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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:
Blackalice · 17/11/2006 11:49

Thank God I'm not the only mad photo taker LOL! It's worn off for me now afetr 8 or 9 weeks LOL!

AitchTwoOh · 17/11/2006 11:57

i personally believe that you've got to be confident to post a question on a board like this, not the other way around. there are loads of people less brave than yourself who rely on your posting so they can get questions answered that they are too scared to post for seeming dense. at least that's how i see it. no job too small, no question too stupid...

Waswondering · 17/11/2006 12:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AitchTwoOh · 17/11/2006 12:41

i couldn't care less about AK, to be honest. i think some of her recipes are good and i think her writing style is awful. however loads of my friends whose opinions i really respect have raved about her as a lifewaver.
but i do actually think that range is bolleaux. there is no reason for a hand blender to cost that much... and as for selling a strawberry spread... surely if she is to hold to her own principles she should advocate fresh ingredients? (and please don't say that she does, but these are for convenience... what is more convenient than a mashed up strawberry? if you can't get fresh you can prep them and freeze them, or you can just give the child something else.)
i would be highly dubious about someone who advocated 'baby pasta' rather than 'the same damned pasta that everyone else in the family eats', especially when her books have already given her more money than anyone could ever need in a lifetime.
In fact, now that i think of it i'd always held a degree of respect for the woman precisely because she hadn't brought out a range of over-priced kitchen clutter. oooh, it seems i do care about AK after all... honestly, waswondering, did you have a look at the range? it's quite the rip-off...

WriggleJiggle · 17/11/2006 13:13

Oh dear, never realised my thread would cause so many negative comments . I think I should have put it in the behaviour section instead. Before I get in trouble for child abuse canI reasure everyone that she's not starving. When babies start weaning I think they tend to slow down on weight gain - Wriggler has probably increased hers!

AitchTwoOh · 17/11/2006 13:16

don't be daft, wrigglejiggle, i think this has been a really interesting and enjoyable thread. it's good that you and others kicked it off. i was looking at that photo of your dd and the sweetcorn last night, it makes me LOL every time i see it.

WriggleJiggle · 17/11/2006 13:19

Just like to add, I didn't realise babies go through stages when they stop doing things they previously could.

This morning she stole my chocolate biscuit so I guess she's just one of those who prefer the baby bird technique of feeding for most foods, but the grab and stuff method for biscuits - that's my girl!

Tortington · 17/11/2006 13:22

in my day - back inth'olden dayz we used to mash shit up and just give it the kids from about 5 months

owts alright wi' gravy in

i think thats the title of anabel karmels new book

flamesparrow · 17/11/2006 13:28

Only scanned this thread

Fruitful - I have that child... co-operates lovely when we are out (if I can be bothered) and feeds himself at home

I went with "lazy weaning". I just chucked whatever we were eating in front of him... I do have a high mess tolerance.

AitchTwoOh · 17/11/2006 13:30

Mashed Shit, custy?
... i think AK has a recipe for that somewhere, but she adds apricots for sweetness. Apparently it's a recipe her whole family still enjoy eating, which i suppose explains their grins.

Wilbur · 17/11/2006 14:00

spray @ custy and aitch re annabel.

My attempts at blw basically involve ds2 saying "I'm not effing going to eat anything today" and chucking it across the room. He hit ds1 square in the eye with half a roast potato last weekend. I was so proud.

evilstepmom · 17/11/2006 14:38

aitch - love your blog, full of groovy ideas!
dd is 6 months, just now after refusing all food both from a spoon and finger types in her high chair, grabbed whole banana (MY banana!) from my hand and consumed it with gusto sitting on my lap. and that was after buggering about on the boob as well!
just do what you and your baby are happy with IMHO

worleyone · 17/11/2006 18:21

i just have to say ibrought some AK food cubes from boots and once i had fiiled them all i cant get the lids to stay on, i pick the buggers up and they flop over and open, so i have given up, anyone else had a problem with them????

PanicPants · 17/11/2006 18:26

I had a similiar problem with the Ak lolly makers in the summer (Yes I was a sucker too!)

lissiew · 17/11/2006 18:30

I weaned ds at 8 weeks. he was 9lb2oz and he loved it. hes now a v healthy 18 month old who loves his food. isn't picky at all. 1 hv had a go at me but another said that all research was done on children from underdeveloped countries, and they tend to have poor digestion anyway.

lulumama · 17/11/2006 18:45

"Mashed Shit, custy?
... i think AK has a recipe for that somewhere, but she adds apricots for sweetness. Apparently it's a recipe her whole family still enjoy eating, which i suppose explains their grins. "

aitch.....you are bloody funny...!!!!!!!

glad it is not just me! book was bought for me..i used to read the recipes and advice out to my mum in my best prissy voice....

