Puree vs baby led weaning

Starting babies on solid food isn't a fun task. Cooking the vegetables in bulk and blending them until it resembles coloured water, then making enough to have a decent stash in the freezer. Not to forget the actual feeding part and hoping bub likes it enough to not gag and vomit it straight back up. Then once your baby starts keeping it down and actually liking it, trying to get creative with different combo's to make it seem slightly interesting. 

I started both girls on puree, Georgia was obsessed with Pumpkin to begin with and Lauren hasn't really had a stand out favourite, she seems to have the same reaction to everything new I give her. I can't remember how long I pureed food for Georgia but it felt like a long time. I gave Lauren puree for about a month or so and have moved on from that. 

I have recently found out about baby led weaning, which basically is just going straight onto solid food when you start feeding them food rather then doing puree and spoon feeding them. So they feed themselves essentially. If your at the solids stage or about to start definitely Google it and see if it's something your wanting to do.  

It sounded good to me because I was over pureeing food all the time so I thought I would give it a go. I'm a pretty lazy cook, I'm happy to do basic meat and veg, or if I do follow a recipe, if it's got over 5 ingredients or has random stuff in it I won't cook it.

The one thing I do have to say about Lauren feeding herself is it hurts my brain, she is the MESSIEST eater. I have so much food suck in the carpet of my dining room that once she can actually keep the food in her mouth rather then everywhere else, I will be ripping it up and buying new carpet. But she does love feeding herself and she tries so much more food then what Georgia did. When she first started she did gag and vomit quite a bit but now she has learned to chew and is swallowing so much better. Her arms need more training with not throwing food around however.

Doing puree was a lot cleaner, I had a lot more control over the mess and where it went. But who wouldn't love having the opportunity to throw food around the place and not get in to trouble? (a clean freak, that's who). Children love mess, even if I don't love it, she's having fun and she is eating so well. I'm glad we gave the led weaning a go. 

Both options are great options, but I'm to time poor to organise puree so cooking up veggies and meat for both girls at the same time works perfectly for me, and they both enjoy eating the same thing together. If you're at the solids stage with your bub I hope me sharing my experience with the two methods has helped you. 

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