Before Katie was born, I read lots of parenting books. Some were useful, some were not. But for the most part, I was able to take one or two good things away from each book.
Since Katie's birth, it has become apparent that some of those "good" ideas were actually crap! Or at least, didn't work out at all for our family. One amusing good-idea-gone-bad was Baby-Led Weaning. The premise is to wait until your child demonstrates an interest in food (after 6 months of course), and then let her just feed herself. No baby purees, just let her eat soft pieces of real food. Well, the book said not to be intimidated by her gagging on things, but HELLO? She gagged on everything. And although I believed them when they said that gagging isn't the same as choking, and that it's perfectly normal and expected, I couldn't handle watching. It looked so unpleasant for her! Anthony and I are real softies when it comes to Katie's comfort. So we gave up Baby-Led Weaning and just spoon-fed her. What makes me kind of annoyed is that the book made it sound like spoon-feeding your baby is tantamount to stuffing food in her face against her will. Well, Katie actually likes eating from a spoon, and will open her mouth and lean forward if we aren't fast enough reloading it!
Now that she's older, of course, we let her experiment with lots of finger food. And of course, adorably, she's most interested in whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating. So I share my food with her whenever it seems reasonable (not too spicy, or salty). Go Katie go!
haha, brilliant post, i love your line "it has become apparent that some of those "good" ideas were actually crap!". so true. I share your annoyance with books that prescribe one way of doing things by making any other way of doing things sound cruel and inhuman.
ReplyDeleteWe intended to do BLW but Goblin liked eating too much and couldn't get enough food in fast enough when it was raw carrot sticks and cut up tomato.