Why is traditional weaning now looked down on?

[tlove]

I feel like traditional weaning is the 'lesser cousin' to BLW recently which is quite frankly bizarre! Anyone hazard a guess as to why this is?

I'm currently weaning my 7.5 month old first with purées and now with much chunkier sauces with pasta for example, and some finger food such as toast and banana.

Some people I know are doing total BLW and seem to almost brag about it! Weird.

Nowhere has anyone ever said “oh it’s fjne if they eat nothing before 1"

Honestly, I've seen people online using this phrase to brush off concerns about older babies who are basically throwing everything on the floor and eating virtually zero for months on end. Complete with comments about Magic Breastmilk which apparently has all the iron they will need.

@Kokeshi123 😂😂😂

I didn't come up with the notion and I was merely putting it out there!

I understand that OP, I was merely reiterating my posts for your benefit as you accused me of putting down others’ ideas, which I did not do.

I’m perfectly “chill”, I’m not the one being rude to a stranger because she put forward opposing views.

Well eating well is grouped in with all the other things that you can’t teach a child (like sleeping through) that some parents think demonstrates that they have achieved some kind of higher status over the purée eating, fruit refusing, bread eaters.

I did BLW with my boys and they are both reasonable eaters. Who knows if they would be just as good if I’d spoon fed them? My niece is blw and my sister goes on about how well she eats, but she doesn’t actually eat very much at all, she just mushes it up and throws it about.

@Happyandshiney What would you like me to say? I explained why I found that post aggressive and also said that I probably took it the wrong way. That was ages ago and you're still upset over it. Sweet. It's not your battle either - nose out!

I’m perfectly “chill”, I’m not the one being rude to a stranger because she put forward opposing views.

^ this wasn’t referring to your rudeness to Flowers, OP, it was referring to your rudness to me^.

I weaned my kids by following the same method as the rest of my parenting. Winging it. Muddling through and hoping for the best.

I probably did baby led weaning with my boys once they got past six months. I'm not sure. I didn't read a book about it. I just gave them some food and hoped for the best!

OP, if you behave to people who do things differently in real life the way you do on this thread, no wonder they react negatively to you.

I intend to do BLW with my 4.5mo when he is ready - this thread hasn’t put me off anyway. Interestingly on the “mess” point - friends with older babies who do purée have less mess on the floor/baby but loads more on themselves than the BLWers 😂

@JassyRadlett Another one looking for a fight! Hi!!!!

@Happyandshiney Shall we bury the hatchet considering I've apologised to you already?

Where did you apologise for calling me boring and saying I was putting down other people's opinions OP?

I must have missed it...

I’m not looking for a fight, but at the same time I’m not a doormat either, this is of your own making.

@JassyRadlett Another one looking for a fight! Hi!!!!

No, just an observation from reading the thread. May be worthy of reflection, if you’re the self-reflective type.

Given I’m not interested in an argument and you’ve jumped straight there, I’ll wish you a pleasant day.

@Happyandshiney 'This is of your own making' 😂😂😂
I'm honestly not taking it all that seriously! You're just a username on the internet that has decided things about another username on the internet with only text to back up your opinion. Let's just let it go, yeah?

I did make purees for ds1 but went straight to blw for ds2, it was just easier and meant not cooking separate food. I had friends who refused to use a spoon for any food when doing blw, which I thought was crazy. If I fed them porridge or yogurt I used a spoon.

Other than that, I never worried much about what other people did. As with most parenting choices, I went for whatever made life easier at the time!

@TheCag Agree with that! Easiest way is the best way normally! 👌🏻

I really don't understand why you are being so aggressive - it's bits of sweet potato, and by the time they are two, nobody will care how you fed them!

Why don't you try and just have a conversation, rather than all this 'Chill' and 'noses out' rubbish?

Personally I don't think it matters how you do it. My decision was purely based on the mess of BLW, I just can't stand messy hands & face, floors or surfaces. My SIL did BLW with her son, he used to stuff spag bog in his mouth with his fists, I couldn't be in the same room, it made me gag.

I weaned my first on purées at 3 months. He ate lumpy food at around 7 months I think. He eats anything and everything, no problems.

I weaned my second on purées at 4 months. He refused lumpy food till he was over 1, would gag and vomit. Wouldn't feed himself at all till he was about 4 (by which time he'd been diagnosed with autism and had a statement etc) He now eats anything and lots of it!

I weaned my twins at 6 months, mainly BLW, though I did use jars occasionally. They now eat everything.

I weaned my youngest at 6 months, doing BLW. He now eats anything.

As older kids (and 1 adult) they all eat nicely at the table, using cutlery appropriately. None of them are fussy (though of course they have their likes and dislikes)
None of them were snackers really, though that's more down to me not providing them!

Looking back I think BLW was so much easier. I gave them whatever we ate - and I mean whatever. We had curry, they had curry. Roast dinners. Fish fingers and chips.

I also realise my oldest was far too young and definitely not ready to be weaned but I was in that first time mum race to want to be first. No point having regrets over something that has passed though, and is actually quite an insignificant moment in his life. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care!

I've got 3 dc my older 2 are 12 and 10 now so blw was still in its infancy then so I started them off on blended purées at the time and worked up. They didn't get teeth until 9 and 7 months and myself and their dad were paranoid about choking. I've now got a nearly 6 mths old and more people are definitely doing blw (my younger sister for example) and don't think there's anything thing wrong with it if it works for you. My HV this time said if you wait until 6 mths it's fine to go straight in with mashed food as it encourages them to chew but didn't specifically advocate btw. I'm doing mashed food and soft finger foods but this Lo has already got 2 teeth. It depends on the baby tho as some don't like to be spoon fed but I've heard of some people who've gone down a pure blw route and at 8 mths their baby is hardly getting any food into them so are considering spoon feeding. I really don't think whatever method you use has any bearing on how fussy they turn out to be. In the grand scheme of things it's such a short space of time as pp said, they all end up in the same place.

With regard to “food before 1 is just for fun” what this actually means is that before 1 year old they should receive the bulk of their calories from milk feeds.

If it does actually mean this, and I've certainly seen it used to reassure mothers whose children aren't eating anything, that's actually pretty worrying. Because saying food is just for fun isn't at all the same as saying they should receive the bulk of their calories from elsewhere. If food before one is just for fun, ie doesn't matter other than them enjoying themselves, that would mean it's fine for them to receive all their calories from milk and none from food. If what we're actually saying is that they should receive the bulk but not all of their calories from milk between 6-12 months, then slogans saying something that contradicts this are actually pretty dangerous.

But actually I think we'd struggle to define what it's really 'supposed' to mean, because nobody seems to be able to figure out when it originated and with who.

I’m old, so had to google blw when I first came across in on MN, but it seems to be largely what used to be called finger food.