To wonder how people feed babies this revolting stuff day in day out

[moogy1a]

Had to give a mindee a jar of food today ( mum particularly wanted her to have it).
it smelt rank and I couldn't bring myself to try it.
Little one wolfed it down though so obviously used to the taste and it wasn't "off".
AIBU to think that except in emergencies babies should be fed food you would be happy to eat yourself ( or is Heinz food particularly revolting?)

''the lo's cruise round and are fed mouthfuls by whoever they "beg" next to.''

Sounds great

" Once they get bored they get down and wander around the dining room. "

It was that part which I was asking the question about. You quite clearly said something I quite clearly understood.

What I asked was is it standard UK childcare practice these days.

Please try to read the replies people,
So you have a small toddler. They sit at the highchair, have dinner then mooch about in the dining room getting extra bits off the other children.
this extra food is mostly strewn as they're already full.
Is this another thing to make me a bad CM or is this what most parents do

We all eat together and the lo's cruise round and are fed mouthfuls by whoever they "beg" next to.

Really? Not in my house they don't. Children eat at the table. They don't wander round begging for food off peoples plates.

No my toddler stays in her highchair until we've all finished and leave the table. It's good manners and I would expect a cm to teach that.

Unless I have very odd children, then yes, after they have eaten they tend to get bored at the dinner table until they are about 5 or 6 years old.
Do most people force a 2 year old to sit at the table for 40 minutes??

Do most people force a 2 year old to sit at the table for 40 minutes??

Force? No forcing. They are eating their food, same as everyone else.

You know, I remember a thread where someone was complaining that their CM was making their 3 year old sit at the table until everyone was finished eating and the CM was roundly slated.
I take it our opinion has changed?

"Please try to read the replies people,
So you have a small toddler. They sit at the highchair, have dinner then mooch about in the dining room getting extra bits off the other children.
this extra food is mostly strewn as they're already full.
Is this another thing to make me a bad CM or is this what most parents do"

That's what I'm asking! Is this standard in UK childcare these days? I've read the responses but you've yet to reply.

Wandering around the table is sure not something I would do nor would I have my childcare provider allow it. In this house you sit at the table if you want to eat and you wait until the meal is over before you wander around.

Huh? My children don't eat at record speed. It works out similar to everyone else. No need to force anyone. Dinner comes to a natural end. But definitely no leaving the chair to pick off other peoples plates. Thats bad manners.

Once a baby/ small child has had enough food they do not want to sit in the highchair. I get them out , put them on the floor and they mooch about being messed with by the other children and taking the occasionally bit of food off them.
Fucking hell I'm a bad CM

Really. So all you people who have had babies have never had a baby who wants to get down from a highchair?

I take it our opinion has changed?

Whats the our here? Mumsnet is made up of lots of different people with different opinions. Its not a single entity you know.

We're talking babies / young toddlers in case there's any confusion here

I wonder if all the parents actually know that their children are being taught that it's ok to wander about at mealtimes and it's ok to take off others' plates? Do they actually buy into that crap or are they unaware that such bad manners are being taught?

I still don't know if the practice is standard in UK childcare.

Evening OP. Sorry you're being given such a hard time. DS's CM is wonderful but she doesn't provide meals. I always make a little extra at each meal so I can freeze toddler sized portions for DS's lunches.

Occasionally DS gets one of those special toddler meals if we're eating a hot curry or some such but mostly he eats what we do.

I totally agree with you that some of the jars smell (and taste) rank but our DS liked them and they came in handy some days when we'd had a run of sleepless nights and all DH and I could face was a pot noodle.

I love the fact you provide home cooking. Keep up the good work and don't let all this get to you.

Once a baby/ small child has had enough food they do not want to sit in the highchair. I get them out , put them on the floor and they mooch about being messed with by the other children and taking the occasionally bit of food off them.
Fucking hell I'm a bad CM

You wouldn't be for me, but everyone seeks different qualities.

Why do you have this enormous need either to judge other people or call yourself a bad childminder?

You don't approve of the food this parent sends in- doesn't make her a bad parent.

Most of us would not approve of our toddlers being allowed to wander around the table and distract people who are still eating- doesn't make you a bad childminder.

Personally I would prefer my children to be looked after by somebody who wasn't quite so dramatic in her reactions.

(and preferably somebody who encouraged better table manners- if a child can't sit at a table surely they could be set up with some activity at some distance from the table, not walking around begging like a badly behaved dog).

Of course I and I assume most other people have had babies and toddlers who want to get down from a highchair. That doesn't mean that they're allowed to get down before the meal's over or that they're allowed to continue eating by means of wandering around the dining room and taking from others' plates.

Want doesn't always = get.

p.s. DS is 2 and sits at the table with us to eat but generally asks "please may I leave the table" before we're quite finished. Yes, I let him get down and play while DH and I finish our meal.

I have bigger problems to worry about.

Thanks Albert. At the moment I'm still a little shell shocked that I am being slated for giving my mindees good food.

You're not being slated for that op though, and you know that really.

Alberto, letting him play is one thing, letting him wander around and take food from somebody else's plate and strew it round the room- as the OP does - is totally different. I would really not have liked my dc to have been taught such table manners.

p.s. DS is 2 and sits at the table with us to eat but generally asks "please may I leave the table" before we're quite finished. Yes, I let him get down and play while DH and I finish our meal.
That's lovely and really nice but I have los of 10 months or s0

"I am being slated for giving my mindees good food."

That's a bit disingenuous moogy, isn't it?

You're not. You're being slated for being judgy and sneery. You're being questioned about allowing an unusual and IMHO undesirable way of behaving at mealtimes. You're not being slated for giving mindees good food.