Good to see this is getting some publicitiy. Fidget will be 6 months old tomorrow and we've let him play with some baby rusks and cucumber over the last few days - he seems more interested in eatin ghis bowl but looking forward to continuing with this.

I saw the Wright Stuff, only just caught it - one of the paper reviewers (have no idea who she was) was looking at the article in the Daily Mail and saying something along the lines of 'whatever next', and 'what a load of old nonsense is this'. I don't think Mr Wright had much to say on the matter....so can't really say it was an extensive heated debate!

http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/yasmin_alibhai_brown/
It was Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, she's a journalist for the independent it seems.

she's good, i like her, but probably a bit old for talk of weaning...
lol at 'whatever next?!' I KNOW, Yasmin, feeding your child actual human food, it's the stuff of madness!

And a very similar article was in the Daily Telegraph today too!! What is going on??

Sorry - here's the link -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/18/nbabies118.xml

I wonder if it'll actually lead to more of a backlash, to be honest. Pureeing is the way that most parents wean their first baby, at least, and BLW can seem a bit like a leap of faith until you've seen it in action. Also, most people I know can chew, to be honest, so I'm not sure how much NOT doing BLW affects chewing long term. Having had a fairly brutal feeding last night, I'm wishing that the Nome's chewing skills weren't quite so advanced right now.
It is interesting, though, and there's very little real research to say why exactly you "should" used mashed or pureed food, as the DoH suggests.

Oh I am outraged. BBC Breakfast GP is a fool.

I agree!! I have just been sat here shouting at my TV! Fron my (v limited) experience D has choked far far fewer times than her puree eating friends (possibly once/twice in the last 7 months?)

Oh well - just sent this to the BBC, and now just seen the typo. Bah.


I just wanted to say that I'm not at all impressed with your reporting on the baby self-feeding issue. You clearly hadn't done a great deal of research into parents who are weaning their babies this way, or you'd have easily found someone to come on to present some balanced evidence. The fact that your news presenters themselves were very negative is rather dispiriting for the BBC - what happened to journalistic objectivity?

Some points:
1. Yes, Gill Rapley is selling a DVD, but no-one has ever claimed that Annabel Karmel is wrong about purees because she has a large number of books to sell...
2. The weaning advice that your GP gave is frankly worrying. If a 5 month old baby is waking hungry, then the most calorific and nutritious food he/she can get is milk, not pear puree! And the idea that "large" babies should often be weaned earlier has no scientific basis that I know of. My daughter was 10lb 11oz at birth, and was fine being breastfed to 6 months. That's not exactly small.
3. Choking. Did it occur to you to ask parents who've weaned their children on finger food how this has gone? The GP stated that all parents have had a choking episode, which suggests that introducing purees first doesn't have much impact on this. Gagging is common at the start of self-feeding, but this is a normal reaction, and it's how many babies learn to handle food.
4. I honestly don't think that there's anything wrong with pureeing if that's what you want to do, but some balanced reporting showing that you'd actually donme some research would make me feel slightly less embittered about my licence fee right now. Here's a start: http://babyledweaning.com/

What I found odd was Sian saying her son weaned at 4 months was fine, but last week moaned about his eczema.
That Rosemary Leaonard GP really annoyed me too, what horrendous advice! Seems like the medical profession have the puree mush idea ingrained in their minds, they need to think a bit more. BLW is common sense to me.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_24_fri_05.shtml
Found this from Radio 4 three years ago! It's a bit more balanced and has Gill R speaking. I first thought it was a recent article, so surprised to see it's three years old.... anyway, thought someone might be interested.

goodness... does no-one look at the Interesting Links on the right? it's a GREAT interview isn't it?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily.html?in_article_id=462599&in_page_id=1799

Daily Mail's article. It is still quoting the same as the BBC and the Observer. It's got GR saying that purees harm health.

What's going on? Why all this sudden press interest with the same quotes?

http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/items/item_detail.asp?item=472

I think UNICEF are getting a bit fed up of it?

It's a bit of typical media misinterpretation really, isn't it?... the quote from GR is that feeding solids before 6 months *may* be harmful to health, because it means babies aren't getting the same amount of milk - but because solids pre 6 months effectively means puree, it's being interpreted as if she'd said that purees per se are the problem.

I was also so enraged by the biased BBC report this morning and that extremly irrating GP, that I sent them an email in too, and I never do that sort of thing. Weaning is stressful enough for new mum's without the BBC being jaundiced in thir broadcasting.

I've just been going through the BBC website and can't find anything about this morning or why this sudden boom in reporting.

There are two places we need to be mailing, Points of View and News Watch (the news version of POV, in case anyone doesn't know).

I missed the article this morning because Tink's Daddy decided to put childrens tv on instead of the normal breaskfast news. If anyone managed to tape it for some reason, Breakfast isn't broadcasted on on On Demand. I can't believe they would do an article like this without a sucessful BLW mum or even Gill Rapley!

