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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

BLW'ers - Do you really do this three times every day??

24 replies

2pt4WiseMen · 19/12/2008 19:16

I'd never heard of BLW till I joined this site.
I've been intrigued by the idea of it. Not convinced enough to go with it for weaning DS2, but just having read about it gave me the confidence to give DS loads of food to eat by hmself much earlier than I did with Ds1.
He also has a few meals a week 'the BLW way' as they lend themselves to being eaten that way. He enjoys it and its much nicer being able to order him 'proper' food when out instead of taking a jar.

He gets in SUCH a mess though!!!!!
Yesterday we had pasta and sauce. I had to put DS straight in the bath afterwards (pic on profle!!!)

Is it possible to do BLW properly without having to dunk the baby in the bath 3 times a day???

OP posts:

lindenlass · 19/12/2008 19:28

Um...I've done it three times and never had to bath a baby afterwards! Eat less messy food . buy a load of flannels and have a few wet ones to hand whenever you're eating.

MrsJamin · 19/12/2008 20:13

yes sometimes the mess gets to you, but you soon get a bit oblivious to it, and it just becomes normal, like dealing with pooey nappies. they do start to be a bit less messy, after a while and you find you like giving meals which are a bit less messy. the messiest foods I've found are shredded wheat, well-cooked broccoli, and baked beans- but even then, they generally don't end up in DS needing a bath. Invest in a cover-all bib though - I guess that's an obvious idea you've already thought of.

PortAndStilton · 19/12/2008 20:16

There are less messy options, and I'd never go for outrageously messy three times in a day. Granted, I put DD to bed tonight smelling slightly of cheese...

Darkmere · 19/12/2008 20:26

I've been weaning my Dd for two weeks and even that short time I have become less fastidious about cleaning her immediately after a meal.... yesterday while BFing I found myself picking weetabix out of her ear

Maybe we haven't tried anything truly messy yet (no spag bol yet ) but a cover-all bib, a splash mat (when at home), copious baby wipes and a cat dust pan and brush seems to be making it managable.

Kristingle · 19/12/2008 20:29

agree with wet flannels

and these bibs that have long sleeves

if you let the food dry in their hair you can comb it out, if you don't have time to wash/bathe. unless your baby has loads of hair

PortAndStilton · 19/12/2008 21:01

Spag bol photo temporarily on my profile for your edification...

AaliyahsFirstXmas · 19/12/2008 21:04

DD only gets messy at night when she has the evening meal.

In the morning she has toast or something on toast in her PJ's. The PJ's go in the wash and DD gets flannelled.

In the afternoon she'll have butties or chesse on biscuits etc - with bib. None mess

The evening though.... OMG!! Yep a bath is then needed!! lol

MissisBoot · 19/12/2008 21:08

that photo is fantasic

skidoodle · 19/12/2008 21:11

PMSL @ PortandStilton's LO

That picture it brilliant - he looks like an oompah loompa! What a little cutie

WewishyouaBUMPERLICIOUS · 19/12/2008 21:14

I agree with lots of flannels. But them feeding themselves is pretty messy whatever stage you do it, whether BLW or later if you've done purees.
See this thread for confirmation

Darkmere · 19/12/2008 22:03

OMG Port and Stilton!! I have to let mini Darkmere have a go at spag bol. What a brilliant picture!!!

This pics could be used as a test to all mums about to wean their baby. If it fills you with dread BLW is not for you. If you reckon your DC could do better its BLWing all the way.

Penthesileia · 19/12/2008 22:27

Port and Stilton - best photo ever!!!!!

I like the Cheerios too. Nice touch.

Kristingle · 19/12/2008 22:35

port and stilton - why doesnt she get it in her hair? you can see why mums worry that their babies will go hungry if they allow them to feed themselves - that baby is clearly starving

PortAndStilton · 20/12/2008 00:02

She normally does get stuff in her hair if she's going to get messy (hence the smelling vaguely of cheese tonight... I went for your approach and just picked out the debris as it dried ). I think she did end up with it in her hair that time -- the photographed state was actually quite early on...

PinkPoinsettias · 20/12/2008 00:11

they all eat messily as toddlers anyway so you get to the horrendous measy stage at some point anyway.

and my dd was purree fed and whacked the spoon so much and tried to help she always ended up coated in purree anyway so for me blw ds wasn't any messier really.

yes certain foods are a nightmare but if you swipe at them with babywipes/flannel at random points during the meal it doesn't reach the epic proportions it otherwise would

also, only give one piece of food at a time.. ie, one piece of pasta or one piece of veg and let them finish that before handing over more.... if they have too much food in front of them they just tend to smear it everywhere.

