Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) Question (about size)

[CrunchyKnitter]

We recently decided this feels like the right/natural thing to do and so our plan it so skip purees and start this in a couple weeks when DS hits 6 months....

I've been doing a lot of reading online (esp past threads on this, but there are so many, I haven't hit them all yet!) and don't have the book, but I am a little confused.

In past threads I've read conflicting things from what the babyled.com site (and I assume book) says... Basically it seems like you are to give baby LARGER size pieces than you'd think so they can grasp and gnaw on them, basically taking the right size bite for them. This makes sense to me (though it's of course a little scary thinking of handing my 6 mo old a big piece of food), but then I read a lot of moms in the past say they give bite size pieces, peas, etc. One of the big things BLW propenents say it's actually not a choking hazard is BECAUSE you aren't giving tiny pieces like that...so which is correct?

Would the book explain this? (and then why do people do different?) Do I need to get the book?

[Blueone]

I haven't read the book, but that's what we do for our son. He doesn't quite have the coordination to get small pieces into his mouth. The small pieces usually end up inside his fist. So we'll give a strip of toast or chunk of apple etc. and he'll gnaw on the ends. We haven't had any problems yet.

I'll give him some safe sized smaller pieces for him to practice on though. Although today he had a couple grapes. I held onto the grape, he held onto my hand moving it towards him when he wanted to eat it. I didn't feel comfortable just letting him go at it alone since it either would have fallen on the floor (not that that's bad, but he really wanted it) or he would have taken too big of a bite out of it.

You gotta do what works for you and your son. Some people find smaller pieces work better, others find that larger ones are better.

[Miasmamma]

Depending on the item, I mainly give bite sized pieces. I give things like apples in a size that she can grasp and still have plenty of room to chew on. If it's soft and a potential choking hazard, I make sure it's small enough for her to still pick up, but not pose a threat. I let her have carrots (raw) and celery in stick form.