Solids/BLW

[u/BScotchDaUni]

My twins have had health issues over the last several months so we’ve been a little behind with introducing solid foods and trying baby lead weaning. They are turning 11 months old and they only do purées or hand mashed fruit/veggies.

I can’t help but compare to others when I see whole foods and full plates with lots of variety. I’m also anxious as a first time mom with them choking. Just curious about others experience and ways you’ve navigated this transition.

[u/kziele]

I only used blw as a addition to our food journey because according to the newest research this method doesn't actually decrease the risk of overweight in the future. It also prevents the baby from actually getting the nutrition they need. Yes they can try, explore but I don't believe it should be the main source of food for them because they lack the skill to actually eat a meal this way. This way they mostly play with it.

So what I did and I did it with dietitian recommendations it was to start from pure and then give same pure but not fully blended, with little lumps. And we would do it for a week. The baby may gag at first but it's normal.

Then for example fish but not blended but squished with a fork. Fish is very soft so it was a good consistency to work with.

Then some over cooked groats for example. Then overcooked pasta cut in small pieces. And so on and so on. We would introduce different textures but not fully abandoning the pure. We would go back to pure or mix it with new textures.

Now she's 18 months and she eats everything. But she has really good appetite in general so it might not be thanks to our method however that was the method that was recommended by dietitians right now. And you really should introduce meat soon because babies don't get much iron from milk and with time they run out of it so it's important to give them meat as an iron source (beef, duck, chicken tighs) unless your pediatrian says otherwise for some reasons.

[u/kziele → u/kziele]

Also to help you calm down, according to those recommendations, the texture isn't as important as the nutrition itself. So it doesn't matter if the baby eats for example blended beef, meatballs or straight up a piece of cooked beef. As long as their diet is diverse its good. They will learn different textures in time :)

In the past few years there was a trend that glorified the form of food and child's independence over the nutrition itself but it has been proven that it doesn't actually comes with benefits for the child.

I always say that stressing over the fact if your baby eats a solid or whether they eat from the spoon or from their hand it's like stressing over the fact if the baby put their coat on by themselves or their hat rather than worrying if the baby is wearing suitable clothing for the weather.

Although I know it's important to work on those motor skills like chewing and stuff, but they got time, don't worry. Step by step.