What the heck is baby led weaning

Re older kids who did BLW:

My elder two would not in any circumstances accept spoon feeding or baby food purées/jars, so I did BLW by default. Softer finger foods going up to harder textures as they got a few more teeth.

They eat fine with cutlery now (four and three) and will try anything. They have always been used to stopping when they are no longer hungry and they are on the lower side of a healthy weight, good height etc, no health problems. Table manners of an acceptable standard are important to me and they are good with these when eating out. I took them out from very early to get them accustomed to eating in public/in company.

My boy accepted spoon feeding readily. His weight is fine but he expects to be literally waited on hand and foot during mealtimes and will not even attempt to hold the sippy cup himself. He is only one so this is not a big issue yet, but definitely I want to work on him eating a little more independently. Getting a bit tired of being left with a freezing cold and unappetising meal myself :-/

*Purees are actually a bigger risk to their airways than solids anyway.*

I still remember in horror my son in law giving my 6 month old granddaughter a slice of roast beef. Of course she choked and he calmly told her to cough it up. She did manage it but I thought he was an adiot to give it to her.

My daughter introduced puréed food, but at the same time she offered the babies pieces of food such as broccoli, carrot, bits of fruit etc. She cooked the food and gave it to them cold. She continued breastfeeding and puréed food alongside the pieces of food. It worked really well, they got to taste and suck on food but were fully nourished with breast milk and puréed foods. They now eat an extremely varied diet rich with fruits and vegetables. They also get treats like chocolate, but not too often.

Why horrific lovetopaint? It's just a veey normal way to feed your baby. I did similar 30 plus years ago! From 6 months. The only difference I can see is babies are weaned later now so they miss the spoon fed mushy baby food stage. Did you never give your babies finget food?
And *Kathy 1959*I don't understand how you can think baby led weaning will lead to delinquent children!
For those you say it may lead to food issues or obesity I don't understand that either I think it is more likely to lead to a better relationship with food.

All of them, like us, will grow up to eat normally, with a knife and fork, just the same as it ever was.
It'll all come out in the wash.

It's been done for years, and as the NHS says don't rush the mush. Back in the day when it was advised to introduce solids at 3 or 4 months or even earlier all you could do was give purees, as babies that old cannot pick up and put food into their mouths as 6 month old babies can. Back in my grandmother's day it was advised that babies had no solid food until around 9 months, but then babies were breastfed, when formula came in they needed solids as the formulas of the day were not nutritionally enough, and sas they have improved the age at which solids have been introduced has risen to the age when they actually need them.
It's actually much easier than preparing special food for babies, you just use what you are having, only if you're having something not suitable, is that needed [and most mums use the freezer for this] When my son was born someone gave me a recipe book for babies which included steamed brains. Steam them for 2 hours and then puree them, and then most of it would end up on the bib, who has time for that? So I did baby-led weaning by default, and surprise now they're in their 30s they don't need the police calling round, they baby-led potty trained too and apart from boychild missing the loo when peeing no problems in later life. I did baby-led walking too, without worrying that they would crawl forever, or if I didn't make them walk that they'd never do it. You wait with baby-led weaning until your child can sit up with some support, has lost the tongue-thrust reflex, can pick up small bits with finger and thumb and put whatever it is in their mouth.
Baby-led weaning doesn't mean ignoring your child whil she is eating, and obviously you cut grapes. Gill Rapley who gave it the name videoed a child being offered pureed broccoli on a spoon and rejecting it, but later happily eating a stalk of broccoli. It gives a child a chance to look at what he is eating, to smell it, before putting it into his mouth, adults wouldn't like an unknown substance being put into their mouth, no matter how much they might like it, and I know once spat out beer as I picked up the wrong mug so I was expecting apple juice, not that I didnt like beer, but I was expecting apple juice.
Everyone is fussy in their own way with food no matter what a 'good eater' they are, Sometimes it is a cultural thing, lots of things other cultures eat that we don't, as long as people as they grow up eat a nutritious balanced diet that fits with their medical, religious and cultural needs, that's OK. Most people broaden their range of acceptable foods as they grow up and that's OK. Most children go through phases where their choice of food reduces, and actually that's a good thing, if annoying, as it means that they are less likely to go out in the garden and eat things that may hurt them, safer for all to stick to what they know and see adults eating. How many adults will only eat cheese sandwiches? Children do not need vast quantities of food either, their rate of growth slows down as they get older. And a breastfed baby who doesn't eat a lot at a year - how do they grow? Breastmilk, obviously this is still nutritious, they will eat more when they are ready to. NHS recommends continuing with formula until at least a year, milk is always the main part of a baby's diet
Grans may have time for mushing sessions but busy mums often don't, so the fall back is jarred or packet baby food which tends to be bland, and of course all the bits are mushed together so monotonous, take a look at the nutritional values, often less calorific than breastmilk or formula [ so displacing more nutritious food] and expensive. When you go out for a meal too you have to take the jar or pouch along instead of just sharing from your plate
So relax and enjoy not having to do special cooking and purees.

