Big vote for BLW

[lucamom]

My DD has been BLW'ing/ed(?) since the day before her 6th month b/day (10 days ago) and I just wanted to add a thumbs up for BLW. I did the Annabel Karmel thing with my 2 boys (now 5 and 3), which was great at the time and in fairness I loved weaning them and generally (moods permitting!) they are good eaters.

However, I read the BLW book and it made such sense I decided to do this with my daughter. For the last ten days she's sat with us and had a variety of foods placed on the highchair tray in large chunks to help herself to, nothing cooked separately for her (we're in the habit of adding salt at the table anyway since cooking for the eldest kids). Yesterday she was chewing (I use the word 'chewing' loosely, as she has no teeth) on a chunk of roast lamb/potatoes/brocolli etc and it was a joy to watch!

If you're thinking of trying it I'd urge you to give it a go. Essentially you're just missing out the puree stage so it's nothing to be fearful of (and the mess is actually less than with puree'd food, as the 'splatter' factor is greatly reduced. I just throw a beach towel or old tablecloth on the floor & scoop up after)

Give it a go, it'll make your life easier (no more pots in the freezer for me!)

We've just started. DD is my PFB and I decided I couldn't get my head round BLW despite reading the Gill Rapley book so started on puree... Lasted two days of everything being spat out before DD sat on my knee furiously opening her mouth, doing her puss in boots face, while I ate a sandwich. A gobbled crust later and we are converts.

Just this week she has gummed rice cakes, carrots, toast and butter, salad leaves, porridge, yoghurt, broccoli and pasta and a chip and taste of ice cream from DH

The only downside is she now thinks all food is for her no matter what it is and who is eating it!

I honestly don't understand the point of it. The HV gave a lecture on BLW and it makes no sense in my head. Her point was that in 'cave man times' (very accurate) babies would just reach over from being carried to grab at mums food when they were ready. I think that is hoo-haa to be honest. It is against all my natural instincts to give my child something that he will gag and choke on!

My DS eats finger food at every meal, and handles chewing and swallowing better than his BLW peers as he's got used to harder and harder things, and doesn't do that vile gagging all the time. My friend is blw and I watched in horror as she was giving her 6 mo sticks of brocolli. My son has them now at 9 months as he can bite bits off and chew, this poor baby at 6mo's was gagging and didn't end up eating any of it. He was scrunching his face up at the flavour aswell. I can't image the first think my son eating was brocolli, it makes so much more sense to give them something that is milk-like but more substantial (ie porridge)

DS literally adores food and I can't imagine not feeding him various stages of textures (puree feeding is a stupid term and innacuarate as my ds had puree for about a week before we started introducing mashes and lumps and finger foods together).

I was unsure of it, but have read into it and think it is something I could definetly get on board with. I gave DD her first 'finger foods' today when we shared a banana....when I say shared, I ate, she sucked and mushed. She also had a slice of Galia melon to suck on too, which she has enjoyed and helped with her teething.

It seems good. The only thing is, DH and eat in the evenings as he gets home late and DD is in bed. I think I might have to do it mainly for breakfast and lunches with me.

Can they have scrambled egg? Would you just put it sloppily on the tray for them to pick up and mush?

Save a portion from your dinner for her to eat the next day?

Yes, im going to do that tonight. We are having a full roast, so will keep a little bit of chicken breast and some brocoli. Can she have a yorkshire?

Also, I know babies arent supposed to have honey but I have some aunt bessie frozen honey glazed parsnips....should I avoid giving these?

I think am right in saying the toxin thing (want to say botulism but can't remember if that is right!?) isn't destroyed by cooking but you might want to ask Dr. Google.

Yorkie puds are fine though and much nicer

Sorry boom why do you have to post in this thread then? FYI my DD never gagged or vomited back anything. She also hated all the purees I prepared for two weeks before I gave up. She wouldn't open her mouth when I stuck a spoon at her face. Do you tell a mum like me my DD was simply not ready for food when all she wanted was self feeding?

A roasted parsnip may be cooked long enough at a hot enough temp to kill the botulism spore, but probably not. The risk is really remote, but it gets lower and lower the older you get - the ability for the spore to pass from the gut will disappear. In the years before it was identified and the advice changed there were hardly any cases over 6 months, but there was one case in the 15 or so years in the US at just before 12 months. The risk is tiny, but it's also easy to avoid with nothing lost. Keep the roast parsnips to yourself (or better still have them without honey, they're much tastier)

booomchikkawowow, I have BLW both my DCs and your description of it is utterly alien to me. As for your scepticism that babies in 'cave men times' would eat chunks of food - do you think that cave men had blenders?

I did BLW with mine because, growing up, I was an incredibly fussy eater: I didn't like food with 'lumps', wouldn't try new things, etc etc. I was attracted to BLW because I read that it would help with all this, and it has. DD (30 months) will try almost anything. Also, after the initially messy period, she is a very tidy eater. DS (8 months) is now following in her footsteps ...

