The attraction of blw?

[kanga]

Yesterday I was speaking to my Mum about weaning and she said in her day, they would mush up food and offer finger foods. And that's just how it was done.

Fine, I said. Makes sense. Sounds like tw to me.

Today I was talking to my friend who is planning her weaning and is planning to do a 'combination' of blw and tw. I asked what she would be doing and she said purees and finger foods from the start.

But to me, that sounds like tw!

Has anyone else noticed that everyone nowadays wants to be able to say, oh yes, we are doing blw ( with a combination of purees *says under breath*). When really they are just tw?

What's the attraction with blw? Why does everyone want to say they are blw?! Even though they aren't?

Bit of a random thread. Bit of a winge really. I just don't get what is wrong with tw and understanding that that is what you are doing, and being happy with that!

 

[pumpkim]

I don't think it is that people think BLW is 'fashionable' or whatever, I just think people mistakenly believe finger food = BLW

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I agree with the above. I also think people think that if their LO likes spoonfeeding and finger foods they see it as 'baby led' (which it is) so call it BLW (which it isn't) - BLW is a fixed concept which involves never spoonfeeding your baby.

It's a bit like saying 'I exclusively breastfeed but give one bottle of formula at night' - doesn't make sense. Do you breastfeed, yes, but do you exclusively breastfeed, no.

 

[summer rain]

^WSS. I've lost count of the number of times on here that when a thread asks what is BLW people reply 'BLW is finger foods', when it isn't. There is nothing wrong with TW so I don't see why people don't just say we are doing TW with finger foods xx

 

[NewMummyx]

I agree with the above. I also think people think that if their LO likes spoonfeeding and finger foods they see it as 'baby led' (which it is) so call it BLW (which it isn't) - BLW is a fixed concept which involves never spoonfeeding your baby.

It's a bit like saying 'I exclusively breastfeed but give one bottle of formula at night' - doesn't make sense. Do you breastfeed, yes, but do you exclusively breastfeed, no.

i was under the impression you could pre load te spoon with BLW??

 

[bunnie2]

We do our version of BLW ,baby leads me in what he wants If i offer what i am eating and he eats it, fabby, if he doesnt i offer mush and he eats it, simples lol
Tonight he had a 4mth jar, a Rachel yogurt,then he had 1/3 of a fish finger and some broc which was swipped from his sister
At the end of the day, why does it need a name, your feeding your baby, end off.

 

[blondey]

^WSS. I've lost count of the number of times on here that when a thread asks what is BLW people reply 'BLW is finger foods', when it isn't. There is nothing wrong with TW so I don't see why people don't just say we are doing TW with finger foods xx

I agree. A lot of people mistake BLW to mean solely finger foods. They don't realise it's a whole concept about the way you and your baby eat; eating together, eating the same things, exploration through food etc. Also people often assume TW is solely purees and spoon feeding and don't realise that from 6 months, the definition of TW is spoon feeding with the addition of finger foods.

Newmummyx, yes you can pre load spoons in BLW and LO feeds it to themselves. Otherwise BLW would make it difficult to give yoghurt etc

 

[NewMummyx]

^WSS. I've lost count of the number of times on here that when a thread asks what is BLW people reply 'BLW is finger foods', when it isn't. There is nothing wrong with TW so I don't see why people don't just say we are doing TW with finger foods xx

I agree. A lot of people mistake BLW to mean solely finger foods. They don't realise it's a whole concept about the way you and your baby eat; eating together, eating the same things, exploration through food etc. Also people often assume TW is solely purees and spoon feeding and don't realise that from 6 months, the definition of TW is spoon feeding with the addition of finger foods.

Newmummyx, yes you can pre load spoons in BLW and LO feeds it to themselves. Otherwise BLW would make it difficult to give yoghurt etc

I thought so! LO is loving his porridge with his wee spoon lol

 

[midori1999]

I have to admit, I have TW my other children (BLW didn't exist then AFAIK, I am ancient... ) and found it hard to get my head round BLW at first. I liked the idea of it, except the mess, so I thought I'd give finger foods at most meals and then just spoon feed cereals, yoghurts etc, until I thought 'actually, that's pretty much traditional weaning'.

I think there's probably a sort of middle ground, as TW does involve some sort of spoon feeding or puree at most meals, finger foods aren't a regular thing until much later on and even then wouldn't make up the bulk of the meals.

It is hard to have confidence in a new way of doing things when something else has worked well for you in the past. However, having watched videos of how quickly BLW babies progress and how early they can spoon feed themselves competently, I will definitely be BLW, no purees.