Thank you to MoorMum Jenny from Menston for sharing her story.
Click to go straight to part 2, part 3, part 4 or part 5.
At 4 months Jacob seemed to be getting frustrated at sitting in his bouncer whilst we ate – so we bought a high chair that reclined and sat him at the table with us – with spoons and cups to play with. He seemed much happier to be included than to be staring at our legs, and I was really looking forward to him becoming even more involved in mealtimes, but as the time came closer I started to think about the extra workload and couldn’t figure how to pack it in to an already busy day. It was about the same time that I heard about baby led weaning from a friend – I couldn’t imagine our little boy feeding himself without having learnt how to eat purées but I was drawn to the idea. Then after our local health visitors team gave a talk on the subject – I bought the Baby Lead Weaning book by Gill Rapley and it just made such sense that we (I!) couldn’t wait to get started. Now a few weeks on – it’s still only early days but mealtimes are generally relaxed and fun. They are also messy and unless circumstances dictate otherwise – taken at a very slow pace but I’m a real convert to the BLW cause.
My time management is pretty awful – I’m one of those mums that gets through the day by the seat of her pants – so was a bit concerned about introducing a new regime. However BLW really takes the pressure off – no purées to prepare, our little man can largely eat whatever we are having – and thankfully milk (whether formula or breast) continues just the same and during the first month or two remains his main source of nutrition. This means that if you do miss the occasional mealtime in the early days, then really there is no drama or guilt. Weaning is time consuming whichever way you approach it however – with BLW it rarely feels like a battle or like it’s a waste of time – largely because he really enjoys it.
In a few short weeks, he’s now picking up small items, he hits his mouth most of the time, is fairly proficient at handling a spoon and his nappies are a testament that is now properly consuming – at least some of the food we give him! (The rest – still lands on the floor or on me!) This is a little look at our families experience of weaning that I hope will make you want to find out more and to feel confident enough to give it a go. I’m not an expert on child nutrition and this isn’t meant to be a manual on how “to do” BLW. If you are considering it then I would certainly recommend you get your hands on the Gill Rapley “Baby Led Weaning Book”.
Little man 5 ½ months young – 14 day countdown to official start of weaning!
Rice cake (salt free): Several good sucks
Avocado: One squishy lump
Pitta bread: A significant investigation
Mess: Mild casualties – my jumper (smeared with avocado), 1 bib
Impatience got the better of me today so I couldn’t resist giving him a rice cake, small slice of pitta bread and a suitably small chunk of avocado (to limit the mess – I was heading out early after all).He started out in his high chair but sitting on my knee put him at a better height. His favourite bit was possibly the rice cake -which was on the receiving end of a good gumming. He also thoroughly enjoyed my own last bite of bacon, phili cheese and pitta which he helped himself to before I could get it in my own mouth.
Enthusiasm levels are high on both sides of the table and it’s going to take all my will power not to truly give in to temptation before he’s officially allowed to start weaning!
6 months minus 13 days
Asparagus: 1 suck not much interest
Rice: no interest
Banana – one mouthful… consumed!
Met with a group of friends today, they were discussing experiences with purées and different combinations. Quite a few of his peers are gathering pace and starting to eat 3 regular meals per day. It led me to wonder whether the BLW approach was the best choice.. if it was then surely more people would be doing it? I think this may well prove to be one of the hardest aspects – staying confident in the choice particularly if a few months down the line he is obviously eating a lot less than the others.
6 months minus 12 days
Asparagus: competent sucking and improved handling
Omelette: some tricky coordination of movements – but using a two-handed approach was successful in reaching mouth!
He definitely shows more interest in food when sitting on my knee. Confidence in BLW rekindled by seeing him so obviously enjoying it. Willpower to wait another week and a half is fading fast – think I’m going to come out of denial and recognise that we’re going for a slow introduction already.
6 months minus 5 days
Interest in food: zero
Offence shown at not being offered crisps or a bite of a brunch bar: Noted!
Today I made the mistake of offering food to him when he was hungry – in times of need breast is still best apparently! However, his lack of interest at mealtimes didn’t stop him from coveting the food being eaten around him!
6 months minus 4 days
Baby corn: perfect size for nibbling
Broccoli and carrots: precision targeting and some good chewing going on
Attempts to swipe our food: several – little one is becoming quite the cheeky monkey
Water: from my own glass – and then back in again – nice!
Today was our first day in the lake district and, our first day blw- ing in a restaurant, which was a great way to start our holidays and was surprisingly easy. He sat in my knee and to the amusement of the waitress got stuck straight in to the side order of veg that we ordered for him. To her relief (and ours!)- it wasn’t even that messy. It was just fun to see him tucking in and doing so much better in a small amount of time.
6 months minus 2 days
Weetabix: 1 biscuit – less the mess!
Raspberries: 2 berries – less the pink stains left in his bib!
Creative eating: Top marks – if you can’t get anywhere with a spoon just stick your head in the bowl!
His first ever breakfast – made with formula milk …piccy taken pre-head in bowl.
Lunch consisted of spinach leaves, potato wedges and a lump of feta and spinach quiche – mainly nicked from dads plate. The monkey is definitely getting cheekier and more demanding!
6 months minus 1 day.
Interest levels: nil
Food offered: rice cakes, banana, rice and chicken….
Click here for part 2.
What next?
To find out more about weaning, read our weaning top tips.
Or, you could chat on-line to other mums about weaning in our baby chat section.
