We're approaching the 6 month mark and I've been excited to start BLW. However, I am realizing that her pincer grasp won't really be there for a while longer, and a lot of the BLW anecdotal stuff I'm reading on the internet is with babies 8 months+. Did anyone start it at 6 months with success? My baby was also born at 38.5 weeks instead of the typical 40-42 weeks that most first pregnancies go till.
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We started at just over 6 months. We waited until he was sitting up unassisted and was showing interest in our food. The first thing he ate he did because he grabbed it off of my plate.
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We started at 6 months with very little success until probably 7.5 months. If I could do it again is probably start with a mix: offering her food to play with and put in her mouth, and also huge her a few bites puréed too
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We started just before 6 months when she started to show interest and could sit up on her own. She has been doing a mix of BLW/purees for about a week and a half now and I think it's going well! She does not have her pincer grasp yet, so we give her things like long strips of banana, orange slices, slices of avocado, etc. alongside chunky purees. She's already becoming more adept at putting things in her mouth and biting off what she wants!
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We started a few weeks ago at 6 months minus one week (wanted to start while we had time off of work and she was ready in terms of sitting up, grabbing things and bringing to her mouth). She was born at 37 weeks 6 days. She's actually consuming very little (often nothing) and it's more learning and playtime than nutrition. She's eaten the most of banana, very soft steamed broccoli, very soft ripe pear, and pasta. She's put cucumber, steamed green bean, and cooked apple in her mouth and tasted but I don't think she actually got any off to swallow. I will usually hold the food in front of her and she shows interest and grabs it, as she often has trouble getting it off the tray (but is getting better at it!)
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Lorelei was a 37.5 weeker and we started right at 6 months. She was able to explore the food and get some to her mouth. I would do BLW again if we had any future children.
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6 months we also did it alongside some chunky homemade purees. We loaded the spoons d let him do what he wanted with it. I was happy with how we did things.
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Don't worry--she doesn't need a pincer grasp, she just needs to be able to pick stuff up with her hand. You'll give her big things. We started just shy of 6 months, and I second the posters who recommend adding purees--I was much more relaxed about it once we were doing both. It's only last week (at 7.5 months) that she's really caught on to both in a major way. I was freaking out about it at 7 months and then one day she kind of just got it. So don't worry if it takes time
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7 months
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6 months, but not every day til 7 months. He hasn't perfected the pincer grasp, but is learning quickly due to BLW, in my opinion. He eats a few purées here and there too
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This interests me as well! I want to do blw but I'm scared he's going to try to shove it all in his mouth and then choke!
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Haha I literally jut put down the blw book to check hb. I think we will start right at six months but don't expect her to eat much at all. She's just started sitting unassisted (fr like, 40 seconds) but she isn't that interested in what we eat yet. Interested to read these responses.
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@.twist.: We gave C her first foods today, and I wanted to tell you-- what the book says about gagging is true. At one point she bit off (well, gummed off? No teeth) a piece of sweet potato that was too big, and she coughed and gagged a tiny bit and just pushed it out of her mouth. Proud mom here was like, my baby is a genius! Doesn't even let herself choke!
It was a very adorable experience overall and I think she had, like, an entire bite of sweet potato overall.
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These threads always make me wonder how people define "success" when it comes to BLW.
We started a week shy of 6 months because LO was showing all signs of readiness. Did he successfully pick up and eat his first foods? No way! Success for us though was just letting him taste and experience different foods! He actually ate very little in the beginning, but I would never say we failed and am glad we started when we did.
I also think BLW helps develop the pincer grasp, it doesn't have to already perfectly be there!
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@cmomma17: Oh, I consider our experience a "success" in that she was interested, successfully picked food up and occasionally got it to her mouth. She had fun, tasted the sweet potato and actually did mash a little bit with her gums, but I'm pretty sure she ate less than a teaspoonful at the most.
But I subscribe to food before one being just for fun anyway.
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7 months. I tried purees with her first and she ate them for a little while, but then started rejecting them all so I went to BLW and she loved it!
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@Foodnerd81: just wait til the "proof" of how much she ate makes it out!
that's a whole new experience! 
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@cmomma17: I am not looking forward to that proof
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We started at six months and we had success! Really until the pincer is developed, and even afterward, solids are not nutritionally necessary. So we considered exploring and gumming to be success and let him ramp up his consumption at his own pace.
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@cmomma17: aaaaaand according to Dh, we had "proof" in her diaper this morning.
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We started around 5.5 months (DD was a 42 weeker though!) and had success almost immediately (in our case she stared eating right away, and this was evident in her diapers). Having said that, DD is a freak child who is obsessed with eating and eats absolutely everything on her tray at every meal.
Pincer grasp doesn't come until later (DD got hers right around the seven month mark), and in the meantime food should be cut into long strips (French fry sized and shaped). We did a lot of steamed broccoli (it comes with a built-in 'handle'), roasted zucchini, roasted sweet potatoes, kiwi still on the skin etc.
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We "started" at 5 months, two weeks a few days ago. But it's really more "sit at the table with us while we eat with some stuff on your tray to smash". She can pick things up in her fist, but I think maybe I cook them a little too soft, since she usually missed her mouth and smushes them on her cheek and then they're not big enough to stick out anymore.
that's a whole new experience! 
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