to wonder why anyone wouldn't BLW?

[Claz1001]

It sounds great for both baby and lazy parent. Definitely the way I'll be weaning my DS soon! Why bother with purees if you don't have to? Why doesn't everyone do this? Maybe I am missing something

Works for some people, doesn't for others. Doesn't matter so YABU.

Makes perfect sense to me and am hoping to go that way with my DS too. I am a bit worried about anaemia though, happened to a friend of mine's EBF baby at 5.5 months so that could be a reason. No idea how common that is though. Interested to hear if anyone knows.

Dd1 gagged on any sort of lumps till she was 1, and still has a strong gagging reflex now she is 7. No BLW for her.

My friend didn't because she was worried about choking.

My mum found it really hard to cope with and insisted on spoon-feeding DS when looking after him, because of the mess.

Also you don't have as much control over what they eat (which for me meant I didn't worry about it) which can make some people anxious.

Although probably the main reason is they've never heard of it and didn't know it was an option.

i did with my first baby but not with my second he threw more away than he ate so i felt i had to feed him myself to make sure he was getting enough. One of those things like every other part or parenthood that suits some but not others.

Is this your first baby?
You may have your answer in a few months.

Most people i find do a bit of both, and they manage to do it without needing to stick a load of tosh labels on too!

I weaned my children. They went from their main food being milk to being food. I gave then some things to grab and chew, i mushed up our dinners, i made 'baby mushed up veg pots' to take out with me. I spoon fed some things because it was a nice thing to do. I enjoyed feeding my baby. I also enjoyed watching him learn to feed himself, with his hands, spoons, forks, knives.

Had never heard of it with DS1 (7 years ago) but had enough trouble trying to feed him an entire finger food meal at about 10 months. Most of it ended up on the floor, leaving him crying with hunger at the end. I certainly wasn't about to try BLW with DS2!
They're now 7 and 4 and are both fantastic eaters who like a wide range of foods, so I don't think they have missed out by it.

Its hard work if your baby just doesn't get feeding themselves straight away. And very hard to hold your nerve til 9 or 10 months when they become dextrous enough to transfer food themselves in any meaningful way.

Some babies get it. Some don't. There's no right or wrong. Spoons aren't evil, they are just a method of transferring food.

What on earth is BLW???

(Sorry, dont have a baby to wean but just being nosy)

Baby Led Weaning.

Claz because every baby and family set up is different. It worked well with my first who was happy to sit and mess with food, eat a bit, mess some more etc.

My second is a different kettle of fish and so is the family, she isn't the only one I need to look after and she needs to fit in a little more. She doesn't want to mess with food, she is a big girl who likes her food and she wants to eat lots and she wants to eat NOW! She likes to have her main meal spoon fed (quicker than mummy can keep up with, she practically inhales it) and then only after that does she like to mess about with some foods and try little bits.

I know you say you plan on doing this with your DS, I hope it goes well for you, but just bear in mind that you DS might have different ideas!

some kids take to it
some kids don't

dd1 loved BLW and was wolfing down a proper roast dinner by about 8mo

dd2 struggles with both BLW and mashed food. if she wasn't so chubby bonny I might be tempted to go down the puree route

Yabu

I tried blw but ended up going back to mashed (not pureed) food for a bit. Also when I did give some meat, I'd actually chew it a bit myself then give to DS. sounds grim but I'd read that's what some tribes women did in early days of weaning and it felt natural.

I like the theory of blw but wonder whether it actually applies to when a baby is ready to eat lumpy food as opposed to be ready for food other than milk. There are theories that the late introduction of some foods in the West cause allergies etc? Not sure.

no idea what blw is

big lazy women?

Ha, yes I may well find out when I actually try it! Not my first, but when DD was a baby I had never heard of BLW so just went the traditional route. I see that choking could be an issue so will have to be careful. Hadn't heard about anaemia but guess you can avoid that by moving on to growing up milk, if ff. As for the mess, I'm expecting a lot of that either way...

Ermm, if you're like me and have had three children over the space of ten years during which time weaning advice had changed you might be a too bit lazy or busy to change the way you did it with your first child! I have done a combination, breast, bottle, homemade purees, finger foods followed by 'what the rest of the family have to eat' at around 11 months with all three. They are all healthy eaters, not picky, made an easy transition to 'proper' food and it has worked well for us. Not a biggy really!

Thanks Goblin - not about in DS day (he's 8) but it sounds messy!!! Do they actually get to eat anything or does most of it get chucked everywhere else, lol.......

Baby Led Weaning: no purees, just offer baby 'real' foods and let them eat at their own pace. Plus sides: No prep of special meals, apparently less fussy eaters although don't know how much research there is to prove this. Down sides: might take ages for baby to eat enough to cut down on milk (not a down side for everyone just for those who want to reduce milk feeds from 6 months), messy.

Most people I know gave purees and offered finger foods and my DC never refused a spoon and ate whatever they were offered.

Agree with BabyDubs, no need to label, just feed the baby.

You may also lose the ability to type without an errors. Sorry for typos!

Exactly what Babydubs said. It's only when someone wrote a book that it became trendy. Oh, and any purists who come along and try and tell me it's a new notion - it's not.

Not about in my day either, my baby is 16. However, every new trend has its evangelicals. The wheel turns and her children will be laughing at her practises in a few decades. Room for most theories I find.

Errr...because not all parents (especially of second or third children) have unlimited time or patience- an elder sibling who is consistently late for school because of baby's prolonged feeds is likely to be less than pleasant company.

Because some babies actually like being spoon fed- ds enjoyed it far more than eating his own food.

Because some babies are very good at putting food anywhere but in their mouths and if baby has had constant weight problems (as mine did due to being very poor at breastfeeding) it is a relief to be able to finally get some food down them.

But I suspect the real truth is what BabyDubs says: most parents have been doing a bit of everything since times immemorial without feeling the need to attach fancy labels. I have plenty of pictorial evidence to show that my dcs did actually have the time to experiment with food (before BLW was even talked about) but I also know that I fed dd out of a jar during the 17 hour train journey to Berlin, because I didn't think the other passengers would appreciate chewed up bits of carrot all over the seat.

And fwiw purees are very little trouble: in my case, it meant things like taking half a spud off my plate and mashing it up for dcs; we're not talking extra cooking here.

I agree, its just another trend that will come full circle eventually.

Anyway, its not about what others do with their baby, its about what you do with yours. Find something that suits you and yours and let others do the same. As someone has already said, its horses for courses.