Anyone not doing baby led weaning?

[Anonymous]

I have an eight month old baby. For context, she was an early roller, crawler, and cruiser. She only has two teeth. We’re not nursing anymore. I am struggling a little with feeding her. I intended to do a BLW approach and just let her have what we’re eating, but I’m very anxious about choking. As a result, she mostly eats stage 2 purée style food. I’m worried that I’m holding her back. She has minimal interest in self feeding, and wants me to feed her when I do give her finger foods. We have a pediatrician appointment next month and I’ll talk to them then, but wanted to get some perspective from other parents. I’m trying to move past my worries about choking and include her more in our meals, but it’s difficult to relax about it.
Any words of wisdom?

[Anonymous]

I didn’t give anything other than purées until after the 9 month appt. It just scared me too much. I really don’t think you need an “approach” to this even if some people have one. After the 9 month appt the ped encouraged me to try and introduce a few non purée things which I did. He was probably “behind” at 9 mo, but so what? He caught up and started eating lots of things soon.

He has been a “very” (lol 🤣🤣) good eater ever since so I don’t think any of it mattered anyway

[Anonymous]

Most people don’t do BLW. It’s popular on Instagram but I didn’t know many people who did BLW. There’s a reason purées are tried and true. And recommended by pediatricians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t do BLW. It’s popular on Instagram but I didn’t know many people who did BLW. There’s a reason purées are tried and true. And recommended by pediatricians.

+1

My kids are all older now, but none of them did baby-led weaning. Purées and Cheerios and all that good stuff. All three are great eaters, love veggies, fruit, etc.

[Anonymous]

My kid had some gagging issues and would throw up on anything bot mashed until about 9 months old. Per the pediatrician that's not super rare (kid is 3 now and eats just fine). BLW was a total non starter for that reason. By 11 months kid was eating everything in small pieces at Thanksgiving dinner. He just needed some time for that gag reflex to move further back.

So my anecdotal experiences is that it definitely doesn't work for everyone but just be patient. Obviously had the issue continued we would have seen someone, but sensitive gag reflexes under a year old are not rare or a huge emergency.

[Anonymous]

I didn't. I did the "feed her what the adults eat" thing but I pureed stuff up. My DH was extremely worried about choking and it just didn't seem like the hill to die on. Kid is a very adventurous eater.

[Anonymous]

I also (I think wrongly) got the sense most people were doing BLW. I think Instagram was partly to blame for this understanding. I asked my pediatrician about BLW a few weeks ago at our six month appointment and she advised against it for now. She said she doesn't understand why it is all the rage when it creates a greater risk of chocking. She recommended we stick with purees until baby shows more of an interest in self feeding. This was relieving to me because I am also very stressed about chocking. So much so that I'm contemplating getting one of those DeChocker or LifeVac things, though it seems sort of silly, so I haven't done so yet. Feeding/eating seems like one of those things that all kids really do master eventually. It's not like there are a bunch of adults running around who don't know how to feed themselves. So, if my kid is a few months slower on self-feeding, this seems like a pretty minor concern. Definitely interested in other thoughts, though!

[Anonymous]

I never did BLW. I actually loved spoon-feeding feeding my kids fresh purées. DH and I both over-salt our food so there would never be anything we could share anyway. Both kids are advanced in every way the pediatrician asks about at 3 and 1.5 and started feeding themselves when they were ready.

[Anonymous]

I did BLW because I was too cheap/lazy to buy purées and/or make them. I did a few like sweet potatoes and applesauce but mostly did soft foods to start like yogurt, oatmeal, avocado and then pretty quickly moved into whatever we had on hand. Like I said, fair amount of laziness in my part. I liked Solid Starts philosophy that bigger is better for young babies and choking so we have tons of large fruit—jumbo strawberries, banana spears, large slices of melon, mango pits (still a favorite at 15 months), strips of steak, large pizza crust. I really sat and was 100% attentive to him at first out of paranoia so I really got a sense of how he handled food and responded to sticking things all the way in his mouth.

