If you didn’t do BLW, what do meals for your one year old (15/16 months) look like?

[GIow]

In terms of -

How are you preparing foods / to what extent are you chopping / squashing things?

How competent (if at all) is your infant in using a spoon?

Are there any foods you won’t or can’t serve from a safety perspective still?

Thank you! Just want to sense check how we’re doing.

I didn’t do BLW with either of my kids. I think it’s mean, they’re hungry and want to eat but don’t have the dexterity to get the food into their mouths. It’s frustrating and ends up creating a negative association with meals.

I started by blending fruits and veg and spooning them into their mouths.

At 12-18 months, they would have a mix of finger foods and mashed foods which they would attempt to feed themselves or I would do it. Usually toast/porridge/scrambled egg for breakfast, some kind of home made soup or sandwich for lunch with sticks of banana, bread sticks, slices of fruit and so on. Dinner would be whatever we had. If it was meat I would just cut into tiny pieces and let them use their hands, if it was curry I would give them a fork but also help them out.

This comment is bonkers. Each to their own when it comes to weaning but how can you say BLW is ‘mean’ and infants lack the dexterity to feed if you never did it with yours? I’d beg to differ and say that early exposure and giving little ones the option to explore their food with both their hands and utensils not only IMPROVES their dexterity, it also leads to less picky eating as they have some autonomy about what and how they eat.

I did that. Say we were eating curry - I would put a bowl and spoon in front of them, while also popping the odd mouthful in for them. The puritanical ‘they will only eat what they put in their mouth themselves’ is just mean, sorry. If a child had broken arms you wouldn’t sit and watch them flail around trying to get food into their mouth, you’d do it for them.

Never did BLW. By 15 months my kids were feeding themselves with a spoon and fork, eating pretty much what we ate.

@Playingvideogames its no an either or situation. We did a bit of both. It works well.

Agree but the BLW mums I knew were fanatical about the babies only eating what they put in their own mouths, which was very uncomfortable watching these hungry babies become distressed as they tried fruitlessly to get food into their mouths.

My point exactly. Baby led weaning involves letting the child take the lead, not leaving them helplessly to fend for themselves at meal time. Use your common sense a bit!

I was told that ‘didn’t count as BLW’.

Surely by 15 months most babies are eating the same sort of stuff regardless of weaning method? I didn’t do BLW but by that age they were having what we had, cut to bite size chunks.

Fair enough. You just sound a bit misinformed. Like I said - each to their own when it comes to weaning, they all get there eventually via whatever method. I just think saying the method is ‘mean’ is OTT.

It does count. The mums you know who were watching their children struggle were not doing it right.

I’m not ‘misinformed’, I just typed baby lead weaning into Instagram and the first account said this. I’m not surprised her baby barely ate until 10 months. I don’t think ‘they’ll get there eventually’ would be a phrase used if somebody was depriving you of food for months?

That doesn’t mean that person is correct.

Then who is

The people who are right are the ones that make sure their baby is fed. That can be through BLW or more traditional methods. What works for one baby isn’t what works for another.

I don’t really believe a 6 month old is capable of feeding themselves to their satisfaction

I did a mix of BLW and pureed/ chopped. Basically anything that I thought was suitable for BLW (like banana or soft cooked broccoli), I would give them as it was to feed themselves. And other stuff that was too challenging for them like chicken, i'd puree or shred.

Mine could both use spoons well by 18 months.

I think both BLW and the alternative are fine.
I mean yeah if you puree your child's food to 18 months and never let them feed themselves then I can imagine that's quite bad. But if your giving your child a variety of textures and allow them some practice with a spoon that's enough and you can do that with BLW or the other way, whatever that's called.

Okay, now you are not engaging in good faith.
I thought we were having a productive conversation, but you’ll notice that I took care not to criticise your parenting, if you’re just going to have a dog at me that my baby wasn't adequately fed, I’ll bow out. We are all doing our best to do what works for our children.

Bit OTT, we’re discussing weaning, not a very controversial topic. It’s perfectly obvious that a 6 month old does not have the dexterity to feed themselves properly.

Yikes, it doesn’t need to become an argument. It’s NYE!

Thanks to those who responded to the question.

I felt there continues to need to be be a slight difference in how food is prepared according to whether it’s something that is held vs something that’s on a spoon, and for that reason the type of food offered may differ too. Hence asking the question.

This is bonkers 😂

My baby literally wouldn’t let me spoon feed him, he had to do it himself from day 1. If I ever came near him with the spoon he’d clamp his mouth shut. He was, however, perfectly capable of picking up appropriately prepared and sized finger food and putting it in his mouth. Sometimes I would help him pick up the food if he was struggling by holding it out for him to grasp. When he was done and had eaten enough, he’d stop. Because he was full and satisfied. Hard as that is for you to believe…

Sorry your thread has been slightly derailed OP, I hope you’re getting some useful answers amongst all the random BLW attacking.

You’re over thinking it! My DGS would eat porridge with his hands at 8 months - very messy but he enjoyed it! Now at 14 months he will use a spoon very well but as soon as food falls off it he’s perfectly capable of picking it up with his fingers.

Same here. And they always had the option to explore with their hands. That wasn’t invented by BLW. They’d been eating finger foods since they were 8 or 9 months.

Everything you described as what your 12-18 month old ate my 6 month old was eating competently. He had no problems whatsoever getting spoonfuls of porridge in his mouth. Holding a banana in his wee chubby fist and getting it to his mouth. Yes mealtimes took 30 mins instead of 5 mins of me shoving spoonful after spoonful of mush down his gullet, but he loved it.

I did BLW with one, mashed/blended fruit/veg/meals for other. Different kids, different methods worked. My first with BLW would point blank no go purreed foods, but was more interested with BLW and responded better. Second baby really really struggled with BLW, had sandifers syndrome and GERD, was much happier with purreed.

At 18 months, same meals as us adults but smaller portions, I always quarter things like tomatoes, grapes and smaller than palm round food. Even now. (2 - 3 years) at 12 months apples ect i would take skin off or slightly soften carrots. By 18 months i dont need too.

Tbh it really depends on the child, some teeth come through later, some struggle more with chewing/swallowing, some dont. They start to have preferences to textures etc. I just look at the NHS guidelines for the safety, like dont add loads of salt, no raw honey before 1 years and slicing/choking risks. Then adapt to the child in question.