Baby Lead Weaning

**BlondeMoment** · 04-06-2010, 04:52 PM

Has anyone got any experience of baby lead weaning? I have a potential parent who wants to use this method with her baby. Sounds scarey to me and I'd be terrified they're going to choke.

**gigglinggoblin** · 04-06-2010, 05:11 PM

We did it with my youngest and its brill, so much more fun! They do occasionally gag but not too often once they know what they are doing. Google it, theres loads of info out there, someone on mumsnet used to write a blog which was a good read

aly · 04-06-2010, 05:14 PM

hiya

someelse asked about this so i sent them a load of info...will pm you the same

xx

**mamasheshe** · 04-06-2010, 06:20 PM

deffo recommend blw both my girls where weaned this way in fact it's totally alien to me to "feed" a baby any other way

both mine did occasionally gag or cough something up never had a choking incident with either of them

**The Juggler** · 04-06-2010, 07:05 PM

I've just had two babies come to me after baby led weaning both hated any kind of sloppy food and much preferred 'proper' food. TBH it's much easier

**SYLVIA** · 04-06-2010, 07:19 PM

One of my mums has been telling me about this recently. I wasn't too keen to do it because of the choking thing but it sounds a good idea. I think its a good idea as I've had little ones in the ast who struggle to move on to the next stage food with lumps

**Donkey** · 04-06-2010, 09:49 PM

I started with blw and then because my dd went to a nursery I switched to a combo of purees and finger foods.

blw is great!! my friend has blw her baby and she is 12 months, eats normal food and is using a fork to feed herself..

my sister is using purees etc as she doesnt like mess and her baby is 10 months old and not having any finger foods at all and is spoon fed everything...

blw all the way!

**sweets** · 04-06-2010, 10:16 PM

sorry but i dont like the idea of it at all! they have no teeth so how are they supposed to chew things properly. children and babies DO choke on foods as my friend who is a nurse has seen loads! with not always a good outcome

yes i know they can choke on anything but i think you are increasing the risk by giving babies foods that they are just not ready for.

**BlondeMoment** · 04-06-2010, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by sweets

sorry but i dont like the idea of it at all! they have no teeth so how are they supposed to chew things properly. children and babies DO choke on foods as my friend who is a nurse has seen loads! with not always a good outcome

yes i know they can choke on anything but i think you are increasing the risk by giving babies foods that they are just not ready for.

This is what worries me. I know of a parent who innocently gave her baby a grape while walking around Tesco and the baby actually choked to death.

**sweets** · 04-06-2010, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by BlondeMoment

This is what worries me. I know of a parent who innocently gave her baby a grape while walking around Tesco and the baby actually choked to death.

a friend of a friends child choked and died on a grape a couple of years ago! she was only 2

i do give my mindees grapes no but they are cut into quarters.

**BlondeMoment** · 04-06-2010, 10:23 PM

Exactly! How can this be safe! It terrifies me!

**Tealady** · 04-06-2010, 11:03 PM

I think it can be scary and I wouldn't have entertained it at all until I had my second child.

He's eight months and I have struggled for just over two months to get him to eat purees. I was still feeding him out of his bottle lid as he was eating so little... until Wednesday when he nicked a smallish piece of toast from my plate and managed it quite well and then went to grab more! I let him and he loved it. I susequently looked into BLW and since then he has eaten steamed carrot sticks and broccoli quite happily. Foods are chip shaped and I found my son just ground things in his mouth or with the toast ground them til soggy and like a puree anyway. Gill Rapely is the main "guru" on the subject and you can get her book online quite reasonable and there is a website www.babyledweaning.com which is quite useful so worth a look.

As to the grapes, my First Aid tutor told us that they are the number one cause of choking in small children. I even chop them for my six year old mindees.

**Donkey** · 05-06-2010, 07:41 AM

whole grapes are a choking risk as they are the perfect size to block the windpipe which is why you never give a child a whole grape. halved or quarters.

with BLW people have to be sensible,you would give raw apple or raw carrot sticks straight away as this can be a choking risk.

you can give a cooked brocoli florret, was the first thing I gave my dd, she gummed it and it fell apart. have it on video!! awesome thing

http://www.facebook.com/v/12652450652

the therory is, if they are developed enough to pick it up, get it into their mouth and then open their mouth and chew they are developed enough to eat it..

please ignore me speaking to my dd lol might be better to watch without sound

**BlondeMoment** · 09-06-2010, 02:05 PM

Thanks for all your help guys! It doesn't seem quite so scarey having looked into it. the Mum went with another childminder in the end anyway LOL. She must have seen the look of terror on my face when she explained what briefly what is was LOL

**grindal** · 09-06-2010, 03:20 PM

Thats a shame - at least you will know all about it if another prospective mindee comes along asking the same thing! I did BLW with DS1 and 2 it is fab! Mine both started on broccoli - I remember the looks of disgust we got when we took a very tiny 6 month old DS1 into a cafe on holiday and gave him bits of bread and a chip to eat

In answer to someone who asked how they are supposed to chew with no teeth - well, they do not chew they gum and it is surprisingly effective. They basically suck the food and will quite often spit out any left over bits.
I do not remember any incidents of choking or gagging whilst feeding until I started looking after spoon and puree weaned babies last year!

aly · 09-06-2010, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by sweets

sorry but i dont like the idea of it at all! they have no teeth so how are they supposed to chew things properly. children and babies DO choke on foods as my friend who is a nurse has seen loads! with not always a good outcome

yes i know they can choke on anything but i think you are increasing the risk by giving babies foods that they are just not ready for.

you dont need teeth to chew....you gum {or rather they} the food...it has been around for years and years WITHOUT aname for it.

also you start them off when 6-8months i started nearly 9months so a lot later than puree fed babies, you can give them almost anything as long as it is fist sized/chip shaped...they learn to chew etc.