How on earth does BLW work?

[Ozziegirly]

My DS is 6 months old and has been weaned for a couple of months now. I give him some finger food at most meals and the most he ever "eats" is one tiny mouthful, and barely that. He'll munch on a piece of fruit but only with my help. Mainly it's just mushing it up in his mouth.

But when I spoon feed him he eats LOADS, and a real variety.

So if I was BLW (which I was actually quite keen on until I had an actual child) surely he would be eating way too little? So how does it work?

Perhaps they have more faith in the Australian public then - or Australians in general are more laid back. In Britain there seems to be a culture/competition based around how quickly you can get your baby onto 3 meals a day. The older generation specifically are quite fond of telling you how they had their babies on weetabix by 6 weeks or 12 weeks and it did them no harm, and isn't that poor baby hungry? So they put the guidelines at 6 months knowing most people will start before then anyway.

Yes I must say that's something I don't miss about the UK - constantly being dictated to in terms of your own and your family's health as if you are an imbicile!

I think it is a matter of what works for your baby. I was planning to offer plenty of finger foods but also spoon in wet foods like porridge or yoghurt. DD had other ideas. She has never ever accepted a spoon. She will grab the spoon and wait patiently for me to let go and then cram it into her mouth herself. But if we didn't do BLW she'd starve because spoon-feeding is not an option (she just purses her lips up and cries). Fortunately she is quite enthusiastic about feeding herself and I'm pretty relaxed about mess so this isn't an issue. And yes she does still eat plenty of yoghurt and porridge, she just spatters lots of it around too!

But I know other babies who love being spoon-fed and get frustrated and distressed quickly when offered finger food. And doing what makes your baby happy is more important than whether you spoon feed or do BLW.

My DD was also a little 'anti-spoon' and we tried purees for about a week or so and we were both getting fed up with them (me with the faff of making them, DD not impressed at all) and then I realised she just wanted to self-feed. I read up about BLW and the rest, as they say, is history!!

At first DD didn't really actually eat much either, although she would gum a piece of toast for ages etc. Gradually as the weeks passed, she would eat a bit more and now she eats LOADS.

I have also had so many comments from people about how good her feeding skills are. I remember being out to lunch with a couple of friends back when DD was about 9-10m I think, and one of them had a daughter of about 18m or so, who was still being fed off a spoon by her mother while my DD chomped her way through her own lunch all by herself!! My friend sat and watched DD in awe and couldn't believe how well she could eat. It reinforced my decision to do BLW as the correct one.

Not saying spoon feeding is bad or anything, but it just wasn't the way to go for us.

Definitely agree that which method is best is really down to the baby and also the parent. I wanted to blw ds but was hung up on quantities as he was tiny and he wasn't that interested. It ended up with us both getting frustrated and me back peddling to mashed foods but too late and regretted not just going through the process of purees to lumpy etc. DD on the other hand has taken to blw like a pro, is very keen to try anything put in front of her and is definitely swallowing plenty given her nappies. I'm also much more relaxed about it all and I'm not bothered on the very rare occasion she hasn't wanted something (think she was overtired).
There are definitely some great advantages to blw, like being able to eat your own meal whilst baby feeds herself, not having to faff with making purees or buying jars etc when you eat out- I take out rice cakes etc but then make sure I have something I can share. But its not for every baby nor every parent. As with all things in the great task of child rearing you have to do what's right for your individual family / circumstances.

The UK guidelines on infant feeding do actually say to start solids before 6 months if it's after 17 weeks and your baby is showing the signs of readiness. The signs of readiness are that they are able to sit unsupported and can pick up & taste finger food. I believe that these 'signs of readiness' come from the research considered by the WHO in coming up with the 6 months recommendation. So in that sense, the UK guidelines are no different to Australia - wean before 6 months if your child is ready.