Baby Led Weaning - What I Need To Know

Fraser - 5 months old

I started writing this post around 3 weeks ago and as is the case with most parents of little ones there never seems to be enough time and before you know it a few weeks have passed and you haven't finished doing that thing you started. So here I am finishing this post, since now my baby is over 6 months (😱how on earth did that happen!!! I blink and six months have passed). And we have started the weaning process. I will share more on how things are going in the coming weeks and months, but for now here is this post.

Tommy enjoying first foods

We're almost at the stage of starting to wean our baby Fraser. He's now 5 and a half months old and definitely showing signs of being ready to start having some food. With our oldest Tommy we mostly gave him puree's and a few finger foods. This is probably because it was what I was used to with my younger sisters and was always the way to wean a baby in the past. I just did what I knew and it worked for us. For the most part I gave him what we ate, but mashed up. And up until a few months ago he was a very good eater. He still loves his food, but has become picky of late, deciding that some foods are "Yucky" and he "No Like". There are a couple of videos over on my YouTube channel showing what he ate in a day. The first was from when he was 1 years old and he was so good at eating anything I gave him. When I look back at that video now, I see there are foods which he won't even entertain now, but was happy to eat then.

So here I am at round 2 of weaning a baby onto food. Obviously things are going to be different this time as I also have a toddler to think about, so I need to figure out what will be best for us all. But one thing I've been thinking and maybe its a long shot, but I was hoping that if Tommy sees his little brother eating something he doesn't usually eat, he might be inclined to also give it a try. Of course if the foods are mashed how am I going to convince a 2 year old that the baby is eating carrot etc.... So I'm thinking this time around I might do things a little differently. And that's where baby led weaning (BLW) comes in.

My initial thought was to do some pureed/mashup food (as that's what I know and would find it easier when out and about), and possibly give baby led weaning a go too. But as Kate points out below, BLWing is just that led by the baby and not a mix of the 2. So at the moment I'm not 100% sure what I will do, whether it will be purely BLW or part puree, part finger foods. But one thing I realised is that I have very little idea of where to start when it comes to BLW. I figure I give steamed veg and soft fruits in finger size potions, but thought I'd turn to some fellow bloggers for advice.

Thanks for everyone who shared their tips and advice, particularly for the recipes, I'm looking forward to trying some of them out. I might even be able to get a few more vegetables into my 2 year old with some of the figure food recipes.



Kate from Counting To Ten 
Shares a post she wrote on her "Top Tips For Meals Out When You Are Baby Led Weaning" 
I'll definitely be taking a look at this post. Doing baby led weaning while at home and you have control over the situation is something I think I can get on board with. But when out and about and even worse eating out at a restaurant I can image it gets a lot harder. I need all the tips and help I can get.

This 2nd post from Kate I guess has put me in my place a little. I'm not offended in the slightest, it's actually made me think and realise she is right that baby led weaning is just that, led by the baby. I had already started my little blurb at the top 👆, so have re-written as to not upset her haha 😉 "You Can't Do A Little Bit Of Baby Led Weaning"

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Victoria from The Growing Mum Where do I start hehe? Get a sleeved bib as it will be messy and you don't want to be changing clothes all the time. It's also a life saver when out and about.
I have already got a long sleeved bib. The mess is the main thing that puts me off. Anyone that knows me well knows I'm not a fan of mess, particularly food mess. But no matter how we feed our baby there is always going to be an element of mess.

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Ruth from Craft With Cartwright Baby led weaning was the best thing we ever did. Did it with our second and he is much less fussy. Opt for things like a chunky piece of broccoli with a long stalk that they grab hold of to start with.

Ruth also shares two recipes 

Cheese and Sweet Corn Muffins

Oat and Raisin Cookies

I'll definitely be trying these recipes out. No doubt my 2 year old will also want in on the action of having a taste.

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Adam from You've Got All This To Come Don't hold back! Embrace the mess and don't be afraid with your recipes, basically take out the spicy heat and the salt and you're good to go! I put a few of my initial baby led weaning creations on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youvegotallthistocome/

Today's lunch- spinach/soft cheese wrap, banana pancakes and Bea's favourite, strawberries 🍓! On our @munchkininc plates too 👍#babyledweaning #nomnomnom

A post shared by Cheffy Daddy (@youvegotallthistocome) on Aug 9, 2017 at 7:23am PDT

This looks like a yummy lunch even for me 😜

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Joanne from Winging Mama-hood 
Let the baby cover themselves in food, it’s the whole point! Don’t be afraid to try new foods with them, you’ll be very surprised with how quickly they grasp the whole chewing and swallowing malarkey

I'm so pleased we got our floor sorted before the weaning began. Cleaning up when you have carpet is a nightmare. But our wood floor is going to be Soooooo much easier.

