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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Ok since we are on food, lets talk about Baby Led Weaning - isnt it just ANOTHER set of rules for mums to fail at?

277 replies

Enid · 16/11/2006 15:01

Because by NOT following baby led weaning I don't have any angst about what to give dd3 for breakfast. I give her porridge, I spoon it in, she eats it, end of. I mean, sorry, but porridge pancakes!? Why bother?

I liked the idea of it but there seem to be toooooooooooo many threads asking for advice and what to feed your baby etc - this suggests to me that it is just ANOTHER thing to angst over. I mean, if I am giving dd1 and 2 shepherds pie with peas, how am I supposed to feed it to dd3? so she gets the same thing mashed up and spooned in, hurrah.

OP posts:
PanicPants · 16/11/2006 15:05

Agree!!

Never did BLW, never heard of it before I had ds (15months)

Isn't it where you just chuck a load of food on the highchair and baby eats what they want?

Isn't that just finger food?

Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:06

yes I think so

dd3 has finger food but I also spoon it in

but i think spooning in is frowned on in BLW circles

wheres aitch?

OP posts:
gegs73 · 16/11/2006 15:08

My ds couldn't really put any food properly into his mouth which he could pick up himself, chew (being sufficiently solid enough for him to pick up)and swallow until he was past one. Sounds like a whole load of faff to me. Give me a spoon anyday.

Quootiepie · 16/11/2006 15:08

its about my thread, isnt it Sorry, I do ask alot of questions, but, no one I know has a baby to ask these things too... and I just happen to be doing BLW. I dont think im better for doing it than people who dont, its just a way of weaning im chosing to follow... like people chose controled crying or the no cry sleep thingy... I didnt mean to upset anyone

lornaloo · 16/11/2006 15:08

Baby led weaning? What the hells that?

Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:08

and that thread about 'why dodesnt my 7 month old baby feed herself' made me sad

OP posts:
Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:09

lol quootiepie promise promise promise I am not getting at you

would like to discuss it though

OP posts:
auntymandy · 16/11/2006 15:09

thank goodness its not just me!!
I really dont get it!!
Enjoy being a mum its fun and get rid of all these hang ups!!

Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:10

Is it something that those with only one child do?

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 16/11/2006 15:11

Yes and no, really.

DS1 was happy to let anyone spoon stuff in, or feed himself (as long as it wasn't with things that made his hands sticky - he's a very clean child...!).

DS2 on the other hand - good luck getting a spoon anywhere near him, Enid...

So for me, being more baby-led about it (and I'm not holier-than-thou about it by a long way - it's just chucking bits of bread, cheese, meat, veg and fruit on the table or tray for him - I've not made a porridge pancake for him) means he eats stuff and we don't have battles.

AND Enid - have you changed your stance on jars, while we're talking about smuggery over food?

auntymandy · 16/11/2006 15:11

it seems hard work. one bowl of cereal shoveled in over and done in no time!!

hunkermunker · 16/11/2006 15:11

Definitely not something people with only one child do. People with only one child have time to puree

Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:12

oh yes it is different when they get to that annoying stage when they wont let you feed them I agree, then you need suggestions or a high mess tolerance

I still think jars are lazy btw

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 16/11/2006 15:13

Why on earth is it a hang up?

PanicPants · 16/11/2006 15:13

But don't most people do a combination of it all? Ds has phases where he refuses to be fed with a spoon (getting more frequent as he gets older ) so I give him a sandwich, or pitta bread, or fruit etc etc for him to eat himself.

Is there a technical word for that? Or is it a case of mums just muddling along and doing the best they can!

hunkermunker · 16/11/2006 15:14

DS2 has been at "that annoying stage" since just about when he started eating food though. He's only 9mo!

Lazy - that's a step up from abuse then

lornaloo · 16/11/2006 15:14

Im guessing baby led weaning is babys feading themselves?
Ds wont let me feed him. He only really ate solid food once he was old enough to hold a chunk of cheese and eat it himslef.
In the mornings I give him a bowl of shredded wheat with milk and spoon and leave him to it. He enjoys trying to use the spoon. He sometimes lets me feed him if I use my fingers, if I try to spoon something in he shakes his head.

Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:15

yes I think I said feeding jars and only jars is tantamount to child abuse

I plead pregnancy hormones

OP posts:
lockets · 16/11/2006 15:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Enid · 16/11/2006 15:17

I am not having a go at baby led weaners I promise promise promise

I was all ready to do it and then when we got to it...it just seemed loads of hassle

so the concensus is - if you r baby is happy to be spoon fed it is 'ok' to carry on doing it?

OP posts:
auntymandy · 16/11/2006 15:17

finger foods are fine. I just dont understand blw so maybe should keep quiet. Maybe it is just a new name for something we do naturally. But now feel we have to do it by the book.
They all eat eventually...some with a knfe and fork!!!!

cupcakes · 16/11/2006 15:20

everything changes so fast - I had never heard of this when I was weaning dd (3) but now I feel that if I don't do it with baby no3 I'm going to be stuck in the past.

Is it just for babies who don't like the spoon or is there something wrong with feeding from a spoon?

PanicPants · 16/11/2006 15:21

Ds is getting like this, much too independent Think they must all learn the shaking head thing at a secret baby school somewhere!

Lol at enids jars. Comlpetely agreed with you until I went back to work, now give the cm a jar twice a week now

Don't know how else to do it (he only goes to cm twice a week) Ds will be fed at lunch times, but it's getting harder to feed him myself at tea times as he wants to feed himself. So I don't want him to have 2 sandwichy meals a day.

Any ideas, for quick, healthy meals to send to cm (she won't defrost as she's often out at mealtimes)that isn't finger food?

fruitful · 16/11/2006 15:23

Isn't it the other way around - people with only one child do all the purreeing. Second baby, you throw some of your meal in front of them. Third baby, you forget to feed them and wonder why they're so whingy.

With ds I started with the purees. At his second meal of puree, he stole my bread roll out of my hand and ate it.

I thought baby-led meant you let the baby show you what they like. Ds is happy to be spoon-fed yoghurt and weetabix but anything else he has to pick up himself. So that is what we do. Baby-led.

I think that people get hung up over their baby's eating habits whatever 'method' they use. We're mums, worrying is what we're good at...

PanicPants · 16/11/2006 15:23

If your child will eat with a spoon then you don't need to do BLW surely?

If not you use finger foods.

Think it's just a new name for exclusively using finger foods.

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