Hey hun
I remember you mentioning yonks ago (back in the pregnancy days!) about baby led weaning and it's something I'm thinking of.
I don't *really* know too much about it though and have no experience of anyone doing it so can you recommend a book please? Any advice/help greatly appreciated
Big hugs xxx

Indeed I can my lovely lady

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-led-Weaning-Helping-Your-Baby/dp/0091923808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263079350&sr=8-1

My friend (who did BLW with her little boy) sent this to me. It's really good at explaining about what blw is and why it is good for baby etc. I got about half way thru it before having H and am now about to pick it up again and carry on with it.

Hope you enjoy it

K xx

Thank you VERY much K, much appreciated!
I'm going to order that and try to gain a bit more knowledge, I definitely like the idea of it.
Big hugs xxx

No worries hun - hope you like it x

This website has a few recipie ideas etc ...

http://www.babyledweaning.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=73

xxx

Wow! I'd never heard of this before but by pure luck I came on the internet to look up Annabel Karmel books in preperation for all the puree-ing and mashing that I was going to have to do over the next few weeks but I think I may give this a whirl now.

Are you both going to do it? Have you got the books yet? xxx

I am - my friend brought me the book when I was about six months pregnant .... I'm just re-reading it now. I'm really looking forward to doing it. Some people don't agree with it but I think it makes total sense!

Yeah Bert it's def something I'm wanting to do, been Reading up on it lots.
Hubby agrees it sounds great and I agree with K, itmakes total sense! But let's say the "older generation" don't quite agree as well we were weaned at 3 months and never did us any harm blah blah!!!
I like to keep an open mind lol!

I mentioned it to my mum last night and got the "so all past generations have been wrong have they blah blah blah" speech! But you know what? That kinda made me a bit more determined to give it a go! ha ha!

I think I'll maybe be prepared for the mashing aswell just in case and depending on what it says when I buy and read the book, I may try and combine the 2??? xxx

I mentioned it to my mum last night and got the "so all past generations have been wrong have they blah blah blah" speech!

Lol , how many times have i heard this from various people on topics of sterilising bottles/ leaving babies to cry ( never did them any harm!!) etc.

The way some of my relatives talk on occassion you would think they were born and fed out of dirty bottles and abandoned in cots screaming which taught them independance and built up their immune system. That is of course if you believe the way they tell it. Personally i think they are talking utter b*****ks lol. Still always amuses me.

Can anyone elaborate on what baby led weaning is. Think i may have been fed a load of rubbish by HV as i was under impression baby led started as early as 3 months?
thanks
xx

I think maybe SW will be the best person to answer cos she's read the book BUT from what I read on the internet about it yeasterday, you basically feed them nothing but milk for the full 6 months (the lady that wrote the book works for UNICEF so goes wholeheartedly with what the world health organisation recommends) but then when you do start to wean, you sit them at the table with you and give them what you're having (I did say this was only a basic guide didn't I??!!) This means that they learn themselves about different tastes, textures colours etc rather than being force fed orange mush!! xxx

Thanks , that clears it up a bit. HV gave me impression it was weaning baby ealr when they started showing signs of hunger and advised me against it as certain foods shouldnt be given before 6 months. Am not in a hurry to wean but would like to know the facts and methods before i start as will be trying to hold out until 6 months xx

That's pretty much it Bert - rather than puring food - you give baby "sticks" of food so they can use thier hands and feed themselves. U start with sticks of veg, fruit, bread and then move on to other things. x

Yeah it all sounds fab.
Research (from Gill Rapley, the woman "leading" it) has shown that baby develops into a less fussy water and is more inclined to be independant where food is concerned. So when baby becomes small child & you go out to restaurants he/she will feed himself rather than you sitting there and doing it!
I'm all for making Ava grow into an independant woman (ha ha!!!) and I've always been a fussy eater but don't want her being like that.

Thing is, babies get enough nutrition from their milk to last them the 1st 6 months - hence why you can buy hungry baby milk now to take them to the 6 months.

I was trying to explain it to my Mum and she basically shot me down until I explained it in more detail. My Mum said Ava won't go another 3 months without solids but I don't agree and at the end of the day she's MY daughter & I would only ever do what was best for her
xxx

My friend that introduced me to BLW came out for lunch with me when her little boy was about 7/8 months. We went to Prezzo (yum) and she ordered herself a vegetable pasta (she had the sauce on the side). She then gave her little boy most of the veg and some bits of pasta - and he ate the lot. He was such a good boy as we didn't have to "entertain" him while we were eating, or feed him as he was happy to sit there and feed himself. It was great !

Smithyswife thanks for all the info. I'd read an article about BLW briefly when I was pregnant but then forgot all about it until this post came up. It does definately make sense and I'm gonna buy the book too. I've always been a fussy eater as a child and I've seen my sister in law forcing my nephew with baby food to the point he screams and shouts and gags but she doesn't give up! I dread the thought of my lo ending up like that. I also had a friend who used to try and force feed her lo and he ended up with fear of food - no joke - he had to have councelling as a toddler when the docs realised what had happened!

i think the whole weaning thing is a very personal thing. You learn what works for your baby. Good luck to those hoping to hold off to 6 months. i'd be interesting to hear if you make it. None of my babies ever got passed 16 weeks before i needed to introduce babyrice. And by the time they were 6 months were on food either chopped up small or finger foods. I never used any baby food other than baby rice and the odd occasional baby biscuit if we were out and i didn't have any prepared fruit or vege on me. I would puress what i had made for everyone else or make extra vege dish for them, They would also have both savoury and sweet (fruit or yogurt) before 6 months, None of them have any allegies due to this!

dd1 did go through a vegetarian stage when she was about 2/3 which was fine (they get lazy with chewing at around that age) she now eats everything and anything.

As for the whole force feeding, i don't think a baby can be, they spit it out or clam their mouths shut? You'll know when baby is ready for something that lil bit more than milk and water good luck all

Well, my book has been dispatched according to Amazon so I'll let you know how I get on with reading it over the next couple of weeks! xxx