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January 2012 Moms
kali55
member
BLW - benefits?
kali55
member
I've been seeing everything BLW this week and I've yet to do the reading on it (library here I come) so I was wondering if those who are could tell me what the benefit is to BLW? Or give me some information or book recommendations?
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Re: BLW - benefits?
I first heard about it via a DIY blog I read that also talks about the couple's home life. Here is a link to a story that wrote for BabyCenter: https://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/our-take-on-baby-led-weaning/
I dont know the benefits myself since I have yet to try it, but I remember this posting when they wrote about it a while ago and it really stuck with me.
There are also the formal books you can get (Im going to get the cookbook) and also wholesomebabyfood.com does a good write up about it.
zachary happens! | little fish
Benefits that we noticed with DD1:
She sat at the table and ate her food while we ate ours from 6 months on. Of course we watched her closely to make sure she was handling everything okay but it made meals feel very much like family time.
Time and money saving in that there was no special meals or food for baby. Baby eats what we eat. WE just made sure that the food was cut into size and shape that she needed.
Since she ate what we were having it also expanded her palate a lot. She was happily eating chinese food, indian food and anything else we put in front of her practically from the beginning. Occasionally something would be too spicy for her, but she would continue to eat it but would tear up a little. We would take it away from her at that point of course. We have never had the picky toddler stage. She may not eat much at times but she will always try the food.
Hand eye development and learned pincher grasp early. She was able to use utensils correctly by about 11 months.
Helped communication between us and DD1. We used baby signs for "more", "all done" and "drink". She was able tell us what she wanted starting around 8 months.
It made going out to eat really easy. We again just made sure she had good quality food in the right shape. She happily eat while we did and never had the crazy meltdowns I would see lots of other babies and toddlers having. She still is great at restaurants. We go out once a week.
Its fun. Seems like a weird idea but seeming a baby chomping on a piece of broccoli is very entertaining. We took lots of videos.
Im sure there is more but this is a lot of the major points.
Oh, just thought of another.
Since we shared our meals with her, it made us a lot more conscious of what we put in or on our food. Before BLW, we might have made broccoli with cheese or a butter sauce. But since we were sharing it with her, we started not putting anything on our veggies except maybe a little salt. It helped us change our diet a little so it was healthier. we didn't have to change our normal meals completely, but it did lead us to tweak them so they would be healthier overall.
SuperT - thanks for sharing your experiences with BLW!
Kali - one of my big drivers for doing BLW is the ease. Between work and caring for the baby, I have zero bandwidth left to spend time making special food for him.
I also want to keep mealtimes fun. He loves to sit at the table with us and watch us eat while he plays with and gums a few cucumber sticks or a piece of broccoli or slice of apple. I'm in no hurry for him to get nutrition from food. Right now finger foods are just a way to develop his grasp and hand eye coordination and keep him entertained while we eat.
Wow!!! No wonder I keep seeing BLW popping up! I've placed a hold on some books from the library and I would really like to try this with DS. I guess I'll have to sell the baby bullet
Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond!