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

[mrsb26]

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?

The name annoys me too.

Let's not dress our babies, they'll put their clothes on when they're ready. Baby led clothing
Let's not wash our children they'll bath when they're ready. Baby led washing

I have no problem with it but the idea that to be baby led you have to stick food in front of them and leave them to it is annoying

I chose a weaning method based on reading about the possible approaches, looking at personal experience of family members who had recently weaned a baby, and NHS advice. Then I chose the way I'd like to wean. You probably went through the exact same process but reached a different conclusion, because your personal circumstances are different to mine. You're making a large assumption that I chose to do BLW because I was going along with a current fad. Really not the case.

I don't think BLW is better, I think it was right for my DS and me. I would recommend it to others because it worked well for us. That doesn't mean I think spoon feeding is bad! I have no personal experience of spoon feeding so don't feel like I can say anything about it at all.

Gill Rapley who wrote the original book about it came up with the term 'baby led'. I'm sure I read somewhere recently that she'd probably call it self feeding rather than BLW if she was writing the book now. Although I could be completely wrong about that. I don't think anyone with half a brain would think that spoon feeding can't be baby led.

Oh god I tied myself in knots over this.

I don't think you can truly choose as often the child chooses!

I think try a bit of everything you're willing to keep giving as they get used to what they're offered. Blw I guess can be easy if you just give them what you're having. But if they turn their nose up you have to decide if you're happy with that. But they can turn their nose up to purée as friends have found!!

Some children are more sensitive to tastes and textures than others just by nature and they can be spooked quite easily, where as others just shovel it in. Then colds and teeth can throw it all out of the window!

I have friend who fully enjoyed her blw and her son gobbled it all up and had a ball. Her daughter started off the same way (same age as my son) and I felt a total failure as my son didn't get into food quickly. Then her daughter stopped eating and just nibbled beige processed food only (mum was distraught as is a total foodie).

My son seemed to expand his range of food after each set of teeth and when he had the will to do so.

I found getting them into a good batch cooked stew and rice very handy, and anything you can hide stealth vegetables in.

For ages he only ate apples, oat cakes, fish fingers and yoghurt. And ready break. Nothing at nursery till he decided he liked their curry

(I really tried blw, went to an lll meeting about it and everything!)

I think one of the central things was the gagging thing and purees are harder to get out of mouth if don't like taste. But ds was completely put off meat after chewing on a finger food piece and getting it stuck on the roof of his mouth.

But he was put off things at the drop of a hat!

Glad this thread has gone back to civilised conversation!

I weaned early so never considered blw tbh, I'm also nervous if finger foods although I have started giving some.

It just seemed natural to me to give purées, my health visitor did advocate baby rice but I skipped it as it has no nutritional value so I didn't see the point.

I think whichever way you chose to feed your baby is fine it's just the judging really does my head in. At baby group there's definitley a few blw who have to pass comments along the lines of oh still on purées jasper loves fillet steak

It's not just weaning though is it parents mothers in particular get judged for everything, I've even heard people comment on what babies are wearing!

I weaned at 16 weeks with the babyrice then moved onto flavoured packet stuff farleys made it then purees of my own stuff dd scoffed everything until she was 18ish months and just stopped eating and would only eat dry food fish fingers and toast was a favourite actually scared me how little she would eat went on till she was 3 Was really a stressful time . She is an adult now and even though she has movec on from fish fingers still prefers dry food

I did a mix of jars, spoon feeding normal food (weetabix, porridge, yoghurt, mashed potatoes) if we were eating something suitable plus finger foods of anything reasonable (green beans, bananas, toast, rice cakes) from the start. Weaned both mine when they were sitting up fairly steadily and seemed keen, between 20-22 weeks.

I think this is my point - often it's the child who chooses!

This might be helpful op:

www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2013/09/13-baby-led-weaning-myths.html?m=1

That's an interesting article, but it is written by someone who states at the beginning that they love BLW and are going to set out to bust myths about it. So it's not an impartial analysis. The evidence looks OK from the references, but there are not many of them and it looks like studies providing positive evidence for BLW have been cherry-picked.

