PamE

Miss M is 6.5 months and I am furiously puree-ing, and she loves it (started 2 weeks ago). Have recently been told that this is the "traditional" way but that now we "should" all be doing "baby lead" solids introduction. I don't like "shoulds" but I do have an open mind so am doing some research. Hints & tips on baby lead solids anyone? Thanks

elice_in_oz

Quite honestly, apart from the amount of mess that results from letting baby loose on the food, there is no obvious difference by the time they can master a spoon and fork.

I know that baby-led weaning is all the rage now, but not sure why

I have done it the traditional way with my boys and a very close friend has done the baby-led weaning, and both our 3-year-olds have turned into monsters who will only eat what they want.

As I said, I have found the traditional method a lot less messy and I still gave my boys plenty of choice and variety. Of course, all they'll eat now are 'fush fungers', 'sanwishes' and yoghurt They are 3 and 5, and from what I hear from all my friends, they are pretty typical, baby-led weaning or not...

I did think that at times though, my friends's kids could have done with a good hearty meat and veg purée, rather than the tiny amount of nectarine and bread they managed to suck on And judging by the amount of pasta or rice or whatever that ended up under the high chair after a meal, I doubt they ate much more of that either...That could have just been them though

Anyway, each to their own. I just couldn't be a*sed to mop the kitchen floor 3 times a day And we couldn't afford to replace the carpet and repaint the walls in the rental we lived in at the time

DadAgain

I have no idea what you're talking about.

BUT I can recommend you try not to feed your kids too much lead. Lead poisoning is a terrible thing.

PamE

Hey Elice, thanks so much for that, most interesting. I must admit I am at times a tad bewildered by all the things that one "should" and "should not" be doing. My gut feeling is that as with e.g. the timing of solids introduction, my baby should not be doing the leading, I should be leading, because she is a baby...and besides, she likes the purees so if it ain't broke don't fix it. I assume she will graduate to non-pureed food by the time she graduates high school, whatever happens I do like to keep an open mind tho and have found that I pick up best tips from direct conversations with mums both on and offline rather than reading screeds of text!

Dad Again -

elice_in_oz

Motherhood, I have found, is one big endless guilt-trip that makes you question your every move, thought and feeling. They didn't say that in the pre-natal classes I went to.

Best advice I was given: "listen to advice, whether wanted or unwanted and then do as you see fit"

Best advice I will give to my friends who ask: "follow your instinct, only YOU know what's best/what works for you and your child"

Now, off you go and do whatever you choose

DadAgain, you are SO right!

PamE

Yeah I'm getting that now....I was so focussed on keeping her alive in the first months and now I've finally managed to relax and enjoy her, I seem to be facing a daily onslaught of all manner of choices, each one of which is apparently crucial to my child's development and well-being! As with all things, one day at a time And I have learned to just listen and smile and ignore in face of comments such as "she needs a dummy" (no she does not); "she may STOP sleeping well, you know" (lordy I hope not and thanks for the positive input lol) and so on. And I'm already thinking about having another so it's not all bad...just confusing and yes guilt-inducing at times, which yeah, they don't tell you at the antenatal class

GoldCoastMag

Some ideas and info here, and as others have said "instincts are good to follow"

JustBecause

It's "led" not "lead" - that makes me think of feeding babes ingots of lead!

There's no reason you can't do a mix of purees sometimes & a mix of soft solids that they can hold & feed to themselves as well. I did mainly the latter as it made sense to me personally. I never actually pureed anything as I couldn't be bothered, just mashed the odd thing I thought that night need it, as per my own judgement. As others have said, don't be afraid to go with your own feelings on this - it's your child & your life!

To deal with the mess I put an old sheet or old large towel on the floor then after the feeding frenzy, shook if off outside & bunged in the washing machine when mucky. I also used a long sleeved bib with a pelican bib on top.

moneypenny20

Ignore what you 'should' do and go with gut. If you want to feed puree and the child wants to eat it, fine, if you shove a chunk of cucumber in their hands and they eat it, fine, if they happily suck up a bit of spagetti and gum it to death that's also good.

I decided to ignore what the professionals told me when the health visitor woman 'looking after' me and First Born admitted she didn't have any children of her own. She had no fricking right to tell me how to look after my baby in that case.

PamE

Those are great articles thanks - can't believe I hadn't looked there yet as I'm an ABA member - doh!

OMG lead / led lol now I understand the earlier comment, I just thought the poster had a funny sense of humour - doh! again

Yeah having read those ABA articles I am a bit more understanding now and I plan to do a mux of puree and giving Miss M bits and bobs of what I eat and we'll see how we go whilst being mindful of choking risk and allergies, which is common sense really.

Mess not a problem as there are no carpets in living area, it must be such a pain to have to put a cover on the floor!

Don't get me started on the midwives / CFHCs with no kids! LOL. I try not to take things to heart with all the advice but Miss M is my first baby and still a very new baby and of course I want to do my very best for her in every way and it can be quite difficult sometimes when there is so much different advice. I actually stay away from the CFHC as I have heard so many bad things about it, new mamas in tears and bad advice etc, have only been for 3 months check and now 6 month check, they keep telling me I "should" go much more than that but I don't think it's necessary. Fortunately I am building a good support network of local mums and that is helping a great deal as they have children of all ages and they have all done things in different ways, so I can see right before my eyes that there is no right or wrong and I try to remember that in times of madness

JustBecause

We have tiles in the kitchen but I used to put a cover down anyway as I found it easier than sweeping up & I didn't need to wipe up any liquidy stuff as it absorbed into the cloth so I could clean up all in one go.

If you are an ABA member they might have meetings near you. My local group often runs a meeting on starting solids but you can always discuss it at any of their meetings as they are very informal.

GoldCoastMag

There is a COFFS HARBOUR-SAWTELL Group, I wont put the counsellors number here but I am sure she will be happy to hear from you. Just put your postcode into the postcode finder on the counselling page. The forum there is great too.

It is an ideal way to meet new mums and make friends if you are new to an area.

even with older children I am a (longtime) aba member who counts aba peeps as my extended family

Gibbo

How right you are. Forget the books etc. and professionals. You know your child so use your commonsense and you'll be fine. Ask someone you trust questions if need be but don't worry if it doesn't work for you, your child is not the same as theirs.
I can remember when my 3rd was a good bit under a year a clinic nurse considered he was putting on too much weight and said I had to cut his food down. So I asked if she was coming to look after him when he was screaming hungry. She shut up then.

PamE

Thanks for the info ladies that's kind of you. I have been to one of the local meetings when Miss M was about 3 months but I never quite got back because they are unfortunately usually in places that are either inaccessible, or very difficult to get to, by public transport with a baby (there are buses here that have steps - I didn't think such things still existed!). I only learned to drive and got my Ps about 6 weeks ago so it was just too difficult to get there with any regularity. And in meantime I met other mamas in easier to get to places which keeps me & Miss M very busy nowadays. But I do plan to get back there one of these days and I certainly will be extending my membership once my year is up as I love the mag, and the helpline has been good for me on a few occasions too so I don't mind at all helping to fund that. Sometimes I have found that just knowing the helpline exists got me thru some difficult moments, even tho I didn't call

PamE

Fixing the subject!