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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To worry about baby led weaning

89 replies

MoominsAreScary · 04/08/2011 22:08

oldest two were weaned on liquidized food years ago, any tips on first finger foods and anyone's experiences especially regarding prem babies and baby led weaning ?

OP posts:

valiumredhead · 05/08/2011 15:36

How prem was he OP?

bruffin · 05/08/2011 15:45

there is prem baby advice here BDA position paper

Original poster

MoominsAreScary · 05/08/2011 15:53

8 weeks early but is now over 16lbs, can sit quite well, pick things up and put them in his mouth and is rolling so seems to have caught up realy well

Thanks bruffin

OP posts:

mousymouse · 05/08/2011 17:02

ds was weaned on purees and we had all the drama with lumpy foods...
dd on the other hand was interested in finger foods and refused purees completely. she didn't really eat a significant amount of food until she was about 9m old.

btw, the nursery was very cool about blw. they cook on the premises so it is no big deal for them to give bigger pieces or to load spoons.

MigGril · 05/08/2011 17:27

I think some of you have missed the point it's not about force feeding it's about over eating. Same with using a bottle regardless of whats in it.

spooning in purred food means they can suck in more food quiker and over eat same as an adult who eats to quickly. It take's time for you to realise your full you can eat to much then feel bloated after. Where as if they eat themselfs they can't eat that fast so will realsie when they are full and stop probably eating less then if they'd been spoon fed.

Often Babies who have had puress for too long strugle with the transition to lumpy food as they try to eat lumpy food the same way they do the puree and gage on the lumps. Late weaning lends itself to doing more BLW as most babies can already gab food and put it in there mouth nothing worng with doing a mix though but you really should introduce finger food as soon as they can feed them selfs.

And to the person who asked there hasn't really been any research on weaning with puress either so it's an area on the whole that need's a lot more research.

northernrock · 05/08/2011 17:34

But it's not really a question of purees versus finger food, I think thats the point most are making.
You dont have to puree stuff so its totally liquid anyway, and you can do stuff like mashed potatoes, in addition to providing finger food.
In my limited experience I just didn't notice any trouble with the transition to more chewy food at all.

HappyCamelIsDoingMyLaundry · 05/08/2011 17:37

Here is the link to the website of the lady that started BLW. My mum worked with her when she was a health visitor. www.rapleyweaning.com/

there is a link on the site to a really useful leaflet.

Main points are:
Child must be able to sit up independently
Child feeds itself at meal times sat with adults who are eating, so they copy
Child is offered breast or formula milk after the spolid food so it doesn't go hungry

MigGril · 05/08/2011 17:37

I gess the hole point though it that it's and individual thing and like everything else some will have problems other wount.

exoticfruits · 05/08/2011 19:05

Mine weren't overfed with puree -they stopped eating when they had had enough. They had finger foods in addition and there was no problem introducing lumps. I really can't see why milk to lumps is fine, milk to puree to lumps can't cope!

organiccarrotcake · 05/08/2011 19:20

Couple of things that helped me:

BLW babies learn to chew before they learn to swallow. Puree weaned babies learn to swallow before they learn to chew. Therefore a BLW baby is less likely to automatically put a non-food object (let's say a piece of lego) to the back of their mouth and choke on it. I've no evidence to back this up. Someone said it to me and it makes sense.

Healthy, term babies whose cords were left to stop pulsating before cutting need iron and zinc sometime in the first year and very little else (food is fun until they're one). herefore meat is much better than bread/pasta/cereal/baby rice/fruit/veg as first foods. BLW babies just chew or gum, or suck, on chunks of meat and strip out the goodies. Works very well. In fact, there is a study that showed that babies who were offered a range of healthy foods naturally chose those which filled the nutritional gaps left by milk.

Prem babies MAY NEED additional nutrients so you need specialist guidance on this. Babies receive their first year of stores of iron, etc, in the last few weeks of a pregnancy so often preemies need additional help, earlier on. Best to discuss this with a paed who actually knows about this stuff.

usualsuspect · 05/08/2011 19:22

We did a mixture back in the olden days

BLW was called finger foods

petisa · 05/08/2011 19:25

One tip - know nothing about prem babies and as others have said, proceed with caution, but my one tip is lots of milk for hunger and then you can rest assured they are not going without while they get the hang of things. Don't stress!

exoticfruits · 05/08/2011 19:28

I can't recall anyone just stuffing puree down their baby. They had finger foods and learned to chew from the start. It was a mix-moderation in all things-a good rule for anything in life! (of course there were those who just got jars for ever-but there will still be those today).

MissBetsyTrotwood · 05/08/2011 19:30

I think both my DSs 'led' their weaning. There were some purees they liked and they ate. There were some they just dashed onto the floor after the first mouthful.

Most babies, even those weaned on puree as both mine were are given something to chew/suck on at some point as well; whether that's at meal times or as a snack, they get some of that solid chewing action, surely?

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