Like many moms and fellow Hellobee’ers, I was apprehensive to try BLW right away. We started solids at 5 months because Baby Squiggles was showing all the signs of being ready for food: he was reaching for our food and eyeing us while we ate, he had great head control and could sit up assisted, he used his hands very well and his tongue reflex was gone.
Actually one of the main factors for being cautious regarding BLW was because we lived in a townhouse with a carpeted dining room! I had no interest in dealing with carpet stains and cleaning up food from the carpet at each mealtime. I had considered a splat mat to combat this problem, but decided against it at the time because of his age.
I decided to attempt a modified BLW approach. I wanted to use all the amazing baby-food making equipment I received at my shower and have fun making purees for awhile. We started out with pear, banana, and avocado purees. Every week or so we would introduce a new puree. At our 6-month appointment we received the go-ahead from our doctor to feed him almost anything we wanted with the exception of honey and nuts. I decided to also hold off on dairy, citrus and most grains as well and focus on more nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits.
Our equipment used for purees was vast as we received a lot of gizmos and gadgets, but my favorite was the baby bullet steamer that we used to steam carrots, broccoli, beans and other vegetables. We then used the immersion blender to make batch purees.
Between 6-7 months I started pureeing his foods with a little more texture; with both the immersion blender and the baby bullet I was able to “pulse” the food until it reached my desired consistency. It was a very gradual process and I started with very soft foods such as ripe avocados, bananas, ripe pears and fully-steamed carrots to ensure that even though there were small chunks of food, they were very small and mashable with his gums.
Over the course of a month, Baby S really started to adapt to gumming small pieces of food in his purees. He was slowly building up his ability to “chew” his food and move it around efficiently. I liked this process because it truly helped avoid choking as he was gradually learning how to eat. In reality, most of what we think of as choking is really a baby’s gag reflex and that is a common fear and debunked myth regarding BLW. However, as parents our instinct is to protect and that’s why BLW can be so terrifying to parents. So really, this method helped me avoid the fear of Baby S “gagging.”
When Baby S was 7 months old we moved to a new apartment and our new dining room had wood floors! Since he had been eating more and more textured foods for two months, I decided I was ready to commit to BLW all the way. We started feeding Baby S more and more of what we were eating, but still cut up into tiny pieces. As he was learning how to pick things up and bring them to his mouth, the beginning was rough and 75% of his food ended up on the floor as opposed to in his mouth – but the learning process was so fun and it was only a short matter of time before he grasped how to bring the food to his mouth directly.
At 10 months old, Baby S eats just like a toddler (sans silverware). He eats exactly what we eat and most of the time I don’t even have to cut his food into tiny pieces because he is so skilled. We have never had a choking experience and I can count on one hand all the times he’s gagged. I am really happy we did it this way, if only for my peace of mind! I definitely will be more open to the idea of BLW for subsequent children now that I have done it successfully.
I think this modified approach is great for parents who aren’t ready to commit to the effort and “fear” of BLW right at 4-6 months, but still want to encourage independent eating for their children. One issue I did encounter though, is that as I was working to transition to textured foods, Baby S was so accustomed to purees he had a period of time he refused to try to feed himself because it was easier for him to have me spoon-feed him. It took a little work to encourage that independence and with some children it may take longer than just a couple weeks.
What approach did you take to starting solids? Would you consider a modified baby-led weaning approach?
Baby Led Weaning part 8 of 11
1. Baby-Led Weaning by Food2. BLW Gear Faves & Fails by Mrs. Stroller
3. BLW - The First Few Months by Mrs. Stroller
4. Getting Started With Baby Led Weaning by Mrs. Superhero
5. Baby Led Weaning by Mrs. Superhero
6. Getting Started with Solids, Purees, and Baby-led Weaning by Mrs. Bee
7. Time for Big-Boy Food by Mrs. Yoyo
8. My Modified Baby-Led Weaning Approach by Mrs. Pen
9. Little Tea Cup versus the spoon - part 2 - favourite first finger foods by Mrs. Tea
10. Starting Solids with Baby Led Weaning: A Conservative Approach by Mrs. Markers
11. Starting Baby Led Weaning by Mrs. Chipmunk
Start Puree Solids – How To part 4 of 7
1. Getting Started with Solids, Purees, and Baby-led Weaning by Mrs. Bee2. Operation Solids by Mrs. Yoyo
3. feeding an 8 month old by Mrs. Jump Rope
4. My Modified Baby-Led Weaning Approach by Mrs. Pen
5. Introducing Baby to Herbs and Spices by Sarah Crowder
6. Figuring Out Food at 9 Months by Mrs. Hopscotch
7. "Bad" BLW: Feeding with a Loaded Spoon by Mrs. Sketchbook
Hellobee Series: Mrs. Pen part 5 of 11
1. Signing with Your Baby by Mrs. Pen2. A Case For Home-schooling Series: Part 1 by Mrs. Pen
3. The Double Swaddle by Mrs. Pen
4. Losing the Baby Weight by Mrs. Pen
5. My Modified Baby-Led Weaning Approach by Mrs. Pen
6. The Whens, Whys and Hows of Our Sleep Training Process by Mrs. Pen
7. Party Utensils DIY by Mrs. Pen
8. Modern Woodland Birthday by Mrs. Pen
9. Baby Budget: The First Year by Mrs. Pen
10. Honest Diaper Review by Mrs. Pen
11. The Nannies Guide by Mrs. Pen
coffee bean / 36 posts
We are currently on purees with our five month old twins, but plan to switch to BLW very soon. Adding the soft chunks into a puree as a transition is a great idea!
kiwi / 542 posts
Gahhh your child is so cute! I struggled to read the article with those pictures- too adorable! Gahhh!
grapefruit / 4923 posts
thank you for the info–good to know that it doesn’t have to be BLW all the way if we want to try a modified approach when the time comes.
like @sea_bass: though, i have to comment on how cute your little guy is. unbelievably cute.
grapefruit / 4669 posts
I would definitely consider this approach; gagging scares me. I want to do BLW in some form so it’s nice to know there are options for the transition.
honeydew / 7444 posts
We are still doing a mix at 8.5 months, but she is atarting to protest being spoonfed (though she will take anything if fed with chopsticks). I think i introduced textured foods too early, but she gums her food up pretty well now!