In case anyone is interested in doing it but doesn't want to buy the book, there's an article that covers the basics here: www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/05/foodanddrink

No bother, ate all the parsnips have kept a yorkshire and a bit of brocoli and a bit of chicken.

I like it. I like seeing DD with a finger of food that she can choose to suck on/nibble without me shoving mush into her mouth against her wishes.

I tried her with a bit of fruit puree on a spoon and she just kept trying to grab the spoon so I let her and she licked the stuff off like a lolly. maybe shes a natural BLWer?

I'm with booomchikka. Also, my paediatrician said it was important to get babies to consume iron and the best way is to purée beef. Seeing as he is a highly trained, specialist child and baby doctor I have decided to take his advice.
Quite a lot of my friends are doing/have done BLW. About half of them started incorporating purée at about 9 months for various reasons (but all linked to the fact that babies didn't eat enough). 3 of my friends realized that their babies mostly ate bread and not much else.

Personally I think it is a fad.

The thing I really don't get is how everybody likes to divide up into these camps - BLW/co-sleeping/attachment parenting/unconditional parenting blah blah blah.

Like someone upthread said, most of us give our dcs loads of finger food and a couple of spoonfuls of purée too. What's the big deal?

Just like the co-sleeping brigade. What's wrong with just having your dc in your bed? Why do they have to give it a faddy label and shout about it?

Last week I saw someone wearing a t-shirt saying 'I'm a co-sleeping, baby-wearing, Breastfeeding, earth loving mummy' or something to that effect. I nearly brought up my breakfast on her Birkenstocks. I mean loads of us do all those things but who gives a fuck really?

'Last week I saw someone wearing a t-shirt saying 'I'm a co-sleeping, baby-wearing, Breastfeeding, earth loving mummy' or something to that effect. I nearly brought up my breakfast on her Birkenstocks. I mean loads of us do all those things but who gives a fuck really?'

Well said crazyday. If only it were possible to express views about parenting without making such a song and dance about it and without going to war with everyone who disagrees ...

So, to clarify: I BLW both my DCs, and am convinced that this is the best way to wean children .... however, I concede that it is possible to feed your children purées without doing them irreparable damage :D

Urgh yes those awful t-shirts. I saw a babies vest that said something like 'I am a breastfed, sling carried, co-sleeping, non vax'd happy baby'! I just thought, anyone who actually put their baby in that would be a complete twat! (DS is none of those things!)

We did BLW with DS and I just think it is the best thing ever! However, I hate that it is called Baby Led Weaning and never use that term to people in real life as it just sounds so wanky.

I agree pp, BLW is for MN only. Giving DD bits to suck on is what I say in RL.

Also, my paediatrician said it was important to get babies to consume iron and the best way is to purée beef.

Pureed. Beef.

Or a nice wedge of beef off your dinner for them to gnaw on....or spinach, or broccoli...these are both iron rich.

I'm the same as madame in RL I say 'she just eats what I eat within reason'.

TheHonMrsP ^Pureed. Beef.

Thehonmrsp and fredfredgeorge - that is just the attitude I don't understand as mentioned upthread. Why do you care what others do? Why bother to mock us for not doing BLW exclusively?

It is amazing what babies can eat at a young age when you let them. I've been really surprised at how well DS could demolish a banana or a peach at 6 months. He drops a lot of it on the floor still but at least some of it is getting in there.

It's been so great to bypass all that pureeing as well - friends of mine who went down the Annabel Karmel route were giving me tips about pureeing things and putting them in ice-cube trays etc. It all sounded like a huge effort when they don't even start to get much nutrition out of solid food until they're 8 or 9 months anyway.

Yesterday we had Greek salad for dinner and DS (7 months now) loved the cucumber sticks I gave him because they cooled his gums down (didn't give him any olives though because they're too salty). You can see it's actually good for them to gnaw on the solid food as it helps their teething pain.

I do think that there's no reason to be a purist though. I have spoon-fed DS things like oatmeal and mashed potato because he can't feed himself those types of things yet (did try rolling the mashed potatoes into a ball to hold in his hand but he just squashed it... )

Presume cave babies had food partially chewed by their mother if they couldn't manage it alone? Seems the obvious pre blender solution.

If I am following my son's lead then I guess that means we're BLW. Unfortunately my son has decided that food should come in a spoon, as rapidly as possible. A shame as he's a twin so would be great to be able to give him finger food to play with in between feeding his sister, but he won't entertain the idea. Food, now, slave!

Crazy, it's because liver is more iron rich, and lend itself more naturally to mush? Liver pate anyone? You just have a very unfortunate example because puréed beef does sound a bit yuck.

BTW liver is a soft food that's easily chewable for toothless babies too.

What if you have a baby like my DS who didn't put stuff into his mouth? Not toys, not fingers, not food.

It was fabulous from the point of not having to hoik bits of crap from the floor out of his mouth every 5 minutes, but if we'd have done BLW he'd have just held and looked at the food for 18 months!

DD seems to be a bit more 'mouthy' (in several ways!) so I might give it a try with her, alongside purees as I love cooking and blending all sorts of concoctions!!