This story came out a little earlier this week, but we’re (ok I’m) lazy and just getting to it now. Alicia Silverstone of course recently posted a video in which she was shown chewing up some food and feeding it to her toddler son, Bear Blu (his actual name) directly from her own mouth. The video quickly went viral, with the general response being WTF? I guess I can understand chewing up food for your child, but it seemed kind of out there to feed the kid like a baby bird and to post a video of it online. It’s an actual natural childcare thing though, and Alicia thinks it’s no biggie. She was recently asked about the video during a screening for her new film Vamps. She wasn’t embarrassed about it, basically said it was a natural thing to do, and added that she found it adorable that her son eats like that:
Despite the fallout since her March video, the actress maintains that there’s nothing wrong with her mealtime method.
“People have been feeding their kids that way for thousands for years. It’s a weaning process,” Silverstone, 35, told reporters Saturday at a screening of her cult classic Clueless and upcoming film Vamps at the Brooklyn Academy of Art and Music.
“He attacks my mouth and I think it’s adorable … it makes me laugh every time he does it,” she says.
“He also knows how to use his hands and he also eats regular food. When babies are weaning, he still breastfeeds. Some people think that’s disgusting too, which is insane.”
As for the critical commentary that followed, “Honestly, when I posted the video I was not thinking, so maybe I was like [Clueless character] Cher!”
Besides, she points out, it was a personal video posted on her website — hardly propaganda.
“I didn’t think I was inventing anything. I really wasn’t trying to tell anybody what to do,” explains the actress, adding that she was definitely not intending to “cause such a ruckus.”
[From People]
DListed has more quotes from Alicia’s interview. Including this gem, which made me laugh. I work out at the Y too and I can imagine this happening. “Every time my husband [Christopher Jarecki] goes to the YMCA, some guy comes over and says, ‘That’s how we do it in the South.’ Between him getting those great comments and me knowing in my gut it’s natural and lovely, I really wasn’t trying to tell anybody what to do.” She’s just really chill and blase about everything.
Well I still think it’s bizarre, but good for her for owning it I guess. As I said in our first story about this, as long as her kid is happy and healthy that’s what matters. It sounds like she handled the fallout from that video very well, with a big shrug.
Photos credit The Kind Life and WENN.com
This story just keeps regurgitating itself!
HA! Great comment! 🙂
I mentioned this on the other thread, but I just have to tell this story again. When my son was about one we were eating some cake. He finished his piece first. I took my last bite, and he came in for what I thought was a kiss. So I gave him a wee kiss and he, quick as lightening, poked his tongue into my mouth and scooped out the cake. Honestly, it was so fast I couldn’t believe it! I was freaked out and laughing at the same time. And, yes, it was pretty freaking cute. The boy likes his cake, that’s for sure.
Aww! That is cute!
I don’t get the point of this mouth to mouth feeding thing at all. It’s not *dangerous* per se so long as mom doesn’t have any nasty viruses but since grabbing food out of people’s mouths isn’t socially acceptable so why teach him something like this only to have to go to the extra effort of training him out of it later? Why not teach him good manners from the start? And another thing, in eight years time or so his classmates are gonna find this video and make his life HELL.
The only reason animals do this is because they can’t use knives, forks spoons and food processors. Nothing deep or mysterious about it.
agree.
Probably we have fed our babies that ways, but if during the Evolution process we have stopped there might be a reason.
I doubt most humans have been doing this for a very very VERY long time. Even Neanderthals used hunting knives and could sew clothes – so they could no doubt grind meat into a pulp to wean their children – and they lived hundreds of thousands of years ago.
I don’t really care either way but of course she was attention seeking
By posting the video. You don’t get to her level of stardom without getting a taste for attention, in whatever form.
While it’s not something I think I would do (intentionally), I think that the mom bashing has to stop. She has her own way of doing things and it’s definitely not abusive to her son, and they both enjoy it. She handled the situation and backlash better than I would have, that’s for sure.
Yaah I mean different strokes for different folks right? She sounds like she has a very distinct way of child-rearing and she sounds very knowledgable about what she’s doing so why does everyone care? Seems like she’s doing a good (if unconventional) job IMO…
She is the one who has posted the video, it’s obvious there are reactions.
The quote about the Y got mentioned on The Soup last night. I agree, at least she’s owning it. She’s hardly the first or last mother to do this, and I doubt it’s doing her son any harm.
He is a beautiful boy!
Not something I would do (and esp. wouldn’t post it online), but she seems comfortable with it, and most importantly isn’t telling anyone else to do it too.
I am from the south. This is NOT how we do it.
true,true.
I am also from the South/southwest. Hell no, this is not the way we do it.
Me too!! No that is not done in the South…. no way!! lol
Her skin looks great here.
Ewwkay then. Next story, please.
She handles it REALLY well. Not a mom so I don’t really have a strong opinion about how to feed a child. Seems a bit odd to me but even more odd that people got so outraged by it. She wasn’t harming the child so what gives?
Meh. Some women let their babies cry for hours in a crib, some don’t use diapers, some breastfeed, some put their kids in daycare at 6 weeks…we all make different decisions.
And seriously, she is 35? She looks 30, tops, and really good here.
I agree. I’ve been in crunchy parenting circles for years and I’ve actually never heard of this practice but it’s her kid. More power to her. She actually sounds like a pretty conscientious mother.
agree with the mood in the comments 🙂
good for her.
i don’t really care what she does with her kid, as long as it’s not a danger to the child. but reading about this does make me dry-heave a bit. haha
It’s adorable until he’s bigger. She may not find it so adorable then.
She really just needs to move to a hippy commune already…she’s very non-conformist – and she owns it which is cool. I just hope she doesn’t get all preachy…
OH SHUT UP ALREADY. GO AWAY! -mental bleach-
*pass the bleach, please*
It’s amazing how a college level microbiology class can forever change the way you view germs, bacteria, viruses and parasites.
tell me about it… i have ocd and i wash an apple about a billion times anyway… and saliva is just disgusting to me
yeech, it her kid but I will forever think of her and that video…smdh.
her feet look dirty to me, yeech.
I’ve read that a human mouth is dirtier than a dogs…so how is this safe? or is that just mouthwash company propaganda? Alicia does seem very healthy and so does the child. Cute as the dickens.
I’m sure she’s a good mom and all and is into her own hippy whole foods trader joes lifestyle. But I cannot read about this kind of fkery anymore, it makes me sick . Please stop posting stories about alicia silverstone celebitchy!