I think this is such a dumb fad.
The reason I call it a fad is because when I was on these boards three years ago when my son was an infant, the term BLW wasn't used. I'm sure Baby Led Weaning existed, but everyone wasn't jumping on the bandwagon like they are now.
And the reason I think its dumb is because I see so many people asking a million questions/comments about why their 6 month old won't pick up the food and self feed or how they don't know what to do with the food. DUH. That is because they are only 6 months old!
What happened to just feeding babies BABY food?
When my DS was 6 months old my pedi told me to begin introducing him to some soft finger foods that he could mash with his gums in addition to purees. The goal was to have him off off purees by 9 months old and once DS got the hang of table food, that is exactly what happened.
I guess I just don't understand how it benefits an infant to skip baby food entirely or why parents are against baby food. I think its just the new way of mothers trying to one-up eachother like "my baby is better and smarter than your baby because he/she chews their food instead of just swallowing it."
Just had to get that out there....
Re: BLW--Can we start FFFC early??
No kidding, have you read anything about the theory behind it or how a child's digestive system matures or why it can be good for LO? I don't get why people start cereal at 4 months and freak out when their kid doesn't like it, then forces it on them until they choke it down.
Thanks for the imagery.
Maybe the term is faddy, but the concept is not.
I'll admit that a big driving factor in BLW for me is laziness. It's much easier to sit there and let my DS do the work.
I also have a DD who I forced cereal/purees/etc. into. . . it made me dread mealtimes. . . then I had to force her to get *off* the purees because she was used to me shoveling food into her. . . then ate hardly anything and made me a worry-wart for years. To this day she'll make herself gag and throw up if any weird texture sneaks up on her.
I'm really hoping letting DS explore food in his own way will avoid that hassle.
And the internet is sewius bidness.....
Apparently its contagious...I really hope the vaccination post is MUD
You do realize that BABY food is just pureed table food and that essentially my child while gumming his food to smithereens is ingesting the same thing as your child.
Nice job OP it shows you are being judgmental of something you know nothing about. Do a little research you might learn something.
A big thumbs up to both of you.
amen!
op you are irritating me...sorry but really.... do u want to eat what you feed lo in a jar? I sure as heck dont!
this too! gees a fad???
It took my DD about 3.5 weeks to get the hang of BLW. You are right at first she only wanted to be spoon fed and preferred purees. However I began at 5 months and 3 weeks (a tad early) But NOW she loves feeding herself and is beginning to balk at the spoon and us helping her (she is 6 months and 3 weeks now and holding her own food). There isn't much extra work either involved and I KNOW exactly what is going in DD's body. You can't tell me that eating fresh food or freshly cooked food isn't better than a canned anything.
Seems to be this is quite the UO. We BLW, but I will play the devil's advocate that maybe purees were around longer because mommy birds half digest food and then feed it to baby birds.
Doesn't seem to be that OP has done much research...I'm glad to see so many people who support BLW or at least the idea of it whether they do it or not.
Yesterday I mixed some BM with some smooshed banana and even though DD had taken that mix fine the week before she balked at this time and was having none of it. So I peeled the rest of the banana halfway down and gave it to her and she nommed on that thing for awhile, loving it totally! I even chuckled to myself and thought of the BLW gals here on TB because here was proof that BLW is a lot more fun for the baby than being spoon fed a bunch of stuff.
Babies explore orally so I found it very telling that DD denied the spoon and banana puree but totally accepted (with chubby outstretched hands) that half banana.
She didn't really eat it, but she gummed it, had it in her mouith, spit it out, tasted it, etc. She explored it, instead of just blindly receiving a spoon of puree.
I sort of agree with the OP about it being a fad. I say this because I know no one IRL whose done it, but everyone and their brother on TB is all over it like it's the most amazing idea ever. And just because it's been around longer than pureed foods doesn't mean it's not CURRENTLY a fad. I also would bet there's a good number of bumpies on here who are all over BLW and haven't done an ounce of research. It's just the "cool" thing to do these days per TB (No need to respond with all the amazing research you did - I said SOME bumpies, not ALL). I also think some of you get off on your superior mothering skills due to your BLW (again, SOME...not ALL).
But whatever...I think it's neither amazing or horrible. If your kid does well with it, then great. I am neither a better or worse mom for sticking to purees. This argument is about as pointless as BF vs FF. I could never have done it with DS #1 because he had a strong gag reflex and gagged and vomitted on puffs until he was nearly a year old. But if it's working for you, awesome!
eh I can see both sides. Yes, I think many on here do it because its "in." Just like I think many babywear for the same reason. (I do both, FYI)
BUT, I don't think just because something is new means its a fad. there is research behind it.
I don't care about BLW as fad.
What I do care about is that DD2 doesn't care for purees. My DD1 loved them and ate anything I gave her, so this is new territory for me.
DD2 doesn't really seem to "get" the mechanics of the whole spoon feeding thing (although we did yogurt today and she's getting better), and she's much happier gnawing on a roll, wagon wheel, or a quarter of a bagel at her own pace.
When I feed her bits of banana off my finger, she's a happy little clam. If I mash up the same banana and try to give it to her on a spoon, she makes faces and fusses her way through eating anything.
For me, it's not about what everyone else is doing -- I'm just basically giving DD2 finger foods instead of purees, because that's what SHE wants. She's still working on the dexterity to actually get the food bits she grabs into her mouth, and so she needs help eating and I give it to her.
I see no reason to force purees on her just because she's a baby and "should" be eating baby food, when she clearly prefers table/finger food.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
This.
Really, at the end of the day, does it matter if it's a "fad" or not? It will work for some families, and not others. Just one more thing for us to get all judgey-mcjudgerson about. OP leading the way, of course.