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Weaning

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

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Original poster

BLW - Can I have a show of hands, please?

121 replies

MummyTL · 26/05/2007 20:58

Purely out of curiosity, and in no way to pass judgement, here's a quick poll for parents with babies who are being weaned at the mo.
Are you doing BLW or pureé?
Did you start off one way and then switch to the other?
Any comments as to why you chose this particular route are very welcome. Especially from parents who had heard about BLW but chose not to. Thanks folks.

OP posts:

mozhe · 27/05/2007 23:14

Aitch- My mum was french,( she is sadly no longer with us ), but was bought up in Morroco and cared for by a morrocan nanny who weaned her this way, because it was what they did in their culture....her own mother died giving birth to her so she was very close to her nanny...when she later qualified as a doctor in France she bought her nanny over to work in her practice as a nurse,( she wasn't qualified at all but things seem to have been much slacker in them days !!!),she advised all the mums who came to consult her to wean in this way and her nurse/nanny would often be dispatched to patient's households to stay a few days and get the process underway...she did the same for sleep problems too...encouraging mums to co-sleep and b/f at night. Incidentally she was wet nurse to my mum too !

mozhe · 27/05/2007 23:15

Sorry Morocco.....

elsieanjoanne · 27/05/2007 23:16

hi my TWO hands are up for blw i started my d at 6weeks an that suits us fine she nearly 1 now. Before i get mobbed its not for everyone it was best for me and my baby at the time!

Aitch · 27/05/2007 23:32

that is very interesting, one of the best posters on BLW was dizzybint, whose family is moroccan. she's still posting but under another name, i must hunt her down and see what she knows.
your mother sounds like she was guided by a wonderful woman, how excellent to inherit that knowledge... thanks for answering my question. it does seem like a very ordinary and obvious way to wean a child, i think, but the name BLW is irritating, that's for sure.

Desiderata · 27/05/2007 23:42

I didn't know there was a name for this until recently. My ds naturally went this way (BLW). He couldn't stand pureed food or being spoon fed in any form.

I guess it's a modern tendency to have to label everything, but the principle makes perfect sense to me. If it works, great.

caspercat · 27/05/2007 23:44

Did BLW after Dizzy suggested it to me after having trouble with purees.
DD now 10 mths and eats brilliantly and with much less mess. Today has eaten omelette, burger and chips (as a treat cos we were out and had nothing else), and sandwiches and a whole pear this eve. Friends with bubbs on puree still freak when they see DD eat. Best thing we ever did, saves money, and we can all eat together without our own meals getting cold while tediously spoon feeding.

Luckily all family have no problem with it xxx

PinkTulips · 27/05/2007 23:45

lol casper, a woman i know at toddler group goes pale every time she sees ds eat... i feed him apple around her just to be annoying

Coriander73 · 29/05/2007 16:01

BLW rocks... My daughter was Annabel Karmeled all the way (she's nearly 3) my DS on the other hand was BLW weaned at 26 weeks because of his sheer stubborness to have a spoon near his mouth with any manner of purees. After a week of faffing & panciking I threw him a banana & voila he ate it whole in one sitting - we progressed from there & now he's 36 weeks & eats everything insight...it's been a revalation in our household Cheers Aitch

MaMonkey · 29/05/2007 16:04

Is BLW Baby Led Weaning?

(Spot the person who's never read a parenting manual!)

That's where you mostly offer finger food and the baby decides isn't it?

My daughter gave up eating from a spoon at about 9 months old and has been only eating finger foods (with occasional forays into flinging food around the room with a spoon) since then.

Seems to work for her. And it makes it easier for us to all eat dinner together and I find it far less hassle than trying (and miserably failing) to get slop into her.

(This post was brought to you by Lazy Parents Inc.)

Habbibu · 30/05/2007 16:08

BLW from the start for us - heard about it from a friend, and got put on to Aitch's blog. Love it love it love it, esp as Nome outright refuses to have anything spooned into her mouth (early "open-mind" experiments with various forms of carrot). And yes, Lazy weaning is really it...

thehairybabysmum · 30/05/2007 16:33

I dont understand why it seems to be one or the other...some foods are just not finger foods?? Shepherds pie etc...if i need to use cutlery to eat something then surely tis not unreasonable to use a spoon to feed it to my ds??

