Who has tried Baby Led Weaning? I'd like some feed back from people in the know!

[vino4me]

Hi all, DD is 15 weeks, and bfing well. Not to bothered about weaning until 6 months but thinking that BLW seems a good way to go.

Have you tried and tested? How did you find it - I'd like some responses from real people testing it. I keep getting oh my friend Jen's brother's girlfriend's swim teacher reckons..........

Thanks all!

[oldnewmummy]

I'm no expert, as only been doing it for 3 weeks, but I think it's great. My DS is eating "real" food, having lots of fun making a real mess, and getting lots of motor skills practice for when he's a surgeon .

Have you looked at Aitch's blog www.babyledweaning.com?

[3madboys]

i have doen this with all three of my boys and it has worked well, at 7, 5 and 2 they are all now great eaters, not fussy etc at all. i took it at their pace, ds1 started earlier than the other two who were soley bfed till 9months then just gave them little bits of what they were interested in, what we were eating etc and they quickly started eating most things, i withheld dairy and wheat due to allergies in my family but let them have any fruit, veg, meat, fish etc that they wanted

[peanutbear]

my DD didnt like to eat so at 8 months I tried BLW it worked really well and I was sceptical to say the least

I weaned my other 2 the normal way but the BLW cuts out a few steps and its easier than cooking and blending

but its messy

[terramum]

DS is 3 now so I guess we have been doing it for nearly 2.5 yrs . I can honestly say it has been a resounding sucesss & I can't recommend it more.

His first "meal" was steamed carrot sticks (which we ate with him, just with added roast chicken & all the trimmings!) at 29 weeks. He loved em - picked them up straight away & started munching on them. He didn't swallow anything that day...but did the next evening & we carried on offering a few veg sticks, fruit wedges & plain rice cakes once a day for a few weeks....then he seemed to lose interest so I stopped for a few weeks but when I offered food again he didn't lose interest & we just carried on from there. We took it really slowly & restricted his diet quite a bit as there are various allergies in both our families plus he has some mild eczema himself....but he enjoyed most of what we offered. After a couple of months we started offering a second meal in the day...& then a month later a third...closely followed by the odd snack in between meals.

It has been wonderful to see him enjoying so many foods and have fun with them and learn the pincer grip, use a spoon and fork...atm he is practising his cutting skills with his own little knife as well. It's also been great from a diet/nutrition point of view as he likes nothing better than fruit & veg & will choose them every time over sweets/processed stuff. Everyone who sees him eat remarks on how well he does (both from a dexterity & a health pov).

BLW has also been great from a bfing pov as well. We had a struggle to get bfing up & running for the first few months so I was anxious that solids shouldn't replace his bm intake too much. Didn't want to go through all that hard work for him to stop prematurely . Doing BLW meant he carried on getting the majority of his intake from me until he was past 1 yr old & just made up the extra with food. We are still bfing now & I am convinced that part of the reason for this is the way blw slowly introduced solids to him.

I also loved the ease of doing BLW - perfect for a lazy mum like me - I just prepared meals for me & DH & gave DS a few pieces from our plates & out them on his tray. In doing this it has also made a HUGE difference to how DH & eat. Before DS started solids we ate very badly - mostly ready meals & takeaways - very little if any fruit & veg or freshly prepared stuff. Classic bad eating of the kind you see on diet proggies on the tv . I quickly realised that DS shouldn't have any of it & as I didn't want to cook separately we changed out diet to suit his. We are now a LOT healthier as a result. We have even got ourselves an allotment to grow our own fruit & veg!

Ask away if you have any questions!

[sazzybee]

I have a question for you BLWers - people keep saying to me that I will know when my 4 month DS is ready to be weaned as he will no longer be satisfied just with BM (waking up in the night etc) and will need the extra calories from proper food. However, I believe that the thinking behing BLW is that they continue to get their calories from BM or FF. Have I got that right? So how does that fit with the hungry 6 month old thing then?

[MrsBadger]

sazzy, it's because your mates are, to put no finer point upon it, wrong.
Early solids have many fewer calories than bm or formula so aren't going to satisfy a genuinely hungry baby.
The other confounding factor is the famous four-month growth spurt, where just about all 16weekers start feeding more, including during the night. All they want is more milk, the don't know solids exist yet.

[terramum]

I don't think that solids have anything to do with satisfying hunger. For one thing they have less calories than milk...& the small amounts they take at first just wouldn't make a difference imo. I view solids as more of a developmental step, like walking or talking. They are just taking an interest in their surroundings (watching you eat) and learning to manipulate things (putting things in their mouth) and have developed physically so they can start feeding themselves (can sit unaided & can chew/swallow food etc). These were the things I watched for to see when DS was ready and delayed offering him solids until 29 weeks as a result...he wasn't really able to sit unaided until then. I don't really remember any huge appetite increase at the same time - I just kept on feeding him bm on demand & really couldn't have told you how many feeds he had in a given day! The only time I noticed he did need more food was around 10 months when he had a huge growth spurt and fed a LOT less from me & more from his plate..scared me half to death that he was stopping breastfeeding prematurely but he went back to loads of BM & a few solids a few weeks later.

