Am I doing it right, can you really do it wrong?

[Bloodsocks]

just started weaning my dd who is 23 weeks. I am wanting to do a mixture of BLW and spoon feeding.

I gave her a stick of cooked sweet potato yesterday and also spooned some mashed (but not pureed) sweet potato. She. gummed the stick but didn't eat any and took the mashed stuff off the spoon but spat most of it out.

I have done some carrot for tomorrow but pushed it through a sieve so it is more or less smooth and also done some sticks for her to play with.

I am also thinking of doing weetabix mixed with either cows milk or breast milk if I can hand express enough (pumps broken and not bothered about replacing it).

Do all these things sound OK? I'm pretty clueless to be honest!

[ExBrightonBell]

As she's under 6 months I would hold off with anything other than fruit/veg until then. There's no rush. If you want to do BLW then don't worry about spoon feeding anything. BLW works when babies are in control of what they pick up and put in their mouths. It doesn't matter if she doesn't eat any of it as breast/formula milk is still the main source of nutrition at this stage, although you might be surprised when you see nappy contents that some has gone in! It's more about learning about tastes, textures and how to manipulate food with hands/mouth, not about getting as much food in as possible. Let her go at her own pace and make mealtimes as relaxed as possible - eat with her as much as you can as she will learn by copying you.

[RJandA]

Agree with exBB - but would also say that with BLW loaded spoons are an option so don't feel you can't ever give soup, weetabix, yoghurt etc.

You put a bit on the spoon and hand it to the baby, you'll be surprised how quickly they can get the hang of getting it in. It's a bit messy at first but they get there, and it's obvious when they've had enough as they start flinging it about the place, so you're not tempted to try to feed them more than their own appetite.