to wonder if I've got this baby led weaning thing right

[MrsKeithRichards]

So I just give him food? Like a bit of bread, cucumber, or basically a bit of whatever we're having and leave Him to it?

No blending or trying to get mush up carrots into ice cube trays?

Is that it? It's that easy? Heinz must hate it!

It is THAT easy. Worked an absolute treat with dd who at 2 eats anything (accept broccoli). I loved the funny looks i used to get in restaurants as a 7 month old shared my dinner. I couldn't stomach that mush, why should she?

Key advice

• read Gill Rapley's book
• don't stress about how much they eat, all nutrition will come from milk (food is for fun until they are 1)
• wait til they can sit up independently
• enjoy

It is that easy and it is brilliant fun. I loved doing blw with DD1 and she has a great attitude to food now at 5yrs, she will try anything. Can't wait to do it all again with DD2 when she's ready.

it is great
DD could hold a chicken drumstick at eight months and have a good chew.
I didn't have the nerve with my first though.

Is that baby led weaning? I've been doing that since my DS was 6 months. He ate a whole sandwich by himself the other day and eats apple slices, cucumber, pears, cheese. Today I gave him squeezed pomegranate seeds. He's nearly 9 months now.

It's great. I remember weaning DS1 and life seemed to revolve around pureeing, cooking and feeding for ages. Much more straightforward with DS2!

It is that easy :o

Yes really that simple, can get a bit messy when they start to get stuck into things like spaghetti. But it's part of the fun.

I BLW both of mine, even DS who wasn't keen on food to start with but got there in the end.

I didnt do blw with my first. And I have been ignorant to it so far.

So you dont give baby rice or mushy food?

My 10 month old loves feeding herself but I still give her purees too. Whatever works.

Yes, that's it :) Cooked veg (carrots and baby sweetcorn are easy to pick up), cooked pieces of pasta, pieces of boiled egg, grated cheese, and quite often just "whatever you're having" should be fine too.

Just avoid the hazardous stuff like grapes/cherry tomatoes though.

(OK if chopped but not whole)

I loved it BUT I found that if, at the evening meal, I made sure DD got some pureed food she slept better, I guess it made her feel fuller.

Yep, that's it. DS has just had penne pasta and pesto for his tea, as that's what 2.5yo DD was having.

For anyone who is interested in BLW but hasn't a clue, take a look at this site. Very useful even if you're traditionally weaning (puree/mush and the odd bit of finger food)

Yep, that's it! It's even easier if you get a cheap shower curtain to put under the high chair. BLW gets messy.

That's exactly it and it makes life so much simpler just to give them a bit of what you're having or had yesterday.

Doesn't guarantee you get an unfussy eater at 2 though

That's it, the only problem is that it can get very very messy

We are a month into it and having such a great time with food. I read Gill Rapleys book and thought it was fantastic not just in terms of 'how to' but also in explaining how we got to mash and puree in the first place.

It's that easy... until the meal is over. Then it is a lot of scrabbling round on the floor and cleaning up debris.

I am pretty lazy, so on weekdays at least I did lunches BLW style and dinners of puree/mash or vice versa so I only had one hideous mess a day to clean up. And it was a bit easier in other people's houses that way too.

Can I just ask, is traditional weaning now seen as bad?

Don't they gag?

I started off on Purees then moved to BLW as I'm lazy I thought it looked easier. It;s fab. Ds is just short of 7 months and today he had porridge for breakfast, pasta salad at lunch and cheese spread on toast for tea - exactl the same as me. Its soooooo easy I can't believe anybody faffs about with purees tbh. He had a bit of roast lamb dinner on sunday.

Do yourself a favour though, go to poundland and buy a wipe clean tablecloth or two, much easier than sweeping and mopping :)

I would have a look at the BLW cookbook and also the River Cottage baby and toddler cookbook. Both have great ideas (the River Cottage one covers some purees too) which can give you both a break from the steamed veg. I wish I'd had them first time around.

The mess...well yes, that is a downside. Made me wish I had a dog to hoover the leftovers!

I started to try blw when ds was 6 months, I gave him one of my fat chip shop chips and he started to gag an flail his arms and I ended up fishing it out his mouth. This happened with various other foods so I do mixed, he has finger food for lunch, and puréed what er are for dinner. There is no right or wrong, it's horses for courses.

It is that easy. The other thing is that you can choose how much you want to do it.

Eg When eating porridge I think that a "pure" blw-er would give the child the bowl and the spoon and let them stick it in their hair. I used to load the spoon and hand it to dd (who would then stick it in her hair).

I second the Gill Rapley book but only after you have decided you want to do it - it is quite propaganda-ey.

Their gag is much further forward than ours so sometimes yes, they gag. it is protection against chocking. blw lets them learn this much earlier. gill rapley's book explains it brilliantly