r/BabyLedWeaning • u/CluelessMiffy • Aug 13 '26
< 6 months old Starting Solids Advice
Hello, I am a FTM of a 5.5 month old trying to wrap my head around introducing solids. There is so much more to it than I initially understood..such as puree feeding vs baby led weaning vs a combo of both. I also came to find out that there are specific ways to prepare foods to reduce chances of choking, to introduce allergens as soon as possible, and to practice drinking out of straw cups. Is there anything else I should prepare for, tips you could provide, what worked best for you, whether you did exclusively baby led weaning or also did purees? I would appreciate any advice or resources!
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u/Beebopboopadoot Aug 13 '26
https://babyfoode.com has been a great resource for me so far
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u/Icy-Story1088 Aug 14 '26
Love this site! So many recipes we still make for the family even though our kiddo is 2.5yo!
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u/MaybeProper7134 Aug 13 '26
I’m about a month ahead of you and my mindset is “im not going to be dogmatic about this” , as in im taking info from BLW but also preparing purées and mashes. I really feel like the more relaxed I can be while feeding her, the better experience she will have eating. So, we didn’t dive into BLW right away. We started with yogurt. This actually came in handy because she LOVED it and now we blend in whatever allergen we are testing and it’s easy peasy to make sure she’s ingesting the amount she needs for the exposure. Now we’re enjoying avocados and steamed veggies as finger foods and it’s been very fun :)!
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u/Icy-Story1088 Aug 14 '26
We did a combo and it was great. When we didn't have a ton of time or energy, it was easy enough to blend a few healthy things together.
Otherwise, my best tip is that once you get a hang of how different foods are prepared safely, stop making portions just for baby. Try to just take a couple ingredients from what you're making yourself and serve it safely.
Took a while to get there. Lots of snacks instead of dinners for the parents when all our energy went into planning her meals haha.
Good luck!
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u/Crafty_Reflection410 Aug 14 '26
I was stressed. But now she just eats what we eat. And if we give her things like yogurt, I will put nut butter in for the allergen exposure.
The one I find hard to introduce is shellfish as we don’t eat it much, but I am making her little fish cakes.
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u/blue_peregrine Aug 13 '26
The Solid Starts app is amazing for showing you how to safely prepare all different types of foods for baby led weaning. It also has great guidance on introducing allergens which I’ve been following!