Please talk to me about your experiences of BLW and/or traditional weaning (title edited as thread moved from AIBU)

[IceNoSlice]

Or can someone please tell me why they chose traditional weaning over BLW?

I have just read the BLW book, all seems good but am thinking I've only seen half the argument. I want to consider whether purée and finger foods might be the way to go...

Ps sorry this isn't really an AIBU but wanted your attention. I clearly d

[Whatdoiknowanyway]

What an odd title to use if youre just looking for opinions.

Why would you define yourself by how you feed your baby? Why would you judge another parent for their quite valid weaning choices? Surely you can ask for opinions without denigrating other options? Poor choice of vocabulary OP.

This generation puzzles me.

I weaned mine, on advice, at 3 months 19 and 20 years ago respectively. Purees but nothing fancy. Basically used a stick blender to purée much of what we were eating anyway. We don't use salt in cooking. Only hiccup was when I freaked out the childminder after giving DD puréed beet root for her tea the night before. Nappies were interesting the next day.

I don't remember getting so worked up about weaning, it was just a stage which we dealt with and moved on. Agree 'finger food' has been around forever.

[quoteunquote]

People buy books about this, seriously.

Talk about reinventing the wheel.

[MrsMelons]

I did both and I think it is ridiculous to suggest there is ONLY one way to do anything.

DS1 was 4 months (on advice by HV) so he had pureed food until 6 months, then mainly finger food. He is the best eater I have ever seen, much better than most of his friends.

DS2 was 6 months and for some reason gagged on pureed stuff (if it wasn't completely smooth) so had finger food all the time as it suited him better. He is actually not as good a eater as DS1.

Sometimes just finger food is not the best way of getting a full meal into a baby as some of them mess around with it so much so I think you need to do what is best for your child.

My friend pureed her DSs food until he was 3, he hardly eats anything at all now (age 7) and can't hold cutlery properly as he was fed my his mum with a spoon all those years. I think it is all common sense!

[SugarplumMary]

You can stick purée onto bread and then they can feed it themselves or on other solid finger foods. Plus you can stick a spoon there for them to expeiment with.

IME people purée as its the done thing as there is a whole industry promoting that idea, or they are weaning early or they don't like mess.


I liked letting them get on with it and govern how much they ate- but GP did try and 'feed' the DC when they were around - that was a real pain as MIL especially can't grasp that everything in bowl doesn't have to be eaten - I put my foot down when she actually made one of the DC sick ignoring the signs they weanted to feed themesleve and didn't want any more..

[StarlightMcKenzie]

[BabsAndTheRu]

My kids have always been good wee eaters but right gusslers, so any time I tried BLW they would really struggle and gag because they ate too quickly, so had to go with puréed food and introduce finger food slowly over time. Never did them any harm, great eaters now. You just have to go with what works for you and them.

[ethelb]

I don't understand what you are considering traditional weaning?

Traditional weaning involved giving your children some food. Some of it finger foods. Some not.

The notion of giving every vaugly different aspect of parenting a name is a very recent thing.

[ICBINEG]

dunno about sensible but it is certainly the lower effort method.

Why bother making purees if it offers no advantage?

I thought some study showed that BLW babies choked less on average than puree fed?

[Nancy66]

god, you really can sell any old shite to mothers can't you?

[mrsjay]

Only hiccup was when I freaked out the childminder after giving DD puréed beet root for her tea the night before. Nappies were interesting the next day.

DD2 (14) had been at the childminder and she gave her some puree fruit and her nappy was erm a bit ripe and bright pink I thought good god my baby has exploded

[ICBINEG]

nancy do you mean books? Or maybe ice cube trays, blenders etc?

[threesocksmorgan]

Nancy66 well said

[mrsjay]

I thought some study showed that BLW babies choked less on average than puree fed?

all babies choke and gag it is a reflex and i had to rescue a BLW baby at work from a carrot stick it got stuck it is swings and roundabouts really it is what the parent is comfy with.

[IceNoSlice]

Arf at puréed beetroot nappies

[wasabipeanut]

The OP's wording is very inflammatory. I am currently weaning DC3. The first 2 are great eaters. Number 1 was purée fed with finger foods introduced later - I clearly had more time on my hands in those days. DC2 had a bit of purée but was a bottomless pit and quickly graduated to fork mash of whatever we/her brother was having and finger food.

DC3 is having mainly finger food but some whizzed up bits of what we have where appropriate. I have done some veg and fruit purées to keep in the freezer to add in where I might want to add them to the chicken or fish we may be eating for example. I cooked these purées during other cooking. It really wasn't that difficult or time consuming.

I get really fucked off with this inference that purée feeding is sooooo time consuming. It probably is if it's all you do but a flexible approach creates very little extra work. It also allows you to respond to the needs of your child. BLW obsessives might refuse to help their baby even if it's having as lazy day and wants a hand with its yoghurt!

