BLW or purées?

[mimsy]

It looks like the time is nearing to start solids. I'm not sure how to go about this. My brother gave my nephew and niece pizza crusts to gnaw on- they are 17 and 15 now. I have a cousin who swore by the mesh feeders. But it seems early for that. I'm not sure if we should start with cereal or a sweet potato. Help? Thanks.

[sarenu]

It's up to the kid.

Posted too quick.

C was super picky and now likes his solids mixed with puree. Sometimes he like solids. It's such a toss up.

[kmc84]

BLW all the way! As long as baby is sitting up, interested in the food, and 6 (ish) months......give them (almost) all the food! We started with long slices of banana, home made baked sweet potatoe fries, strips of chicken, soft pears... Really anything that you can shape into sticks to make it easy to pick up.

[TJ]

I was a huge proponent of BLW, and it worked great for E. By 8 months old she was eating barbeque, pickles, hamburgers, whatever we ate. It really worked for her.

P has had a lot more difficult time. I think a lot of that is due to my own inability to understand what she can and can't eat due to her intolerances. And also being home alone every night for dinner with a potty training toddler makes it really difficult to watch P as closely as you often need to with BLW. (There is a bit of gagging in the early stages as they learn their gag reflex, and what they can and can't chew and swallow.) That being said, at 8m P is now rocking the cheerios, corn, quartered apples, and steamed carrots. And when I try to spoon feed her oatmeal or sweet potato puree she will only eat 1-2 bites.

I think a lot of it also has to do with how you are as a parent. My brother cannot handle seeing messes. He can't stand to see spaghetti sauce on his toddler's face, or mashed potatoes smeared in his hair. So BLW does NOT work for him. Other parents have a really hard time watching their kid gag, and confuse it with choking. If messes or gagging (it really is occasional and mild, and a really important step in learning to eat) is going to freak you out, then BLW is not for you.

I will say that my toddler seems more adventurous and a better eater than any of the puree-fed babies that I know. \anecdote.

[mimsy]

She has no teeth yet. Not even lumps where they are starting. Is that okay for BLW foods?

[TJ]

kmc84 Do you take the peel off the pears?

[TJ]

Jan 28, 2015 14:47:40 GMT -5 mimsy said:

She has no teeth yet. Not even lumps where they are starting. Is that okay for BLW foods?

Yep.

I was going to say it's not like they are eating steak.  But E WAS eating steak with only 2 little teeth and she did just fine.  The whole point is that they aren't going to eat anything they aren't capable of physically picking up, putting in their mouth, and gnawing/gumming/sucking on. 

[mimsy]

Okay.

[kmc84]

Jan 28, 2015 14:48:31 GMT -5 TJ said:

kmc84 Do you take the peel off the pears?

Nope-never seemed to bother her!

[kmc84]

Jan 28, 2015 14:49:35 GMT -5 TJ said:

Jan 28, 2015 14:47:40 GMT -5 mimsy said:

She has no teeth yet. Not even lumps where they are starting. Is that okay for BLW foods?

Yep.

I was going to say it's not like they are eating steak.  But E WAS eating steak with only 2 little teeth and she did just fine.  The whole point is that they aren't going to eat anything they aren't capable of physically picking up, putting in their mouth, and gnawing/gumming/sucking on. 

A was eating strips of steak before she had any teeth! Lol! It was one of her favorites!

[TJ]

Jan 28, 2015 14:52:42 GMT -5 kmc84 said:

Jan 28, 2015 14:48:31 GMT -5 TJ said:

kmc84 Do you take the peel off the pears?

Nope-never seemed to bother her!

Cool.  We are trying that tonight!!!

[brandiewine11]

I highly recommend reading the BLW book. It really helped me understand the concept and what is/is not normal. I have to say it is SO much easier than purees.

That being said, I do give some purees in the pouches (he won't eat it from a spoon). I do this mainly if we are out and I don't want to deal with the mess. I also send them to daycare. He's only there 2 days a week.

At 7 1/2 months R does great with cheerios, sweet potato, meatballs, pasta, broccoli, etc. He's not great with meats other than ground meat, but otherwise i give him bits of mostly what we are eating. I have been making meatballs for him and freezing them. Oh, and he loves falafel too.

