Combo BLW and puree?

GLGB

I'm waiting untill 6 months adjusted to start food and I've been debating between BLW or purees.  I was wondering if anyone has done a combo of giving the baby some things they can grab and work on by themselves and sometimes feeding them mashed up purees.  I got a baby food grinder and was just planning on feeding him whatever I'm eating for the most part but I do like a lot of the ideas of BLW.

Has anyone had any experience with doing anything like this?

bluesapph

That's what I tried to do but LO hates purees, cereals and really anything offered on a spoon.  Even if I gave him the spoon or just put a little puree on his hand.  So, all table foods ala BLW for us.  

rboisvert

This is what we are doing.  I added in some high cal/fat purees due to some weight gain issues at her 6mo apt and we give her whatever we're eating.  She still has quite a gag reflex/some tounge thrust reflex so not a lot gets down but she loves to suck on food.  She also LOVES her purees so it's working well for us.  I think the combo will get us the end result that I'm looking for which is an adventurous eater who likes to explore new tastes and textures.  Good luck

Birdies08

We're waiting, too, but this is our plan. I want to be able to give her some good stuff like spinach, and I think that's more appropriate as a puree. If she hates it, she hates it, we won't fight about it. What's the harm in offering, though? We'll also give her plenty of table food she can play with herself.

Qmommy

I did both.  Some foods she took better in pureed form while others she preferred as chunks.  Peas for instance... she hates whole peas but will scarf them down if they're pureed (even today at 17 months!)  She loves sweet potato chunks but wont eat them smashed / pureed.   I think it comes down to texture of some foods.

I also introduced a spoon early on (9 or 10 months) and now she's a master at eating with a spoon and fork.  At 17 months she can scoop cereal out of milk and eat it with little mess.  Same with yogurt!  I guess what I'm saying is, some purees were even given in a BLW approach.  I just let her make a mess and practice eating.

bluesapph

Birdies08:

We're waiting, too, but this is our plan. I want to be able to give her some good stuff like spinach, and I think that's more appropriate as a puree. If she hates it, she hates it, we won't fight about it. What's the harm in offering, though? We'll also give her plenty of table food she can play with herself.

 

As for spinach, etc you just have to get creative.  Since LO didn't eat cereal and my doctor was really worried about that (I wasn't).  I used the cereal as flour and mixed it with spinach, grated carrot, a little cheese and made little cookies. (Totally healthy, I just don't have a better word for it.)  I baked them for 10 minutes and voila..he's eating spinach and rice cereal and it isn't a puree!   He loves these little things and I know he's eating good, homemade food, feeding himself and getting a variety of tastes, textures and nutrients.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with purees but there are ways around it.  

terri_doula2010

That is what I ended up doing. At 6 mo I started just BLW, no purees. He didn't start digesting things for a few weeks (normal) but had a great time playing with food and tasting it.

At 7m,1w, he stayed with his grandparents overnight and of course she thought I was CRAZY to be doing BLW. She fed him so much rice cereal while I was gone that he didn't poop for a few days. But anyway, he did really enjoy being spoonfed. After that I made and froze a bunch of different purees and each meal he had pureed food AND finger food. Best of both worlds!

He never really had rice cereal except for that weekend with grandma. I don't see the point. I did feed him "super porridge" from the Super Baby Foods book for a while...ground whole grains and beans cooked kinda like Cream of Wheat. It didn't seem to make much difference, though.

Birdies08

bluesapph:

Birdies08:

We're waiting, too, but this is our plan. I want to be able to give her some good stuff like spinach, and I think that's more appropriate as a puree. If she hates it, she hates it, we won't fight about it. What's the harm in offering, though? We'll also give her plenty of table food she can play with herself.

 

As for spinach, etc you just have to get creative.  Since LO didn't eat cereal and my doctor was really worried about that (I wasn't).  I used the cereal as flour and mixed it with spinach, grated carrot, a little cheese and made little cookies. (Totally healthy, I just don't have a better word for it.)  I baked them for 10 minutes and voila..he's eating spinach and rice cereal and it isn't a puree!   He loves these little things and I know he's eating good, homemade food, feeding himself and getting a variety of tastes, textures and nutrients.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with purees but there are ways around it.  

That is awesome and very creative of you! We will still probably incorporate some purees, but you're right, there are ways around it. 

lclaws13

We started BLW at 6 months with food chunks, and occasionally oatmeal with finely shredded fruit.  But we've always put the oatmeal on the spoon, then handed it to him.  It took a while, but by 7 or 7 1/2 months he was getting over half of the attempts into his mouth on the first try.

tokenhoser

I prefer the straight BLW approach. I don't want to have to provide both finger foods and purees. I don't want to spoon feed him. I don't want to fall into the "just one more bite" trap, and I want him to select what he'd like to eat from the choices I give him. I really like not having to decide when to change the texture of his food (it's just real food, which makes sense to me).

I'm sure everyone will end up with a child that feeds himself sooner or later, and I don't necessarily think that my way is the only way, but I have no desire to mix the schools of feeding.