Weaning confusion

[Blossom789]

There's so much conflicting advice around weaning.. can anyone suggest where I start to read (books or internet) to know I'm doing the right thing in terms of the approach we use but also amount of food and what food to give.

I don't think I want to exclusively do baby led weaning but introduce purée (that I make) and some finger foods.. but this isn't set in stone.

I found a book called weaning made easy really useful as it has quite a balanced approach rather than strongly advocating for one particular method

the river cottage baby and toddler book is also useful esp for recipes

Honestly, if you ignore the crappy name, baby led weaning is brilliant.
6 months or very nearly. Sit in high chair with some well steamed veg at lunchtime. Let them play for 20mins and then repeat! More will go in than you think! Once they start getting the mouth, chew swallow, add other bits (eggy bread / homemade sugar free pancakes, well cooked pasta etc) and then other meals. The book is good and there's a couple of facebook pages.
DD got it within a fortnight and was then on 3 meals a day. She is now a brilliant, not fussy eater.
I did spoon feed yoghurts and was not a slave to the concept but overall I just helped her do things herself (which her personality preferred to be fair).

That sounds good actually nan0sexond, this is why I need to get my head around it a bit more. Which book, The one mentioned above? Would you name the fb pages too.

Just an FYI on baby led weaning, I did it with mine because I am lazy I wanted to foster independence and she wouldn't let me near her with a spoon I thought it suited her personality & it's been good, but she's 10 months and only just about on 3 meals a day now. I'm not at all concerned, but just wanted to say it sometimes takes a while. DS was even worse, he basically ate nothing at all until 12 months. He was v fat healthy on breast milk alone, though.

Actually, it's true of any kind of weaning. Some kids just take longer than others.

The Baby Led Weaning cookbook has a good summary of the BLW principles, ideas for food preparation and how to offer it to the baby and lots of good recipes for family meals.

BLW is great, I'm far too lazy to be faffing with purées. I'm going to be starting with my second in a couple of months. Enjoy it!

I found "Weaning Made Easy" by Rana Conway fantastic. It contains lots of information about baby led weaning and spoon feeding and how to get the best of both worlds. It's also got some good recipes in.

Why not just follow the NHS guidelines
Pretty straighforward really, although some people like to make it more complicated and insist their way is best

Another vote for the Rana Conway book here, really useful! I make some of the recipes for me and DP even when ds isn't eating.

Also, for what it's worth my top tip is not to get too hung up on one 'concept' and try lots of things and textures. DS got a mix of finger foods and spoon-fed purees/mashes and everything in between and seemed to really like the combo. Apart from going off fruit & veg (sigh) he now eats like a bloody horse at 15 months.

Also, for what it's worth my top tip is not to get too hung up on one 'concept' and try lots of things and textures. DS got a mix of finger foods and spoon-fed purees/mashes and everything in between and seemed to really like the combo.

^ this - excellent advice.

That's brill, thanks everyone. I almost didn't post for fear I'd get a bashing for even considering using a spoon!! Glad I did

I did BLW last time. The only think is it took my daughter absolutely ages to start eating much. I think with my DS I'll do finger food and spoon a bit of stuff in as well, not purée just mashed.

I did puree followed by finger foods and my dd eats really well. The only foods she doesn't really like are things like baked beans and has never tried a burger. I have no issue with that! She is very healthy and active. I'm a big advocate for the traditional weaning method after I went to the weaning talk and was advised to go on a St John's pediatric first aid course before weaning by the blw lady! To be honest, I think people make weaning g out to be way more complicated than it really is.