To think most people don't understand baby led weaning

[Londonforestmum]

I hear so often people say they are doing a mixture of baby led weaning and spoon feeding. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but this is 'traditional weaning', which always advised finger food from 6 months as well as purées. It's not doing a bit of both. BLW means you let your child feed themselves all the time. To say you're doing a bit of both is like saying you're a bit of a vegetarian because you eat some plant based foods alongside meat?

BLW also doesn't mean children don't use a spoon, you can use a spoon straight from the start but you just preload it for them and then let them hold it / put it in (or somewhere near lol) their mouths.

I think maybe people feel under pressure to do BLW but don't want to so they say they're doing a bit of it. There is nothing wrong with doing traditional weaning (purées and finger food) though!

But that's not about BLW. Most people I know give their baby normal family food, which could be masjed, pureed or finger foods - according to you that's not BLW anyway

So are home made purées okay, rather than ultra processed baby food? What happens if what the rest of the family is eating is ultra processed and you share with baby, does that still fulfill the requirements of BLW?

So if I did exclusively BLW, but the baby spent a day a week at grandparents who used purees, I'd be doing traditional weaning would I?

I don’t get this. Even when you feed purees it should only be for 1-2 months max. ALL babies should be self-feeding solids by 7-8 mths and that’s the traditional way to do it. So many mums on her saying they gave purees until 1 which is wrong even with purees.

It's linked to it. As it supports the idea that babies need specific food, and can't just eat normal adult / family food.

Also all purees whether made at home or not are more processed than solids. It’s why a piece of fruit is healthier than a puree / smoothie.

I’ve been nannying for nearly 20 years- no one even ‘in the industry’ really cares, I think it’s a tiny proportion of pedants like you op.

most Nannys I know (like me) aren’t at all keen on baby led only, and much prefer giving a full range of foods in a full range of methods. We usually refer to it as ‘part finger foods/baby led and part spoon fed/purée's’. This level of pedantry is ridiculous and unnecessary and is the reason that purists alienate people and make new parents feel inadequate.

Bloody hell OP. I think, and hope, that when you look back at this in years to come, that you’ll be embarrassed at being so bothered by any of this.

Some mums really lose their minds over feeding. I think they’re so deep in the baby stage that they can’t see life outside of it.

I agree with you OP (and I do BLW and know why I have chosen to do it) but I only think it matters when people on MN threads slag off BLW without knowing what it is. Same goes for Oh Crap! potty training and gentle parenting - most people with strong negative opinions about them have a very vague idea of what they are. And yes, a 'philosophy' does sound wanky but mostly it's more of a rationale which you may or may not agree with, but which informs the whole method.

And to add, many ‘baby food’ jars etc on the market are not ‘ultra processed’. Processed, yes, but not ultra processed.

It's linked to it. As it supports the idea that babies need specific food, and can't just eat normal adult / family food.

There are restrictions - no honey before 1 - and they can tolerate salt much less well need more fat as there need for fat soluble vitamins is higher than an adults.

So I've had words with MIL trying to feed babies/toddlers very processed food high in salt and also trying to cut fat from their diets as it's "unhealthy".

@Ozanj but children are different. Both my children refused ALL food until they were almost 1. That is purée and finger food. I tried it all. At the time it was hugely stressful but they would not eat. My eldest then picked up normal food quickly but my youngest did not. After he was 1 he'd firstly only eat properly smooth purées and we had to slowly increase it. No additional needs, it was just him and how he did it. He's 7 now and eats a varied diet. He doesn't eat lots though.

So should we just be eating the individual elements of a recipe rather than actually putting them together to make an actual dish - yum!

So even BLW isn’t optimal if you have made bolognaise rather than slapping some onions, mince and tomatoes on a plate for baby (and possibly steak rather than mince as that had undergone a process)

This makes no sense. If babies are eating normal family food, why would anyone care if it meets your arbitrary definition of what 'BLW' means?

Are you so blinkered on the topic that you cannot see when someone taking the piss?

Cooked food is more 'processed' than raw food. But who cares? 'Processed' is not a bad thing in these scenarios.

No they really don't.

Jesus. Parenting is hard enough without people like you making a fuss over a phrase being incorrect.

Should've posted this in pedant's.

Yes, the purée/spoon feeding thing was generally because weaning started at 4 months. By 6 months most children (except in the case of disability) can feed themselves enough that doing it for them is pretty much unnecessary! Most nutrition still comes from milk anyway before 1, solids are nearly exclusively for practice at that stage (apart from a few micro nutrients they gain from them). Specifically cutting down on milk so you can spoon feed ultra processed purées is not doing anyone any favours apart from Nestlé. Spoon feeding home made purées obviously better nutrition wise but no more than milk plus finger foods, and means baby doesn't get practice at feeding themselves.

But why are you so worried abilout people supposedly mixing it up, really why on earth would it matter

As long as babies are being fed food who cares what it is call? Giving birth does not remove people's brains no matter how much they justify it by saying 'hormomes' people can use their brains and feed babies how it works for them

Oh god. The definition of ultra processed food is another thread entirely 😂

and means baby doesn't get practice at feeding themselves.

They seem to pick it up pretty quickly as entire generations of humans will testify

I don't actually have much interest in what the specific names of methods of weaning are, but as you posted this bit, I have to disagree with you:

"Advice used to be spoon feeding from 4 months, then spoon feeding and finger foods from 6 months. We start at 6 months now, so doing spoon feeding and finger foods is traditional weaning (without the only spoon feeding from 4 months)"

If the traditional method of weaning was two months of purée followed by spoon feeding and finger foods, finger foods from the start of weaning is not the traditional method.

I appreciate what you've said about the starting point changing (4 months then to 6 months now). But it appears to me that the two months of purée/spoon feeding only is a big factor in the traditional method.

My baby started off with finger foods at 6 months and my mum was appalled that she wasn't only on purées!

Specifically cutting down on milk so you can spoon feed ultra processed purées is not doing anyone any favours apart from Nestlé. Spoon feeding home made purées obviously better nutrition wise but no more than milk plus finger foods, and means baby doesn't get practice at feeding themselves.

You started this thread OP saying it was purely about the terminology and you didn't judge how anyone fed their child. That isn't strictly true is it?

You are quite right that most people don't understand BLW.

What the advocates of BLW don't make clear is that BLW often has to go hand in hand with extended breastfeeding and a hell of a lot of food waste because you have to be ok with your child having basically no interest in food for nutrition rather than being a sensory playtime, and that it's basically incompatible with most kinds of childcare provision (a small number of providers may support it).

I think what most of the "I'm doing a mixture" people mean is "I like the theory pf BLW but I have to live in the real world and I don't have infinite money or time so my priority is to make sure my child is getting enough nutrition even if that means not committing fully to this theory"

OP’s first post “there is nothing wrong with traditional weaning”

OP’s most recent post - a lecture about the evils of purées

You claim it’s just the phrasing that’s annoying you but it is so transparent that you are BLW and are very sanctimonious about it.