I took my 11 month old dd to a friend's daughter's 1st birthday party. All the others the same age were strapped into highchairs and fed puree come lunchtime. Which is fine, that's their decision for their kids. (Actually some had some finger food to stop them grabbing the spoon... maybe I am not being quite fair). My dd had some of the adult food, on a little plastic plate, sat on the floor with the older children(2 and 3 year olds). She did great - for a baby that can be soooo distractible that she utterly forgets to eat at times, and we don't often eat sans highchair - so I was really proud of her. Munched it all down, and some of mine too, and was ready to be off to play again.
I got so much negativity. From 'are you sure she's eating enough' to 'that's not really normal for her age' to 'I would never do anything like that to my child'. Other classic moments were 'you shouldn't give them finger food until they've got at least 4 teeth' (she still doesn't) and 'when are you going to give her some proper food?' (um, we're eating this, itis proper food!).
I felt so discouraged!!! Having won round my mother, my rather determined but very kind PILs, and most of the time, my DP - this from a room full of mothers! I had to rant here, I'm sorry to go on! I needed someone who gets it.