Annabel karmel?

[moomin35]

Why do some people now like/agree with her?

[moomin35]

Not

[EmbarrassedPossessed]

I don't like or dislike her. However I do dislike some of what she promotes and the fact that she is yet another "expert" who has no qualifications (as far as I'm aware) in her chosen field. She has also said some quite negative and baseless statements about BLW, perhaps because most of her products are unnecessary if you do BLW.

I also don't like the kind of all inclusive approach to weaning where you are encouraged to buy into the brand, but I guess lots of other people really like that sort of thing.

[Bumblebzz]

I've no idea if people like her or not but a lot of what she has published in her book (albeit my copy is a few years old so maybe she has updated) is out of kilter with current NHS weaning guidelines. For example I was flicking through her "complete baby and toddler meal planner" book today and she advocates fruit juice for drinks (big no from the NHS, offer water only), uses stock in her recipes (NHS say water only). That was based on a 5 min flick so maybe she is just a bit out of date, the NHS weaning Booklet is very pro-BLW. Having said ALL that though I am still going to use some of her recipes (modifying where necessary) as I need inspiration!

[squizita]

I found her updated book had all the 6 month stuff ... but the 1st chapter referred to 4 months and the 2nd 6 months. Lazy updates!
She seems a bit terrified of blw and choking tbh. But her recipes seem pretty good.

Now "Be be gourmet" is odd. They list honey as a must have ... NO! But vanilla is considered dangerous.

[squizita]

...also they say don't give egg white just yolk in case of allergy. Erm ... In case of allergy surely give NO egg, and if no allergy as protein is vital give whole egg?

[MrsMarigold]

Honey is fine - I mean it lasts for centuries never understood why people got so excited about it, apart from giving children a sweet tooth.

I like Annabel Karmel, if you aren't good at cooking you can learn a lot from her about cooking for a family and also she is good on portion sizes - actually I wouldn't say she is terrified of BLW I think she just errs on the side of caution.

I love cooking and found her book Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner useful, the River Cottage Baby Cookbook and BLW cookbook are all good. for ideas. And get your children eating a wide range of foodstuffs.

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Honey should be avoided (cooked or raw) for under 1s as there is a (very small) risk of infant botulism which apparently is quite unpleasant.

[squizita]

Culture bought products with honey cooked in are ok (I've been told) but not home cooking with honey. Not sure why. Maybe industrial cooking nukes out any spores.

[MrsMarigold]

my cousin and father in law who both have PhDs in Biochemistry think this warning about infant botulism is crap

[CultureSucksDownWords]

It's fairly easy to avoid all honey for 6 months and also a simple message to put out.

Maybe there's nothing to it, and the NHS are simply scaremongering. Either way, I read a bit about infant botulism and it sounded horrible. Easy enough to remove one small risk factor for it.

[TheNewStatesman]

Botulism caused by honey is rare but it really does happen.

[HoggleHoggle]

I swear by her. Used her complete meal planner when weaning ds and found it brilliant for inspiration. Ds never refused a recipe.

He went blw at 9 months (refused spoon) but I found it easy to adapt the recipes so they were chunky enough for him to feed himself.

This being said, my SIL can't abide her. Not sure why!