For the longest time we've talked about taking up the carpet in the dining end of our living room. For anyone with kids you'll know it's a LOT easier to clean up on a hard floor than on carpet. Well last week we decided to go for it. It hasn't been an easy couple of weeks trying to entertain 2 kids with the living room taken over by furniture. And the dust!!! Oh my goodness there was so much from sanding all those floor boards. But I think the end result was worth it. Swipe left ⬅️ to see a before (sorry it's the best I have). It's still not finished, we have plans for a new table, but I'm loving the space so far. And the sofa you see in the before photo has gone. We only used it when we had visitors, but it was stopping us using our table and taking up too much space in the room when we now have two very active boys. Sorry to any guests but the space is more important to us that the occasional visitor 😄 . . . . #homedecor #homedesign #homediy #livingroom #livingroomdecor #livingroomdesign #livingroommakeover #homemakeover #newfloor #diningroom #diningroomdecor #diningroomdesign #diningroommakeover #familyhome #britishhouse #designinspo #designideas #thebrighthome #woodfloors #myhome #myhomestyle #myhometoinspire #blogger #instabloggers #pbloggers #ukparentbloggers #mumblogger

A post shared by Leah | Family Blogger/vlogger (@homefamilylife) on Jun 15, 2018 at 11:55am PDT

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Abi from Something About Baby shares this advice:
Go on a first aid course before you start. I think the biggest thing that scares a lot of parents is the fear of choking. Knowing the difference between gagging and choking and just having that basic first aid knowledge really helped to ease the fear, especially for my husband.
Here is a post I wrote about weaning my first son - Wonderful Weaning

This is definitely good advice, you can't be too careful when it comes to little ones.

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Sinead from Sinead Latham Blog says ‘food is fun until they are 1’
I found that really helped me to not be so hung up on how much was/wasn’t being consumed.

And as with everyone else....embrace the chaos
Thanks for this advice, it will definitely make it a lot easier than worrying about how much he is eating.

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Amy from A Mum Full Of Dreams  - I highly recommend Gill Rapley's books, she really helped settle my nerves over it. I absolutely loved BLW and honestly believe it helped me and my son bond after a bit of a rocky start. 

Thanks for the book recommendation, I'll be putting an order in for that one, it looks great.

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Luschka from Diary Of A First Child shares 2 posts that she's written:
Baby Led Weaning: First Food Suggestions
10 Reasons to Choose Baby Led Weaning

Thanks for these, I'll definitely be taking a read. Looks like there's loads of useful information, especially in the first foods post.

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Emma from Bubbablue And Me says: I loved it but it's hard unless you get everyone else who'll be part of meal times on board as well. My mum was amazed by how well it went, the mother in law couldn't get her head round it at first. Watch out for fruits with skin on (we nearly had choking issues on a plum skin early on), read up on gag reflex and choking and don't worry. You will be prepared if they do gag which is unusual.
Thanks for the warning on fruit skin. I think the 2 things that put me off most about BLW is the mess and possible chocking. But you're right, somehow in these situations natural instinct takes over. But always good to have a bit of knowledge if the worst happens.

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Rachael from From Rachael Claire shares a post: 
💕 What My Nine Month Old Eats In A Week: Baby Led Weaning

Thanks for sharing this post. Some great ideas of what to feel a baby when they are being BLWed. I'll definitely be checking this post again in the coming months as my baby gets older.

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Hanna from Little Snippets gives this advice:
Just try to relax about it! There will be mess, a lot of it but just embrace it. Don’t be afraid to give them different foods, they love it! Enjoy the faces they pull! If you get stressed about the mess or too panicky about choking they’ll pick up on it and not enjoy it as much too!

Since becoming a mum just over 2 and a half years ago I've really tried to embrace the mess that comes with having children. And food mess probably is my worst type of mess. But as you see above 👆 we've sorted our dining room so meal times a lot easier. So let the fun times begin 😃

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Nicola from Mummy To Dex: 
You may get a lot of people questioning your choice- my mum couldn’t bear to be in the same room, a friend of mine tried fishing food out of his mouth! I wrote this post about concerns mums thinking about BLW may have - BLW // Your Concerns, Answered

My advice is to make sure you are armed with as much information and research as possible and be prepared to defend your choice. Baby led weaning was one of the best parenting decisions we made


That's shocking that someone tried to fish food out of your babies mouth. I'm guessing they didn't ask you first? Thanks for sharing the post, some great advice for putting my mind at ease. I'm hoping that me being an "older" mum people will just accept my decisions.

Nicola also shares some great recipes for BLWing which I will be checking out.

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Carla-marie from My Bump Baby shares a whole bunch of recipes over on her website and says the fish pie was a favourite in their house. You can see a list of them by clicking here.

This particular post stood out to me - Finger Foods For Parents On The Go!!!
As I said above being at home while feeding your baby is fine as you have control over the situation. But going out when it's a meal time will require some preparation. Having a few finger foods will make life a little easier.