To serve a baby led weaning buffet at my daughters party?

[PignutSalamander]

Dd is turning 1, I am planning to do a buffet based on the very hungry caterpillar. The plan as stands is to set it all up on a trestle table and when it's time to serve it put the legs down and let them at it.
Consideration has obviously been given to making it safe and easy for kids to feed themselves and the first few people I mentioned it to said they thought it was a great idea
I mentioned it to a mum who will be bringing her dd and she said " err! What about germs? How will we stop them taking a bite and dropping it, then another baby eating it?"
I basically feel that they will be spending the whole party sharing toys, touching each other etc and that germs are just going to be shared.
Obviously I will ensure that hands are washed before they eat and have also checked for allergys and warned mums not to put them in there best clothes. Also seperate snacks for adults
So what's the consensus mn? Aibu?

Unfortunately, people like the OP are the ones who give BLW its wanky reputation.

BLW is supposed to be a way to get children eating 'normal' food in a 'normal' way very quickly.

Rather than starting with puréed veggies, then adding meat and fish and then slightly lumpier purées, then adding in a bit of finger food, then around age 1 allowing egg whites and strawberries etc etc, BLW is a way of showing children how to eat what everyone else is eating from six months. So, yes, they use their fingers and yes it is messy, but the whole point is to get children accustomed to a 'normal' way of eating from the get go.

So, sticks of crudités, batons of roasted veg, layers of lasagne, hearty meat stews etc. are all available for the baby to try. The theory which did not work at all with my DD1, but has worked with DD2 is that they eat properly, choosing what they want, using their hands to eat, rather than being spoon-fed (literally) which can be time consuming for the parents. They learn about appetite, stopping when they are full, different tastes abd textures (rather than all purées).....

You either buy into it or not, but I am baffled as to the OP's idea that spreading strangely themed food out of a storybook all over the floor and letting babies and toddlers go wild (smooshing??) with it forms any part of BLW.

Food is not for "messy play". Food is for eating. And if you taught my DC any different, I have to say I would be tempted to slap you round the face with a wet fish!

Would that not count as playing with food though hopeful92

Fab idea, op. Make sure you provide two of them with a super soaker, too.

Agree that looks fantastic giraffe for a five year old

I know, I am just starting to feel sorry for the OP, that's all.

MrsKeithRichards Oopsie, sorry, my mistake but then again, I would be doing the slapping, so it would be me playing with the food not a one year old!

Doing BLW is all well and good (even though it isn't weaning at 1, it's just eating...) but don't shove it down other people's throats. If you're going to base your party around BLW then don't expect parents trying to teach their children table manners to be too pleased about the idea.

Ferral children would be more at home at this buffet.

I dont think you are doing this for the babies but to show off to the other mums who clever you are.

I dont like this idea at all. Let the babies at it. This is food we are talking about, not play do!

I thought with BLW one of the ideas was baby eats what you eat and joins in meals as a family member? Isn't having a separate adult and baby buffet the opposite of that?

And the waste of food would make me feel ill. My DH grew up in a country where poor people starve and it upsets him to throw out half a mouldy cucumber. Maybe I've caught that.

I am imagining something more like this

I LOVE the idea but think you should drop the Hungry Caterpiller theme and go for serving the food in dog bowls. Get the parents to dress their PFBs in fluffy dog outfits. I would pay money to watch that, and that's what it's all about, non?

snowybrr That is exactly what I imagine haha! Or just a lot of choking babies...

What's with the rush to turn babies into mini adults? Why should they have to choose their own food? And as if any baby is going to choose themself a varied selection of food - the ones that like grapes will sit stuffing their faces with grapes, the ones that like breadsticks will sit stuffing their faces with breadsticks... It's a recipe for disaster, and if you ask me irresponsible. Babies should be taught to eat properly, take small bites and chew their food - how are they supposed to do that when crawling around on a mat covered with choking hazards? I have had to dislodge orange from a 2 year old's throat so don't tell me that babies can safely eat whatever they want...

And OP why the hell did you ask for people's opinion if you're not going to listen anyway? Pretentious.

Haven't read the other replies but I think the design idea sounds fab and the idea of lowering the table is ace. 1 year olds love exploring food - what better way of doing it?

I did a Hungry Caterpillar theme for DD 1st bday.

It involved a hungry caterpillar cake, and erm...that was it. I clearly fail at themes.

We then had just normal buffet food.

No way would I had let a bunch of babies loose on a floor full of food. What would the rest of us have eaten?

Tbh, if I was invited to this sort of party, I doubt I would come, it is bad enough having to clean food out of hair as soon as it has gone in (I still tremble just thinking about the spag bol incident when dd was 11 months old) but to have to get them home, more than likely with food in their hair..nightmare.

This is the funniest thread I've ever read on MN! Well done, OP! You've taken poncey parenting to a whole new level

In the Old Days when my DC were babies, parties always were buffets. We would sit the babies on our laps, fill the plates with mini sandwiches(ignored), breadsticks, carrot and cucumber sticks, maybe some humous and cut up apples and grapes. If they were lucky there might be hula hoops as well.
Guess what? Minimal mess and they actually ate something.
Give it a try OP.

I read the BLW book three years ago and obviously missed the bit where it talked about getting your baby to crawl through the food. In the photos the kids were all sat in high chairs too.
Has it been updated since then?

Am I the only person that thinks this all sounds incredibly dangerous!? Has nobody heard of a choking hazard? Babies toddling around eating foods they could choke on, and skidding around on regurgetated grapes... Dangerous!!!

Mind you, I would not worry about the germ issue, my ds licked a slug when he was 7 months old!

But the mess!! Arrghh....no, as I said, ok for you, you get to go upstairs and chuck your child in the bath. Te rest of them get to attempt a clean up job with wipes and a change of clothes. Not good at all. And babies cannot be trusted to not stuff things up their nose. I once had to evacuate 3 peas from the nose of dd....I saw two go up before I could stop her, and found the third up quite high when getting the two out I could see!

Apologies if this has been posted, but it could be worse ... Imagine taking your PFB to a 1yr old's birthday party and being confronted with this Hungry Caterpillar Candy Buffet !!

This is just too funny.... Surely this,is a joke!