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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

If you chose NOT to do BLW, what were your reasons?

218 replies

mrsb26 · 06/01/2016 19:56

Looking to start weaning dd soon and have been reading up on various approaches.

I understand that baby led weaning seems to be the 'thing' for many mums at the moment. I see its benefits in many ways, but also air on the side of caution with it for other reasons.

If you chose to wean traditionally (eg puréed food first), what were your trains for not doing BLW?

Am I right in saying that the NHS recommends a combination of purées and finger foods from around six months?

OP posts:
Bluelilies · 06/01/2016 20:03

Mine are a bit older so it wasn't such a thing to do BLW when i was weaning. It's a lot less messy to spoon feed than it is to let the baby feed themselves. And more food is consumed by a younger age which can help with sleeping longer at night. I had one friend did BLW and her DS was still 90% BF and waking 8 times a night by about a year old by which time mine was eating and sleeping like a toddler which was much easier.

gamerchick · 06/01/2016 20:06

I didn't do it because of the mess.

anonymice · 06/01/2016 20:07

Same as pp. By six months DD1 was waking five times a night for milk and at eight months I had to go back to work. So I did a mix of finger foods and purees just to give her more food. I have MS and epilepsy so sleep was vital for me and with BLW she just needed loads of breast milk.

BumWad · 06/01/2016 20:07

Baby was prem

wanderingwondering · 06/01/2016 20:09

I didn't do it as 'purely' with 2nd mainly due to mess and time. With my first it suited me to let her play with her food for a while, with 2nd there were times when meals just needed to be over and done with!
Looking back at some photos of DC1 guddling about in plates of stew and fish pie the other day made me think I must have been out of my mind! Whereas at the time I thought I was trailblazing Blush
My non blw child is now a much better eater btw

Haggisfish · 06/01/2016 20:12

The horrendous stress caused by them gagging all the time!!! Plus my childminder (ie my mum!) wasn't happy doing it either. We did give finger food along with purées etc.

SparklyTinselTits · 06/01/2016 20:14

I did a mixture of BLW and spoon feeding. I was advised by HV, GP and paediatrician to wean at 5 months because of my DD's medical issues. She could only hold certain foods that young, so spoon feeding purée foods was the best way to make sure she was actually eating and not just throwing it. Now she's 8mo and refuses a spoon so it's BLW all the way Smile

ZenNudist · 06/01/2016 20:14

I did a mix of finger food and purées from 6 months. I hate waste and mess. I found blw awkward with ds1 as we were cooking specially for him. Easier to give ds2 a bit of whatever veggies etc as was already cooking for 3yo at the time.

I don't think blw babies always get that much to eat and I found both my ds slept better once they were weaned. Also there was a big scare on low iron levels in bf babies when ds1 was weaned so I cooked up all sorts of iron rich foods for him.

I thought some blw stuff was really contrived. I reckon people make way too much of it. Big whoop, give them what you're having, cut/mash/purée as appropriate. Introduce texture early.

It probably works well for some people as all dc are different.

nephrofox · 06/01/2016 20:15

I don't know anyone in RL who has done true BLW. I know a lot of mums with children in the last 4 years, and not one has ever seen the sense in the BLW mantra of never feeding the baby.

You're supposed to put the food in front of them and let them work it out for themselves. No spoonfeeding anything, not even yoghurt etc. It just doesn't seem sensible - they're 5/6/7 month old babies who need help with learning everything from talking to dressing to walking - why would you not help them learn about food?

The vast majority of parents I know do a mixture of spoon feeding pureed homecooked foods and offering finger foods to learn to pick up and bite etc. A technique I might brand as "just feed the damn baby real food" and make a fortune maybe

cookielove · 06/01/2016 20:15

I did a mix of puree and finger foods!

Ds isn't a fan of picking up food himself, even now at 17 months he is relcutant when it is new food and would never eat a while meal blw style. So puree and spoofed is what worked and works for us!

stargirl1701 · 06/01/2016 20:16

DD1 took to BLW like a duck to water.

DD2 refused to put anything in her mouth for 8 weeks so at 8 months I cracked and gave her purées. We did purées for 8 weeks and then switched back to BLW ditching the purées.

BLW was certainly easier than purées. No discernible difference in their eating habits now despite the different approaches.

MeAndTheMajor · 06/01/2016 20:20

I did a mixture of purees and finger food for both of mine, with the purees tending to be Annabel Karmel recipes for the first few months. I considered BLW but I was too nervous everytime my eldest gagged on something (yes, I know there's a difference between the natural gag reflux and chocking) and as I'd waited until 6 months to wean, I wanted them to get eating decent portions relatively quickly.