I followed all the Instagram pages for months before starting so I was pretty confident in knowing what to expect and watch out for allergy and choking wise. One thing I learned that made me feel better is that younger babies have a better gag reflex to prevent choking than older babies. So (supposedly!) it’s actually better to start early to teach babies how to chew and swallow while that reflex is still present than later on when it’s not as strong. I’m not an expert and may not be 100% accurate on this, so please feel free to research and correct me! But I thought it may be reassuring to know as you get started!

But also, however you want to feed your baby is fine. Everyone has an opinion on everything (like breastfeeding ba formula) and starting solids is just another opportunity for annoying people to push their opinions on moms. (No one ever told my husband what to feed the baby!) Pick and choose what works for you and your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also (I think wrongly) got the sense most people were doing BLW. I think Instagram was partly to blame for this understanding. I asked my pediatrician about BLW a few weeks ago at our six month appointment and she advised against it for now. She said she doesn't understand why it is all the rage when it creates a greater risk of chocking. She recommended we stick with purees until baby shows more of an interest in self feeding. This was relieving to me because I am also very stressed about chocking. So much so that I'm contemplating getting one of those DeChocker or LifeVac things, though it seems sort of silly, so I haven't done so yet. Feeding/eating seems like one of those things that all kids really do master eventually. It's not like there are a bunch of adults running around who don't know how to feed themselves. So, if my kid is a few months slower on self-feeding, this seems like a pretty minor concern. Definitely interested in other thoughts, though!

My husband! 😂

[Anonymous]

We didn't, also big fear of choking. By about 8 or 9mos we were giving cheerios, small blueberries or pieces of otherwise easily mashed or dissolvable foods. DS had quite a few teeth but we weren't convinced he could actually effectively use them.

He's now 11 and a perfectly fine eater.
Don't worry about it, OP. Do what works for your family.

[Anonymous]

Yea, no I didn't bother with that. Store bought purees over here.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t with my first, did a mix of purées and foods they can pick up and eat with my second and third- mostly mushy foods like bananas or plain yogurt and small foods like peas, corn etc. I don’t think it makes a big difference, BLW can be easier and less time consuming if you make your own baby food but I doubt any of this matters at all in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never did BLW. I actually loved spoon-feeding feeding my kids fresh purées. DH and I both over-salt our food so there would never be anything we could share anyway. Both kids are advanced in every way the pediatrician asks about at 3 and 1.5 and started feeding themselves when they were ready.

+1. I loved feeding my babies! They’re like little birds! All kids turned out great, extremely independent, with no issues around food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did BLW because I was too cheap/lazy to buy purées and/or make them. I did a few like sweet potatoes and applesauce but mostly did soft foods to start like yogurt, oatmeal, avocado and then pretty quickly moved into whatever we had on hand. Like I said, fair amount of laziness in my part. I liked Solid Starts philosophy that bigger is better for young babies and choking so we have tons of large fruit—jumbo strawberries, banana spears, large slices of melon, mango pits (still a favorite at 15 months), strips of steak, large pizza crust. I really sat and was 100% attentive to him at first out of paranoia so I really got a sense of how he handled food and responded to sticking things all the way in his mouth.

I followed all the Instagram pages for months before starting so I was pretty confident in knowing what to expect and watch out for allergy and choking wise. One thing I learned that made me feel better is that younger babies have a better gag reflex to prevent choking than older babies. So (supposedly!) it’s actually better to start early to teach babies how to chew and swallow while that reflex is still present than later on when it’s not as strong. I’m not an expert and may not be 100% accurate on this, so please feel free to research and correct me! But I thought it may be reassuring to know as you get started!

But also, however you want to feed your baby is fine. Everyone has an opinion on everything (like breastfeeding ba formula) and starting solids is just another opportunity for annoying people to push their opinions on moms. (No one ever told my husband what to feed the baby!) Pick and choose what works for you and your family.

I did this except without the Instagram. I’m too lazy for purées. Also I hate cleaning and purées can be so messy! 😂 If you’ll be less worried at choking with purées, go with purées, OP. There’s a reason they’re the general standard. I added solid meals really slowly too; only one new meal every month or so. That cut down on the effort I had to go through since my kid was one before we got to our standard 3 meals/2 snacks and I was way more comfortable with her ability to chew by then.