He really enjoys eating and gets so excited. Its adorable.

[rockiesnugget]

I've really enjoyed BLW with my LO, but I think it is what you are comfortable with. I see BLW as easy and stressfree, but others may feel like it is more stressful due to not being able to say that LO ate X amount of fruit and X amount of veggies at each meal.

[sarenu]

I always make an effort to throw things on C's plate.

Then I toss it in with puree. And feed it to him.

If he didn't have weight issues, I'd skip the puree.

[rugger]

We did homemade purees with R and she is a really good eater. But we also didn't shy away from offering her whatever we were eating once she was past the puree stage.

With A, it's been BLW the entire way, with spoon-fed oatmeal in the morning. And early on, I would put things in the mesh feeder thing as well.

At 8mos, she loves puffs, green beans, carrots, sweet potato, pears (especially Asian pears!), Brussels sprouts, sourdough bread, tomato, apple, and pretty much anything we throw at her or that she snags with her little grabby hands.

It has been far easier than dealing with purees.But I am not sure blw vs. Puree will determine whether your kid ends up a "good eater." Like I said before, we did puree with R and at 2.5, she loves things like brie, chicken curry, and sushi. It's really about what you offer and encourage along the way.

[Nik Pal]

I agree it depends on the kid. We were really nervous about gagging and did homemade purees at first. However, M is an independent woman, and hates being spoon fed, so she gets a lot of finger foods now.

[redrock]

We've done mostly BLW. We've made some purees when M can't eat what we are eating and just for fun to try. Also, he doesn't have any teeth at all yet and sucks and gnaws on all sorts of stuff, including meat. If you think about it we don't chew with our front teeth. The BLW talks about all that though.

M has days where he really likes to eat and days where he doesn't care about it at all. He loves bread, avocados, yogurt, pork, apples, bananas, peas, dried mangos, etc. It is a huge mess and J has a hard time dealing with the gagging (he still gags a lot) but I find it much better than spoon feeding. Even when we try to spoon feed him, he insists on feeding himself with the spoon, which is an even bigger mess.

Good luck, it's fun and take lots of pictures.

[rockiesnugget]

One thing to note too and the BLW book also notes is that some kids do not become interested in the food immediately. My LO would occasionally gnaw on something but mainly would only play with the food or completely ignore it until 9-10 months and then he started eating everything. You just have to remember along the way that "food before one is just for fun."

[rockiesnugget]

Jan 28, 2015 14:47:37 GMT -5 TJ said:

I was a huge proponent of BLW, and it worked great for E. By 8 months old she was eating barbeque, pickles, hamburgers, whatever we ate. It really worked for her.

P has had a lot more difficult time. I think a lot of that is due to my own inability to understand what she can and can't eat due to her intolerances. And also being home alone every night for dinner with a potty training toddler makes it really difficult to watch P as closely as you often need to with BLW. (There is a bit of gagging in the early stages as they learn their gag reflex, and what they can and can't chew and swallow.) That being said, at 8m P is now rocking the cheerios, corn, quartered apples, and steamed carrots. And when I try to spoon feed her oatmeal or sweet potato puree she will only eat 1-2 bites.

I think a lot of it also has to do with how you are as a parent. My brother cannot handle seeing messes. He can't stand to see spaghetti sauce on his toddler's face, or mashed potatoes smeared in his hair. So BLW does NOT work for him. Other parents have a really hard time watching their kid gag, and confuse it with choking. If messes or gagging (it really is occasional and mild, and a really important step in learning to eat) is going to freak you out, then BLW is not for you.

I will say that my toddler seems more adventurous and a better eater than any of the puree-fed babies that I know. \anecdote.

It is funny that you say that about messes, because I don't feel that LO really makes a mess. Yes his highchair try is always messy after eating and he has stuff around his mouth and on his hands, but he doesn't usually have it all over him and in his hair. I have definitely seen pictures of friends that are feeding their LOs purees with bigger messes than me

[doeie04]

We loved BLW. We did do spoon feeding on top of BLW due to weight issues, though.

