BLW and Grandparents

[kate11980]

Looking for advice from anyone who has BLW and had GP's look after their babies.

I have to go back to work next week for 4 day a week and my parents will be looking after by DD for 3 days a week (she will be 10.5 months old). They are a little sceptical about BLW however by DD is a total spoon refuser and refuses to be fed by another person (bar yoghurt) so self feeding is the only way she will eat.

She is not a great eater however likes pasta, bread, cheese and dry cereal. A lot of the food gets chucked on the floor, smeared on her clothes and face.

Has anyone got any experience on BLW and Grandparents looking after their children? Did it work well? My parents dislike mess so if anyone has ideas for non-messy meals that would be great.

how will they manage looking after a child if they don't like mess?

tbh at her age, how she was weaned is less relevant, tbh, she only eats yoghurt from a spoon and that's about the size of it. how is she with a fork and pasta twirls?

Thanks for your response.

When i say they don't like mess I really mean they are use to being able to feed their grandchildren neatly using a spoon or by placing food near their mouth ( things you can't do with my DD). They are accustomed to the rest of the mess babies make!

DD certainly likes playing with a fork but is not very co-ordinated so is a way off being able to eat pasta with a little fork.

I wouldn't worry-she will probably be quite different for them-DCs adapt.

yes, thinking about it, i don't think mine were doing the fork thing with any dexterity until about thirteen months. sandwiches are neat? i used to toast pitta breads in the toaster stuffed with grated carrot and grated cheese, they were a big hit and neat iirc. have you had a look at the recipes on www.babyledweaning.com ?

I guess fruit and veg are the least messy.

At the end of the day, although GPs are very kind to look after DD, she is your DD and what you say goes, whether that's food, play, who smokes around her, where she goes, discipline etc. If GPs don't feel able to follow your rules, then maybe you all need to have a chat.

Perhaps point them in the direction of babyledweaning.com to answer any questions or doubts they may have. Point out that it is the method recommended by HVs and she is still getting most of her nutrients from milk.

If you can find out why they are sceptical, maybe you can then address their concerns and smooth the transition over.

In fairness, even a spoon-fed baby should be moving towards self-feeding at 10.5 months. So I don't think they or you should emphasise the BLW issue, more the fact that she is moving towards independence.

Provide them with some washable mats for the floor or suggest they buy a Sunday paper each week. I found that a Sunday Times would last nicely until the following weekend, although the magazine section could be a bit slippery. :)

My parents and inlaws were sceptical about BLW, but still supportive. Make sure you talk to them about the whole BLW thing and they'll find out soon enough that if they 'just try' spoon-feeding it simply won't work!

I did lots of sandwich/wrap/toast/pitta-type lunches, but dinners were always messy. The best thing I found was to use a shower curtain - the ones that can go in the washing machine.

I'm sure that the baby will fit in with them-they generally do.

and the baby might well LOVE being spoon-fed by the GPs... and despite running that website linked to before and being a huge fan of BLW it's just not something i'd bother about at 10.5 months if i was getting brilliant, loving childcare. she's weaned, she doesn't like spoons, it's all fine. they'll get on beautifully i am sure and are so, so lucky to have each other.