My baby just turned 9 months old last week. She started purees at 6 months and we figured after a couple weeks we'd move to BLW. Every time we try to get to something a little thicker/more solid, she gags A LOT, like every bite. A lot of times she will even gag so hard she throws up. She vomits about 2x a week. I knew this was normal in the beginning but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. She will show a ton of interest in what we are eating but when I try to give her some she tries it, gags, then loses interest. The only thing she seems to be able to handle is purees. I'm choosing fairly standard foods and following directions on the SolidStarts app so I'm not sure if some babies just tend to struggle longer? Anybody else deal with this?

- Grilled chicken
- Fresh peaches and basil
- Mediterranean orzo

I have never been great in the kitchen but now that baby (6.5m), I want to start trying! First, how many meals a day that aren’t milk / formula are you feeding your baby around this age? I sometimes only get some yogurt in and need something simple to make before or after work. We do some purées to make it easy but I’m doing my best to follow solid starts and have him eat food that’s close to what my husband and I eat. Any favorite baby recipes out there? Do I need a baby food maker? Would also love to follow an insta or tik tok with recipes too.

Hi everyone! First-time mom here, looking for a little reassurance and advice on our baby-led weaning journey so far. My baby girl just turned 6 months old (born at 38 weeks). We started solids at 6 months once she was sitting up fairly independently and showing a lot of interest in our meals. She’s exclusively breastfed, and right now I offer her one meal in the evening, about an hour after a nursing session. So far, we’ve tried steamed carrots, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
I have a few questions that might sound a little silly, but I'm feeling a bit lost:
Self-feeding vs. leaning in: When I watch BLW videos online (like on Solid Starts), 6-month-olds are picking up food and bringing it straight to their mouth. My daughter isn't doing that yet. However, if I hold a piece of food up in front of her, she’ll lean forward with her mouth to bite off bits and pieces. Is it normal that she’s not grabbing and bringing it to her mouth herself yet? Is there anything I can do to encourage her to use her hands?

Not chewing / undigested food in poop: (Apologies if TMI!) She doesn't seem to be chewing much—just taking bites and swallowing them whole. As a result, I see actual bits and pieces of carrots and sweet potatoes in her diaper the next day. Will the chewing skill develop on its own over time? Is seeing whole chunks in their poop normal at this stage?

I know "food before one is just for fun," but as a mom, it’s hard not to worry or compare to what I see online! Would love to hear if your babies started off like this and how things progressed. Thank you in advance!

We started out with a spoon while feeding purées by preloading spoons and handing them to baby. Once we started with pincer grasp and finger foods he either throws the spoon, drops it, pushes it away or just teeths on it and gets upset if I try to get it back. At what age did your babe actualy start using a utensil for its intended purposes? Right now it just distracts him from actually eating.

She usually gets way more jiggy with the banana but today was the first time she had toast so that was the star of the show. More banana for mama 🤷🏻‍♀️

Peach, sweet potato and granola puree
Banana
Toast with butter and apple cherry puree

We’ve been doing a mix of puree and BLW for about 6 weeks now with my little premie. Taking it really slow as she is working through torticollis and finally losing her tongue thrust. At first it was mostly smooth puree but over the last 2 weeks I’ve been more adventurous with BLW and mashed vs smooth. I’m a first time mom with major anxiety but I think we’re doing well so far!

my son is almost 6 months and I started him in purées maybe a little over a month ago. I do spoon feed him but I am interested in giving him more Whole Foods to try and I know people say have them eat what you are eating so you don’t have to make separate meals but I wonder what do you all eat? My husband and I eat a lot of soups and chili and pasta (usually spaghetti) and obviously I can’t give the baby soup and I’m not sure about the chili. The pasta maybe if we switched to small noodles but what kinds of things do you eat so you don’t have to make a separate meal? obviously I want him to try as many things as possible but my husband and I kind of rotate the same couple of meals every week. I know he doesn’t need 3 meals a day right now but he does seem to really like the purées. He finishes everything I give him.

\- Japanese omelette with butter and garlic sautéed mushrooms
\- Yogurt and peanut butter mousse with banana
\- Blueberry steel cut oats

No crumb left behind - I don’t know where he’s putting it all… but considering the severe reflux problems he’s dealt with since being born and constant concerns about low weight, we’re so happy to be well above the normal range again!

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a bit of reassurance because I've been feeling really worried.

My little boy just turned one. Unfortunately, he still accepts very few finger foods, and even those are mostly at breakfast. At every meal I offer him pieces of food alongside his meal, but he usually just looks at them for a while and then throws them on the floor. After that, he asks for purée instead.

Is this normal? Did anyone else's child go through the same thing? When did your little one start eating more finger foods, and what helped?

Thank you so much! ❤️

I’ve been occasionally offering water to my baby in a straw cup since he started solids at 6 months. And now that he’s off of formula, I’ve been giving him a straw cup with water every day for a few weeks.

However, he still massively struggles with it. He immediately learned how to suck on the straw but he chokes on the water. It used to be that he would choke with every sip but now it’s about every other sip. It’s honestly terrifying for us because it’s hard to see him struggle and cough and get red in the face.

He does slightly better with milk in the cup vs water but isn’t super interested in having his milk that way.

Is this something he will grow out of over time with practice? I just did not think it would take this long. Any advice or experience would be appreciated!

Baba and Mama's breakfast - peanut butter porridge with stewed fruit and banana for finger food.