That doesn't mean it's rubbish, just not to be taken as gospel.

I did a mixture of BLW and puréed foods.
DS is like a pigeon with too much corn, it just gets thrown all over if given a few different foods in front of him, so I prefer to pass him a bit at a time and has also learned that the dog is a good Hoover too
Some things are just easier to spoon feed though, that's why I did both.

BLW means the baby only self feeds, so it's not really one you can mix. A combination of finger foods and spoon feeding is just normal weaning.

Thats not how I perceive it Jesabell but your entitled to your opinion, it's not set in stone just because you say so. No offence meant

Yes I remember saying on here once that I was trying BLW but also feeding yogurt with a spoon

Was told categorically that meant I was NOT doing BLW as there must be no spoon feeding ever

Didn't it all start because people were worried that their babies would get fat if spoon fed?

Dibaba parents traditionally weaning are often told that by spoon feeding their babies mush they are making them fat

How I don't know as if my babies have had enough you won't get the spoon near them.

What do you perceive it as Quiet? I didn't realise there was an alternative BLW.

The point of BLW was that it was completely controlled by the baby - they didn't have any food put in their mouth by other people. That's what differentiated it from "finger foods" which is what most people did anyway.

I don't do what I consider traditional puree because I don't carefully whizz up various fruit and freeze ice cube size portions - life is too short for that! However, I can't face the mess of dd2 feeding herself so she has whatever we do but generally off a spoon or my fingers. The way I see it, she's getting lumps and texture and my house isn't being redecorated in veg. It's also made us eat a bit healthier it also turns out we eat a lot of mush anyway - bolognaise / mash potato etc!

It's not a protected medical term Jesabel, people can take it to mean what they like. It's quite possible to be baby-led and spoon-feed.

I think Jesabel is referring to the process as described by Gill Rapley, rather than what the words "baby led" actually refer to. Which is why a name like "self feeding" would be clearer and less likely to offend people.

Puree isn't the alternative to blw tho, putting food in a baby's mouth for them is. Traditional weaning doesn't have to equal puree, sometimes it involves puree in the beginning, but not for long and not always now we don't wean until 6 months.

Jesabell To answer your question my perception of BLW is essentially the same when being practiced at that particular mealtime.

I did say in my post that I puréed food (only the case in first month then mashed thereafter) which was correct also but as DS and I both have a spoon or fork he is still then feeding himself to a degree. He wouldn't eat something if he didn't want to or was full. Also this way he gets used to handling cutlery.

Also foods like strawberries and apples were first given cooked to reduce the risk of allergic reaction, these were only spoon fed by myself to also reduce the risk of a rash on his face.

I just want DS to enjoy a wide range of flavours and to do that I will aid him at times with certain foods.

As a mother, I do what's best for my own (as yourself no doubt) so if I'm combining the two methods and DS is benefitting from it I don't care if my way isn't described by some as BLW in its purist idea.

So, if we puree the food and put it in front of the baby and they eat it with their hands, rather than with a spoon even if they held it, is it BLW?
Hmmm.

Yes it is Lweji

I didn't do it because:

1. DC1 was prem so at 6 months when I had to wean her she was not able to really hold food and get it to her mouth. DC2 was also (just) prem.

2. I wanted a decent amount of food to make it into DC's tummy.

3. I don't like the mess or waste involved when 90% of the food goes on the floor.

4. I found that the foods DC could manage to hold and chew would not be a balanced diet. Meat for example, they couldn't manage except pureed for a while. Fish would disintegrate if they tried to pick it up.

5. I don't think it's easier than pureeing as some people say - a lot of what DH and I eat is unsuitable for a baby (very spicy/salty etc) so I would be having to cook separate food anyway

6. I don't believe that BLW is better anyway. Most species chew up food for their young, which is much like pureeing