Starting solids for your baby is an exciting milestone. Purees and/or Finger foods are your baby’s first food depending on the weaning method you choose. Some parents choose Traditional weaning, some go with Baby Led Weaning (BLW) and we chose combination/responsive feeding approach like many other parents.
In this Post, You will Find
What is Combination Weaning?
Combination weaning includes both spoon-feeding of purees (Traditional weaning) and finger foods for self-feeding (Baby led weaning) ensuring the baby is fed responsively. It puts you out of guessing game whether the baby has eaten properly or not and at the same time lets you introduce new foods and textures to babies prepping them for being independent.
Many people think and suggest that mixing two approaches confuses the baby and doesn’t work but here I am talking about it as our kid eats almost all food and prefers to eat by himself. It is all about letting the baby lead.
Kids have a small attention span and may not sit through the entire feeding session even if they are hungry. Thus, assisting them to eat gives you peace of mind. Ensure that you do not force feed instead follow baby’s lead.
Responsive feeding, or responding to baby’s cues of hunger and fullness, offers many positive outcomes for baby as well as reduced stress for parents and caregivers.
Approach to Combination Weaning
The first and foremost step is to consult your pediatrician and check the signs of readiness before starting solids.
We started with Purees on completing 6 months and started introducing finger foods from 7th month onwards.
At 6 months, babies can sit with support and/or in Tripod position. As breastmilk/formula milk is not sufficient to provide enough iron and nutrients for growth, solids are introduced to infants. However, up to 7 months feeding 3-4 spoons of purees should be enough for infants at this stage as they are warming up to solids.
From 7 month onwards, babies usually sit without support and have a better palmer grasp. They are more aware of their surroundings and can start imitating others. Thus, we started replacing purees with solids. Before jumping to feed him, we gave the food to him to explore and eat it. Once, he lost attention to it, we fed him encouraging him to eat from the plate.
If your baby is not responding well to finger foods, then go ahead and start with iron rich purees to provide them with the nutrition they need. In the meantime, let your baby practice with finger food and explore the textures.
Some important points when you are using a combination approach:
- You can introduce finger foods at any point you feel. Starting as early as 7-8 months helps your child to pick up textures easily.
- Offer ‘squish & swallow’ food, which helps baby in learning to smash, chew & swallow the food comfortably.
- Observe if your baby likes to use a spoon or hands to eat and assist them with the same. Believe me kids have a preference too.
- Be prepared that kids may gag occasionally when trying the finger foods for the first time. It is as natural as tumbling while learning to walk. Know the difference between gagging & choking.
- Reduce spoon-feeding and increase finger foods gradually. Let the baby take the lead giving them preloaded spoons of purees.
- By using purees and squishable foods first, the baby develops the oral skills to eventually learn to eat more advanced foods.
- Give finger foods outside the meal-time when they are not much hungry to practice self-feeding and palmer & pincer grasp.
- Make sure the food is cut in age appropriate size to avoid choking.
- Make your baby a part of your meal times even if the baby has eaten. Offer him a piece of food you are eating.
- Model eating and don’t shy away from exaggerating biting and chewing. Kids love to observe and imitate.
- Remove distractions like TV, Toys etc. so that baby can focus on the food he is eating.
- Talk to your baby about the food he is having and how good he is doing.
- Do not put pressure on your baby as it will hamper the healthy relationship you are trying to create with food for your baby.
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Benefits of Combination Weaning
- It gives you confidence of having fed your child and avoid guessing game if your child had enough food.
- Starting with purees gives you peace of mind from choking accidents if you are a first-time mother like me.
- Traditional weaning ensures that your baby is getting all the required nutrients in right quantity which is important for pre-mature babies.
- Keeping a balance between purees and finger food is a win-win. The child is not hungry, and you are satisfied; at the same time, the child is introduced to various textures helping him explore the food.
- If the baby doesn’t like a food in pureed form, then you can introduce it as finger food and vice-versa.
- Adults also eat pureed foods like yogurt, cream soup, porridges etc. Thus, introducing purees is also a kind of texture and prepares your baby for adult food.
- Offering all the varieties from purees to lumpy foods to finger food means less fussy eater as you have more opportunities to introduce new foods.
- It gives satisfaction that their child has eaten to working parents and have caregivers taking care of their child.
Regardless of the feeding approach you choose, helping your baby to enjoy a variety of foods and building self-feeding skills are the priorities.
Do not force feed the baby, instead
- Let the baby lead the feeding process.
- Make baby an active participant and decision maker.
- Respect your baby’s hunger cues and decision when they want to stop. Nudging them for extra bite is different from forcing them to have that last bite.
- Build a texture timeline with your baby to help in advance feeding.
Give yourself the freedom to switch from one approach to another as your baby is ready! Go ahead and offer purees when your baby is feeling lazy to eat by himself and offer finger foods when you baby is teething and need to soothe those sore gums.
It reduces stress for both you and the baby and allows a more flexible lifestyle!
There is no evidence that offering both foods are detrimental and confuses the baby. Babies are capable of mastering a variety of eating skills at the same time and can totally figure it out. Our kid is the living proof of this.
The amount a baby eats at each meal should be entirely up to the baby to avoid obesity in babies, if you see the baby weight and development is impacted then consult your paediatrician.
I really hope that this post gave you a clarity and helped you feel better about yourself and the feeding approach you are taking.
You are a great mom and a mama knows best!
Share it with a mom struggling to choose between trending Baby-Led Weaning(BLW) approach and the passed down Traditional Approach.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely based on author’s experience. Please do not consider it as professional advice.
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Don’t forget to checkout “Introducing Solids to Babies| 6 Months Onwards” post before you start solids for your little one.