Where it all began

At 5 and a half months, we started Tigerpiddler (to be known as TP!) weaning. I had done lots of reading (yay for the interweb!) and found this different way of weaning where you bypassed puree and went straight to finger food, known as Baby Led Weaning.

Although the guidelines say wait until 6 months, Joe had started to show interest in food and could sit up unaided, although not for a long time and I decided to introduce him slowly with the odd bit of fruit and veg here and there, afterall it's baby led weaning!

Like every new Mum, I was a little worried that he wouldn't be eating as much as puree-fed babies and also I was afraid he would choke (not realising the difference between choking and gagging). Luckily, I had stumbled upon an excellent BLW blog & forum ran by Aitch. BLW Blog and BLW Forum , which is full of excellent tips and people who can help you with almost any question!

So, for anyone wondering how to begin at the BLW lark, here are a few things you need to know...

Babies can survive on breastmilk alone for up to 1 year - in some countries they milk feed for up to 2 years!

Food should be seen as a new toy until your little one is around 1 year.

Your baby WILL gag, pull "eww" faces and sometimes throw more away than he will eat - its normal! The gagging thing is all part of the learning process and after a couple of weeks the gagging will subside a little as your baby will have learned to cough up bits that are too big to swallow.

If you dont like mess, go buy a mat to sit underneath your high chair. :P