giving tray of food vs one bite at a time

[@llli*beckyd0106]

My baby is almost 11 mos old. I have been doing baby led weaning/solids. When I feed him, I just give him a tray full of bites of multiple foods and let him at it, or allow him to graze off the coffee table as he chooses. I just found out my dcp is only giving a couple bites on his tray at a time of only one food at a time because "too much ends up on the ground" if he gets more than that. I don't feel this is appropriate at that age. He should be getting a tray of various foods and left to explore. Thoughts? Please give me suggestions.

[@llli*zaynethepain]

I don't think it really matters which way it's done. He's still getting the experience of touching the various textures and controlling the amounts going in, which is the benefit of baby led solids, ykwim. I always have done smaller portions until a well into the second year. Ds would throw the entire plate on the floor but then want more. The dog cleaned it up but it was still a waste of food I'd rather eat myself. This isn't a battle I'd fight with a dcp. As long as someone else is watching your kid, they are going to do some things differently and I don't see this as harmful.

[@llli*elliemommy]

My dcp does the same thing. I send the food and note what is for breakfast, lunch , snacks. They feed it as they see fit. Remember that kids often act different at home and dc. Your son may be great at home, never throwing food, etc. and may be the opposite at school. They presumably have a number of children in their care and have to have some rules to make their lives a little easier. I would be pretty upset if my dcp allowed grazing because they would not be able to control which child ate what. I prefer them having a more controlled environment then what I have at home.

[@llli*maddieb]

on the one hand I think dcp should do as parents ask whenever possible, whether they agree or not. on the other, this may simply not be possible in practice depending on age and number of other children being cared for.

personally I am also doing baby led solids (daughter is now 20 months) and I keep offered food very small in amount and usually no more than 2 or 3 items on her tray at a time, usually a tiny sampling if what I am eating myself, although now i know more what she likes and keep those items on hand as well. If she eats it all, or all of one thing, or drops it essentially accidentally and clearly wants more, she gets more. I don't see any harm in offering a wide variety of items at once, and in fact it might be great to offer that exploring opportunity. But the resulting waste in food, prep time, and clean up time would make me nuts.

I think you can get more adventurous in what you offer baby at other times. But if this is really bothering you, perhaps there is some compromise? Is the food prepared by you or your dcp? If you want, you could perhaps provide a few already prepared food plates each day, with the variety you want, but perhaps with very low portion size to eliminate waste?

[@llli*still.here]

Can you clarify what your concern is? Unless I'm misunderstanding the situation, this is probably not a battle I'd choose to fight. If they are allowing him to feed himself and not controlling how much goes into his mouth, I think it's okay to put less on his tray at a time to avoid messes. It's a different situation feeding several kiddos at once than just one so I can understand why they might need to have *some* room to do what works for them. I don't think it's going to harm your child in any way or derail your BLW process so unless it's just something you feel super strongly about, I wouldn't make an issue of it.