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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

Am I alone in thinking that BLW is ...well a bit gross really???

109 replies

macdoodle · 20/06/2008 20:37

I know I am going to get slated - but reading some of these thread just uggghhhh and when do these babies learn table manners (seriously??).....its not just the mess am currently weaning my 6 month old and the mess is pretty spectacular and thats a combination of purees/spoons and finger food

OP posts:

chankins · 20/06/2008 20:41

I personally didn't find blw any messier than puree feeding - puree fed my dds and as I remember they insisted on plunging their hands into it all, spitting it out, etc, I found with ds doing blw he just kind of sat there and ate.
Now he is 13 months he still makes less mess than my 4 and 5 yr old girls !
As for table manners, I woudln't worry at that age, my dds still forget to use knife and fork and use their hands instead. It s a work i progress though !

Habbibu · 20/06/2008 20:42

They learn table manners remarkably quickly! DD was self-feeding with a spoon quite some time before her peers, just because she's practiced. My photos of dd doing BLW are pretty much the same as my sister's dd's being spoon-fed. I guess because the food you give a BLW baby isn't as sloppy as a rule, apart from the occasional foray into yoghurt, the mess, while bad, is pretty easy to clean up, and short-lived - babies will all have to learn to self-feed at some point, so I guess we got the messy bit done earlier. But if you don't like it, don't do it!

Sunshinemummy · 20/06/2008 20:44

Agree with Habbibu - DS was a v. early user of cutlery because of BLW.

ruddynorah · 20/06/2008 20:44

most blwers enjoy the mess as see it as no different to the mess when they paint/bake/whatever. kids are messy. shock horror your spoon fed baby will make a mess when they start self feeding.

chankins · 20/06/2008 20:45

O yes I have found ds can feed himself really well with a spoon and a pot of yoghurt, whearas my dds couldn't at that age, so I think it has helped him. But agree with habbibu, don't do it if you don't like it, but i personally would reccomend it to anyone. Plus you don't have the awkward stage of moving them from puree to lumpy, then lumpy to finger food.....

PhDlifeNeedsaNewLife · 20/06/2008 20:46

I don't have any experience with purees, but I have to agree with Habbibu - because what ds ate was "bits" rather than liquid, it didn't really go everywhere (porridge being a whole 'nother story!) Now he is 14m and very keen on using the spoon - he's rubbish at it but is certainly trying!

notnowbernard · 20/06/2008 20:46

I don't think I've met a baby otr toddler who isn't a messy eater. I'd be a tad worried about a fastidiously clean eater. Is it possible, even??

Habbibu · 20/06/2008 20:47

DD insists on a fork, and woe betide if you try to give her a baby one - no, it has to be the same as "Mummy's fork" - and she handles it remarkably well. If she's anything like me, then I doubt that this is any sort of inherited dexterity!

goingslowlymad · 20/06/2008 20:49

There is no way I could do BLW. I tried it a few times but TBH I don't have the time, energy or inclination to bathe my daughter, totally wash highchair and mop floors underneath three times a day. Call me lazy if you will ;)

ruddynorah · 20/06/2008 20:52

so how will yours learn to feed themselves? you do know it won't just happen all magically and cleanly overnight don't you?

Habbibu · 20/06/2008 20:52

No, I think BLW suits the lazy! DD stayed in relatively mucky clothes, plastic mat under high chair was shaken out and mopped at end of day (or wiped), and high chair wiped down in slatternly fashion. BLW probably doesn't suit the very houseproud, but then I'm not sure toddlers work too well with houseproudery...

goingslowlymad · 20/06/2008 20:54

I have had 4 children ruddynorah, and they all feed themselves perfectly well so me maintaining a clean and tidy stance hasn't held them back at all.

callmeovercautious · 20/06/2008 20:55

I agree with the early use of cutlery - DD is 21m and a fork monster. She had fish, potato and veg for dinner tonight and ate most of it with her fork. The fiddly bits get picked up and shoved in at the end She used a spoon at 1 year.

I started on Purees and did still do some of that as I found she ate a bit more. But it was things like poached apples for pudding which even the best BLW mum would stuggle to keep whole!

Personally I found that picking up bits of food was easier than trying to scrape carrot puree off the carpet. You can also hoover a lot of it (just make sure you empty your vacuum cleaner afterwards )

ScienceTeacher · 20/06/2008 20:55

My last DD used to sit under the kitchen table and eat whatever the others dropped!

(now we have a dog)

chankins · 20/06/2008 20:55

ds must have really loved his food, cos when we first started he just ate whatever was put in front of him ! Yes he got mucky hands shoving it in, and yes it was smeared all over face and hair, but nothing really got on the floor at that stage. Its only now if he's had enough he throws what he doesn't want. Like I said before my dds age 4 and 5 are way messier at mealtimes !
I feel my dc have had a good day if they are all mucky and filthy at the end of it !

goingslowlymad · 20/06/2008 20:55

Habbibu I wouldn't say I am very houseproud but I'd have to change her clothes and bathe her if she got food down herself or in her hair.

Habbibu · 20/06/2008 20:56

Oh, I am a slattern!

paolosgirl · 20/06/2008 20:56

I honestly don't get the arguement that BLW suits the lazy. As a mum of 3 (the last one very unexpected, 15 mths ago!), it's been the same routine. Puree (then roughly mash/chop as they get older) a big batch, whack it in the freezer, defrost as needed. Couldn't be doing with all the daily cooking/chopping/peeling for one small person - seems a lot MORE work tbh.

Flamesparrow · 20/06/2008 20:57

BLW is not for the houseproud or the needing to be clean people.

For me, being neither, it was fabulous. So much preferred weaning DS to DD.

They learn table manners the same way as all children - by watching and interacting at family meals.

ruddynorah · 20/06/2008 20:57

you give the stuff you made for everyone else anyway, not special stuff just for them.

Flamesparrow · 20/06/2008 20:58

PG - No separate food prep here - he just had what we were having

Habbibu · 20/06/2008 20:58

But the point is that you don't do all the daily cooking for one person - you just give them what you eat - hence the lazy!

cheesesarnie · 20/06/2008 20:58

i dont think its any messier than spoon feeding.

goingslowlymad · 20/06/2008 20:58

chankins, I promise my children can have a good day and not look like urchins at the end of it. I don't mind a bit of grubbiness from the garden or whatever, but I don't want to touch my daughter's hair and remove cornflakes from it all day.

meemar · 20/06/2008 20:58

It is messy, I accept there will be mess with finger foods.

I do find it odd that people come up with suggestions to deliberately avoid using a spoon when, sometimes, it would be far the better option. Such as giving yogurt in those tube things for them to suck.

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