We LOVE Baby Led Weaning!

We are thoroughly enjoying watching Idris get to grips with solid food. I did the puree thing with the girls but since reading about BLW I knew that was the way forward this time around! No more hours spent steaming, pureeing, portioning and freezing, no more leaving my food to go cold whilst spoon feeding my baby, no more frustration at wasted time and effort and worry about limited variety. It's great - he loves to join us at the table and I make sure we have cooked a meal with things that Idris can grab hold of. It is then a simple matter of handing over tempting morsels at regular intervals and marvelling at his rapid progress! Same as I don't worry about how mich milk he is drinking, I don't worry about how much food he is eating, he will get there and there is plenty of milk on standby until he does!

To date his current favourites are leeks, spinach and mushrooms, as well as oranges, and rice pudding was a hit too! He thinks cherry tomatoes are far too tart (cue dramatic shuddering and pursed lips!) and he's not sure about boiled eggs either (a 'yeuch' noise followed by a determined sweep of the offending egg onto the floor told us that!)! I think his alltime high was the oaty apple and peach crumble my mum made though!! Very messy but very delicious!

We started a few days after he turned six months when he started grabbing food off our plates as we sat at the table. Already he has progressed to picking up things himself from the tray of his highchair (a lovely preloved wooden one!), whereas at first he always needed it put into his hand with a bit sticking out of the top of his fist for him to chew. He is now working on his palmar grasp - it grasps and he knows there's food in it but he can't always get to it - what a tease! The funniest is him using one hand to lift the other hand with food in it to his mouth!

This book by Gill Rapley has a great potted history of weaning and why/how spoon feeding started and why it isn't necessary. It has some good recipes that I had never thought of before also, things like lentil wedges for lunch, porridge bars for breakfast and some yummy dips for salad sticks too!