'why yes, babylulu will only have hand squeezed organic kiwi & loganbery summer fruit lollies......whilst wearing a pretty bow in her hair and a lovely pinafore..........."

please write a book Aitch.....i'll proofread.......!!

oops · 17/11/2006 20:10

Message withdrawn

okeydokeygirl · 17/11/2006 20:26

Baby led feeding?? This is a new one to me. Isn't it all just 'eating' no matter how you do it? Why does there need to be a 'method' for it? Do we really need to jargonise everything we do, especially something as basic and essential as eating. Spoonfeeding, fingerfoods? All babies have different needs and desires, we all have different lifestyles and we do what suits everyone the best - yes that might even mean giving food from a jar - where is the crime in that?

Elasticwoman · 17/11/2006 20:44

This thread reminds me of when we moved house when dd1 was under 2 years old and I was hugely pregnant. Couldn't find any cutlery at breakfast next day, dh already scarpered to work, and dd1 was saying "'Poon Mummy! 'Poon Mummy" but I couldn't provide one and she ended up eating her Weetabix with her hands. Does this blw business mean I can forgive myself that one now? I do hope so as it's been 10 guiltridden years ...

puffling · 18/11/2006 13:05

'I just don't get why it's being held up as some dreadfully smug thing to do, to rather lazily bung some bits of grub in front of your baby.' quote

You would only lazily bung food in front of your child if you had a shrewd idea of how to feed in the first place. It's like Jamie Oliver lazily cooking up a pan of shite. He can do it because he already knows how to.

AitchTwoOh · 18/11/2006 13:30

hasn't this already been answered by dizzybint (and myself, if i'm honest)?

IF you want to do BLW (ie feed them finger food, pretty much from your plate) then yes you might want to take a look at your lifestyle and what you eat and improve it if you deem it necessary. i am mystified why you seem to think that's a bad thing.

NO-ONE benefits from eating shite food, neither adults nor children. by all means feed your baby from a jar or feed them purees, do what you want. but once they're past that stage they will be eating what you are eating anyway, so if you are eating crap you'll have to live with that on your conscience.

honestly, this is a long thread and all of these issues have been discussed, why are we just going over the same points again and again? unless this is a new point, puffling, and what you are advocating is that because some adults eat crap whether through ignorance or design, we should all do so in order that no-one feels bad.

misdee · 18/11/2006 13:38

i do a bit of both, i do pureeing at first as i like to know some of its going in their mouths, but also do 'finger foods' dd3 is now 20months old, and is using a spoon and fork well on her own. she does use her hands still, but prefers the fork to stab things.

puffling · 18/11/2006 22:13

'Pan of shite' is a quote from the sitcom 'Early Doors' mocking Jamie Oliver and his genre (no reflection on food quality). My point is that, that which is given to children supposedly at random is actually probably quite well thought out because such parents will have quite a good idea of what is nutritious already.

tiktok · 19/11/2006 17:17

Of course AK won't want people to 'do' BLW - what a thought. Imagine - people might think for themselves and then relax about the whole thing, and that wouldn't do at all.

I am really uncomfortable with the idea that BLW is only for middle class mothers because the rest of the population can't be trusted not to plonk a KFC family bucket on the high chair tray, and so health visitors should not advocate anything but over-priced branded baby gloop.

Good health visiting means supporting and tailoring your support to the needs of the family you are supporting. So if you think the family need a bit of guidance on what their baby might need - and some mothers may not have much of a clue - then you give it. I have a HV friend who uses weaning as a time to tell mothers how simply, quickly and easily prepared fresh foods are good value and enjoyable for their babies and for them.

Brain surgery? I don't think so.

DizzyBint · 19/11/2006 17:28

from talking to other mums it seems like a lot of people like to have very clear guide lines, such as those that AK does, so they know they are giving their baby the 'right' things. when my HV held a weaning class lots of mums said they'd use jars of food cos then they know it's been prepared and nutritionally balanced for their baby by a baby food expert. my neighbour said she was so concerned that she wasn't pureeing her baby's food to the correct consistency that she started using jars instead.