Weaning

My little angel is now 10.5 months and eats so well it's hard to believe she's only been doing it 4.5 months. I'm so proud of her, she's a star. Yes, it's sometimes (well usually, but maybe surprisingly not always) messy, but what part of having kids isn't? The way we weaned KK is known as "baby led weaning" but I think that's a stupid name, it should just be called "weaning as anyone with half a brain would" - but I guess that is a bit long. When I was pregnant I read about baby led weaning (or BLW) and it seemed like a new idea that was sensible, if a bit 'hippyish', but since I've been doing it I've realised that all I'm doing is feeding my baby as I feed my husband - offer normal food for them to eat in their own time, they're both perfectly capable of holding food/a spoon and putting it in their mouth, so there's no need for me to do it for either of them. I probably sound like a pushy bint but I don't understand why people feel the need to feed their baby mush - whether they like it or not! I often can't tell if KK has something in her mouth, if I do try to give her something when she does she either pushes it away or opens her mouth anyway - both resulting in a big mess! BLW seems to be seen as a 'new' thing - but what did people do before blenders were invented? Maybe they chewed the food themselves and regurgitated it like birds! Hmmm, maybe not. I saw a children's sketch show the other day - a 'cook' was making an English breakfast. She put bacon, eggs, sausage, beans and tomato on a plate. She then added various cereals, toast, orange juice, tea and various other breakfast items - describing it as a "full" English breakfast. Her assistant then said "but you don't eat it all together, like that" to which she replied "no, you eat it all together like this" and scraped the whole thing into a blender then mashed it up. Although this was obviously a silly, funny and 'unrealistic' sketch, it occurred to me that this is not really any different from blending lots of food together and feeding it to babies. One jar of baby food I've seen had chicken and apple juice in! Surely not something you'd usually have together in the same dish - so why should babies? (They still have taste buds you know!)
Another thing that annoys me is people weaning their babies before six months. Six months is not a long time, one minute you're holding a tiny baby in your arms and the next they're smiling, laughing, babbling and if you're lucky - or not - crawling. Why on Earth would anybody want the little baby stage to go any quicker than it does already? I get sad at how quick my baby is growing up and she's not even one yet! I know that in the past health professionals recommended weaning at four months, but that was the past. In Tudor times (so the past) doctors recommended rubbing a hangman's rope on your head to cure a headache, but I prefer the more modern way of drinking more water or taking paracetamol. You know why? (Apart from the fact that I don't own or have access to a hangmans rope!) It's because medicine is advancing everyday, therefore it is usually safe to say that the most recent research is the best for us. The reason that babies shouldn't be weaned before six months is that their digestive system is not mature enough to handle anything other than milk. This is the same for all babies (unless they have a specific health issue and a doctor recommends early weaning)
Another thing I've heard people say is that their baby wouldn't/didn't last until six months...because they were interested in watching their parents eating! Of course they are - all babies are. Everything is brand new to them and the most mundane things are absolutely fascinating. That doesn't mean they want to copy you, or - even if they do - you should let them. KK was fascinated watching me drink but I never put a vodka and coke in her bottle or let her drink her milk from a wine glass. She also loved watching her daddy drive but there was no way we were going to stick her in the front seat, turn the engine on and let her have a go! When KK got to about four months old we got her a highchair. This was, I have to say, mainly beacuse we were living with dogs at the time and she had been in her bouncy chair with us during mealtimes but tended to get licked a lot! She also couldn't see us very well from down there, so we got her a highchair so she could 'join in'. She watched us with fascination as we ate. She was very used to putting things in her mouth by then but still watched intently. We got her a few plastic spoons to play with while we ate and she loved it! She obviously felt like she was joining in and this was enough for her. When she was six months old we started giving her bits of veg, and now - just over four months on - she pretty much eats the same as us. I've found it great, it's really making me eat healthier as well - she tends to want the same as me and fruit is much better for babies than chocolate!
I still can't believe how quickly she's growing up and how clever she is. She's definitely her own little person now and although I'm sad she's not tiny and totally dependent on me anymore I am so proud of how far she's come and excited for the things she will achieve when she's a bit bigger (but not just yet!)