My sons are aged respectively 55 and 46. The younger just had his first child seven months ago. I was sent a little phone movie of him trying to eat a slippery sliver of avocado which emused me a bit. The gap between me and baby raising is 45 years, so when did all this start? My son sleeps peacefully in a spare room while exhausted daughter in law deals with breast feeding on demansd. Looks like hell to me.

I have only recently come across this. GS is fed this way. I was very wary thinking he would choke but he has managed fine. GD has pureed food first and they are very similar in age.

Quite a lot of entrenched views here. My own children were weaned on purees but when my first two grandchildren arrived I had a good look at BLW. Its not a fad and makes perfect sense if you understand the thinking behind it. Can I suggest to the OP that she has a look at anything by Gill Rapley . She is a well respected expert in infant feeding. I've always liked the mantra " we do the best we can with what we know. When we know better, we do better"

maddyone that's the weaning approach I used. A bit of puree, some mashed up food and some finger foods alongside breastfeeding and then latterly formula. That flexibility worked for us.

It’s fine, I wasn’t sure at first but it worked well with both my GC. They don’t choke because weaning starts a lot later. This is also the reason you don’t need purées, I started weaning mine at 4 months with purées but these days they don’t recommend any solids until at least 6 months, when babies are well able to cope with gnawing on sticks if things. Both my GC (7 and 3) eat a wide variety of foods of all types so something was done right!

I can thoroughly recommend the large plastic tablecloths that Poundland sell...
Spread on floor, put baby's chair in centre, and at the end just pick up corners, take outside, shake well so that the birds etc can have a feast, and wipe over with an sntibac wipe... Saves your flooring from stains and you from masses of cleaning up

It’s VERY messy!

Abuelana it is a good idea to have DD bring what she wants her to eat. Less confusing to you and her.

When my DD told me she was doing it 9yrs ago I thought WHAT! However I have to say both GC did brilliantly on it. It was messy at times for sure. I was particularly impressed that once they were full they stopped eating. Now 9 and 7 both healthy so I guess it worked for them. At the age of three they were both enjoying olives and a wide range of foods and continue to do so.

Both DGS had baby food or what we were eating mashed or finely chopped. One teenage now a picky eater, one who eats anything. 1 DGD fed like the boys, one baby led weaning. Both eat anything.
I remember the messy period lasted longer with baby led.
I’m amazed that parents have the time to keep an eye on the baby led children and clean up after them, when they tell me they don’t have time to listen to children read or help with homework.

I agree with Norah. Leave it to your daughter Abuelana
Your daughter knows her baby best, and even if it's her first, she has to learn from experience.
From what others have said, she's not going to do any serious harm.
I can't remember how I 'weaned' my other children. I was from the generation that breastfed as long as possible.
Hygiene, passing on immunities and lack of alternatives.

"I' amazed that parents have the time to keep an eye on the baby led children and clean up after them, when they tell me they don't have time to listen to children read or help with homework". Are you a teacher ?

What is it with some older people that at every opportunity they'll speak (or write) negatively about younger people.
The young parents I know are without exception both working but somehow manage to have happy contented children, most of whom learned to eat using the baby led weaning model. I was a tad anxious about introducing chunks of food so early but my four young grandchildren are took to it brilliantly. Yes, mess on the floor but happy children who love food.

I was a bit taken aback when DD did this with DGD, the latter is now a fit and healthy coming up 4yr old who likes a wide variety of foods. DGS (nearly 2) was weaned in a similar way but had a little bit of purées swell - I think because pure solids is very time consuming. I try to go with the flow.........!

It follows on from baby-led breastfeeding, where there's no timing or feeding four hourly. Just feed when the baby is showing signs of wanting milk.
I loved it. Neither mine are fussy or are picky eaters as they had colour, flavour, texture and variety from day one and ate until full, topped up with breastmilk.
It's fun and depending on the foods you choose can be messy. You'll be surprised at the foods they manage to hold and eat. X

Youngest GD started this type of feeding at 6 months old. Never seen a child enjoy food more. She ate absolutely everything put in front of her (messily!). On one occasion aged 10 months we had her cousins here (8 and 4) and she ate more than the 8 year old (pasta shells stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan). In a restaurant she ate very happily for 3 hours on and off being handed around other family members in between actual eating. Suddenly out of the blue at 14 months she is starting to become very fussy. Nobody can fathom out why.

Baby led feeding! Be ready to scrape food off your walls, ceiling and of course floor. Been through this twice and both children ended up chucking what they didn't like all over the place. They still developed likes and dislikes as they grew older. One is easier to feed than the other but IMO that is due to one set of oarents being more strict than the other, not pandering to whims.

My youngest....now 38.....went from breast to solid food at a year old. She had had nothing but breast milk before that. Never had pureed food.
She continued to have breast milk until she was two. May be I was ahead of my time....hahaha

It’s amazingly effective. My granddaughters ate most things, even moules, at a very young age.