[Tommy]

I have just started it with DS3 and I think the main benefit, so far, is that he is really happy sitting up at the table with us and joining in, which is important to me as DS1 in particular doesn't really enjoy the whole eating experience.

I think it is a whole shift from the idea that "solids" are going to fill them up to the idea that it is more about learning to enjoy food and the social skills that go with it.

[Aitch]

lol at mrsb's answer. she speaks the truth, sazzy. if you go on a diet you're told to drop full-fat milk and eat more carrots, aren't you? so the logic of what your friends are saying just isn't there...

[sazzybee]

Thank you - exactly as I thought but it goes against so much 'common sense' thinking that I wanted to check I hadn't entirely got the wrong end of the stick. I can see people are going to think I'm weird.

[AlbusPercivalWulfricBrianSun]

I'm another one who BLWd DS and highly recommend it. As per Aith's comments at first you're not even sure whether they're eating anything, until you find a bit of carrot in poo and then you know some has gone in. But as they become more confident, and you as well, they eat more and more. The great thing is that you can try them with anything, you don't have to carry food with you as there's always something you can get for them in a restaurant and there's none of that spending time cooking and pureeing with the Annabel Karmel approach. DS is a fantastic eater and, because this approach has helped to make him an independent eater, he's now really good with a fork and spoon too. Aith's blog is well worth a look (I got all my early ideas from there).

[Oblomov]

I must have had my head in the sand, becasue I didn't realise that BLW was the recommended thing.
I did do the classic was, including purees and mash potato etc. But I did introduce finger foods from the very beginning aswell.
Ds never struggled with lumps. He is a very good eater and will eat anything - literally.
I really like the idea of BLW.
Just tell your friends that it is you, who are up-to-date with what is recommended.

[sherbert]

I am not convinced it is right for every child. I tried it with my second DS, it seemed to be working well, he was eating a huge variety of food. Which was great, he also spent a lot of time playing with it and throwing it on the floor, as you would expect. I wasnt able to get a true picture of how much he was eating though. Silly me, I didnt have him weighed for four months (between 8-12months) and when I did i found he had actually lost weight, and droped from 50th- 20 th percentile. I gave up on the BLW and he started putting on weight again.
So if you are going to try it make sure keep an eye on the weight gain.

[witchandchips]

don't think it needs to be an either or thing. Key principles are (i think)
a) eat with lo as much as possible
b) give lo control over what and how much she eats

can do this with purees as well as finger food

[vino4me]

Bit random here but my nephew is a terrible eater at nearly two - and I am convinced it is because he always has to eat by himself in the middle of play rather than just sitting down with mum and dad - per-say BLW. Do you think you can swap a toddler onto this kind of idea?

[terramum]

I would have thought so vino...might take a while for him to get used to the idea...but certainly do-able. I wouldn't put too much pressure on him to it straight away..maybe just sit him at the table to start with & see what he does...if he wants to wander off mid meal then let him....he will come back when he is hungry or wants the company! My MIL is a childminder & all her mindees have lunch together with her & the new ones take a while to get used to the idea - but they all get it eventually.

My own DS has always eaten with either me or DH or all of us as a family...but even he went through a phase of wanting to eat elsewhere, running around the room, jumping up & down etc...he has calmed down somewhat & at least eats most of his meals at the table..even if he is standing up most of the time...how he even manges to chew & swallow whilst jumping up & down I really can't fathom...but he is happy enough

[FunkyGlassSlipper]

I am not a 'proper' BLWer as I give anything liquidy like yoghurt on a spoon however DD gets loads of finger foods and has always been offered since weaning. She is nearly 8 months and eats pretty much most things.

[Sparkletastic]

Did some BLW and some puree / mush with DD2. She likes both depending on mood - sometimes in inquisitive / let's try something new / independent mess maniac mode, sometimes in 'dear Lord mother I'm starving just feed me dammit' mode....

[HannieP]

What a fascinating discussion. I've just spent the whole afternoon researching and reading up on BLW. I've reached that stage with my daughter where I am supposed to be thinking about weaning. She's just turned 24 weeks. I've tried a bit of baby rice, mashed pair and sweet potato a la Annabel Karmel.


On the few occasions I've tried baby rice etc my daughter has pulled the most horrendous face and spat most of it out at me. Even after persisting, I still felt as though I was forcing her to eat something she didn't really want to eat. Where as, if I hand her a new toy she looks at it and turns it over in her hands, and then puts it in her mouth to see what it tastes like. It stands to reason, she would probably enjoy a baby led method of weaning.


It seems that there is very much two schools of thought on weaning - as there is with Breast Feeding - and it all seems to be hinged largely on consumerism!

