Baby food

We did BLW for the most part but as a part-time working mom, purées where easy for freezing/ meal prepping and were great for those teething days when they don’t want to put anything in their mouths 🥲 poor things!

@Daniela I'm also a part-time working mama so that's good to know!

No need to make or buy purées. Check out solid starts book and/or app if you haven’t already. Purées encourage the sucking skill they’ve already mastered from milk and can increase choking risk when non purées are introduced later. Save yourself the time and just give food prepared in ways that are safe based on age! What Daniela is saying is the perfect use for purées! They can absolutely serve an excellent purpose and can be a great tool

We did a mix (: started with purées & offered any solids that he was interested in trying that were safe for him to consume

We did both. Ignore the stuff about purees setting babies back; you can do a mix of textures with some BLW or even wait a few months and work up to it, if you want. Adults eat pudding and porridge and all kinds of soft textures; we drink smoothies, we eat soups, so there's no reason a baby can't. I didn't use a lot of purees but I mostly made my own, and the reason I liked making them for a few months was because I knew she was eating them well and getting some solid calories in. We did it alongsidd BLW foods I was comfortable with (will never give a baby under a year old a chicken bone; I don't care how "safe" solid starts says it is), and at almost 17 months, my kid is a champ eater. We keep a couple of pouches on hand for flavouring once in awhile but really don't use them much. At the end it's up to you, what your baby likes, and what you think they can handle. Go at their pace - that's what BLW should mean, after all, baby-led.

We did blw with both kids and still gave purees sometimes, we never did it ourselves tho just bought some from Walmart

@Melissa you are inviting the original poster to ignore the best evidence we have from pediatricians and dietitians about what is safe for baby and promotes proper development because it worked for you. Purées can and do set babies back. Purées can and do increase choking later on. Going at “what you think they can handle” respectfully, isn’t baby led.

I did a mix of purées and BLW but started with blended fruits and vegetables. After less than a month of that he wanted my plate lol so I did BLW.

@Claire the evidence around BLW is still new and mixed at best. I'm a food scientist. I've studied infant nutrition. I know this. When we talk about kids being set back by purees, most of the evidence that supports this is from kids over a year old. A 6 month old who is just starting out will not be set back by a broccoli and sweet potato puree. When I say "what you think they can handle," I'm referring to seeing how your baby handles what you give them, and go forward based on that. That is baby led. It can't be "strictly" baby led because baby can't tell you what they want. So you go on your best guess based on their reactions.

We did a mix. We did purees to start at 6mths and then started making them "chunky" like leaving bits to chew in the puree by 7mths. And then between then and 12mths we put things in her musher so she could safely eat fruits and veggies. By 7mths we also steamed lots of stuff but it seemed like she wasnt as into it so we didn't bring that out until 10mths and she went in. By 1, she had tried over 100 food and now at 2, she hella eats. Go at your babies pace and within their comfort in the beginning.

I do both. Usually I’ll give her puréed food first than after I’ll give her bow to eat while my husband and I eat.

Here r some of mine

Yes, youvlet the baby feed herself with a hand or spoon.

I do both. A chicken and purées cause she doesn’t actually eat the chicken so after she finish trying to eat the chicken I give her purées

@Melissa I appreciate your perspective as a food scientist. You’re right, the evidence is evolving, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t clear. The led part of baby led weaning is letting the child dictate how much they eat and at what pace, which is why providing safely prepared foods that are age specific is perfect. The plates Vanessa shared look delicious and allow baby to try different flavors and textures. Since you study infant nutrition, you know at six months baby is still relying on milk to serve their nutritional needs. Food should provide some additional nutrients (iron specifically) but the goal is exploring and learning new skills. You probably don’t eat soups everyday, so baby doesn’t need to either. I think people feel good about purées because they feel safer and more controlled, but I would advocate for parents understanding that serving baby whole, safely prepared is not only safe, but has significant benefits to purées such that purées can be skipped

@Claire I appreciate your civil response. Again, the evidence is mixed. There have been very few studies done regarding BLW from 2000, to 2021, I think something like 13, and as with most nutrition studies, it is difficult to control for confounding factors. Parents who feed BLW are more likely to be attentive and health conscious in other aspects, and any reported improvements are typically self-reported by parents. It's difficult to know whether the outcomes are due to the weaning method or something else. "Baby-led" means let baby control the pace. That's it. You can give finger foods but it doesn't necessitate skipping purees. Just follow baby's lead.

Food at six months is peripheral, that's true. And no one is arguing against potential benefits of letting baby try finger foods - I did it myself - but there's nothing to suggest that doing so alongside purees is actively harmful to their normal development. It's fine to do both. It's also fine to stick to purees for a few months, as people are still doing, and graduate to more textured foods over time. The assertion that starting with purees will damage your baby's palate is rather absurd since people have been doing since the dawn of time. Feeding baby mashed up pieces of food or even chewing the food for them in your own mouth is not new. Some people like feeding purees once in awhile because they know the baby is actually getting nutrition out of it. Babies strictly fed solid finger foods tend to eat less. They don't need a lot of food at that age, but they do need some. Parents may find it less messy and more convenient. That's also fine. You can do both.

@Melissa I think a lot of what you are sharing is rooted in parental anxiety to food safety and nutritional content. Those are not good motivations to use purées. Again, food is to supplement milk and for the first few months is simply to introduce skills not to actually give a child nutrition. Purées are an example of a mashed texture that is one of many helpful textures for baby to learn. But if baby is showing developmental readiness for solids, there is no need to use purées.

@Claire I'm mentioning the reasons parents may be anxious because I have seen them get stressed over solids to the point of thinking they HAVE to give them whole broccoli spears and pork chops, or they're causing detrimental harm to their development. I'm saying it's fine to go either way. I am not saying purees are necessary. I think they have some value for babies who need easing into textures, but all babies are different, some will, some won't. Some take longer with their fine motor skills, and this can set back their ability to bring whole foods to their mouth, which can cause distress over mealtimes. And I've seen parents break down in tears because their baby simply won't try finger food, and they still refuse to try purees because it's "bad" for them. The OP asked if people still use purees. They do, all the time. I'm not saying they're necessary or that everyone should start with them. I'm saying there is no harm in doing so, and to follow the baby's lead, which is the entire point.