Some questions:when did you start giving smoothies and juice? Did you give it to them in a cup? Sippy cup? Also, did he ever have a problem with chipmunking..i.e., stuffing food into his mouth without swallowing?
Love the pictures!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@caffeinated: I starting pureeing just spinach and banana when he was 6-7 months old and he loved it right away! He now has a green smoothie with my every morning. Since I started it as a puree, it was just spoon-fed. Now we either practice with the sippy cup or I just feed it to him with a regular cup. He loves them!
Since we make all of our juice at home, I wasn’t opposed to giving him some as early as 7-8 months. Even the 100% juice from the store is so concentrated it’s a huge sugar spike so I wouldn’t recommend that until well after a year, preferably later – but feel free to check with your doctor on that one. Juice that is fresh from home doesn’t have that huge sugar-spike and it still chock-full of nutrients. We started with carrot and beet juices because they have less sugar than fruit.
And YES he totally stuffs his face with food haha! We have to limit how much we give him at one time. But I do think that because he learned to eat as a gradual pace, he is SO good about “chewing” and swallowing effectively. He has stuffed an entire half a banana in his mouth, it didn’t even all fit – but he gummed it around until it was soft enough to swallow and managed the whole thing. It’s an amazing thing to watch haha!
@sea_bass: @edelweiss: haha thank you!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
He looks so happy with his food!
coffee bean / 29 posts
He is so adorable! Thanks for the info. I have been researching BLW to see if this is the best for our LO. I like the idea of modified BLW. As a first time mom, I’m apprehensive about it and my pediatrician already recommended to start with cereal. However, I like the more nutrient-dense food.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@scsgalexander: My pedi didn’t really mind what I started with, she said it was up to me. She did say the iron-fortified cereal is more for FF babies… not sure if you are BF or FF? She said BF babies get all the iron they need from breastmilk. I am glad I skipped the grains – I don’t think they’re as nutritious as many claim they are
coffee bean / 29 posts
@Mrs. Pen: Good to know! I am BF so this totally makes me a lot more comfortable if I go against our pediatrician. I feel like a rebel : )
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
Love this!! I’m a huge fan of BLW
honeydew / 7444 posts
@Mrs. Pen: Ahhh don’t get me started on juice.
We had to give her juice because of LO’s bad constipation and i wanted to cry when i gave it to her…out flew my determination to avoid juice until she was 2 years old! I am trying to train LO by not putting any food on her tray until she swallows…it’s a slow battle. 
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@caffeinated: Oh no!!!! I am soo sorry
ugh I would have cried a little too!! poor mama… and poor baby!! How is she doing now? Do you guys have a juicer?
We definitely saw it as an investment- and if Cobi ever has constipation issues it will for sure come in handy.
Haha yeah I do that too – only giving him a little at a time. Although sometimes it just ends up being more work for me!
olive / 63 posts
I love readin about others’ experiences with baby led weaning! Lo is 11 months next week and the thing I’ve realized is not letting him have a lot of practice with large pieces to gum on-like we did in the beginning. I’ve cut his food up once e could manage small pieces. Not sure what to do next so that he can practice gumming/taking a bite off a large piece himself or maybe I’m expecting too much?
blogger / cherry / 247 posts
the beet juice pics are priceless!!!!!!!!!!!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@Mrs. Scooter: hahaha I know right! I love them! Makes me laugh every time.
@Kfamilie: Actually, it was allowing Cobi to have larger pieces to work with that helped him. We found that a carrot was great because it was too hard for him to bite off a chunk, but a perfect “teether” and toy and he worked on his jaw movements to develop chewing. We also love avocado slices and peeled pear slices (that are really wipe and mushy). Oh – and the pancakes I posted – they kind of melt in your mouth – so it’s another great BLW food!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Hahah did our posts go up on the same day? You’re actually why I realized I can go BLW after purées! We actually went through a phase where she refused purées altogether bc she wanted to feed herself everything!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@scsgalexander: I completely skipped cereal as well. If you do a little research you will see that babies have iron in reserve till about 8-10 months. At that point you can introduced meats anyway. And bF babies do get all the iron they need already from breast milk. And if you ff most are already iron fortified anyway so I don’t see why babies need cereal on top of it anyway?
coffee bean / 29 posts
@regberadaisy: Thanks for the info and advice! I’m still reading more about BLW so I can get hubby on board and tell our pediatrician about it. I’m kind of scared to tell the pediatrician because I’m a first time mom about to go against his professional advice. If I’m well informed, I will feel more confident.
guest
I’m in the midst of doing a hybrid BLW with my 6.5mo old daughter. I agree with the last thing you said; I see she gets frustrated sometimes when she has to feed herself. She looks at me and grunts like “no! give it to me on a spoon, momma!” Any tips on encouraging the transition to more BLW on baby’s side of things?
grapefruit / 4923 posts
thank you for this post! i think we’re going to do a modified approach as well because i doubt that his daycare will have the time for BLW. i’d like to BLW at home and purees at daycare, and drop the purees once as his fine motor skills improve. it’s reassuring to know that others like you have done a modified method as well!