Let me start by saying, I love Babyled Weaning. It's definitely one of the best parenting decisions I've made. (Ooh, that was a scary sentence to type - check me out all grown up. yikes.)
We've been super lucky in that The Little Dude took to it like the proverbial duck to water - happily chowing down on anything he could get his hands on. (And if that happened to be whatever mummy & daddy were trying to eat, all the better. We can get round to teaching table manners and decorum at a later date... right?)
Now, we're at a point where he basically has mini portions of whatever we're having, which is great as it encourages Mummy & Daddy to eat lots of veggies & generally err on the side of healthy and nutritious (honestly couldn't tell you the last time we had Chinese takeaway!), but it also presents a little problem.
As you more experienced mummys will know, babies need a healthy diet, but they also need lots of calories.
Which means: full. fat. everything.
Just to quantify that, I have diligently bought reduced fat healthy options of everything other than chocolate & cake (if you're gonna do it, do it right.) for as long as I can remember. Now, my fridge is choc-full of full fat cheese, full fat houmous, WHOLE milk...
And I know, I know - I could abstain, keep buying the healthy versions too, but seriously - Have you tasted full fat Philadelphia? I always thought the skinny version was pretty great, but there is absolutely no comparison.
It's lucky really that the full fat revolution coincides with The Little Dude mobilising and therefore my spending much of everyday running interference between him & impending doom, otherwise, I would surely be the size of a house.
And that, friends, is the darkside of Babyled Weaning. And possibly the real culprit behind the curse of the mummy tummy. Maybe.
What do you think? What did you/are you secretly indulging in under the guise that you 'buy it for the baby'? - own up! (I won't tell, promise.)
Ha! I know what you mean. I try and avoid eating Piran's food but I have eaten more Philadelphia than I should have!
ReplyDeleteGot to eat full fat because low fat stuff, particularly yoghurt (apart from Rachel's), is usually disgusting. I reckon a little of what you fancy does you good? Saying that, I've just eaten an entire box of Green & Blacks mini butterscotch eggs that I had promised myself I'd save for Easter, and I don't think I'll get many health points for them. Delicious though.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't really worry about the full fat stuff... as long as you're making your portions a little smaller, I guess? I didn't know things for babies had to be full fat though - I guess I'll keep b/feeding while baby led weaning, but will have to look that up!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Tell you what, full-fat milk on breakfast cereals is worth getting out of bed for. Of course, we only buy it for Charlie...
ReplyDeleteFull fat everything, fab! My problem with baby led weaning is that my 7 months of age they seem to want to eat my sweeties :(
ReplyDeleteoooh, and not to mention real butter in everything. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
ReplyDeleteI went through a stage of reduced fat on everything until I woke up realized what I was missing. It's been a slippery slope but led to much tastier eating!
ReplyDeleteAh, see I knew I couldn't be the only one scoffing the full fat philly on the sly!!
ReplyDeleteAnd The Dotterel - YES! I had completely forgotten how good that is - even just a splash in coffee is amazing!
And Tanya, agreed - when it tastes SO much better, I can handle eating a little bit less :)
it's hoovering up his dinner that's killing me.... that and the peanut butter. oh, and copious amounts of buttered toast with marmite.
ReplyDeleteAh, that's where the dog comes into her own in our house- food barely touches the floor before she grabs it :)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree about the toast though - haven't eaten so much buttery toast since I was a student!!
Hee hee! I don't bother getting the low fat stuff anymore either!
ReplyDelete