoyingly messy) so this morning he had pear porridge and toast fingers. Good luck, any questions feel free to ask x

We went straight to BLW a week or so before 6 months, just trying vegetables. We’re still largely experimenting but I’m trying to get into more of a routine and so am offering both purées and finger food/solids and taking her lead.

We've started 2 weeks early due to reflux so are going to do 2 weeks of purees and go from there but it's totally up to you if you think they are ready give BLW a try if they aren't ready you can always wait a few days or try purees

I’m waiting for him to be more confident in sitting first. There’s no rush. We will start with purées then move onto blw.

We started blw at 5.5 months but he choked a couple of times so we stopped and tried again at 6 months and he still choked. It's super scary and made mealtimes stressful so we're going to use purees for a few months. He's been having porridge and banana since about 5 months though and he loves that 🥰

It's never a silly question. It's advised after 6 months for BLW, although no one says whether to go by weeks or by the actually month date. My babies 25 weeks and 26 weeks on Saturday but she's not actually 6 months until Sunday. But if I went by weeks she's already 6 months (which is confusing). I'm going to start with purees for the first week or two and see how she goes and then do a mix of puree, mashed and finger foods depending on how we go. I'm fully going to follow her ques of readiness

The 6m guideline is due to their stomach being matured enough to handle food. I asked the HV as my LO was ready at 5.5 and they said 2 weeks is fine. We went straight into BLW but I do combi feeding as well so after a couple days of finger food and her not really eating it 🤣 I would give some to play with etc and mash up another bit and spoon feed so she was getting a bit of the taste at the same time and could experience different textures as well :)

I started a few days ago and my boy is 5.5 months, I’ve started with vegetable purées - I did try and give him some really soft carrot and he started to cough A LOT which scared me so I’m sticking with purées for now x

Thanks everyone, really helpful!

My daughter has zero interest in BLW but loves to be fed x

I’m doing BLW on her 6 month birthday if her trunk control has improved by then