Another BBC show I will have to boycott! I already refuse to watch Panorama after the appalling one-sided, half-researched, slanderous piece of trash they called reporting on the IVF clinic that provided me with the miracle baby the NHS said I would never have! Grrrr....

It was only because of the first article in The Times that I found this website and started taking an interest. It had never ocurred to me to do anything other than go through the normal puree route.

Bruno is only 3 months so I hope to know lots of what to do by the time it comes to his turn!

welcome to the site, bruno&mum. it's not rocket science, to be honest, but there are quite a few differences between BLW and traditional weaning. it's all here, more or less, so good luck for a few months hence.

Having worked in the food industry all of my career....it would be very interesting to find out how many of these weaning experts/GPs etc.....are such experts that they or perhaps their colleagues are consulting for various food companies.......the question begs to be asked.....knowing as much about the corruption & fact hiding that happens in this cut throat industry......one wonders??

i've certainly been a bit underwhelmed by the way that the medical representative of the baby food industry has been so widely quoted, without anyone bothering to ask whether or not he might have an incentive to rubbish BLW.

Hi, Macaroon here (have forgotten my log in details, so i suspect i may show up as Anonymous). The Times' reporting on this is a bit odd. Why they don't just direct you to the source materials instead of trying to reinvent it themselves, I don't know:

"How to feed your child the BLW way
–– Don’t wait until your baby is six months old before introducing solids. Start at four months, when breast milk does not satiate him [huh?].
–– By six months, or when your baby can sit up unaided, try giving finger foods so that he can feed himself.
–– Do not give purées or blended foods after six months, and do not allow your baby to feed himself soft foods with a spoon [WHAT?].
–– Choose foods that babies can handle well, such as broccoli spears, cooked carrot and courgette batons, and bread pieces.
–– Don’t be afraid to flavour foods with herbs and spices. Obviously you should introduce stronger flavours gradually, but there is no reason why anything should be avoided from a young age. "

what's all this about not letting your baby eat soft foods off her own spoon? and did I miss the bit where GR said that breast milk doesn't satiate a child after 4 months?

on the plus side, all this reporting has finally made me feel like I'm almost mainstream and not just a bonkers middle class pushy mother. I showed the article in the Evening Standard to my (previously cynical) nanny earlier this week and she told me that the next time she weans a baby she'll be doing it BLW style, has been telling all her nanny friends about it, and that it's much easier than she ever would have thought possible. rah!

lol! it was a bit bonkers, that article. might i add a [thunk] to 'bread pieces' given that bread's actually more likely to make them choke than a crust or some toast.

by the way, you know that you can do links using that chain linky thing above? bold, italics, underline, chain linky thing etc. you just highlight the text you want, such as Evening Standard Article, and then click on the icon to paste a link.

by which i mean, ladies, link us up to all the pieces on blw we're seen.

They could hardly have got that more ass-backward, could they? Start at four months and don't let them feed themselves? Remedial reading lessons for Peta Bee, please...

It repeats the idea of not enough iron in breastmilk even at 6 months, too.

I'm getting irritated and worn out, I want to reply to them all, but it's frustrating! I've posted on New Scientist (it was two pages of A4!) Just looked at The Times and I feel tired!

Funnily enough that seems to be the first article that quotes Gill Rapley directly and I can believe that she said it.

The comments are making me angry!

Has anyone read New Scientist yet?

i read it and commented but it hasn't come up yet. it's so silly. £17 for a dvd... big deal. i've got two weaning books here that i never used that cost more than that, not to mention what i'd have spent in time, effort etc etc. and spoons cost a flipping fortune i hear!

ive just read it, your reply is great, well thougtht out and very informative. i just hope other people will read it.

Thank you. It wasn't really well thought out, I was so angry I just went through it bit by bit tearing it apart and screaming at my computer! It went to two pages of A4, I was so mad!

That search that Aitch pointed out, very interesting. I disagree with following the tooth development, there are plenty of toddlers who get their first teeth, but it's definitely a start and an "in your face" to Mr Marshall!

Ooops, just noticed it wasn't Aitch.

I've been trying to work out where it's all come from, work out which was the first article, where the quotes have come from and it's puzzling me.

I'm wondering whether some journalist has been looking online for weaning recipes and stumbled on something, thought "how unusual" and written an article about it. Someone else has seen it, then someone else and we have an explosion.

Ooh - do you think it's Aitch's evil twin, Haitch?

yes, sorry tink, i meant to say that i thought your answer was great. who knows what happened? there has been a piece in the NewGen NCT mag, then the Telegraph, then the Observer and then Ka-BOOM! I hope GR is okay, she didn't say any of the things she's been accused of so far as i can make out.

here's the link by the way.

and The Times one

I wish journalists would actually READ stuff before writing about it! This was my response to The Times article:
Your reporter has clearly not read Gill Rapley's report - at no point does she say to introduce solids at 4 months or that breast feeding alone will not satiate a baby until 6 months - in fact she says the opposite! My 6 month old has been solely breastfed and is happy, healthy and meeting all his milestones. He also has 2 teeth and is happily 'playing' with solids to get used to the taste and texture whilst still receiving all his nutritional needs from breast milk.

