BLW and traditional weaning - or a halfway house?

[stowsettler]

So, we stared weaning shortly before 6 months and had planned to BLW - which we have done pretty successfully in that DD feeds herself quite well. However she's been displaying a clear preference to be fed in the past few weeks - which I am doing alongside continuing to give her finger food and allowing her to feed herself with a spoon when she wants.

I have absolutely no problem with weaning traditionally, i.e. feeding her if that's what she prefers, but as she's been coping very happily with non-mashed food I haven't bothered mashing / blending anything. Also, quite frankly I can't be arsed. At most I cut stuff up a bit small.

Presumably there's no issue with this? It's made me think, because I can't really see the point of purees but I haven't come across this halfway house weaning style.

Also, how the hell do you know when they're ready to drop milk feeds? DD is now 7.5 months and still on 4 x 7oz feeds a day she's a right chubster. We have successfully dropped the dream feed and I'm absolutely convinced she doesn't need 7oz at each feed - but I reckon she thinks it'd be rude not to finish it!

Thanks for any insights...

[Edithmark]

Hi the halfway house thing you talk about was what everybody did before BLW became all the rage. My teens were all weaned on this approach where you just muddle through doing a bit of this and that, and gradually they get weaned. The point of purees was that we were weaning earlier from about 16 weeks, and so purées were better/ easier for younger babies. Just do a mix of feeding her and letting her feed herself. If she is hungry or having a growth spurt then maybe she can't feed herself as quickly as she'd like, and shed like you to top up in between mouthfuls that she is managing. My DCs were fed at mealtimes at the table with us, I'd shovel a bit into them, then they'd graze whilst I had few mouthfuls of mine, then it would alternate like that throughout the dinner time.

Can't remember about the milk feeds...why not reduce to 4x 6oz rather than drop a feed altogether. I think I kept one feed at about 2oz for ages as they wanted something at that time but I didn't want to give too much so they didn't eat the meal IYSWIM.

[stowsettler]

Ah that makes sense thanks edith. We just kind of fell into this way of weaning, so it's good to know we're not the only ones.
I will start to reduce her milk feeds gradually now I think. There's no doubt she's getting plenty of nutrition so I think we can risk the odd ounce here and there

[Coveredinweetabix]

I think this half way house is also what most people do with subsequent children when they're a bit more relaxed and not following the book so to speak. I intended to BLW DC1 but she was having none of it. To be fair, she wasn't a huge fan of purées as all she really wanted was boob but she would tolerate being spoon fed purée and ended up being a good eater. Due to that experience, I had no intention of trying to BLW DC2. But then he was much more interested in food and would just grab it and chomp on it. He ended up having some purées which he was spoon fed, would be spoon fed weetabix, porridge, soup, yogurt etc and now eats those foods himself with a spoon (he's 16mths now) and for most other foods he'll use both his hands and his hands and his fork. Like edith, I think this was probably how it worked for generations before baby "experts" came along and people got hung up as to which they were going to follow and what label they were going to give to things.

[SatinSandals]

I don't know by people make it so difficult and why babies are banned from perfectly normal foods just because it needs a spoon. If it is baby led then listen to the baby who wants to be fed. The aim is to get them eating family meals and how you get there is unimportant.

[ExBrightonBell]

SatinSandals, I did BLW with my ds. There were no foods that were banned or not offered due to consistency. E.g. He had yogurt from the get go. I loaded a spoon and gave it to him. This is perfectly ok and doesn't go against the BLW "philosophy" as it were. Sometimes he used his hands to eat it - surprisingly effective. BLW isn't some bizarre and dogmatic thing. Some people get bizarre and dogmatic about certain aspects of it which is their problem, not a problem with the idea of BLW.

OP, hopefully you are feeling more confident now about weaning however suits you.

[SatinSandals]

It only appears to me to be what many people have always done but just given a label. The only good thing is that it does away with commercial baby food.

[stowsettler]

Funnily enough I met up with a friend yesterday whose DD is 11 weeks ahead of mine. My friend was almost rabidly pro-BLW and was in the camp where feeding her DD was totally verboten. However it seems that her DD had other ideas and now much prefers to be fed. My friend has gone along with this and seems to be much happier for not putting the pressure on herself to do BLW only.
Personally, I believe that BLW should be just that - follow your baby's lead. If she wants to be fed, then just her. If she's happy to gnaw on a piece of chicken, great.
As for us - we're much happier doing this halfway house weaning. She gets plenty of food inside her but is also comfortable negotiating 'proper' textured foods.