Most people just do a bit of this and a bit of that. So what?

[bigkidsdidit]

I did fork mash (which i fed ) for the first bit of te meal with finger pods alongside. DS is a bi boy and his appetite far outstripped his ability to put food in his mouth. I fed him normal food, but mashed quickly, eg I'd feed him cottage pie and give him green beans to eat himself.

By 7-8 months he was feeding himself everything except soup and yogurt. At 2 he is still a superb eater and uses cutlery very well.

Being too dogmatic about things isn't baby led IMO - your baby might want some help!

[SugarplumMary]

See my eldest is only 7 and remember weaning being made out to be this horribly complex process - a lot of mothers got very anxious about it and had very forthright views about it.


Once you've done it you realise it's no big deal. By my third - she basically weaned herself just before 6 months as the older DC, toddler and reception age, gave her what they were having when she obviously wanted it. Luckily nothing unsuitable.

[mrsjay]

and babies are weaned later now so at 6 months my babies were eating food in their hands by themselves so Blw is just the 2nd stage weaning that us oldies did it isn't revolutionary at all imo

[IceNoSlice]

Again, sorry to offend with the title - it was designed to grab attention and was perhaps foolish

However the tactic seems to have worked judging by the number of responses. Thank you so much.

I really don't think anyone is ridiculous - I don't care how you feed your kids in that sense. Up to you.

[GlaikitFizzog]

Blw is fine to start with, until the little blighters decide they don't want what you are having so you end up cooking twice anyway!

The more effort I put into making something, home made bread, chunky soup, cheese and lentil wedges, the stronger the refusal. In the end I went to spoon feeding because he wasn't eating anything I put in front of him at all. He is better now at 20 months and is now using his own spoon and fork.

I think you do what works for you and don't believe the hype in something just because its packaged up nicely.

[THERhubarb]

OK ice you admit the title was just to garter a response so here is what I think.

I think the term Baby Led Weaning has made some people a lot of money. What they did was essentially take finger foods, make it more extreme by discouraging purees and spoon-feeding, then market the phrase, bring out a shed load of books and enjoy the profits.

When my youngest was born the advice was to wean at 3 months. It then changed to 6 months. The advice was also to start with milky porridge then tr home purees, introducing your baby to different tastes. When they were around a year old you can start trying them out with more sour and bitter flavours.

They also suggested finger foods like carrots (half cooked at first and then raw), bread, cheese, fruit sticks and so on.

It all seemed very sensible and there was not a huge problem with it. Then BLW came along and suddenly we were doing it all wrong and MN was awash with threads from supporters and critics alike. I remember some supporters were really quite patronising and overly critical and that put me right off.

I now think it's just a huge money-making exercise. You should do what you think is right for your baby. They are all different. Like barleysugar said, her baby had a sensitive gag reflux. Other mums opted for the easiest option as they were going back to work. So you do what fits in with your circumstances and your baby.

My only concern is that, as I mentioned before, my ds nearly choked to death on a Milky Star. He was a toddler and was happily eating them from a packet. I then noticed that he just lay down. I tried to get him up but he just collapsed on the floor. I instinctively slapped him on the back, he coughed and spluttered and then slowly came back round. He was off for the rest of that day. The doctor told me that he most likely had a milky star stuck in his throat that was cutting off his oxygen supply. If I had not been there, he would have just lost unconsciousness.

I know a lot of BLW advocates pooh pooh the idea of babies choking, but it happens and I'd personally rather not risk it. Yes they do have to eat lumpy food but I'd rather that happened a little later when their gums are nice and hard (or when they have teeth) and they can mash food up properly. My dad has no teeth and he can't manage some lumps of food so how can a baby?

Those are just my thoughts though. I'm more than happy to leave other mums to raise their own children as they see fit

[MrsBungleBear]

Yep another one who just does a bit of this and that.

I don't do ice cube trays of puree. I mash up.a bit.of what we are having or give finger foods or both. I spoon feed yoghurt and weetabix etc.

I really can't understand the big deal about it. You don't need books and a 'title' for feeding your baby food!

[AutumnMadness]

Seriously, just do whatever works for you and your baby. Some mother could not be bothered to mush food, some love having multicoloured collections of frozen cubes of puree neatly stacked in the freezer. Some babies love mush, other hate it, yet other love eating mush with their own hands, styling their hair with it. The only thing that matters to me is that eating should be a pleasant experience for a child and not some kind of ideological battleground.

Incidentally, I sort of BLWed my DS. He is 2 now. He will not even look at veg and his favourite food is chips. The greasier and saltier the better. He loves chips from our local fish and chips shop. I get queasy just looking at them. But I am sure it's just a phase.

[veryworried29]

Oh I really really really do wish people wouldn't put up attention-seeking and wanky ops like this and just use the bloody Forum properly with some respect for their fellow posters.

[THERhubarb]

You do if it sells and makes some people very rich MrsBungleBear.