Puree to mashed food - when?

[LilysMum]

At what age should I be moving my baby off purreed  food into more lumpy food?  She's almost 7 mths.

[rosie and joe's mummy]

from what i understand, about now?

rosie's been on pureed foods for nearly 4 weeks now.  she has had one or two meals where (by accident not design) the food was slightly lumpier than intended and actually she's done fairly well with that. i'm going to wait a bit longer before i choose to do lumpier stuff, but i think it's worth having a go, seeing how she responds and taking it from there?  after all if you think after a couple of mouthfuls she's not coping, you can always stick it in the blender.

oh and when you do put lumpier stuff in, they suck all the runny liquid and swallow that and then mouth (or try to chew) the lumpier bits, which looks really funny! as long as she doesn't gag you're ok.  if she does gag then she's not ready yet.

[EmMUK74]

I didn't move Rachel onto lumpier foods until she had first had finger food and I did that at 7.5months.  after a week of finger food I then stopped pureeing and just mashed all her foods with a fork and so she never had the runny with lumps issue, just maybe some gravy to suck off a spoon

hth

[Mom to M&M]

Still have a problem with lumps here. We use jars and DD is good with oatmeal thickening her purees but can't do lumps - just gags and gets upset and pushes away. Any ideas? Maybe just try a mashed up banana but don't think it out? Or a mashed up homemade chicken meatball?

[rosie and joe's mummy]

will she eat any finger foods?  rose has had rusks since we started weaning because she like sto have something to suck on when we are eating so she feels like she's joining in i think.

she has those because they're too big for her to actuallyshove right in her mouth and she can suck on them.  i noticed last week that she was sucking lumps off them and mushing them around in her mouth, without gagging so she's had a few baby rice cakes since, which she seems to like.

[Mrs. Gravy]

Try offering some slightly more chunky food and see what the reaction is.

I make all my own baby food, but even if you buy jars, you can do this.  Just take a banana and instead of pureeing it completely, leave it a bit chunky.  If it doesn't go over well, babe probably isn't ready.  Wait a few weeks and try again. 

There's absolutely no rush!  I don't know any adults who only eat pureed foods, so she will learn at her own pace.  Just give her time!

[Mom to M&M]

I definitely agree and too have never seen an adult eating only purees. However, it's becoming quite apparent that this may be a texture aversion and not just that she's not ready - we'll keep patiently trying for a while and then call in EI to evaluate if necessary. Thanks..

[kcamelia]

I added some couscous to my lo's cereal to see if he was ready for chunks.  I could tell he thought it was strange, but he ate it!

[Mom to M&M]

Haven't tried it, to be honest. We are currently only doing purees (sometimes thickened with oatmeal, sometimes now) and finger foods - no lumps. According to many doctors and feeding specialist, the lumps and Stage 3 types of food can be really confusing for infants - they don't know whether to chew, swallow or what - and often are better left alone until on table foods.

Maybe he just didn't like the taste of the mashed potatoes?

[tiki_mama]

i hardly puree any of DD's food, just mash it up. she's 6 months and we started weaning about 3 weeks ago.

she's only having vegetables and fruits at the moment and seems to be able to cope with the lumps fine. she has 2 bottom front teeth just come through, but she certainly doesn't use them yet when she's eating.

it really depends on your lo. keep trying slightly lumpier food and eventually they'll eat them 

[Mom to M&M]

Actually, Tiki, some LOs DON"T eat lumpy foods at all until they are toddlers and on table foods. Many really go from purees right to finger foods - especially babies with easy gag reflexes or a history of reflux. Doesn't hurt to keep trying lumps but don't worry if they don't take to them!