What's up with this BLW?

As an active #InstaMama, mother of 7,5, my monthly Santa Claus, I get a lot of questions from you about whether we are already expanding our diet and whether it will be BLW. It was an impulse for me to wonder if I really know what it is loved by some, criticized by others BLW? Do I want and feel able to feed my child in this way?

Of course, I've heard that the pulp is passe. That now only vegetables, fruit, meat and fish, depending on their size, whole or in pieces - just right to be caught by small, usually completely untrained hands. That pincer gripping is good. That he wouldn't choke. That he will eat what he wants and as much as he wants. That nothing should be standing within 2 meters, because the range of throwing food is quite large. That a child starting their adventure with BLW should sit up by themselves, or actually sit down (a few months ago I didn't even know that there was a difference between sitting and sitting down).

I decided to dispel my and probably not only my doubts by asking the Expert. To create this material, I invited my long-term friend Ania Rogalska-Bućko, privately a double and wise mother, who brings up children in the spirit of RB, the author of the blog Zawodmama.blogspot.com, a dietitian by profession and leading Workshops on BLW.

But to start talking about BLW you have to start from the beginning. From extending the diet.

 

Agnes: It is commonly accepted that the diet of a formula-fed child should be extended after the age of 4 months, and that of a breast-fed child after 6 months of age. Only for me it is illogical. I know that a child fed with mother's milk receives the best and what it needs, the perfect composition supporting its development, and above all its immune and digestive systems. A child fed with modified milk, even the best composed milk, unfortunately lacks many beneficial natural ingredients, hormones or antibodies. To my mind, if I were to point out which child can start taking additional food faster, I would point to a child fed with mother's milk, which has a better chance of a better and faster developed digestive system. The tables for expanding the infant's diet, however, are composed exactly the opposite and provide for the introduction of vegetables, fruits and fats to babies fed with modified milk up to 2 months earlier than to breastfed babies. Why?

 

Ania: It has always fascinated me, because our children develop similarly regardless of what they are fed. The universality you are talking about was created by the producers of baby food themselves. Fortunately, we now have a different scheme, quite different from the one that the color press has used in recent years or what could be found on leaflets at the clinic (always labeled with a specific brand of baby food). But let's go back to the pattern you are asking about. For years, producers of blends have tried to convince us that their "milk" is the best we can give a child, that it is like "mother's milk". However, they realized that this was not the case and that they had to be made up for somehow. Hence the correct conclusion that expanding the diet will provide what milk could not. To be exact, it must be mentioned that our mothers fed us completely differently. Who hasn't heard the legendary stories about a spoonful of lenses after three weeks of age? I was fed this way myself. (I am glad that today we have much more knowledge about infant nutrition and we do not have to repeat these mistakes.) Over time, cow's "milk in a blue bag" was replaced with humanized cow's milk, which was changed formula every now and then, it became better, closer to the ideal . Giving additional food as early as at 4 months of age did not make much sense, since the milk was able to provide almost all the ingredients. It turned out that there is nothing more in carrots (and even much less) than the nutrients contained in formula milk, so the old nutrition regimen was based on the old formula of milk that was deficient. And in this niche, baby food manufacturers have thrown jars. Have you noticed that there are no advertisements for infant milk? It is forbidden by law. You can only advertise milk after the 6th month (the so-called "two"). A jar after 4 months is a response to this gap and probably a bit of a consumer need. After all, grandmothers continue to insist on early expansion of the diet. Now we know that the diet of each child should be expanded no earlier than after the age of 6 months. Following the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), the Polish Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition has also updated its guidelines. Therefore, dear parents, do not rush to expand your diet children, no matter what milk you give them. I will go a step further. If the baby is receiving formula milk, keep the infant milk as long as possible due to the greater humanization (adaptation) of the starting product, which is cow's milk in these products.

 

Agnes: Anna, where does the abbreviation BLW come from?

Ania: It's Baby Led Weaning in the original. When you strip down the prime factorization, it roughly means "child directed withdrawal." The word "weaning" exactly means "weaning," so the whole thing tells us about the child's self-withdrawal from milk foods (be it breasts or formula), ie the child's dairy withdrawal.

Agnes: What is the BLW?Ania: BLW is about letting the baby decide when he no longer needs milk. How does it work in practice? The child eats himself, chooses what he eats (from the range of healthy products offered to him by the guardian) and how much he wants to eat. As a result, over time, solid foods displace milk, and thus the baby wean itself from milk.

