Do Not BLW!

[user1494494728]

Yesterday was the final straw, I can’t keep my mouth shut any longer, Baby Led Weaning has gone seriously, dangerously wrong (if it was ever even right to start with).

I attend a weekly mums group, of which I (as far as I’ve worked out) am the only one who is doing traditional weaning. Yesterday, I sat quietly and watched a 7 month old baby have a bacon sandwich for her lunch. A BACON FUCKING SANDWICH. After producing this nutritional feast for her toothless child the mother then looks around and asks where she needs to go to get baby vitamins. It took everything in me not to scream out ‘try the vegetable aisle in the supermarket you stupid bitch!’. I asked if this was the childs lunch or just a snack, to which the reply was, oh no it’s her lunch, she loves bacon and it’s so easy for her to hold’, well… so is a fucking shoelace but I wouldn’t give it to my baby for lunch. Meanwhile, another mother next to me opens a tub of humous and gives it to her 6 month old baby (yes, the whole pot) with a handful of toast. The other mothers chimed in and said how incredibly healthy the baby was because it was eating chickpeas, clearly they have no idea how much salt is in a slice of bread let alone a full sized tub of humous (some pots of humous are known to contain 4 entire crisp bags worth of salt). For dinner that night this same child would go on to sit at the table and gum at a piece of carrot and lump of chicken. Try and working out how much nutrition this child has had today?

In reality there’s only so much you can give a 6 month old baby who hasn’t got any teeth and has swallowed nothing but milk it’s entire life. Going from this to sticking a lump of celery of even chicken in it’s hand is bloody cruel. Naturally it’s going to want to play with it before it eats it, which is why all BLW mums say 99% of the food lands on the floor and very little in the childs actual mouth.

I recently found out that not only has virtually no research been done on BLW, but it was also invented by a Healthvisitor. We have been feeding babies on healthy, nutritious purees for thousands of years then a health vistor comes along with no research whatsoever and starts a fad. The only clear research done on BLW shows that it can be harmful to babies who are struggling to gain weight, doesn’t that tell you enough? (for the mum who’s thinking blenders haven’t been around that long remember that in third world countries today women are still chewing food up and feeding it to their babies, it’s naturally what we are supposed to do, BLW is NOT natural).

Then there is the choking hazard which I’m only going to step on lightly, the day you see your own child properly choke (and one day it will happen) will possibly be the worst day of your life. Why risk this earlier than need be? It’s ludicrous, what’s the rush and what’s the point other than putting your child at risk for a fad? One of the mothers at the group recently said ‘oh he’s only choked a few times’. Well for me that’s a few times too many. And no, a baby CAN NOT choke on puree, if you’re confused as to why look up the definition of choking.

Bread is easy, cheap and soft, it’s fast becoming the staple food of choice for BLW mumies and there’s no arguing that, I’ve watched it happen first hand. In those first years of life a babies cells are developing the fastest they will ever develop again, this is the time that as their mummy we need to step up and make sure we give our child everything they need, it not about giving the baby a choice it’s about giving them a chance and a healthy start. Yes if you want to give your child hand held snacks, great - do it all day AS SNACKS, but please get in your kitchens and make up some healthy, nutritious pureed or mashed foods and spoon feed every last little drop into their mouths, this time will go so fast and least then you can look back and say you gave them the best start you possibly could.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Yes cos no one purees equally unsuitable food

You are off your rocker.

And nasty to boot.

[Soubriquet]

Oooooook

There is nothing wrong with BLW

Just because you see two cases with "bad" food doesn't mean it's wrong

You can easily give them carrots and other fruit and veg as BLW food.

[CottonSock]

I just puree a happy meal

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

[TipBoov]

👏👏👏👏 I agree, it's crazy.

I did BLW with my first, I'm not making that mistake again.

[QueenMortificado]

try the vegetable aisle in the supermarket you stupid bitch!

A great insult which would work well across a variety of arguments, that one

[namechange20050]

You seem unpleasant and over invested in this. I can't believe you just wrote all that about BLW. I did blw and my toddler is a great eater and very healthy. He also never choked.

[TeddyIsaHe]

Hahahahahaha

Bet you started on baby rice

[VibrantAmI]

Has anyone got any popcorn? This should be interesting...

[LauraMipsum]

Mine used to like Marlboro Lights for BLW.

They were easy to hold and she dipped them in hummus.

I stopped that when I realised how much salt there was in hummus.

[2014newme]

"bacon is too salty for babies" why didn't you say that?

[StinkyMcgrinky]

I have done BLW with 2 children. Currently one of them only has 2 teeth and eats a very well balanced diet just like his 2 year old brother. Yesterday he wolfed down his salmon and mediterranean veg. No choking at all from this end.

Why does it matter to you so much what other parents do with their children? FWIW I hate puree's, but I certainly wouldn't go on a rant online about them and the dangers of spoon feeding because, guess what, it's FUCK ALL to do with me

[TheFandango]

I think a more balanced approach is needed. Some mushy stuff on a spoon and a few finger foods. I think the term BLW is often used in reference to using finger food, but most of the mums I know use mushed up stuff on a spoon and finger food. My DS is 6.5 months and some days hates being spoon fed but will happily feed himself finger food. By finger food I mean anything he can hold, including things like strips of omelette. I offer a combination of things at each meal time.

[Justmadeperfectflapjacks]

I did the old fashioned way of smooth foods then chopped up etc.
No faddy dc.

My gs eats bloody anything but it makes me nervous what he manages to shove in!!

Parenting is an individual path. .
The feeding part is no exception.

[2014newme]

"i can't keep my mouth shut any longer" but you did! You didn't point out the issues with houmous and bacon yoy kept your mouth shut. 🙄

[PerpetualStudent]

Calm down, you sound like you're about to choke on something

[BlahBlahBlahEtc]

You might want to step down from your high horse before you fall into that blender of yours.

[Misspilly88]

I agree that blw isn't for everyone. I tried it with mine and he choked every time (proper choke, not gagging) and I think this was due to his tongue and lip ties. BUT a baby at 6m is still getting most of its nutrition from milk... you need to stop judging!

[TheFandango]

Also I think a lot of people don't get the difference between gagging and choking (that statement is open to a lot of innuendo ).

[newbian]

My doctor (who is quite academic) said he looked into research including anthropological research and hasn't found a lick of evidence that traditional cultures handed infants whole pieces of food. In most cultures infants are offered naturally soft foods or foods chewed first by and adult and then given to the infant by hand.

I mostly gave puree but also bits of food, wasn't a slave to any weaning method but went with what worked for DD and made her happy.

I've seen woman hand a child crackers to dip into yogurt because they don't want to feed the child yogurt but the child is too young to feed themselves. OK then if you're that obsessed with BLW maybe skip yogurt? Seems like a ridiculous runaround.

[squoosh]

Calm down you angry little loon.

[JanuarySmith]

Oh this BLW is just a fad. Just feed them on a spoon and then, they feed themselves eventually.

We always have to dick around with stuff

I agree with you op

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Why are you so angry about it? You could have talked to her about salt levels and processed meat, rather than rant inside your head thinking up insults. It's nothing to do with feeding methods, the issue you picked up on is a lack of understanding of nutrition and healthy foods for babies. Nothing to do with whether you spoon feed the food or let the child feed themselves.

[HateSummer]

Are you serious? You sound mad.

Fwiw, babies need to learn to choke. It's called a gag reflex and it's how they learn to control food going down and chewing it properly.

Anyway, good try.

[JohnLapsleyParlabane]