Baby-led weaning

Following our last blog about recipes for weaning your baby I thought that it was fitting to follow this up with an interesting method of weaning.

Baby-led weaning is exactly as it sounds. Babies are naturally able and willing to feed themselves from 6 months which is the recommended time to begin weaning your baby onto solid food. This method basically allows the child to feed themselves from the outset. No need for mushing, processing or mashing. I know that this may sound a little unorthodox to some of us but by this stage our babies are developmentally capable of eating proper food. They will either like it or not, it is that simple. But, some research has shown that it can take up to 10 times of introducing a food to your child before they may adapt to it so don't worry if your baby doesn't instantly like something. Baby-led Weaning is a lot more natural than force feeding your baby mushed up tasteless food; it allows them to naturally learn to eat at a pace that suits them.

“My boys where both 8 ½ months before they started to eat solid food and before this they were solely breastfed. We sat them at the table with us as we ate. As they watched us eat they learned how and gradually in their time they began to grab different foods of our plates. In my opinion Baby-led Weaning is the most positive way to encourage a healthy relationship between our children and food.”

To get started with baby led weaning simply cut food into manageable sticks or chunks that your baby can handle or finger food is great so things like olives, carrots, cucumber or cherry tomatoes. The main advantage to this method is that instead of learning to swallow first and chew later, your baby will learn to chew first which can help them a lot when it comes to lumps and can help stop them from choking. There is no reason why your baby can't eat what the rest of the family is eating as long as there is no added salt or sugar. Food is food at the end of the day and your baby will love it.

There will be a lot of mess as they will play with the food and spit it out as they explore all the different tastes and textures, but, it can not only be a healthier way of weaning your baby naturally onto solid food but it can be much easier for you as a parent as well. You will not have the worry of mushing and processing food and as it is all finger food you can simply fill a sandwich box with carrot sticks for on the go.

Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett is a fantastic book that is packed full of tips and advice to get you started with this journey.

Here are our favourite tips from the book to succeed at Baby Led Weaning:

1. Use a bowl at your own peril your baby will very happily throw it across the room. This a messy process as it is so try not to give yourself more cleaning to do.

2. Do not worry about making something special for your baby. Just give them some of what you are having and if they don't like it don’t worry as they are getting their calories from the milk.

3. Do not overwhelm your baby with too much food. It will only be made into a huge mess. A small quantity of finger food is sufficient.

4. Never put food into a child mouth!!! Let them feed themselves and do not panic if your baby gags that is their way learning how to move food around their mouth. Some parents find it helps to make exaggerated chewing faces and noises to teach the child and get them back on track.

5. Do not be alarmed by the contents of your babies’ nappy! You will be fascinated by the contents of each nappy, raisins rehydrate and bananas produce poo with strange black threads! You really will begin to enjoy this in a weird but wonderful way.

Yes this is a very messy method but if you have the patience for a messy baby and messy highchair it can also be a lot of fun! Check out the Baby-led Weaning website its fab!