I'm going to try BLW but have a few questions...

[MadameChinLegs]

Having grown up around prolific "they are 12 weeks so get the baby rice" parents (including my own) and most people I know are still in this genre, my decision to still not give DD any food at 20 weeks has raised a couple of eyebrows.

Thankfully she is a bit chunky, so at least I don;t have anyone saying "milk's not enough for her blah blah"

So, it may well be BLW for us. Do I have to wait for a specific age? Any food I do give will be on top of any milk she is allready getting as I understand that most of it wont get eaten and not that calorific anyways.

DD sits on my lap nicely, with my hands on her hips, and in her Bumbo well. She picks everything up and puts it in her mouth (favourite being her feet).

I know you all suggest seeing if she takes any food off my plate but quite honestly she rarely sees me eat as I tend to have lunch during her lunchtime nap and dinner after she goes to bed at around 6.30. Do I need to start eating with her?

Also, if we were to go to, say a Carvery, could I give her a bit of broccoli or carrot from there or should I not incase they've been cooked in salted water?

It's confusing but exciting. I also like the feeling of being a bit of a local renegade. I do know of someone who I see every now and again who did something similar with her DD so I may have a chat with her next time we cross paths (she does BF support work too, so am sure is used to people asking for support).

Around 6 months is when they meet the necessary milestones and ability to self-feed and the gut is developed.

Eat with her, do something else at nap time, saves having 2 lunchtimes.

Just give her what you eat (no honey, halve grapes, no whole nuts) - the odd carrot or bit of broccoli cooked in salted water is fine - the body needs salt to function properly.

Have a look at this site - very helpful

NHS has some very good information online about weaning. This one tells you the three signs to look out for when your baby is ready. The three signs usually happen around 6mo. Nothing magical suddenly happens at 26wks, if you think about it. This tells you what kind of food you can feed your LO.

Flisspaps already linked you the BLW website. It's very good.

As for eating at a cavery, yes, just give her the veg, the roast potatoes, the meat, the yorkshire pudding. Whatever they are serving basically. As long as it's not everyday you are eating out, it isn't a problem they get a little bit of high salt food. I've even given mine nandos chicken and pizza hut. But I do avoid things that's obviously very high salt, like ham and olives.

It does help if you eat with your LO. It's about creating a social environment around eating. Also, they get to copy what you are doing. You can reserve some of your lunch if you get too hungry to wait for her. 13mo DD currently has tea at around 5pm, which is too early for us. So we made ourselves some tea and have a toast, fruit, biscuit, or yoghurt when she has her tea. (Her tea is reheated dinner from the night before).

We'e changed our mealtimes to fit in with BLW - I eat lunch at 12 with DS and we have our dinner at 6ish, or even earlier. It's no big deal and it suits us fine; we'd just got into the habit of eating later but this is OK and we do get a nice calm evening after he's in bed!