Is anyone not doing BLW?

[redandyellowandpinkandgreen]

I read the books on it and before we started it made perfect sense to me and that's what I was planning on doing. Then came DS. He gags on everything and is sick at least once while eating. He looks bloody uncomfortable to poor thing. I put bits of food in front of him and he ignores it completely. I hand it to him and tries to shove it in his mouth but generally misses and then gets annoyed. I have to admit I am not great with mess either so that is a bit of a problem.

Then I started to think about it more. He's just wee and has no teeth, a strong gag reflex, not a great grip so why is BLW so great? I have seen and admired it in practice in other babies but surely it can't work for every baby?

We are currently eating purees and I am still offering finger foods alongside that and seeing how it goes but I do feel in the minority now when everyone seems to be merrily BLW and doing really well at it.

We were going to do BLW and I have to confess, got a bit preachy about it. However, like a lot of people have said, DD was too hungry and not dexterous enough with finger foods to satisfy her appetite. I agree with the ethos of not feeding a baby till they're ready (felt a lot of pressure to wean early from the other mums in my NCT group who weaned at 4 months. Buckled under pressure, gave her some baby rice at 20 weeks and she screamed and threw up everywhere so waited for 6 months) but think you can definitely get a bit precious about the dos and don'ts of BLW. We give her finger foods at meal times but top up with purees (she refuses to be spoon fed so she sucks Ella's Kitchen pouches straight out the pouch). But it would be nice if she would spoon feed occasionally when I'm in a hurry... Don't agree about the mess - IME feeding a baby any which way is messy. We get more messy when we attempt spoon feeding!

Basically I think you can get really hung up on these things and the 'rules'. If it works for you and your baby, keep doing it!

Just popping on here to say we're exactly the same: bits and pieces from everywhere, really. I started with mush a week ago, mainly because the BLW Mafia were starting to annoy me round here. I hate being preached to and find them, with their crocs and sling obsessions (have also been told off for my Baby Bjorn) really irritating. However, my little chimp ate a whole, unmashed banana today. I'll continue to give him finger food, but he already cries if I don't spoon his mush in quickly enough. Have to say he's thoroughly enjoying it.

p.s. waited until he was 23 weeks and wish I'd started earlier- he's much happier now and needs BF loads less. Has also cut down on his night feeds.

You've made me laugh Tortu with your 'sling obsession' comment!

I'm not. Did it with DC2 and he's a fussy bugger 3 yrs later. DC3 gets JARS :o

Nope. We started weaning at 6 months (now 10 months) and offered mashed stuff and finger foods, cooking stuff especially for her (got to admit, I like my Annabel Karmel cook book for some good mash/lumpy purees) or spooning off some of ours/giving her half my sandwich. She's always fed herself with loaded spoons - she wouldn't let us pop it in her mouth if we tried! She's also a dab hand at finger foods. I know BLWers say that by giving them the food to pick at from the start they'll develop holding/chewing/swallowing skills in the right order (or something ) but it's never been a problem, and besides, they just get better at it as they get older. She eats loads: yoghurt, mashed fruit, toast, sandwiches, pasta, risotto, pieces of fruit, cucumber sticks etc. She's got two teeth now and they also help :)

Well, we are - there's nothing that says you can't put a bit of yoghurt on a spoon and offer it to the baby. Just that you shouldn't force them to eat it if they don't want to. I am 1. extremely lazy and 2. a fan of homecooked food so BLW suits us. And as babies should be eating finger foods from six months, why not? I understand it doesn't suit everyone but don't understand some of the vitriol on this thread.

I never really planned on BLW, now it's a mix. Started spoon feeding purees and as she became more confident offered her things to eat with her hands, most gets mushed about but feel satisfied knowing she is getting a good taste from spoon feeding as well as trying to co ordinate/chew. As she gets to grips will offer her more handheld food.

Feel a bit of an outcast as everyone else is BLW obsessed.

