Any success with combining BLW and purees

[LucK]

Hi,
I've started my LO on solid foods around 6 months with purees.  Now she's almost 8 months and eating two meals/purees for breakfast and lunch with the family.  I've introduced and had to cut down the number of foods she was eating because of constipation so am slowly going to start adding more foods into her diet.
I'm thinking to start giving her dinner which is kind of tough becasue my LO has an early BT and BF after 5:30 and is in bed around 6/6:15.  We already have an early dinner around 5pm with my 3 year old to accomodate my baby's BT.  During this time she's usually in her bouncy chair because she would fuss in the high chair I guess wanting to join us in eating.  Now I want to start including her in our dinner so put her in the high chair and just try offering her food from our dinner. 

Do you think this is okay? or should i just continue with purees but am afraid this meal time is too close to her BF before bed.    I guess i'm thinking she's not going to be eating too many finger foods yet but mostly playing/learing.

Just wondering what your thoughts are.

[Lolly]

If she wants to join in I would offer finger foods. You are right she won't eat too much that way yet, but it's good practice for her! I did purees and finger foods with my two from the start, they usually has finger foods to play around with while I atempted to get the puree in. If they didn't have finger foods they had their own spoon to distract them!

Laura

[LucK]

Thanks Laura....did you only offer the foods she was used to from purees or did you let her experiment with new foods that are safe for babies.

[Lemonthyme]

Purists would say combining finger foods and purees is traditional weaning.  I'm not a purist and I think most 'traditional weaners' in the last couple of years have learned loads of things from BLW and taken ideas from it so are probably more relaxed now about giving finger foods as snacks or even as whole meals at a younger age than they would have previously and also not making bland stuff just because it's for baby but it is worth saying that finger foods have always been part of the weaning process.

Tbh my son's mealtimes don't always coincide with ours even though he's 18 months because my OH works long hours so he's often having some finger food vegetables as a snack as we eat.  It works well most of the time and has done since he was 7 months or so (I remember him chewing a sprout on Christmas day!!!)

[Lolly]

I let mine have whatever really - they had toast, pasta, roasted or steamed veg fingers, sandwiches, soft fruit wedges. I gave them chunks they could pick up easily and control themselves. In the UK pretty much anything goes from 6 months apart from salt, sugar and allergenic foods if you have a family history. Other countries have different guidelines so it's best to check where you are.

Laura

[LucK]

I gave my LO meat of off chicken drumstick and she loved it and the whole experience.  We started at 5pm and finished at 5:30pm when I usually start to BF for BT.  I BF first, then bath so I can give my LO a longer time to burp as she needs it.  Now am trying to hold her off until closer to 6pm as I'm afraid she won't drink enough before bed.  We are already struggling with EW so not sure what will happen but she seems to be already asking to BF. 

[Khalam's Mama]

You want to be well on your way to table food by now with more mashed food over purees for example. I would be offering her finger foods for sure. I am sure we had ditched purees completely by now tbh. Do you have teeth yet? This makes it easier.

[LucK]

Thanks for all the comments....I've got to say that I really like the idea of BLW or offering more finger foods although we have no teeth and if she's like my DD1 she got her first tooth right before 1st b-day.  My DD1 was a good eater and still is but she wasn't into finger foods until about 1 year so this is kind of new to me.  My main concern was that

1) dinner time is too close to her BF right before BT (last night it seemed she had a pretty good BF so close after dinner) but her BT was about half an hour later.

2) she was very constipated soon after solids and I haven't been able to figure out what causes it even though she's only eating few foods.  Sweet pot, squash, pear, chicken, green bean, prunes and peas.  At one point she didn't poo for 8 days and we used glycerin supp. which worked and we added prunes, peas to her diet.  I stopped giving her sweet pot and squash as i read in a post those could be constipating.  But after she went 7 more days without pooping and we had to use glycerin suppository 3 times to get her to poop which was very painful for her.  The first poops were very dry and hard.  The last two days she only had tiny poops which are well formed but not as dry/hard.  She still seems to be in pain and fusses/cries when passing them.  Throughout the day it seems she is trying to poop more but nothing happens so I'm thinking poo withholding.  We're seeing a doctor today again.  The suggesting before was to try giving her glycerin supp until she poops and offer more water and start rice cereal.  Rice cereal confused me as all the info suggests it's constipating.