 

If we want a child to eat alone, we must give him foods in such a form that it is possible. We don't expect children to start eating cutlery from the first moment. Food is an activity that requires learning. Just like when learning to walk, the child will fall over, so in the case of food it will include smaller or larger mishaps.

 

Agnes: Why is it worth feeding a child using the BLW method and not traditionally with mush?

 

Ania: First of all, this method enables us to eat meals together. Which mom doesn't dream about it? The main assumption of the method formulated by the author of the book of the same title (the Polish edition was issued by the Mamania publishing house under the title "Babas likes a choice") Grill Rapley is eating together. And it is not just about time, but about the fact that the child can successfully reach the plate of any of the household members. They want it or not - we change our eating habits, start to read labels, consciously shop, prepare dishes in a healthier way. It is good for the health of the whole family.

Secondly, the child has a chance to learn the flavors of individual vegetables, fruits, groats. When we give a child peas and carrots, they decide whether they will eat the whole meal or choose peas while leaving the carrots. It will have a chance to find out how each of these vegetables tastes separately, but also like all of them together.

Third, the child develops manually. Eating with your hands from the very beginning improves your toddler. Thanks to this, later it will be easier to handle small objects, hold crayons. In addition to fitness, the child is also stimulated sensory - nowadays more and more emphasis is placed on the importance of sensory integration, possible disorders and working on them in everyday life. For this BLW is perfect.

Fourthly, a child eating alone has a driving force. He demonstrates it by eating. A child fed with the causative power shows by refusing to eat.

The pros can be exchanged for a long time.

 

Agnes: So this begs me the question - are pulps bad?

 

Ania: It all depends on what we mean when we say "mush". When it comes to smooth consistency, the pulp can be yogurt, tomato cream soup or strawberry mousse. Personally, I love rice with strawberry mousse, tomato cream with mozzarella and groats or cream soup of peas with croutons. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if the child only gets mousses, creams, purees, it is not good. How will a baby learn to chew and bite? How will I get to know different tastes if I always get the same mix? How will he know the colors if the mashes look similar, if not the same (carrots, carrots with potatoes, pumpkin with potatoes ...)?

How will he learn to cough if we don't let him master this art?
In addition, the mash is dirty. Rubbed carrots leave behind worse stains than whole carrots. Including therefore the parents do not put the mousse jar in front of the little man, but try to feed him. And here again, the child cannot learn to eat, because how?

 

Agnes: When I talk about the BLW method, and especially the elderly, I often hear negative comments that their children were eating mush, and today they have no problems speaking clearly, distinguishing or naming colors and flavors, and that BLW is some dangerous fad that threatens asphyxiation.

 

Ania: Once upon a time no one had time for mush. There were no blenders and people had to do their daily work. So if someone wants to refer to what was in the past, let him go back a bit in time.

Relying on a very narrow group of own children is an unreliable argument. General statistics are no longer so favorable. Of course, it is not that BLW children eat everything as they are (and this is what some adults expect) that they do not have speech impediments, but BLW definitely alleviates many disorders and exercises in advance.

And you can suffocate with water or soup and it's definitely more dangerous than choking, which the child deals with.

 

Agnes: When can you start feeding your baby using the BLW method?

 

Ania: When it's ready. The average age is considered to be 6 months, but there are children who need more time, another month or two. It is known that if a child is to eat by himself, he must not only be interested in eating, but be physically ready for it, so he must sit steadily. Now we know that children do not sit down, that they have to sit down by themselves. But sometimes, when it comes to problems with muscle tone, there is no need to wait until the 12th month, because the baby will want to eat by itself, despite the fact that it cannot sit up. We only need to ensure the child's safety by, for example, putting him on his lap (only for the time of a meal) and securing him. One baby will be ready in 7 months, another 8, and another one in 9 months. Don't push, but create an opportunity.

After talking with Ania, I arranged the first meal according to the BLW method for my one-month-old son 7,5. Carrots turned out to be very slippery (Ania told me to wipe them the next time after cooking, so that they were more blunt), and their taste a bit strange, as indicated by Mikołaj's face. I can't determine how much he managed to consume, because the first such meal was mainly based on vegetable slicing, but he certainly enjoyed the great interest of the child himself. Although since the end of the sixth month Santa has received a portion of blended vegetables almost every day, from today I intend to prepare and serve BLW meals for him every day. Even if it is not full, it will definitely be fantastic, learn new flavors, shapes, colors and textures.

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