I did a mixture of both...mashed foods and weetabix were spoon fed but always gave him finger foods as well which he liked too. Have to say that for my ds who is a monster eater not sure he would have eaten enough if he only had finger foods in the early days.

Think this is something that people sometimes get a bit heated about when it really doesnt matter how they eat...more important to worry about what they eat (eg bloody organix shite pretending to be healthy)...but thats just one of my personal bugbears!

ruddynorah · 30/05/2007 17:35

if you read gill rapley's study, which formally name blw as such, then it explains why it's finger food all the way.

ruddynorah · 30/05/2007 17:38

this might help you understand the idea

of course lots of people do a mixture of finger foods and spoon feeding, but the above link helps explain what blw is. hth.

hepzibah · 30/05/2007 18:18

I started BLW a couple of months ago because Aitch's blog seemed to make sense and those who posted on it seemed like my kinda gals - which is as good a reason as any.
Sometimes it works for Hepzibette (8 months), sometimes it doesn't. She will grab and eat carrot sticks, broccoli, rice cakes, french beans, chicken and, er, newspaper, thinks that red pepper makes for a nice crayon, and has no idea what potato is for.
Some stuff - rice, couscous, quinoa, etc - needs glue, so we mash it up with avocado and feed her from a spoon.
She has yet to learn that the two methods are mutually exclusive so I'm keeping her well away from the internet. Once she finds out we are ruined.

Enid · 30/05/2007 18:34

we did a mixture of spoon feeding and finger foods

I didn't exclusively choose BLW as I have two otehr children and often cook things like sheperds pie and spag bol - I spooned those as it is quicker and easier to clean up. Also I didn't want to give more formula if dd3 chose not to eat enough. AND I couldn't be bothered with the whole ideology tbh.

I found a mixture of spoon and finger foods a no brainer.

Enid · 30/05/2007 18:35

dd3 is 13 months now and feeds herself with a spoon and eats anything and everything - except ice cream

ledodgy · 30/05/2007 18:36

I did exactly the same as Enid and ds is now 18 months and also eats everything.

ledodgy · 30/05/2007 18:37

Oh but he does like ice cream.

Enid · 30/05/2007 18:41

bananabump · 30/05/2007 19:10

MaMonkey · 31/05/2007 08:41

"I'm keeping her well away from the internet."

A wise decision. If babies could meet up on a babyFacebook just imagine the devilry and havoc that would ensue.

LaDiDaDi · 31/05/2007 08:48

Dd is now 1yr and we did blw as it seemed like a sensible idea and I wanted her to have fresh foods rather than jars (nothing wrong with jars though ) and I knew that I wouldn't be arsed to puree .

Dd loves her food and it's worked really well.

hepzibah · 31/05/2007 09:40

What I've always wondered is whether the 'offer them a variety and they will take whatever their bodies tell them they're in need of' aspect has actually worked for anyone?
Because if I offered a buffet feast to Hepzibette three times a day, I'm pretty sure she'd only ever pick out the broccoli. Other foodstuffs are only tolerated once she's established there is absolutely no broccoli in the house.

SydneyB · 31/05/2007 10:03

About to start weaning so I can just clarify something that everyone I speak to doesn't seem to agree with? DD, once 6 months, can eat ANYTHING as long as not honey, right? And that's probably ok isn't it? So, she can sit at table with us and eat our dinner, right? As long as not too much salt. I just can't quite believe its that simple, that's all!

Habbibu · 31/05/2007 10:35

Well, kind of. What happened with us is that I offered her bits of stuff, and most of it got spat straight back out for about a week. I also tended to cook veg for N softer than I'd usually have it. Some stuff they cope with better than other things to begin with, and I would also go along with the principle that if they can't really pick it up in their fists they aren't ready for it, so raisins, and other things of that size (esp nuts) are out until they've got a pincer grip well and truly extablished. I'd avoid nuts in particular for a while because they do present a choking hazard. Best advice? Read Aitch's blog - it really is so helpful.

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