Art’s peers had mostly started on solid food, the usual fruit and vegetable purees, made in bulk and frozen. The chat at our weekly mother’s meeting was mostly about weaning, but all in the traditional sense of prepared mush, steamed, mashed and frozen into portions in ice cube trays in bulk, then defrosted and spoonfed to babies.
It all sounded very exciting, but sort of dull at the same time. Why did baby need to have bland baby rice and baby porridge mixed with breast milk/formula for the first few days? Followed by mild tasting fruit and veg. And what’s this baby-led weaning all about?
After reading about it whilst looking up papers regarding use of BPA free plastics for infants (thinking about ice-cube trays in particular), I decided to look more into it. Of course I’d heard about it, but like most people I thought it just meant giving them things like sticks of carrots and cucumber instead of pureeing things, the article by Gill Rapley of Unicef suggested there was more to it. Being the geek I am, I ordered the Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook from Amazon to see what it was all about, I figured I didn’t need to know the full score in the main BLW book and the cookbook was bound to have a decent enough introduction to the concept of baby-led weaning.
By the time it arrived, I’d read a bit more on the subject and was starting to become more intrigued and more sure that it was the way to go for us. Well, last night my husband and I read the book together and came away feeling very excited about the idea.
An easy decision once we’d read about it. Really does seem like a no-brainer to us. We’ve got a few weeks to go and we’re already excited about having Art share our meals.
I am just looking in to BLW for our little one (6 mths 2 days) – did you find the cook book gave you enough information or would you recommend buying the original BLW book as well? Also (a trivial question but vital to save on washing) do you know where to get a good and well-fitting apron, the type that entirely covers the top half, like a coat?! I hope it goes well and will look forward to reading Art’s journey. I am having to compromise as my husband thinks it is a ridiculous concept as he is adamant that as soon as our little one eats some solids at tea-times, ie by us feeding him so we know he has actually eaten, that he will magically sleep through, . Oh dear, I fear he is to be shown that getting sleep back may not be quite that simple!
Hi Katy,
I think there was enough in the BLW Cookbook to get started, but I downloaded a copy of the first book for Kindle and it’s a really interesting read. I think if you have any doubters in your midst then I’d recommend the first book so you’re armed with as much info and background as possible to shoot back at well-meaning-comment-droppers. Otherwise, as long as you’re sensible about it and follow the do’s and don’ts, you’ll be fine with the cookbook alone.
Hmm, regarding aprons, dunno, we’re going for the big long bib approach to start with (just a fabric one, apparently the big scoopy catchy plastic ones can be quite a distraction in itself at this age.
All the best on your journey too, hope you share with us via comments!
x