Even before she was born I knew I wanted to go the BLW route with N. The closer we got to the 6-month mark, the more obsessed I got with it. I did HEAPS of research – articles, blogs, videos, conversations, etc. I learnt that
- BLW can be scary (you need to be ready for gagging/choking, knowing the difference and what do do if it happens)
- not everyone believes in BLW (to be fair, I think this is because they don’t understand BLW)
- you WILL get snide comments from all kinds of people (what’s new right?)
- it’s OK to mix it with Traditional Weaning (TW) which is pureeing everything and then progressing to a more lumpy texture and so on
Today marks 2 weeks of BLW and oh my God there are so many mixed emotions with this! Anxiety each time she puts something in her mouth (is she going to choke?). Patience at every meal because it goes really s l o w (does she even still want it?). Resistance to just put the food in her mouth (maybe I need to show her how to do it?). Keeping calm about the mess (oh god there is banana on my carpet). Doubt about even doing it right (am I introducing too many different kinds of foods too quickly?).
I will admit my patience isn’t exactly on the high end of the scale – with regards to ANYTHING – so I did get slightly irked when she would not seem as interested or would whine and try to get out of her seat, meaning she didn’t want a meal.
It’s also been a little challenging fitting these new mealtimes into the day because I’ve yet to figure out when the best times are to feed her. When she just gets up from her nap? Before nursing? After? WHAT.
The worst has been making people understand – especially elders – what BLW is and why we are doing it. Those from past generations still nag at me to feed her purees, baby cereals and that eventually she should be on a porridge-based diet everyday. I still get remarks from even the closest of people that what I’m doing is nonsense or they just blatantly question my decision. It’s difficult because they all mean well and they’re speaking from experience having raised… well, us.
But all is worth it because in just 2 weeks I’ve seen the benefits. Her accuracy in aiming to grab the food off her table or in the bowl is much better, she seems to know to flip her wrist and put the correct side of the food in (sometimes she grabs the higher end of the carrot stick etc), she makes less of a mess than she used to and she is getting increasingly interested in what’s being served.
Oh, she seems to hate how the broccoli tickles her lips. Hilarious.