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?

[mrscog]

I think it sounds like a nice idea for a theme, but I would keep the buffet at adult height so they can get a few bits on a plate and give them to their DC themselves.

My DS is nearly 1 and has just been to his first party of one of his little friends - to be honest the babies didn't eat very much anyway as they were just all playing with the toys so if you're going to the effort of such a lovely theme, I would have it more so that the adults can appreciate it!

Germs wouldn't bother me though - but the mess and waste of letting a load of young children destroy a buffet would!

[wewereherefirst]

Why are you trying so hard for a load of small children to destroy it within seconds?

There won't be much food left to eat once they've crawled all over it.

And Marshmallow?! Really? That's not going to end well. Lots of sticky 1 year olds...

Good luck!

[Softlysoftly]

Rushmere? Random!

Realise I sound harsh but for dd1s 2nd birthday I did a baby disco and handmade train cake complete with Disney characters and decided to even make my own fondant modelling icing from scratch. Cue many bemused toddlers and an exhausted me having done an all night to finish the thing.

Give yourself a break!

[greenpostit]

I would serve each baby their own plate of food personally so that their parents can supervise them individually. I would also caution that blw isn't the best way for everyone. At 10 months, my ds could only just sit up, he was far better on purée.

Coralanne is absolutely right - simple is the very best way to go with most things.

[rainrainandmorerain]

Well, we did blw, so that's fine...

But a buffet with plenty of choice, where parents can put a range of snacks into a bowl and then let their dc choose what they eat is still blw! and allows parents to do a small amount of vetting if they need to (allergies, preferences based on age etc).

Just letting babies crawl/roll all over food is an unnecessary pita, and doesn't add anything to the blw experience. 'Letting them at it' is an idea that might work in your head, but in reality.... won't bigger more able children get in the way of the less mobile and more timid babies? Is everyone going to be exactly one year old (unlikely) or will there be parents there with 2 and 3 year olds, who will trample over the food and go straight for anything that looks like a treat? Is the hall you are using happy with this idea, cos it's going to mean a LOT of cleaning up for someone?

By all means, do blw - but just 'letting them at it' in that way adds nothing to blw.

[CheungFun]

I feel like I'm missing something here....when we had DS's 1st birthday party we served buffet style food e.g. sandwiches, cupcakes, fruit, biscuits etc and the children & adults are the same food. Surely the babies eating normal party food and putting it in their own mouths is BLW whether they eat from a plate or not? I'm really confused reading some of the posts on this thread and I'm just not sure what the difference would be in having a BLW weaning buffet as opposed to a standard buffet, sorry.

The Hungry Caterpillar is a great book though and a lovely party theme idea.

[Adamit]

CheungFun i agree. i dont understand the difference myself.

[Floralnomad]

I'm so glad my children are grown up , this sounds like my kind of nightmare ! I'm a bit with 'germ mother' , I don't like mine having pick and mix sweets cos you don't know whose been in there.

[rainrainandmorerain]

PS if you go ahead with 'table on floor" approach' you will find that parents will still intervene and make some selections about what their dc's eat. Even allowing for the idea that maybe not all parents attending will be doing blw, in reality (having done blw) parents tend to introduce foods in different ways at different times anyway. Example - friend's dd had a thing about grapes, and left to her own devices, would scoff a huge bowl of them and nothing else. Ok, that's blw.... but she'd get terrible wind and explodey poos, so parents used to give her a small portion of grapes and then lots of other bits of veg/fruit to choose from. Or keep the grapes for 'afters'. If you are dead set on letting kids crawl over a buffet, I would at least provide paper bowls so those parents that do need to make a selection can do so....

[Adamit]

on a side note, your also setting yourself a high standard ... you going to do this yearly? hire halls and mad themed parties? i think its lovely idea and you obviously want to give your dd a brillant party. something tells me you are going with this idea regardless of what we think (and your right) but i think its gonna be a big learning curve for you. thats not meant to sounds patronising.

[CanIdomore]

[GRIN] Only on MN would I read a post suggesting a BLW style buffet on the floor for 1 year olds birthday.

[Nancy66]

Wouldn't be my thing....but that could be because i think BLW is pretentious bollocks.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

At this stage, yes I think most babies have the same food as adults whether they were blw or not.

