Started Solids!! But I have no idea what I'm doing!

Ok so today, I put 6 month old DD in her highchair and gave her a piece of steamed broccoli, mashed potato, and some rice. I put it in a bowl on her tray, then just emptied the contents on to the tray as it seemed easier for her.
She played with the food in her hands, but didn't put any near her mouth at all.
I guess what I'm asking is:

If she has no interest, does that mean she is not ready?

What time of day should I be doing this with her?

What are the big No No's with food (I know there's honey, and obviously junk food.. what else)

How the heck can I avoid her making a huge mess all over her clothes?

The highchair seems uncomfortable.. where do you sit your baby at mealtimes?

TIA

Oooh, exciting!
Dont' worry about mess on her clothes or you could buy one of those bibs from Target that are like and art smock.
I sit my DD in a Bumbo chair on our bench. It has the play table with it, she puts things to her mouth. Steamed heads of broccoli are good as is steamed fingers of carrot.
DD also likes bits of toast. Sometimes it's best to start after the morning feed I find, as that is when they are the most alert and happy and you can start on fingers of toast.
At the start she just sucked all the goodness out of things, now she actually swallows some things. I am doing a bit of both, BLS and purees with things such as yoghurt and stewed fruit that I give her on a spoon.
Jump into BLS forum and also have a look at Gill Rapley's website, she has alot of tips on starting and a flyer you can download on BLS.
Baby led solids is all about 'food is fun until there one' so try anything you eat, she may not eat some of it, and devour some things, that's the exciting bit about it.
Hopefully someone from the BLS forum will jump in and give you more professional advice :lol:
Just enjoy, she will get there, one day she will just start putting things in her mouth and not look back :)

Gosh first BLS are very exciting!!!! I felt incredibly lost too when we first started but just last week I thought how natural it all is now. You are doing it all right, DD may not have put any in her mouth because she was interested in the feel and new look of the cool new play things you have given her! Just keep offering each time she is showing interest or whenever you are eating, dont force it. You will be suprised at how soon she realises she can gobble that food up and then you'll be guarding your plate :D We tried lots of different steamed vegies and baked vegies cut into chips too, a firm favourite became english muffins! Now at almost 9 months she loves everything....especially what Mummy has, even if she has had her 1st lunch LOL. At 6 months DD was pretty small still and we would put towels in her highchair to make her sit up a bit higher. HTH.

As for the mess, I havent combated that yet :shakehead:

Congratulations! Exciting (and messy) times ahead :)

At 6 months we sat DD with us at meal times, usually breakfast and dinner, and gave her something on a plate or in a bowl. Some of it would go in her mouth, bits would be thrown over the edge of the table, & the rest would be played with. If she was grumpy, which usually happened at dinner time, we stopped eating, gave her a bottle, then bath & bed. As frustrating as this was, I kept reminding my self that 'food is fun until they are 1!' The reason for sitting her with us at the table was so she would watch us eat, have a conversation, and be part of the family. The best time of day is when she is happiest, and also when you are eating yourself.

The only way to avoid mess over the clothes is to feed her in her nappy only! ;) Otherwise the long sleeve bibs are great.

As for highchair, we now use the Ikea one which is easy to clean, and also seems to have a lower tray than other highchairs. This way they are sitting over their food, not reaching up to it. It is also a good table height if the tray is removed. In the early days, DD was too small for this highchair(she was still in some 0000's and some 000 clothes at 6 months) so we used either a bumbo, or a portable high chair that temporarily screws onto the table (similar to the Phil and Teds Metoo)

Personally, I found the first couple of months hard in knowing what to feed her. However at 8 months it all seemed to just come together and get easy. Now she eats everything we eat...we just modified our cooking by reducing salt and the amount of pre-prepared food. To be honest, I'm now eating healthier, and have lost weight due to the healthier eating

I'd recommend joining the BLS general chat forum. I found everyone there very helpful in those early days. :) Also, the Gil Rapley book was a good first point of reference.

Good luck!

DD2 has been on solids for nearly a month now, and she just eats whatever we eat, and has done from the start.

Sometimes she will have 3 meals a day, sometimes only 1, depends on if she looks like she wants to eat, or if she is having a sleepy growth spurt day.. LOL... I offer it, but if she doesnt' eat, no biggie.

So she sometimes eats toast and either pear or banana for breakfast (she likes kiwi fruit and strawberries too), sandwich and/or yoghurt for lunch, and then whatever we are having for dinner. Last night it was sausages and vegies and tonight will be vegie burgers and vegies.

She had a taste of bacon for breakfast as well this morning haha!!! So yeah, she just gets what we eat. The only things I don't put on her tray are nuts and honey (for obvious reasons). Everything else is fair game :)

Enjoy!!!!! And its ok if she just plays with it - food is fun until they're one remember! :D

How exciting!! It sounds like your first solids trial went well hun. Playing with the food is the first step - first they experiment with touch and smell, then taste, and then, when they are ready, some will be eaten. This will happen in your DD's own time (that's why it's called Baby Led ;) ) and in the meantime she is learning lots and getting used to all sorts of textures. This is part of why BLS leads to better eaters down the track. What a great job you are doing!!

As for no-no foods, really it's just honey (due to botulism) and whole nuts (due to choking). Everything else is fine to try. I can't help much with the mess - unfortunately it's one of those things. But it does pass!!

We started DS1 with a high chair but he didn't like not being properly at the table, so we got him a Phil & Ted's seat that screwed onto the table so he was sitting closer to us. DS2 started with one of these, we skipped the high chair altogether. Both boys now have their own chairs that are like ours but taller. Actually they are really bar chairs, but are perfect for having kids sit at the table with us.

Best of luck hun, and enjoy your solids journey!!

Thanks everyone for your tips!