I gave her a banana yesterday as a finger food (I know some say constipating some say great for regulating poop either way) but I'll give it a try.  I would give her root veggies, cooked apples but afraid carrots etc could constipate more.  Unfortunately peaches, plums are not available now.  I also tried avocado and egg yolks before and this caused spit ups.  I'm not giving her grains especially gluten until later as advised by my naturopath.
Any idea what I could try next?

[petram]

Hi there
I also combine finger food with puree.
My LO is just 7 months (started weaning 1 wk before he was 6months) I started by pureeing foods but soon realised he didn't need it, he is quite able to chew food with his gums, I now only mash food with a fork leaving it quite lumpy.

He has cereal at 7am, and 5oz of formula milk

7oz milk mid-morning

Lunch, Fruit mashed with a fork, sometimes with natural yoghurt, after ive fed him i always give finger food ie the rest of the banana/pear etc or a tea cake with a little butter, banana spread on bread or cheese wedge or 'sandwich' etc.

7oz milk mid afternoon

Tea, what ever we are having mashed with a fork, (last night salmon in garlicy sauce with rice) and the same as finger food to keep him occupied while we eat (last night he had home made cheese bread)

7oz milk at bt.

I would definately start, i was quite suprised at how well he managed finger food from the start, i think his favourite is cheese on toast.

HTH

[petram]

Hi again, just wanted to add, my LO suffered constipation when he first transitioned to solids, not as bad as it sounds for your LO but I gave him more water, giving him some through out the day not just at meal times, my mom also suggested fruit juice, so when I made him fruit purees i boiled the fruit and gave him the water drink, it seemed to work for him. I still give him lots extra water at times when he needs it.

x

[LucK]

Finally this week my LO seems to be getting over the constipation.  I've added ground flax seeds to her purees and after about a week her poop is much softer.  I've also been giving her more water.  So far I haven't been able to introduce any new foods or more finger foods as I was afraid how it will impact her poop but now it's time to add more variety to her diet.  Actually, my LO gagged a few times on some finger foods and gave us quite a scare so now I only give her very soft foods like banana, baked sweet pot etc.

Petram, your LO is already eating quite a variety...how do you prepare the finger foods?  what sizes and how soft (ie pear)

[Lolly]

I found banana to be the worst for gagging! Don't forget that gagging is good for them but scary for us. When they gag they are learning how to use their muscles to protect their airways and they will gag on new textures and when they put too much in their mouths (mine still do sometimes at 5 and 2.5!). When she does gag be vigilant in case it does turn to a choke, but try and stay calm and leave her to sort it out and she will!

Laura

[petram]

I give him quite big pieces, i slice bread etc into 'soliders' that are half the length of the bread  and thicker than his fist when he holds it.
I cut banana through the middle
I cut tea cakes in quarters or half depending on how big they are, not too well done, just nicely toasted.

He finds fruit like pear, apple, strawberry etc (slimey fruit) difficult so i tend to keep a hold of it too cos he either gets frustrated or shoves a whole piece in.
I give him pears when they are firm but ripe (so they hold together but soft enough to bite with gums) and i boil apple til its the same.

Cut cheese into fairly thin slices, a bit thiner than a slice of bread. I find cheese crumbles quite quickly but i help him eat the pieces.

The only thing i find he struggles with is really dry foods like rice cakes, they tend to make him cough cos little pieces get stuck in his throat so he needs lots to drink when he has them.

x

[dizzy]

Give me more details on all this please. I have just done a week on puree pear with LO but had to increase amount quickly to 2 or 3 times in a day as he is so hungry. Can I start introducing finger foods already and what could I give? I was goign to do sweet pot or carrot next and mix apple with the pear? But didn't think I could give much else. What about yoghurt, when can he have them?

[LucK]

Giving a combination of purees and finger foods works really well for my LO.  I'm still doing purees for breakfast, lunch with some finger foods and then just finger foods for dinner. 
You can try giving him finger foods or if he's not into them just try introducing other foods as purees.  Sweet potato, squash, bananas are all a good choice for both finger foods and purees.  I found that I had to give my LO finger foods in the size of a french fry for her to be able to hold the food.  Now that she's 8 months she's able to pick up small pieces like halved blueberries.

My LO struggled with constipation so also start giving water with solids which may help.  I found that none of the foods caused constipation and went to see a naturopath who suggested probiotics and/or yogurt along with homeopathic drops UNDA 6.  this has helped and also giving ground flax seeds 2tsps (started just before 8 months).

I refer to the link below of what types of foods and when to introduce when not sure:
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/