Blw babies are encouraged to try serving themselves when they are slightly older also, but this is clearly NOT the ideal way to do that!

[eggs11]

Yuk I wouldn't want my DS sharing half eaten food really. I did food at my DS's 1st birthday, but none of the other parties we went to did! Cake and drink for the adults, maybe sugar free biscuits for babies!

[eggs11]

Also talk about BLW high horse. My Ds was weaned gradually and is fully capable of eating finger food at 1!

[hopeful92]

Sorry but I think this is a ridiculous ideas. For starters, one year olds are far too young to help themselves to food. Some babies may be further developed in the "weaning" process than others, and what would not be a potential choking hazard for your dc, may present as such a risk to Joe Bloggs down the road who is still in the mashed up carrots stage.

[TripleRock]

Basically, you are going to spend a lot of time and effort preparing this amazing buffet only to lower it to the floor and allow large numbers (it must be large numbers if you're hiring a hall) of babies and small toddlers to basically crawl and walk all over it getting covered in food. There will be loads of waste and mess. I hope parents will have brought a change of clothes. YANBU but a bit misguided.

I love the idea of a Hungry Caterpillar theme. But why not do the buffet as planned then leave it at normal height. Then allow parents to put a selection of foods onto a plate for their DC. You can still eat it picnic style and put a big Hungry Caterpillar rug down on the floor if you want to.

The BLW thing... not that its relevant to your AIBU really, but surely by age 1 most children are feeding themselves so not really sure why you need to mention BLW at all. Unless you are trying to be all 'look at all the wonderful foods my 1yo eats' in which case YABU.

[janey68]

And YY to the comments about BLW. Please don't call it that Because it really sounds so ridiculous . Every one year old I've ever come across basically picks up their own food and puts it in their mouth which is what this is. There is no need to put the food on the floor- like someone else suggested it smacks a little bit of letting a load of puppies off the leash! Children can pick their own food from a table you know- like they do at home!

I am still reeling from the thought of actually hiring a hall for 1 yr olds though. What happened to just a birthday, candle, balloons and Godparents round for a cuppa? Believe me, there are plenty of school years ahead for all the rest

[janey68]

• Birthday cake

[cocoachannel]

I think it's a lovely theme but I would wait for a future year when it will be more appreciated by the children, and all will be able to select food and feed themselves. I think this could easily turn to chaos unless its on a table and let adults help their children. This will also avoid any of the babies crawling or stamping over all your hard work.

I'm another person who had a one year old who projectile vomited having got a small piece of salad leaf stuck on the roof of her mouth, so maybe not the leaves. At 12 months just because your child can manage a particular food it doesn't mean they all can.

[Cuddlyrunner]

I'm old so I admit I may be behind the times, I did raise three kids by myself into adulthood though :-) Plus I work with kids so I thought I was up to date with what they like and what are the current fads.

When I first read the OP I thought it was a wind up. BLW?? For a 1 year old's party??
Apart from the fact it is sounds massively too much for a baby's birthday, it sounds like blinking hard work and it won't come off like you expect. Maybe for a five year old but not for babies. How old are the other chldren that are going?

The reality of putting food on a table on the floor and letting babies get what they want will not go down well. When I was in PFB stage there wouldn't have been any way I would have let my child pick food up off the floor or eat things I didn't think they were ready for. All three of mine walked by their first birthday but lots of children will be crawling-over the food!

I had three under three so I learned not to be precious about germs and shared food, but I just don't think your expectation for this party will meet reality.

[Rosa]

Erm I think you are mad , they will not appreciate it and it will just be a chance for the adults to laugh and take pictures as Tarquin shoves the pickle up Jessicas nose. The naice party dresses will be ruined . Why not do the 'banquet' but let the parents decide what the children will eat . ...if hiring a hall have a soft area where the children can crawl and play

[pigletmania]

Sounds fine and lovely. Tat mum is being very silly, babies will be exposed to germs every day, I expect her pfb drops toys and outs them in her mouth, unless she stands there hovering with te anti bac! The doctr told me wen dd was about te same age and had a tummy bug that it's good for babies to be exposed to germs as it builds their immune system

[manormuppet]

Op you are doing this for you no rt your dad , save your energy.

[manormuppet]

Bloody predictive text.
Op you are doing this for you not your dd save your energy