Both DC weaned really well and meals just seemed to slot into my BF routine. It did mean that I mostly made separate meals for them for the first few months of weaning but I didn't find that much of a hassle - I just made a big batch and froze little individual portions.

Before I started weaning, I read a few posts where people said that BLW children were less fussy and tended to be better eaters. I my experience, this just isn't true - my DC are good eaters with a varied diet and now at 4 and 1 eat largely the same meals as me and DH.

Haggisfish · 06/01/2016 20:20

I always thought 'what would a chimpanzee do' in these situations. Other primates pre masticate their food for their babies, so I figured evolutionarily, purées were closer to what our ancestors would have done. Same with co sleeping. Utterly random I know!!

Saxons · 06/01/2016 20:23

My eldest ate our adult food puréed down. My youngest did baby led feeding, eating lumps of our adult meals. Both are excellent eaters. I personally preferred blw as I could eat at the same time and it was less effort despite the mess.

eurochick · 06/01/2016 20:23

My baby was prem so at 6 months had the motor skills of a much smaller baby and showed none of the signs of readiness for weaning (but paed advised to wean at 6 months anyway). She wouldn't have eaten anything if we had shoved food in front of her and let her get on with it.

Plateofcrumbs · 06/01/2016 20:25

My DS wasn't gaining enough weight BFing alone do I either had to give him more formula or make sure he was eating. So we did puréed meals to make sure he was actually eating. With did finger food too but he didn't actually succeed in eating anything significant that way for a couple of months.

EsmesBees · 06/01/2016 20:26

I was all for doing BLW but there was a line in the book I read about it saying the baby might put on weight at a lower rate to a spoon fed baby. I was incredibly paranoid about dd's low weight and it put me off. Stupid now I look back on it.

MooneyWormtailPadfootProngs · 06/01/2016 20:29

I don't like the mess it makes plus they don't get much to eat. my mum wasn't happy with it either and she looks after dc so purées work for us

villainousbroodmare · 06/01/2016 20:31

DS is 5.5 months and I've been feeding a little rice, squash, banana, and some purées for the last two weeks. I know it's early but I have to hand him over the the almost full time 24 hr care of my parents as I have to be at work - ultra long hours - in 3 weeks' time. He's keenly using his hands and a spoon to put food in and around his mouth, and I'm pretty much following his lead. I'm happy to let him gum a banana or nectarine chunk but I anticipate that DM will go back to porridge from a spoon. But sure, so what? It'll work out.

Rinceoir · 06/01/2016 20:32

If I have another I won't do BLW. DD only started eating tiny amounts at around a year and more substantial amounts at 18months. Weaning was the most stressful experience of parenting so far! Saying that she wouldn't be spoon fed either but I didn't try spoon feeding early on and wonder if that was a factor.

VikingLady · 06/01/2016 20:34

DD was BLW all the way. She once took one single spoonful of purée, decided she wasn't s fan and never touched it again or let me feed her! But it wasn't messy - I just didn't give her sauces until she was bigger.

Fully intended to BLW DS but he can't move food around his mouth properly and has an unbelievably sensitive gag reflex, and at 9mo can only suck 1st stage purée straight from the pouch. I miss BLW. It was FAR easier!

museumum · 06/01/2016 20:35

I did a mixture because ds wouldn't take a bottle and I had to work so we started milky porridge and yoghurts by spoon for dairy at the same time as blw foods.
Basically I just gave everything we ate - I didn't purée anything but I did spoon feed things that were naturally spoonable.

Squarerouteofwine · 06/01/2016 20:36

I'm using purées, I don't believe the saying food is for fun before 1 and I like to know that dc's are actually eating something.

I also don't like the increased choking risk and I've weaned from 4 months so wouldn't of been able to anyway.

hazeyjane · 06/01/2016 20:39

Dd1 had a mix of mashed up food and finger foods.

Dd2 I just gave her what dd1 and we had, chopped up on her high chair tray.

Ds had difficulties swallowing, so had to have thickened liquids and puree for a long time.

IMO they were all BLW, as I went with what they could manage, and was led by what they were able and wanted to eat.

Diggum · 06/01/2016 20:39

Same as most others here- mess and couldn't cope with the gagging. I never went for watery purées though, just mashed our dinners with sauce.

DD did actually choke once while I was still giving BLW a go, requiring me to upend her and wallop her back. It freaked the absolute shit out of me and I backed back to coarsely mashed food after that, though she did get the hand of finger foods on a more gradual basis.

I still can't fully accept the assertion, which I think I read on some threads here, that BLW and traditional weaning have about the same risk of choking...