How do you explain BLW to others?

BunnyN

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Okay so we have just started BLW and it's going well. One of the first things I gave her was half an apple I couldn't believe she actually ate about half of it! She also loves bread. Some foods end up mostly on the floor but I recon that's all part of it.

MIL is desperate for her to "start eating" though (um...where do you think the apple went:wall2:) and keeps making comments about making her soup, buying her baby yogurts, feeding her with a spoon and that she needs help getting the food in her mouth etc. She is generally quite respectful of my opinions and crazy ideas but I keep trying to explain what we are trying to do and she doesn't get it. Just wondered how you have dealt with explaining to people who don't understand BLW. Any tips?
 
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I fully expected challenges with certain people. I gave one friend my iPad and told her to read the explanation of BLW as she had just told me how I will need to start pureeing food as " that's what babies eat"
She actually seemed impressed and I got the impression she wished she had done it.
My mum and sister are fully on board as they knew about it from others that have tried it.
I asked my Dh and mum to read a book on it, but don't think they have yet.
I've also joined a forum on Facebook and it's funny how many people have mentioned BLW when I've liked something on there, so word is getting around that way too. I actually shared an article on BLW on Facebook too.
Some people just refuse to get it though. My Hv totally blanked my suggestion of BLW and insisted that I mash and purée food.
 
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I must add though, I haven't actually started yet as such, Lo is 6 months in December. I just wanted certain challenging people primed before I start!
 
my mil was similar, after some very rude comments I told her lo wasn't stupid, she knows what food is and if she wants to eat something she will if u put it within her reach. MIL still doesn't get it though and I don't think she ever will, she recently took a granola bar off her 'so she didnt choke on it'

my hv knew what BLW was but didn't think it was possible before 9months ish (we started at 4and a half months)

I think it's the same as anything parenting related, different people have different ideas, preconceptions and styles. Other people don't have to understand it but they do have to accept its your choice!
 
I didn't do traditional blw (I don't think, I'm not entirely au fait with what it is) I just gave my son a spoon and he got on with it, along with certain hand-held foods. What I'm saying is - why not give lo a yogurt or soup - yes at first it will be eaten mainly with hands but my lo had got to grips with using a spoon by 7 months - assuming there's nothing in blw that says you can't give them non hand held food x
 
Thanks girls, it's not that my MIL means to be rude and I know she would respect what we are trying to do if she understood it , she was just excited about feeding LO with a spoon and doesnt have a clue what BLW is, and doesn't really get it when I try to explain. There is some language barrier there which doesn't help. I talked to OH about it though and he explained better than I could. Some people are horrified about LO getting bread rolls, chicken drumsticks and apple halves but MIL is actually fine about that, I think she just likes the idea of feeding her with a spoon. The inlaws don't live near us anyway and were just visiting so I've decided I don't mind too much if MIL decides she really must feed LO with a spoon next time they are here. I'm not really following BLW stricktly, just the general idea. LO actually likes using a spoon, probably because her first tasts of food were from steeling my spoon from my hand. I fill up the spoon for her then hand it to her. She squawks and waves the spoon at me so that i'll fill it up for her again. Usually she takes the spoon with her hands but sometimes she goes straight for eating off it. I don't think BLW by the book even lets you fill up the spoon but I'm just going with what she likes and staying with the principle of giving her propper food and letting her choose how much and what she eats. I did try letting her get on with it to start with but she is quite obsessed with food and really does want to eat it, not play with it. She manages fine with large things she can hold onto but she got fustrated with foods like yougurt and mashed potato that she couldn't get it into her mouth as fast as she wanted, and then she'd get upset. Thats when I started filling up a spoon for her and she was delighted.
 
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