There are those who think that a baby cannot get enough nutrition from Breast Milk alone and therefore must be fattened up on Formula. Therefore you must buy x amount of feeding bottles in varying sizes, i.e. newborn, 0-3 mths, 3-6 mths and so on. Then there are the different teat sizes - as above. Then there are all the different types of formula for different ages. Then there is the sterilizing equipment. etc etc. And of course... formula feeding is much more convenient than breast feeding... right?!?!?

Now at the weaning stage, there seems to be much the same argument. I MUST feed my baby mush - So I must either buy ready made... for want of a better expression... yuk, along with the suction cupped plates and rubber spoons, or I must puree my own food, so I need a mouli wotnot, blender with 800 different attachments, or better still a blender that heats the baby's food to optimum temperature whilst blending it to the perfect consistency. And low and behold - Ms Karmel home cooked mush advocate, has her own branded kitchenware bonanza to do just that. Can't beat that sort of convenience eh!

We are spoon fed (no pun intended!) this easy technological, pre-packed, pay as you go lifestyle and we don't give it a second thought as we're told it's all so convenient!

So far, everything I've read about BLW seems to suggest it is much better for the baby and not only allows the baby to develop a sense of independence about food, but also a sense of enjoyment - oh yeah... and all that stuff about motor skills development.

Like breast feeding, the baby gets to eat what it wants when it wants and how it wants. And like breast feeding it actually is convenient. My baby's breast fed dinners take seconds to prepare... unclip bra, attach baby. My baby gets a home cooked brew, served at the perfect temperature with just the right amount of nutrients per gulp. Now, while I am cooking mine and my husband's dinner - which I have to do every night anyway, or go to bed with a rumbly tummy, I shall just omit salt and sugar (not that I cook with that much anyway) and my little girl shall have a little bit of what we're eating at the same time as us! With a high chair she can even sit with us. Added to which she'll learn by example what you do at mealtimes and gradually she'll learn to eat properly. And lets face it she can't make much more mess that my hubby! He's the one who needs a splat mat!

Thanks for all the useful opinions on this discussion. You've helped me make up my mind.

BLW. I'm sold!

[Spink]

thanks for starting this thread, vino.. my ds is 23 weeks and so I'm starting to think about the weaning thing too. I really like the sound of BLW, and plan to start it once ds is sitting up better. Hoping it'll be at the magic 26 weeks as I'm really excited about the food adventure ahead and can't wait much longer!!!

Anyway.

My BIG QUESTION is - do babies get fewer calories from BLW than rice/puree?
The reason I ask is that I am going back to work in a couple of months, and ds will only be able bf morning and eve. I will try to express enough for him to have ebm during the day, but if I can't get enough out of the boobie, will he have to be ff or would BLW be enough??

Sorry for the hijack, vino.. hope it's ok. I can always bugger off and start a new thread..

[oldnewmummy]

Well said Hannie P!

I think BLW is fab. DS is almost 7 months, and has just happily sat and shared a salmon pie with me (and shared quite a lot with the floor too!).

[ruddynorah]

spink- yes it will be enough. lots of older babies, like yours, go the whole day with just a bf mornig and night then water and a little solids in the day. who will he be with while you're at work? fwiw, my nursery were fine with the blw, less work for them! they made her sandwiches when the meal wasn't pick up able IYSWIM.

my dd is now 14 months, so i'm really not weaning at all now. I loved blw, dd took to it straight away. some people do need a lot of convincing, will they choke? will they get enough etc etc... but the main thing is that it is BABY LED. you give up control to your baby and trust that their body will do what it needs to, easier to think through if you've been breastfeeding i think.

[Tommy]

spink - if you see one of Aitch's posts earlier, she makes a very good point about if you were on a diet (i.e. trying to lose weight) what would eat more of? Carrots or full fat milk?

I think the idea is (correct me if I'm wrong aitch!) that until a year, the baby gets most of its nutrients from milk anyway.

YOu still have a couple of months to go and thins move on quickly when they are this age.

[Oblomov]

We sit down to dinner, dh, me and ds, and always have done, almost every night.
99% of the time, ds eats what dh and I eat.
And he did do right from the start.
For a cpuple of week, I specifically made mashed potato , carrott etc. Then I pureed down, the same risotto that dh and I were eating. Then I made it more lumpy.
Hannie, you don't need 800 attachments, it is so easy to do.
At the same time I had loads of finger foods, carrotts, cooked ptaot etc.
He was under a year, possibly neare 9 months old. We took he out shopping to Kingston. Dh went and got fish and chips from the counter. By the time he got back, from ordering my chosen dish, ds had eaten it. He had to go and get another.
I took BLW to mean - weaning and it suggests a combination of mashed carrott, and finger food, in a nice environment, eating with others, and no stress if something isn't wanted.
Simple really. Sounds lovely.

[ruddynorah]

baby led weaning means waiting to wean until baby can feed himself, hence no need to puree or mash, straight to food in 'normal' form. you continue the baby led bit through weaning by leaving the baby to feed themeself. a good link..

webchat with gill rapley who 'named' it blw