I don't follow BLW to degree of 'they eat what I eat' unless I'm having something balanced and healthy (which is pretty frequent now). It's more to do with them having access to the same food as they'd have had before but in a form they can pick up and choosing whether or not to eat it. I was still making purees and spreading them on toast or rice cakes sometimes for a bit of variation.

Implying someone BLW shares chips with their child is like implying someone TW would blend and feed them chicken nuggets. Both of which are insulting.

But overall I think views have changed and when people are going for TW they aren't pushing and pushing their child to keep eating as they would've done before so much childhood obesity. I'd like to think so anyway.

I would be wary about mixing the two though as when a baby eats off a spoon they tend to suck the food off like when they having milk, if you then give them a piece of something they may try and swallow it without chewing and choke. Hence with with TW you are meant to introduce lumps before solids.
It does seem to work for some people and it was my intended approach before I read that.

I do TW. Sometimes I feel guilty because I've read things like 'It's forcefeeding' or 'your child has a much higher chance on being obese in later life'.

I love feeding my baby. She loves being fed by me, same as she loves breastfeeding. I give her a healthy and varied diet. She has fruit at every lunchtime and vegetables in her eveningmeal, as well as proteins and carbs. If she doesn't like the taste of something, she will let me know. If she's full she will close her mouth and shake her head. I then know that she doesn't want anymore, so I'll put away the food.

I see this as a healthy relationship with food and it will teach her that if she's full, she doesn't have to finish what I've plated for her.

For us TW really works. We are out often, so for quite a few meals we don't have a high chair, or one in a cafe restaurant on which I'd rather not put her food. She also eats earlier than my husband at me (between 4.30 and 5) because she goes to bed between 6.30 and 7.00! It's too early for us to eat, but for her it's too late to eat at 6.00 or 6.15 because then she refuses to nurse before bed and she needs the milk.

Ugh, I feel like I'm defending myself again and I shouldn't.

I enjoy TW, Sophie enjoys it. I never trick her into finishing her food, so I'm not even going to start worrying about obesity at this stage.

I'm not saying they do, although they could. I'd imagine there are plenty of babies out there getting fed less than healthy food, whether or not they're BLW. Not sure on the pureed nuggets though, lol.

I wanted to point out the "you" in my previous post was meant in a general sense, and not directed at any particular poster. We all have our reasons for doing what we do, and I'm sure we've all thought long and well about the best way to raise our children. At any rate I'm not interested in getting into a debate of TW vs BLW. There is a rivalry on these boards (one of many, it would seem) and I do my best to steer clear of such things. If our babies are happy then it's all good. xx

We do BLW and yes occasionally we do offer LO oven chips or a tiny bit of pizza or what have you, as we live by the old adage of 'everything in moderation', it hasn't done him any harm and actually he eschews anything 'junky' now in favour of veg and fruit. I believe its best to do whatever works for you as a family xx

Sophie has had 1 or 2 chips before. Don't see a problem with that! BLW or TW :).

From every post and info I've read about BLW it seems that people who TW are open to the benefits and idea of BLW but have chosed to TW however that doesn't work both ways. Everyone who I've read posts on BLW is very derogatory towards TW using terms such as force feeding etc. Even when someone says they do a mixture of BLW and TW you get some BLW hard nut jump in and say oh no you don't BLW if your baby is giving puree- you can almost picture the look of disgust on the posters face at the thought of their BLW baby being forcefed a puree!
At the end of the day, as long as the baby is fed what's the problem with how it's given!
It's not a competition!!

I do agree with this in a certain respect - I'm by no means a "BLW nut - I did it because I had too - Freya wouldn't eat any other way. But I have been told I'm not BLW "properly" because I spoon feed some stuff, she doesn't always eat what we do, and we don't always eat our evening meal with her.

Fair enough. As I've already said, if people want to put labels on what I do, that's up to them. I prefer to say I'm weaning in a way that suits me and my LO - she tries virtually everything put in front of her, chews her food even though I "dare" to spoon feed sometimes and is healthy and thriving. That's really all I'm bothered about, whether I'm TW, BLW or anything in between!

It's like these ridiculous "debates" that start between FF and BF. We are all doing what is best for our child, whether that be FF, BF, TW or BLW (too many abbreviations!!) No-one should be forced to defend their choices! xx

Actually, I thought this (as the BLW books tell you this) until I read a totally unbiased article in a baby magazine which said this isn't always the case - how they eat off a spoon is actually no different if you spoon feed or give them a pre-loaded spoon - which BLW advises. It's worked for us anyway and once Freya can cope with a spoon herself instead of sticking it in her ear (!) she can do it herself! The article actually advocated a "mixed" approach to feeding by dieticians, as children then get the idea of how to eat both ways x

I think the point I was making is that the weaning choice has nothing to do with the quality/variety of food as the main principle behind BLW is that the child is eating themselves, not 'they eat whatever the parent eats'.

I have a friend who started on purees and tried to introduce BLW and her baby just gagged on everything. I do think the 'sucking' thing has more to do with weaning early rather than the method chosen, however I would still say be wary as it didn't work for her and her LO was pretty stressed out about solids.

But this really isn't a debate. When I originally went to comment (before I read the entire thread) I simply wanted to state in RL I have one friend who does BLW and everyone else I know does TW - it is the 'norm'. Chances are, my whole generation and the ones subsequent were TW pretty much entirely and plenty of chiefs, foodies, health gurus have come out of that bunch.

People who spend more time online and on these sites etc are much more likely to choose BLW so the majority here do do it.

And lastly, as I pointed out to my best friend who TW. The world health organisation recommends babies be weaned onto pureed food.

So I've said my piece and sorry if that annoyed anyone. That was my first post in the 'weaning and nutritrion' section, I don't generally go around promoting my preference in parenting.

I blw two and tw two of mine, I have nothing against TW. I believe the same goes for the majority of other BLWers on here. It is true that you can't combine the two as they are two completely different methods, nothing against one or the other by saying this. Another thing that is true that is often said here is if you're starting weaning a healthy baby who was born full term at 6 months there is no medical need to start with purees. I have never said, nor seen anyone say TW is force feeding either (except in cases where people give their 7 week old baby rice with no medical basis-that IS force feeding) xx