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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

BLW is not possible during the credit crunch

104 replies

believer07 · 12/12/2008 13:27

Having had a go at BLW I am not going to continue as basically I can not afford to give my child organic food every day that it throws all over the floor and gets very little in its mouth, and is still screaming hungry at the end of the BLW session.

It seems to me like BLW is some new thing to keep western mothers occupied, because if you were living in Zimbabwe you would not be letting your six month old waste copious amounts of food.

The aim of eating is to eat the blardy food not paint the house with it.

I am back to putting in baby's mouth with a spoon, sod BKW and the rest of the rubbish them come out with.

Oh now I see you can eat penuts in preg because now to many kids have nut allergys because there mothers where told to avoid them rather than introduce them over a long time.

Are there others who find the old fashioned way easier and more economical

OP posts:
jumpingbeans · 12/12/2008 13:29

You are very brave lady, right in my mind, but nontheless brave.

randomxmas · 12/12/2008 13:30

I just mash up what everyone else is having or use what is suitable with porridge. I give toast & bread as finger food.

beforesunrise · 12/12/2008 13:32

believer, i suspect you are a troll, but i have to admit that i do find the whole finger food thing extremely wasteful... as everything ends up on the floor. having said that, purees are wasteful too, esp if your baby doesnt want to entertain a spoon to save her life, and you end up throwing them away...

littleducks · 12/12/2008 13:34

well you could put down a cloth and pick up food again for child but honestly it isnt compulsary, wean however you want

babyOcho · 12/12/2008 13:35

Why dont you just pick up and re-offer what goes onto the floor and eat what doesnt get eaten.

needmorecoffee · 12/12/2008 13:36

I did both cos we didn't have BLW in the dark ages. Strips of toast for the babies to play with while I spooned puree then mash into their mouths.

beforesunrise · 12/12/2008 13:38

well i eat whatever they dont (including stuff off the floor!) but it's still wasteful as it's on top of my normal meals... the secret of the ever expanding backside finally explained...

anyway, weaning is messy, wasteful, and a pain in the bum, whichever way you do it!

Penthesileia · 12/12/2008 13:39

There are ways of not wasting it...

  1. Put down a clean plastic sheet under the high chair so that dropped food can be recovered safely

  2. Errr, eat it yourself. The whole point of BLW is that you pretty much give your LO what you're eating... So I give myself a little bit less than usual, wait til my DD us done, then hoover up her leftovers. No worries.

Perhaps I am the only scummy mummy who does this...

Aitch · 12/12/2008 13:40

mmm-kay...

if your child is screaming hungry then you're probably timing things a bit badly. i always found that dd1 ate best when she wasn't hungry, as it were, as things got too frustrating for her. so you could try more milk, that's really better for hunger than carrot in whichever form.

the aim of eating, at this stage, isn't really eating so much as enjoying imo but if that's not your view then go for it. and i had no qualms whatsoever about giving dd1 just a few items on her tray (fewer the better, in fact, she was less likely to be overwhelmed) and picking them back up of a clean floor surface for her to eat.

i do think it's probably true, though, that if you were very very poor you might not be able to tolerate any waste at all, but tbh western children will more likely have to cope with too much food rather than too little so i liked the idea of my dd remaining in control of her appetite rather than eating up everything i gave her.

and i didn't use organic food, i prefer stuff grown a bit more locally. sometimes i used organic if it was half-priced or whatever.

as for blw being something to keep western mothers occupied... who is at the heart of that conspiracy, really? no-one. do BLW, don't do it. who cares?

and i don't think the LEAP study is finished, is it? have the guidelines really changed on peanuts?

needmorecoffee · 12/12/2008 13:40

don't you give babies what you are eating even if you puree or mash it? I did.
dd is 4 and can't chew so has mashed whatever we have.

Original poster
believer07 · 12/12/2008 13:41

Er not a troll.......

I just find the whole process a little 'indulgent'. I am fine with a baby who gets to the age and has the appropriate motor skills to enable them to eat properly and not waste the food. However when you are introducing food to a 6 month old and you get through two organic bananas in one session and the child has had a tiny amount of food, that to my mind is a crime and a waste, considering how precious food is.

OP posts:
Aitch · 12/12/2008 13:42

penth, you are not the only mummy who does that. dd1 is nearly three and knows that when mummy says 'are you finished with that, can mummy have it?' that i am not playing a mind-game, i really mean it. it does rather help to concentrate the mind when dd is being dithery at meal-times and i want to get moving on.

Aitch · 12/12/2008 13:43

i'd agree with you, believer. why are you wasting two bananas if the child hasn't eaten the first one?

FioFio · 12/12/2008 13:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Penthesileia · 12/12/2008 13:46

Aitch: phew .

Yeah, I'd say she didn't fancy banana that day!

MrsHappy · 12/12/2008 13:46

Penth you sound like me. I am a "plastic sheet, scoop it up and have a second go" kind of mummy.
If I ever attempted the spoon-feeding thing DD would ahve 3 bites, get bored and refuse any more. I actually found BLW meant less waste.

Original poster
believer07 · 12/12/2008 13:46

A little put out by the troll accusation, it seems you must be one now if you challenge any of the current 'holy cows' of child rearing.

OP posts:
Aitch · 12/12/2008 13:46

needmore, giving them what you eat mashed is the current govt guideline, then eating finger food as soon as they can manage.

i'm pretty sure it's what i would have done if i hadn't just skipped the mashing bit altogether.

thing is, though, that's not the way that a lot of people, guided by for example, Annabel Karmel, do it and it's probably that which people who do BLW actively don't identify with iykwim, rather than a bit of mashing. i think a lot of people who do BLW anyway give their kids a spoonful of fish pie or whatever to play with/lick/eat, and that's pretty mashed as it comes.

Penthesileia · 12/12/2008 13:47

LOL, Fio Fio!

What about turkey swizzlers, hmm?

Penthesileia · 12/12/2008 13:48

Swizzlers? What's that? A dishonest turkey? Chuh - can't type... Twizzlers...

Aitch · 12/12/2008 13:49

don't over-think the troll thing, believer. your OP reeked of spoiling for a fight, that's all. anyway, the peanut thing, is that actually true?

Original poster
believer07 · 12/12/2008 13:49

I see the sarcasm in that comment aitch, but I will ignore it and tell you that my rather large son, was still hungry and desperately trying to get food in his mouth so I gave him another shot at it.

OP posts:
Original poster
believer07 · 12/12/2008 13:50

Yes it was in the mail yesterday, they are sort of being a bit cackhanded about it I will try and find a link

OP posts:
Aitch · 12/12/2008 13:51

i don't understand. what sarcasm?

Megglevache · 12/12/2008 13:52

LOL at Fio and when her dc finished their PotNoodles we'd come round and hoover their leftovers.

That's what we're loike in Kent