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

[Enid]

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.

they aren't left to fend for themself. we all eat together.

I just give ds a fork with his food. He eats with his hands and trys to use the fork. He loves it. He'll happily sit trying to use the fork for ages. I dont see a prob with spooning in some food every now and then though. Or when im out with ds I bring a banana out and break bits off and put them in his mouth for him. If he's not hungry he shakes his head and I stop trying. Simple as that really.

Why does everything have to have a name. Just follow what the child wans to do. Some like finger foods, some like to be fed with a spoon don't just follow what ever has the fashionable name!

i was being sarky

sorry folks

i think a bit of both is best IME

PanicPants - I asked a similar question recently, and someone pointed out that a baby doing blw is used to moving food to their mouth themselves, so it's actually less of a progression for them to move to using a spoon themselves than it is for a baby who is used only to opening their mouth to receive food. I think they were right as my 9 month old can now feed herself porridge from a spoon as long as I load it up for her.

Bit of boths good. Wish ds would let me feed him abit more. He's very determined to do things himself though.

Oh goodness no - for me blw was about letting ds eat the way he wanted to, pure and simple. He would not be spoon fed and was getting quite upset when we tried, so I was just relieved to find a way of getting food into him! But I don't really see how it is more work - I found it much easier to give him a bit of what we were having than to lovingly puree veg, only for him to refuse it! And you certainly don't leave them to it. But I am not a purist about it - over time he would let me spoon-feed certain things, like soup and yoghurt - well that's fine by me, that's what he wanted.

I think there's always something to angst over. You have to do what works for you and your baby.

god NO, not in the least. I think it is bloody marvellous and wish ferevntly that I had known about it last time. IT is loads less work and realy good for the shared mealtime experience (lol at "fending for themselves" do you think we just let them rummage around ont he floor or something no, surprisingly we all sit round the table, imagine that)
and it is a really good thing for a baby to be in control of his own food intake from the beginning - good for learning about appetite and tastes and controlling your own intake.
tbh, when I see a mother sppon feeding a baby with puree now, it looks so odd and unappetising. and I have also noticed the tendency to try and shove in "one more spoonful", which just doesn't happen with BLW ime.

but the fun starts when your otherwise wondeful eater who's been happy to feed himself finger foods or feed himself from a spoon suddenly hits that lovely age, about 2-4yrs old when they CAN'T DO IT. And you end up feeding them anyhow.

Hc isnt it a horrendous mess?

Hmmm, I cannot lie Cod - it is very messy, but it improves with time, and at least it looks like they've had fun with the food!

ooh no time fo fun here

Sometimes I feed mine with a spoon, and that something could be some lentil vegetable thing or it could be a yoghurt.

Sometimes I'll give her fruit, toast, bits of veg, avacodo, sandwiches, cucumber etc etc and she feeds that to herself.

This has been happening for 4 months and she's 10 months old now.

I call it feeding her!

PS - Enid mine loves feeding herself peas, it's well funny and hey - helps develop that pincer grip while you laugh at them!

Enid, you know not giving your child porridge pancakes is a reportable offence.

Porridge pancakes are good because they are quick to make, can be stored in the fridge (so you can do them in advance) and they contain nutritional foods like erm... oats and milk.

Baby can choose to eat as much or as little as they want and as the consistency is usually like a lovely big floppy thing, they can manhandle it without losing it on the floor IYSWIM... it usually gets to its destination eventually !

When you're out and about and want something which will fill them up, tastes OK and is healthy, it's brill.

Oh, and I think BLW is not at all about rules and I couldn't give a stuff whether anyone does it or not.

Oh, and TC's post (she will never be TeeCee for me ) sums up very clearly a typical, sensible 'balance' of food vs. finger... as time passes so the child eats more independently.

BLW, as I understand it, is basically giving them your food as far as possible then if need be topping them up with slops.

so what mums of 2 or more have done since the dawn of time really

fillyjonk I wish you had posted that immediately and stopped all this nonsense

No fillyjonk - blw means you don't top up with slops (not saying that there's anything wrong with that, but it isn't what blw is at all).

so why dont you? Whats the philosophy behind it? Why would you actually NOT feed your baby if she wanted you to so as to get them to feed themselves?

(aware this sounds like attacking rant but I am genuinely interested)

eh?

so what, they go hungry?

I did what I thought was blw, but I did always top up, cos dd, at 6 months, did not have the co-dination to get stuff in her mouth.

If I hadn't fed her then she would have been missing out on food she wanted, just cos she didn't have the co-ordination to get it in her mouth! Which seems a little harsh!

Explaination please!

Personally I think it's up to the individual how you wean your baby.

Alfie (7.5 months) uses a spoon himself or his hands. I love BLW and wouldn't have done it any other way but I don't think it's a crime to feed your baby if you prefer. I have no more angst about what to give him than if it was mush. he just eats what we eat or ingredients of our meal if it's unsuitable. No stress, no pureeing, I can eat my dinner whilst he eats his. Personally I can't see any problems with BLW, but I may be lucky as my little chap love sit too. If your baby wants you to spoon feed them then that's being Baby Led too IMHO.

Message withdrawn

and what does happen if your BLW child reaches a stage when they don't want to feed themselves (as is common IME), but won't let you feed them because they're not used to it??

I pureed for DS2 and tbh never found it an issue finding time to puree the dinner and spoon feed it to him while DS2 was eating his and eating mine at the same time. It certainly took no longer than cleaning up the mess when he had used his fingers to eat - infact often quicker!

He now uses a fork without any problems - so doesn't seem to have 'missed out' on learning how to do that.

Haha, yes I totally agree with you Pruni!

(Both of mine, especially ds, would have been screaming the place down if I didn't shovel the food in fast enough)