StretchmarkSantaClaws · 20/12/2008 00:15

I have some huge bibs which cover arms and most of the body!! Then it's just a flannel round the face and a quick hoover up!! (of the floor, not the child!!)

MrsJamin · 20/12/2008 08:21

PAS - lovely picture, she looks like she had great fun

PinkPoinsettias, I disagree about only giving them one piece of food at the same time, I do what Gill Rapley recommends in her book which is give a variety of different foods in front of DS - say one piece of carrot, one bit of pasta, one bit of chicken, one mushroom, then DS decides for himself what he'd like to eat next. I don't put the whole plate in front of him, but as he's coming up to 1 I know I need to give him the opportunity of learning what to do with a whole plate of food. Plus to be honest I wouldn't swipe at them with a babywipe during the meal, it disturbs DS too much and TBH wouldn't probably make that much of an impact on the mess created.

pispirispis · 20/12/2008 09:29

I use a sponge and a basin! Once you have your "system" going, it's not too bad at all. Not half as bad as I thought it was going to be. Long sleeved bib, soft pelican style bib over that, a towel behind her back to shunt her right up against the tray, a bedsheet under the high chair for dropped bits...

It is time-consuming as others have said, but again, as has been said before, it's going to get messy anyway, and as they're very capable of eating for themselves at such an early age, better to let them get plenty of practise. It's definitely worth it imho! I'm happy to give my lo the time she needs to learn to eat, and I'll clean up after her because I can see how fast she's learning to eat and enjoy normal food, and the truth is I'm amazed to see her, because I had no idea small babies were capable of eating just like an adult, really. Well, a lot more messily!!

Plus if you go out you can mess up a cafe or restaurant while your high chair sits all shiny and clean at home! (I still get though and leave a tip which I can't really afford!)

Loved PortAndStilton's photo! And that other thread had me PSML and v depressed at the same time!

Isaidkissmeunderthemistletoe · 20/12/2008 09:35

love that pic PortandStilton - I've only just started blw but that hasn't put me off!

AlexanderSantasmum · 20/12/2008 09:43

I am sitting here typing as my 21-month old eats a yoghurt - and he's hardly spilled any!
However, as you can imagine he didn't reach this level of skill overnight and it took a bit of trust and giving him a spoon and a yoghurt and letting him try. I suppose what i'm saying is that though tedious to clean up after him, he's now very good at feeding himself. ANd as someone else said, whether BLW or not you have to go through the messy stage sometime.

There are lots of BLW foods which are less messy but if you just have a system and think of it in stages (and try not to panic about the mess) it's ok. If it's a messy one I've always used a sleeved bib. When he is finished I remove the tray and take it to the sink. I squirt a blob of washing up liquid on and use the washing up brush, rinse and stick it on the drainer. Then, I clean up the boy. Usually I use babywipes or a damp flannel. Remove the bib and lift baby out of highchair while brushing them off (so that any hidden food bits in the clothes reveal themselves before you clear the floor, so you don't have to sweep twice lol). Then dustpan and brush on the floor or if you have a splash mat lift up and wash etc.

That's how I do/did it anyway. And don't forget it gets easier and easier as time goes on.

fondant4000 · 20/12/2008 09:55

I gave up on nice clothes (for me and dd2) for the first few months of blw. Lots of flannels.

But tbh they seem to be messy for less time. Once they get the hang of it they tend to be less messy than the spoon-fed babies.

And I'd rather go through it with a 9 month old than a 2 year old with greater range!

TeenyTinyTorya · 20/12/2008 10:26

I haven't fed ds since he was about 10/11 mths old. He was puree fed, with occasional bits of veg/bread etc. and moved onto lumps quite quickly. MIL still feeds him quite a lot to contain the mess factor whenever she has him, but he's quite competent with a spoon.

They need the practice, and the mess is better when they're little, rather than when they can hurl spaghetti a couple of metres.

FaintlyMacabre · 20/12/2008 20:38

After spoon-feeding my almost entirely BLW 13 month old some yogurt yesterday I was going to ask -'Puree weaners -do you really do this 3 times a day?'

AlexanderSantasmum · 21/12/2008 21:32

Good point, FM! Actually, if you look at it like that, by BLWing you save yourself from dinner going cold and get to eat your dinner in relative peace. Of course, the payback is at the end when you have to pick up lobbed bits of food from the floor and mop your child's face and hands - but it is SOOO much fun that I didn't mind. Let's face it, you've just gotta laugh when you turn around for a second to grab something and turn back and your child is covered in spaghetti. If you didn't laugh you'd cry .

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