To think baby led weaning is a scam?

[pardon]

Isn't it normal to give dc's a bit of finger food?

Pardon, from my experience it's what a lot of people do when they have more than one child. It's NOT what they do for the first one in general - I certainly thought I was "supposed" to puree everything for DS and was thoroughly relieved to discover an alternative!

Ds2 had peanut butter at 9 months old, which he baby led weaned himself from his brother's plates while I was eating crisps-- in the kitchen washing up

I think what is fake is the idea that it is somehow more 'natural' than feeding purees, when all over teh world people who live the kind of simple lives where there are no books, let alone Anabel Karmel have been mashing food for their babies for thousands of years, and feeding them too (sometimes mouth to mouth). I would say exclusive BLW, while perfectly fine, I'm sure is a very modern thing, and the claims made for it in terms of health and baby development and independence seem rather exaggerated.

to go back to your OP...

blw is by and large just giving your child finger food rather than giving them a bit of finger food. or more to the point, letting them self-feed all the time, whether it be with a loaded spoon or a soldier of toast.

therefore it is a wee bit different... but hardly a scam. for the record, the NHS is recommending a bit of mash and a bit of finger food, so while it may not be what most people do (certainly most people i know Karmelised their kids for months) your 'method' is actually what is recommended. not that it matters a hill of beans, mashed or otherwise.

pardon, i don't think a lot of people do true BLW though.

yes, lots of people give their babies finger food. but most of them are not doing it in a baby led way.

if you are letting your child lead his or her own weaning you are sitting them up to eat and making food available.
that is it. there is no handing them food. there is no feeding them puree or mashed anything.

they do it all themselves.
I don't think that many people do that naturally

well there isn't anything in the way of substantiated claims, tbh, just theories tbh, and the whole notion of 'natural' is so corrupted and conditioned by culture as to be meaningless in any case.

It's the idea that BLW is new that tickles me; my mum weaned me this way 25 years ago!

Smug - these people trying to insert amazons link to BLW

My kids always had 'finger food' as well as spoonsful of gloop. I don't know anyone who wasn't shoving bits of carrot and rice cakes at their babies when they started weaning.
Some babies prefer to be fed (maybe they aren't very coordinated like one of mine) and some babies are fiercely independent and won't let you near them with a spoon. I don't see why you can't do what seems right for your baby and mix it up.

sorry link doesn't work

no scam. i did blw because i'm lazy.

my 2 year old has a knife because he goes on hunger strike until he gets one. Then he hacks his food into tiny pieces while maintaining perfect grip on knife and fork. then he throws them on the floor and shoves it in with his fingers. Every fecking night.

LewisFan - you have summed it up. Thanks - that's all I was getting at

mabanana, i am reporting you to the BW stasi. expect your home to be raided by 6am tomorrow...

and parp.

Am loving the idea of Smugs knife warrior

I have to admint I don't get what BLW is supposed to mean. If it's 'giving your child some food when they want some' erm yes that's just 'weaning' surely?

Message withdrawn

pardon... why do you think it appeals to so many of us? couldit be because we saw our mothers letting our younger siblings self-feed, and preferred that to the idea of pureeing. it's hardly a conspiracy...

warthog = i only got into blw cos i am lazy. it struck me to ask as my child is starving

Great! If they come at 6am they can get the kids up and feed them what they blood well like. I'm having a lie-in

www it should just mean weaning imo but a ot of people think AK is the bible...

They do it how they want to in the end anyway. DD had one day of baby rice on a spoon before she grabbed the cup and drank it herself - I took that as a sign and as soon as I was confident enough and had read up on it enough - about a week - I gave her her first carrot batton.

We had only one scarey gagging moment with a bit of under ripe mango - I gave her a quick backslap and she spat it out. After that I realised I had overreacted. Funnily enough my Mum (who pureed everything for us) was more confident than me and really helped.

What we did was a mixture I suppose but I learnt from both sides and took DDs lead. Mainly BLW though. She is now just 2 a will quite happily eat a roast dinner with a fork but then occasionally insists "Mummy help" with her ricecrispies - and I have to spoon feed her. Funny little things 2 year olds

BLW - my type of feeding, less prep, less having to do. OK a little more washing, but I found turning their shirt inside out before dinner did the trick.

mabana