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Weaning

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

Original poster

All those who did not do blw

50 replies

littleboyblue · 24/06/2008 10:46

I weaned at 5.5m and started on babyrice and did the whole puree thing. I'm getting ds to eat on his own now and been speaking to people who did ble and have been given some great tips and advice.
I am thinking I'll prob blw dc2 (who is not due to be born until feb, but I like to forward plan )
So, if you did not blw, why not?
I'm not being critical of anyone's choices I just want to weigh up the pros and cons of it all.

OP posts:
wessexgirl · 24/06/2008 10:47

I had never heard of it.

Would do it next time around (if there ever is one...).

Original poster
littleboyblue · 24/06/2008 10:49

I'd not heard of it either, but it sounds like it would make life a bit easier, but messier!

OP posts:
lilyloo · 24/06/2008 10:49

With ds and dd the advice was to wean at 4mths so i went down the ice cube purees etc
With dd2 who i am going to start blw with soon (5mths) i have chosen o go the blw route because quite simply it looks easier and less time consuming.

ConnorTraceptive · 24/06/2008 10:49

I'd never heard of it with ds1 - I hated weaning so may give it a go with ds2

Original poster
littleboyblue · 24/06/2008 10:50

So far, these are all my thoughts.

OP posts:
TanE · 24/06/2008 10:50

Ive never done BLW with any of my 3ds'. Never wanted the mess to be honest plus they were all ready for something to compilment their breastmilk by around 5 months. I think each to their own (mum and child). Try blw with dc2 I'm sure if your happy and relaxed they will adopt to any eating method you choose.

wessexgirl · 24/06/2008 10:52

I really wish I had heard of it with dd2, who hated being spoonfed and just wanted to pick bits off my plate - in a way, she more or less blw herself, by refusing purees and scarfing down anything she could pinch!

CatIsSleepy · 24/06/2008 10:53

I didn't do it cos I'd never heard of it...
dd lurved the purees though
not sure what I'd do next time, maybe a bit of both

Tinkjon · 24/06/2008 11:29

I am very much on my own with this, but personally I find purees far easier than BLW. We are doing BLW with dc2 but at his request, not mine

MrsBadger · 24/06/2008 12:08

I used blw at the beginning to make sure dd was ready to eat and to go at her own pace

then she started nursery and spoons were a bit inevitable but she still has a lot of finger food

rapunzelle · 24/06/2008 12:47

I love weaning, the whole thing, blending, ice cubes, everything!!! That being said my first child was doing everything herself by 8 months and my second shortly after so I guess by following my children's lead I ended up doing both methods.

Tinkjon · 24/06/2008 14:06

I love it the blending/ice cubes things too, rapunzelle - not usually allowed to say that anymore though

Kewcumber · 24/06/2008 14:09

I'd never heard of it and don't generally get stressed about feeding either way. Surely what you put inside them is the important thing isn;t it? (clueless emoticon]

its no more natural to feed babies bits of broccoli than pureed food. babies would have been on breast milk for years in "the wild" then would have been fed with some food chewed up bny mother.

Do what you want - don't worry about it.

Romy7 · 24/06/2008 14:10

because it didn't exist as a new fad.

by the next time i get pregnant there will be a different theory.

because ds1 (who is 6) would still be breast feeding.

that sounds really negative! it just wasn't the in-thing.

(and i loved my ice cube trays - and it was the in-thing at the time - fashions change in child rearing as everything else, i'm not going to get a hang up about it!)

Bramshott · 24/06/2008 14:11

I was put off it when DD2 choked on a bit of broccoli at about 7 months. However, knowing about BLW did mean that we ditched the purees / mashed food much earlier than we did with DD1 - by 12 months she was just feeding herself chopped food with her hands (and still is).

rapunzelle · 24/06/2008 21:21

YAY Tinkjon
Ice cubes Ice cubs RAH RAH RAH

Sexonlegs · 24/06/2008 21:25

I didn't as dd2 just didn't "get it"! I was also a bit concerned about choking.

Original poster
littleboyblue · 24/06/2008 21:28

Maybe that's the good thing about starting it later then? Ds (10m) was puree weaned so had a gradual increase in lumps etc, so I'm not too concerned about choking now. Maybe with next one I could start spoon feeding, but just not do it for so long. Hmmm
This has all been very helpful by the way.

OP posts:
notnowbernard · 24/06/2008 21:30

Didn't do it 'cos I'd never heard of it, basically

Did the whole puree thing with dd1

DD2 got a whole load more finger food and basically what we were all eating (but chopped up or whatever) because I had no time nor inclination to make separate meals

castille · 24/06/2008 21:30

I hate weaning and thought that BLW was the answer to my prayers with my 3rd baby, but no. I gave up because I found it no less hassle than giving him mush.

Long term I really couldn't see what the tangible benefits would be for him, either. Children's attitudes to food and meals are influenced by so much more than the way they were weaned, IMO.

Original poster
littleboyblue · 24/06/2008 21:31

That's what I'm thinking, time will be short so wanna make life as easy as poss really.

OP posts:
claraquitetirednow · 24/06/2008 21:32

I am all for finger foods but would just stress that they weren't eating enough if I just chucked them a few bits of this and that, and therefore would end up being fussy/faddy feeders. Don't like the mess either!

But I have no problem at all with using a spoon so wouldn't change the way I do things. I would say that anyone who DOESN'T like spoon feeding or whose child didn't take to it could try blw as an alternative.

I weaned the "normal" way with dd1 and she is probably the best eater in her peer group, so can't see that I did anything all that wrong. Although who knows - could be she would be this way if I'd done blw????

jellybelly2007 · 24/06/2008 21:39

Tried it when DS2 graduated to lumpier food, he choked on nearly everything, sometimes just gagging, but twice I had to wrestle with highchair straps in a panic, drag him out, turn him upside down and pat him on his back.
It really upset me, so went back to lumpy purees for a while.
Now he's 9mo, we do it more, but I darent be more than 2 feet away.

ilovefoxes · 24/06/2008 21:45

Littleblueboy: I did both. Started out with pureed food and batch cooking at 6 months, but I also offered finger food near enough at the same time.

DD is now 8 months and she is really good with finger food and I'm no longer worried she will choke, she has toast soliders every morning and throughout the day I give her breadsticks/pitta sandwhiches/fruit and veg sticks. She loves mushing around with strawberries!

But I know that most of her nutrtion comes from what I feed her with a spoon, like claraquitetirednow says, she just wouldn't be eating enough on finger food.

I wouldn't exclusivly spoon feed or BLW, I like the combination of both.

ilovefoxes · 24/06/2008 21:48

Obv. I am worried incase she chokes, I meant I'm am now not a nervous wreck worryinh she will choke..I am more relaxed.

I can also say that the food I have purreed has always been a bit lumpy, I didn't realise how sloppy the jars were until I saw my friend feeding her ds and I was shocked .. my food was never that smooth!

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