Weaning Books

[happypineapples]

Anyone have any recommendations? Something easy to follow? I plan on doing BLW.

I'm terrible in the kitchen, use a lot of jars of sauce etc (please don't judge) so I want to make sure DS has a good healthy diet. No better time to change my own either but I defo need a good book! 🙈

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MNHQ Update
If you’re short of time, here’s a quick summary of the top baby weaning book recommendations from this thread:

Annabel Karmel: Weaning Made Simple

What Mummy Makes

For traditional weaning: Joe Wicks: Wean in 15

For baby-led weaning: Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide

Best mixed-method approach: [https://bit.ly/3wCBUok Weaning Made Easy]]

And for advice from a non-book source, Mumsnetters are loving the Solid Starts website

For a deeper dive into the different weaning approaches, advice and our tried-and-tested Mumsnet recommendations, check out our guide to the best weaning books currently available. We hope this is helpful!

The Annabel Karmel books are really good. Lots of fairly easy recipes. X

If you're doing BLW then choose a cookbook which appeals to you and just serve age appropriate portions to DC. No honey to under 1s, limit salt and try to include iron rich foods with each meal.

Instagram has some fab accounts - @feedinglittles is brilliant.

@veggiesandvirtue too

What Mummy Makes.

@happypineapples I second @Dinneronmybfpillow advice - pick a book with food that appeals to you and serve the same food for the whole family if you can 😊
What Mummy Makes is a good, and the Annabel Karmel ones have some great recipes too.
If you use Instagram just search for BLW recipes and you’ll be inundated with accounts to follow for good ideas 😊

It also doesn’t have to be hugely complicated - what kind of meals do you like eating that involve jars of sauce? Can you start by learning to make them from scratch? 😊

Despite not being a huge fan of his normally I actually really rated the Joe Wicks book.

The original baby led weaning book is great. If you're looking for theory, anyway. There is a baby led weaning cookbook too if you prefer that.

Otherwise I agree with suggestions for a general cookbook. If you're not that experienced at cooking I really like Jamie's ministry of food or there's a little cheap one called "how to feed your whole family when you only have a tiny kitchen and hardly any time"or something -i really like that one. It's very Mumsnet in a good way :)

Amy Brown has a couple of weaning theory books and I liked her other things so bet these are good too.

Joe Wicks one is traditional weaning isn't it?

So Charlotte worked with Joe on his book. She is the best also look up sr_nutrition on Instagram

I genuinely wouldn’t bother buying any books, they are a waste of money.

Look up Solid Starts and download their free app called First Foods. Watch their Instagram videos and you’ll be set, they do sell a weaning guide which they provide for free if you can’t afford it.

It is run by some of the leading specialists in childhood eating like specialist paediatric dieticians and occupational therapist, not Joe Wicks writing a book to make some cash. It’s based on peer reviewed scientific research.

They really highly recommend adapting the food you eat for babies, not cooking them things with hidden vegetables in like lots of the weaning books do.

This is one of their suggested first foods (the same info is in the app), it shows you how to safely feed it at each stage, serving ideas, safety info etc… solidstarts.com/foods/mango/

Came here to recommend Solid Starts and see I'm not the first. You won't regret it

Just a suggestion..not entirely what you asked for, but...

I got very fixated on baby led weaning. It seemed to be associated with some kind of moral virtue at the time I had my son (5 years ago). Some of the forums were quite extreme and claimed there was loads of high quality evidence to say that BLW was the only "right" way to wean, suggesting that spoon feeding was akin to coercion, would lead to unhealthy attitudes towards food, obesity etc.

I had a read around and found out that the person who started this movement was a bit of a charlatan! Babies have been weaned on mashed/pre-chewed food for centuries, it's kind of common sense when we look at the way other mammals feed their young. My son would happily help himself to bits here and there but he also enjoyed having lovely stuff spooned down him at the beginning. Even now at 5 he wants me to feed him when he's tired!!

I liked Dr Rana Conway's "Weaning Made Easy" which seemed a sensible mixed-method approach.

This is all to say, be open-minded and see what your baby enjoys.

Oh and the above book has plenty of recipe ideas that I still use to this day. Also really rate Annabel Karmel though I'd be shocked if any toddlers actually eat her liver and bacon stew or whatever it is.

I don't think Gill Rapley is a charlatan but she's certainly also never said that BLW is the only/best way.