AIBU to think BLW babies can still eat yoghurt?

[Russell19]

On a local parenting facebook page a mum asked about how to get her baby to have medicine as he was spitting it out or being sick. The baby was 9mo.

Someone suggested a spoon instead of a syringe, someone else suggested giving a bit of yoghurt then medicine and alternate until medicine is gone. The lady replied saying she couldn't do that because she is doing BLW and her baby isn't spoon fed.

Now my baby is a similar age and we do a mix of puree and finger foods (shoot me I know!) but it seems right for us so I went with it. But it got me thinking.... surely BLW doesn't mean a baby can never have a yoghurt or anything that requires a spoon?!

I haven't really thought about it before because I'm doing both but thought it sounded bizarre.

So.... AIBU in thinking if you do BLW your baby can still have a yoghurt?! Or AINBU and this mum is taking it too far?

Some people spoon feed babies and some don't, but if it is MEDICINE then she needs to make sure the baby gets it.

I mean, for goodness sake, if the baby was seriously ill and required an IC drip, would she refuse this on the grounds that it isn't "baby led"? Should we all stop vaccinating unless the baby chooses to spontaneously pick up the syringe and vax themselves?

Kokeshi she isn’t refusing to give her child medicine though, is she? She’s looking for ideas after using a syringe and it sounds like the spoon suggestion doesn’t work for her child.

I’m not sure personally what she should do, other than try different techniques with the syringe (small amounts at a time and/or into different areas of the mouth, offering a drink etc). The spitting out is normal but the vomiting less so. It’s not clear whether this is something like calpol where you could try a different brand/flavour perhaps, or eg an antibiotic which as I said earlier simply might not agree with her child and she needs to go back to the GP to see if there is an alternative

I did blw but when it come to medicine i would use a syringe or a spoon myself as it needs to go in! Even if this meant hiding it yogurt. Medicine is medicine not food!

The best way to get medicine down without spoons is by syringing pieces of fruit with it or by coating an ice-cream. It is a faff but it gets the job done

I just feel relieved for this poor woman that she didn’t post on MN

DS2 managed perfectly with yoghurt, once he realised that he was supposed to put food in his mouth. We started with purees for a bit because he really didn't know what to do with food, then tried again later. He had a spoon for yoghurt, so did I.

Where we live, baby paracetamol and other meds often come in suppository form. All my British friends and family think that’s gross and wierd, but they work quickly and don’t get spat up again

@Mamibaer not sure they even do those in the uk? Would be interested if anyone knows?

You can get them if your baby is over 12 months here, or if younger if prescribed. Weirdly though lots of health professionals think that they don't exist over here so...

They do do them in the UK, my friends DS had paracetamol suppositorys when he had bad tonsillitus and couldn't swallow. I think they were on prescription though.

In Italy they have infant paracetamol drops you hide in milk or juice. I used to stock up on them but DS is too heavy now (they are for age 0-2, so wouldn't be a whole dose for an older child)

Some people make life far more difficult than it needs to be.

The BLW brigade's spoon shunning is as dumb as it gets. As adults, we use spoons for lots of foods including yoghurt. Why would you outlaw them for babies?

They aren’t outlawed. HTH.

They aren't shunned Laurie, it's the baby that controls it not the parent.

There's a lot of knocking of BLW here from people who clearly have no idea what it ACTUALLY entails.

Ds is the youngest of five kids in our family (21 months). He's the only one that did BLW and is the least fussy and is less messy that the three and four year olds. He's had spoons and forks since six months.

Idiocy! Baby led weaning doesn't mean no spoons. My daughter loved using a spoon at 9 months although it was all a bit hit and miss . Also, she took medicine way better from a spoon than from a syringe.

Baby led weaning just means you give the baby variety and choice and let them feed themselves. I never heard of a spoon ban!

I don’t think the mother in question was necessarily talking about a spoon ban either. That’s just how it has been taken by subsequent posters desperate to pour scorn for some reason.

They aren't shunned Laurie, it's the baby that controls it not the parent.

I know that in general that’s the case. However there does seems to be a component that refuse to use spoons. Like in the OP.

I took the op to mean she can't use a spoon as DC would want to hold it and this would result in spilt medicine.
We fell into BLW by accident as DS was like this.

I don't think they mean that they can't, I think they just mean that they aren't sure the suggestion will work because their DC isn't used to eating from a spoon. All well and good to introduce it, but at the point of them being ill and needing to take medicine is probably not the most optimal moment.

Same here fairfax - I wasn’t really that fussed either way but my son was not interested in being spoon-fed and wanted to feed himself. I still wouldn’t be able to give him medicine on a spoon at 20mo, it would go everywhere, but he will happily take it from a syringe now

I think the OP has now had the clarity she was after, but it’s really interesting how keen people are to be outraged here, to the extent that they can’t seem to read the OP properly