I did BLW but put things like porridge on a spoon and popped it in front of the baby. Same with anything that adults generally eat with a spoon - runny stuff, etc. Object a bit to the idea that BLW-ers are a bunch of judgy, croc-wearing, sling-obsessives. Does everything have to be reduced to a stereotype?

Whatever works for your baby, surely?

We're not. Just started weaning at 5 months and have done mashed fruit, veg and a bit of baby rice. Gave her a cooked carrot baton as finger food and she had a bit of a chew and swallowed a few lumps. I guess I just took from BLW the fact that babies can manage finger feeding at earlier than I thought and you don't need to make special mush for them - which is good as I'm pretty lazy.

Sorry Gherkinsmummy but you can't force a baby to eat something. If they don't want it they will not open their mouth.

As far as I am concerned all weaning is baby led. They will eat it or they won't so it is all led by the baby - whether they have puree, jars, finger foods or whatever.

At 10 months I feed DD with a spoon and also let her help herself. I don't mind the mess but if I let her feed her whole meal she gets bored before she gets full and gets frustrated, so I spoon feed her some and put some on her highchair that she sometimes eats, and sometimes chucks on the floor.

When we are out for the day, I always take a jar of food. It's easy, not too messy and she will eat it cold. She then has a little of whatever we are eating.

There is no right way, just what is best for your baby.

We do not BLW, because I tried the idea, and it's far too messy for me, and also nothing gets eating just squashed in hands and dropped around. Real waste of food, and I didn't feel that rich to waste it.
Of course our 8 months old gets finger foods.
My 3yo wasn't BLW as well and is just a happy cheerful lad.

I've read this thread with joy - I'm not alone! I've thought of starting a similar thread but honestly thought I'd be lambasted (got PND, paranoid and vulnerable )

I tried blw with ds1, he ended up eating nothing but pasta for a year. I first tried to spoon feed him aged 8 months and he never wanted to take a spoon, in retrospect it was far too late. It was awful, the most stressful thing I have ever experienced. I felt like such a crap mum that my son was not getting the right nutrition and although he is much more adventurous with his food now aged 3, I worry that his poor diet as an infant will have had a permanent effect on his health and intelligence.
Ds2 on the other hand now eats anything and everything. I have given him both purees and finger food since 5 months old. I'm really glad that I learned from blw that most babies can handle lumps, and that gagging is not choking, but I just don't buy it that babies will naturally choose a balanced diet. They will choose the things that are easiest to eat (if I put all lumps in front of ds2, he will invariably eat the pasta/toast before the veg because it is easier to hold).
I don't mind the mess of blw - tbh my haphazard attempts at spooning purees into my ds create more mess than him chucking toast about. But blw is much more wasteful, which makes me a bit about it being the most "natural" way to wean - surely resources were too scarce for this in most primitive societies?

Hurray for the common sense on here - I think BLW is a bit over-rated and as someone else said earlier, there is a lot of silly snobbishness about it. I read the BLW book and thought it was a bit full of itself TBH.

I've noticed many supposedly BLW babies are just given scraps of whatever their parents are eating. How is that so great or revolutionary?! Or else the babies nibble at bits of fruit and vegetables, all with very low calorie content, and then their parents wonder why their LOs don't sleep at night. I am no expert AT ALL but can't help wondering if there is a correlation.

We're using Annabel Karmel and Gina Ford recipes, made in batches and frozen so I don't have to cook from fresh all the time, plus some finger foods (bits of broccoli, tomato and cheese seem to go down well, as well as toast with cheese spread on it) and now and then shock horror :) some Ella's kitchen pouches or Cow and Gate jars. Which all goes down well... although I have to say, DS seems to like the home made food best smug grin!!!

I'd say just do whatever works for your baby and you. And enjoy it as much as you can!

PS just to say - someone said rather snootily 'oh my DD never eats processed food as though it was the work of the devil :)

but those little jars and packets come in very handy sometimes...

And anyway then this person proceeded to give her child a baby biscuit ... er, like that's not processed!!! :)