[DGM]

I just started reading the BLW book. Is the cookbook necessary too?

[brandiewine11]

Jan 28, 2015 17:06:22 GMT -5 DGM said:

I just started reading the BLW book. Is the cookbook necessary too?

I don't have the cookbook and we're doing fine. I just google searched for some ideas when I couldn't think of anything. The main thing is to make sure the food is not a choking hazard and avoid salt, all of which are covered in the main book.

[ABobLoblawLawBomb]

We did BLW, and I also offered purées (A spoon/finger fed herself though) that had been gifted to us. I will probably do the same with R because A ended up using utensils on her own way ahead of other babies her age. Maybe it was coincidental, but. I think using them at every meal really sped up her understanding of them.

[hq]

Jan 28, 2015 14:56:25 GMT -5 brandiewine11 said:

I highly recommend reading the BLW book. It really helped me understand the concept and what is/is not normal. I have to say it is SO much easier than purees.

That being said, I do give some purees in the pouches (he won't eat it from a spoon). I do this mainly if we are out and I don't want to deal with the mess. I also send them to daycare. He's only there 2 days a week.

At 7 1/2 months R does great with cheerios, sweet potato, meatballs, pasta, broccoli, etc. He's not great with meats other than ground meat, but otherwise i give him bits of mostly what we are eating. I have been making meatballs for him and freezing them. Oh, and he loves falafel too.

He really enjoys eating and gets so excited. Its adorable.

This. IMO it is important to understand the concepts of BLW beyond she/he "eats whatever we eat". 1. Infants' kidneys under 1 are underdeveloped so they don't process sodium and protein very well. Most people say they aren't eating large enough quantities at this age to make a difference but I still think that's important to know. Feeding your baby processed foods isn't better than purées. 2. It's hard to remember not to try to feed an infant yourself while BLW. They will be able to manage what they can manipulate, not what you manipulate for them. That is a choking hazard. So for me, understanding the theory was essential.

[CurlieWhirlie]

We do both BLW and spoon feeding because M gets hangry when he can't feed himself fast enough. But like PPs have said, we really give him anything he can pick up, and he prefers eating what we're eating to eating purees. He's almost 10 months now and has only got two bottom teeth, but he'll scrape away at an apple slice, for example, or gum a piece of chicken. We totally give him pizza crusts to gnaw on. He will now take the spoon sometimes and suck the food off of it, and then drop it back on the table for me to put more food on. So it's really a mixed bag but he's leading the way.

[mimsy]

Guess I should look at books?

[DGM]

Jan 28, 2015 17:20:15 GMT -5 mimsy said:

Guess I should look at books?

I got the Gil Rapley BLW book off amazon. None of our libraries carried it for me to check out (pun intended) before deciding for sure to try BLW when the time comes.

[SAK]

I didn't read the books because you can find the majority of the info online and I felt confident that I understood the dos and donts.
One thing the really helped me was understanding the importance of the gag reflex and the difference between gagging and choking. Then I youtubed BLW videos and watched babies gag so that when my own kid did it I didn't panic. I made my husband watch the videos as well which was helpful.

[kmc84]

I will add a plug for you (General 'you') and whoever parents with you to get certified in CPR. I think everyone should be, but definitely if you have kids around! It's really not that difficult and you Bebe know when it may be needed! Plug over....

[rockiesnugget]

Jan 28, 2015 17:13:09 GMT -5 ABobLoblawLawBomb said:

We did BLW, and I also offered purées (A spoon/finger fed herself though) that had been gifted to us. I will probably do the same with R because A ended up using utensils on her own way ahead of other babies her age. Maybe it was coincidental, but. I think using them at every meal really sped up her understanding of them.

While we didn't do purees, if I happened to have something that could be eaten with a spoon (oatmeal, hummus, etc) I would usually place some on LO's tray for him to try and pick up to eat and also place some on a spoon and lay that on his tray. Sometimes he preferred using his hands, but then he became fascinated with the spoon and loves eating with it. He feeds himself with it pretty well and is even trying to place some of his other food on it himself.