There are a lot of articles around at present about BLW yet no one seems to have spoken to parents who are succsessfully and happily weaning their babies this way. Try reading http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/blog for a better understanding, rather than one-sided opinions from Doctors who are in bed with the multi million pound baby food companies.

Got the link to here in!!

QUokka

ive added a comment too, its long 3 pages lol! its late, im in bed with josh sleeping at the side of me and theres nothing on the tv so im not going to post it on here. just wondering how long it takes for comments to be added??? ive never done anything like this before lol

argh for aome reason i cant log in

Jeni

I commented on the Times article contradicting four of the misrepresentations (could have gone on, but there was no more space in the comments box)... that was early afternoon yesterday and it hasn't been posted yet.

Ditto - posted on the "Guidelines" and it is still not up.

That last comment about pseudo science, teeth and digestion made me mad! But as my last comment hasn't gone on I wasn't sure about replying to it.

Thanks, I think I am a bit more direct when I am angry. I don't know if it is the attack on BLW, the way it's being twisted or the way that Gill Rapley is getting so much stick cause from everything I've heard about her she seems to be a really nice lady and I don't think she deserves it, but something about this whole thing is really getting me mad.

Is there an e-mail address on her profile here? Just wondering if someone could ask after her?

i sent her an email the other day but got no reply. i'll send her another one tonight, will i? in fact... you've given me an idea...

The Telegraph link is broken, here is the correct url.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/18/nbabies118.xml

Still no sign of a reply from the people who wrote any of those articles...

;-) Well done girly. I thought the article was a bit condescending, but you came across well. No surprises that AK isn't a fan!

I don't buy the mag normally but will try & find it unless someone can find the article on their website?

how exciting... what did i say? am i a guru now?
must buy it tomorrow, i thought it was supposed to be going into next month's issue so wasn't paying attention. [story of my life]

Aitch, as I posted before, you really should be getting all this wit n wisdom together for a book.

I've been going through taking notes ready to wean Pudding (any day now!!!) as I can't get at the computer when DH is busy lurking on political talkboards and Manics forums (he's soooo sad, truly).

I would love to have all this stuff in print! Maybe I'm a bit of a luddite and should embrace a paper free electronic world but I just love books. Reminds me, I must sort the many teetering piles before Pud is crawling properly!

Go on Aitch, publish!

well i do rather keep expecting to be contacted by some enterprising publisher but it does seem like they are too busy editing Jordan's many autobiogaphies to trawl the interweb for ideas. there was a tickle of interest a while back but it's come to naught, alas. still, if any of you have any friends who have any friends etc... that's often the way these things get picked up.

I've seen the article now...

all i'm saying is that i wonder if there is a link between Annabel Karmel's massive advertising spend, her lavishly illustrated (presumably from stock photos, so free to PP) 6-page weaning guide and the fact that an otherwise reputable parenting magazine allowed her to spread misinformation about a weaning movement that threatens her whole business?

i wonder...?

did anyone notice her advising people to start weaning at 5 months, in direct contravention of the Dept of Health guidelines? amazing. although i suppose she'll have to pull that kind of stunt because if you wait til 6 months you risk them starting to FEED THEMSELVES.

grrr - no magazine anywhere in Pimlico!

Would be good to have all this information in a book. Whilst I love my computer & the internet, I still use recipe books & have baby books rather than research on the net alone.

Not sure I've got any friends in publishing though...

I can't find the article. Is it in August issue? I tried to read it in the newsagents, but I was taking to long and getting suspicious looks.

it's the issue with the baby on the cover, moomin... lol.
says on the front 'purees or solids, we give you the true story' but nevertheless comes up with a largely bullshit story. don't know the issue, don't have it to hand. AK has a much-vaunted 6-page weaning guide being trumpeted on the front, as well as a lot of ads for her new baby dish range. she's a very industrious woman, isn't she?

Interestingly enough I gave an interview with the journalist (when I say I gave an interview please read - I answered questions she had via email!) on being a new BLW mum (Munchkin is nearly 8 months old and has been BLW since 6 months old). So I answered all her questions but it would seem I was a bit too enthusiastic for the editor as the poor journalist got back to me apologising that my account was too positive for the editor and that she couldn't use it!
Having worked for a big multi-national company I understand the pressures the editors are under because anything controversial that they seem to endorse in the magazines puts them at risk of losing advertisers from the big corporations. As the advertiser pays more to the magazine than the reader, the advertiser comes first. So until someone starts making money out of BLW and starts advertising it don't expect to see too much positive info on it in the press - sad but true!!!
Which just means we need to find a publisher for Aitch!

For some reason I couldn't reply to the new post you just created Aitch...

So I think the journalist was a bit upset about not being able to add my comments and be truthful about it as she came back to me and asked me for hr next article - tips for a stress-free morning and suggested I say BLW helps as it saves time - which we all know is sooooo true, so maybe my pro-BLW comments will make it in there this way...