Pre-baby, I never really gave Weaning much thought. I saw a varied approach around me, but it was mainly the traditional way of puréed/mashed foods spoon fed.
In fact, even post-baby I didn’t actually start researching Weaning until I realised that the age is fast approaching, which is currently at 6 months according to the NHS guidelines. (But I’m sure this will change again.)
I came across ‘Baby Led Weaning’ and I won’t lie, I didn’t instantly find it appealing, the thought of my baby self feeding ot choking left me feeling uneasy, however a bit of research later (ok maybe a lot of research later), I realised there are so many benefits.
Funnily, the cupboard was stocked up with spoons, bowls, and even baby food etc that people had kindly gifted as presents, most of which didn’t go hand in hand with the BLW approach, however I incorporated them as sauces into meals where ever possible.
When I took the plunge, I kid you not, every mealtime for at least the first three weeks had me on edge, ready to lift His Royal Highness out of the highchair in case he chokes, it’s amazing how quickly babies get to grips with it though. When I look back now I find it quite amusing.
I made sure to go over and over the differences between gagging and choking which I would highly recommend to get your head round if you do go ahead with BLW.
Here though, I have to thank my NCT group once again, they were much more prepared with their research and gave me decent info as well as my sister who had tried it with her little ones. She even gave me the Gill Rapley books, which by the way are definitely a good read if you want more information on BLW. The cookbook has been great, with some really easy recipes but on the whole, the beauty of BLW is that baby can eat whatever you eat. (Just watch the salt and sugar intake. 🙂
For me, Baby Led Weaning has worked out much better than I thought it would, it’s been brilliant to watch His Royal Highness learn how to pick up the food and put it in his mouth. Family & Friends are always amazed when they see him feeding himself with minimal intervention. We have been lucky that we have had hardly any gagging episodes; the worst is the first couple of weeks really and it only really occurs when he has something particularly hard.
The hardest part for us was making everyone around us understand it, for a long time we had family members trying to feed him or passing comments about our choice of Weaning but at the end of the day it’s each to their own, it works for us and I’m not new to standing alone on a subject if I believe in it. 🙂
The only downside I can think of is the CLEAN-UP, and yes there is a lot of that, but it won’t last forever and children can learn through messy exploring
I personally would do BLW over and over and I can’t comprehend the purée aspect at all since knowing about BLW so I definitely recommend this method of weaning to anyone, however saying that you have to do whatever you’re comfortable with and there should be no judgement either way. 🙂
If you are considering BLW then this Facebook group is great for sharing easy and healthy recipes as well as discussing aspects of this particular weaning method.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1496172727262395
You can also read my relevant posts about these two products that can help the clean-up of weaning a little easier; Tidy Tot and Mumma’s Little Helper.
Which method of weaning did you go for? I love to hear other experiences. 🙂