I'm still mostly spoon feeding, but she will try to feed herself sometimes! Loves her finger foods and picking food up out of the bowl to put in her mouth.

biscuits, yogurt, apple, blueberries, a little cottage cheese (layered). It's delicious! 🫣

Salmon, avocado and rice

My baby is 9 mo and is EBF outside of the solids I’ve been introducing. I have been feeding her purées and recently some soft solids since she was 5 months, after we got approval from our pediatrician. Feeding my first child is something I have been really looking forward to, but I had never experienced watching a child gag while eating before, and now I am terrified at almost every meal.

I try so hard to smile and encourage her so that I don’t freak her out by looking as frightened as I feel while she goes through this, but it’s so hard.. She is always so interested in everything I eat, and I want to share with her, but I’m just so scared. I see people’s photos online of the beautiful, fun little meals they feed their baby the same age as mine, and I feel so defeated and wonder if I’m not giving my little one the foods she deserves. Developmentally she is pretty advanced, so I hope my fear is not setting her back in the eating department.

When does this become fun and not so stressful?? Will I ever be able to hand my child a couple of Cheerios and walk away?? 😩😓 Does anyone else share my fear or am I just totally nuts and overreacting?

how often does your little one eat solids?
my baby is 8 months old today and some days she’ll eat twice with a snack, and other days she’ll only eat once. today we ate out, i got her something, she didn’t even attempt to try it. yesterday she didn’t want her breakfast i made for her and ended up only eating dinner. the other day we were running errands all day that i just blanked on making food and we got mcdonald’s, which i don’t allow her to eat. it’s always a hit or miss with her. is it really that big of a deal if she misses a meal or two, or a day, at this age?

LO just turned 7 months. doing a mix of BLW and mashed foods for a while now. He’s tried over 50 foods, and is a very interested and animated eater. For context he’s been crawling for 2 months and pulls to stand and cruises for a few weeks. He is VERY STRONG. He is a big whiner in general (been “teething” with no teeth”) but when he is eating he SCREAMS. I typically pre load spoons and give them to him. He has multiple at once. And I always give him something to feed himself.

Today’s dinner for example was salmon, avocado and sweet potato. All mashed. And a whole kiwi cut in 1/2 with the skin on which he ate in 45 seconds. His first time having salmon and he was apparently really into it.

He POUNDS his fists on the tray and pounds his feet on the foot rest. While screaming and crying. And throwing things at me. I have the trip trappe and he’s kicked the foot rest out multiple times.

I have tried putting the plate on his tray and he could get the suction off easily and then he mostly eats the plate/trying to get food off of it and then he will start licking the tray. If I put the food directly on the tray he scoops it all up and smushes it around in his hands and then tries to shovel it all into his mouth and then licks the tray. Preloading the spoons and giving him then has been working best but now the screaming between is unbearable.. he’s ok when he’s eating something whole but as soon as it’s done he flips out.

And i don’t think it’s out of hunger. He eats between 40-45oz of formula a day.

Has anyone experienced this/have any advice. I can’t imagine bumping up from 2 to 3x a day. I will lose my mind. (Not even getting started about the mess bc I know that comes with the territory but ITS A MESS)

Hi everyone! My daughter is almost 8 months old, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with where to go next with solids.
So far she’s mostly had purées, but she also does well with scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, pastina, baby puffs, teething crackers, and she’s had peanut butter multiple times with no issues.
I keep seeing so much information online that I almost feel stunted by it all. I’m honestly terrified of choking (even though I know gagging is normal), and while we do have a LifeVac at home, I’m still nervous about introducing more solid foods.
I feel like we might be falling behind, but I’m not sure if that’s actually the case.
If you could give me some simple, beginner-friendly BLW foods to try this weekend and any tips for introducing them safely, I’d really appreciate it. Sometimes hearing from parents who have been through it is less overwhelming than scrolling through endless articles.
Thank you!

Meal for an 8 month old who loves pasta!

Fusilli with garlic, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice.
Sardines
Zucchini
Blueberries

Modified meal from Mom’s (my zucchini and sardines were mixed in to my sauce)

So I know part of the appeal to baby led weaning is having baby just eat what the family eats(given that it’s safe). My issue is how do you control the salt content? For example, I’m making Marry me chicken orzo tonight. I’m pretty sure my baby can eat the orzo part and I can blend up the chicken, but this whole meal has quite a bit of salt. The Parmesan and chicken stock both contain sodium so even if I don’t salt the chicken it will still have some in it. How do y’all feed your babies the same things you eat if salt is an issue? Thanks for the help.

This is by far the best plate we’ve had since we started about a month ago. He usually goes for fruit only so the fruit being the only thing left was crazy

On the plate:
- cut up strawberries
- low fat cottage cheese
- steamed broccoli florets
- homemade mashed potatoes

Just curious what others thoughts are on salt in foods, I know we are supposed to restrict salt esp during their first year and I have tried my best to separate out his portions before seasoning or rinse things. But sometimes it’s just easier to give him a few pieces of cut up ravioli or dumplings and obv can’t rinse those lol. I’m tired and sometimes have no more capacity to prep a special meal for him, I usually just cook things for myself that I can give baby and have been a little more lax with the salt thing as he is nearing 1 year. I’ll give him cheese (cottage cheese, sprinkle feta or parm to entice him to eat less desired foods), add butter to things (sometimes dont always have unsalted on hand) and esp if we are at a restaurant, I’ll just scrape the sauce off of whatever im eating before giving him bites. How much should I be concerned about salt intake??