The things we do for our kids

Despite being ill myself, I'm currently pinned under a snotty snoring baby. He's so full of cold that he couldn't sleep properly lying flat in his cot. So he is now sleeping on me, snottily snoring in my ear and crushing me very slowly.

Love you Dylies x

The gospel according to Baby Led Weaning

I border on the evangelical when people ask me about Baby-led weaning (BLW), so strongly do I believe in it. So I thought, in an attempt to get this out of my system, I'd blog about it.

I'm ill today. So us Dylan. We both have rotten colds but have just had a lovely lunch together. We've been sat, Dylan in his highchair, me eating off my lap facing him on a chair. We've just had some beans on toast, which Dylan is now following up with a banana. It's lovely. I feel like death but me and my 13 month old son have had a lovely, hassle-free and sociable lunch together.

Whilst I tucked into my beans on toast, Dylan made a start on his toast with a few beans to pick at. Then every couple of minutes I gave him a few spoonful of beans. You see, we're flexible in our house. We combine BLW with spoon feeding for some meals. Dylan loves the challenge of picking up the tiny beans but get frustrated that he can't eat them quick enough, so it's a great combination. He hates being solely spoon fed as he likes to be in control and feed himself (I get thoroughly shouted at when I try!) It just goes to show that even when under the weather, he prefers to feed himself. Great for me too as we can eat together and relax, rather than fighting to feed him. I may be a BLW enthusiast, but I'm not a purist!

BLW though has been nothing but brilliant for us. By adding in the occasional bit of spoon feeding, we have a baby that eats, enjoys mealtimes but is also full. When we started, I was dreading weaning, as I'd heard the scare stories of mealtime battlegrounds. I was terrified of BLW too, as a lot of people had warned me that Dylan would end up going hungry, being a big strapping boy. But he was so independent, I wanted to try it. So, we went for the combination approach. We started with, and still do, by giving Dylan a spoon fed breakfast. That way we know he's started the day with a full belly. Plus toast would be dull everyday. So we started on baby porridge and weetabix. We've now moved onto normally porridge, and on rare occasions, kedgeree!

For lunch and dinner we started on self-fed food, mainly pieces of veg. The first few weeks he mainly sucked it but he soon started eating it slowly and gradually. However, despite being ready with Ella's kitchen pouches, he never seemed to go hungry after a meal. He soon developed favourites - broccoli at first, currently it's mushrooms (cooked or, *shudders*, raw.)

Now he's a bit older, to give a bit more variety he has more spoon fed stuff. Only because if not, rice and soup etc would be off the menu. However we always combine it with finger food - for soup we dip bread in the soup, and with rice he self feeds the meat and veg.

Most of the time I'm wasting my time with the spoon. He always eyes it with suspicion and much prefers the stuff he can feed himself. He's an independent little so-and-so, so BLW has suited us to the ground.

Don't get me wrong, we do have our share of tough mealtimes, though they are surprisingly few. Sometimes, particularly when Dylan's very tired or teething, we have to resort to a pouch of baby food. But even this doesn't get near a spoon these days. The bit seems to prefer what Alex calls the 'Strasbourg Goose' method, i.e. squeezing the pouch directly into his mouth like feeding a goose for fois gras! Oddly though, when Dylan's poorly, he often refuses the spoon all together and feeds himself. One of the rare occasions my son doesn't take the lazy option! I always know if he's not well, he's likely to eat some mushroom pasta pesto and as many bananas and oranges I allow him!

BLW also allows us to eat as a family. Until recently (when Dylan grew out of the Bumbo), we used al all eat together, at the same time, sat on the floor - Dylan with his bumbo and tray on a big plastic mat. It's so lovely and social. We've now switched to our £15 easy-to-clean Ikea highchair, but dinner is still eaten together, without having to feed the boy separately. It's heaven.

I thought BLW was going to be really messy. It is, but nothing a plastic mat and an easy to clean Bumbo or highchair hasn't coped with. We've had the occasional banana hairstyling, but we have a bath and some funny photos and great memories.

I think the main thing we've got out if it is Dylan's love for food. He eats most things and will try anything. He hoovers up fruit like there's no tomorrow! He's ace at portion control and will tell me when he's full (by smooshing up his food or propelling it onto the floor.) he regulates how much he eats too. If he has a small lunch, he eats a big tea; and vice versa. He seems to know instinctively what he needs. I know when he's eating like a horse, we're about to have a growth spurt. Then his appetite eases off again. His weight has been spot on the curve of the graph, so I'm confident he's not over or under feeding himself.

God, it has so many advantages! He eats what we eat with little alteration other than removing the salt. I never have to remember food when I'm out as I can buy a sandwich or share what I'm having with him.

So yeah, I'm bordering on the evangelical about it and I will happy bore, I mean chat about BLW with anyone who'll listen. I think it's the best parenting decision we made and I will do it again with my next baby in a heartbeat. We've been so lucky that weaning has been such a pleasure.

For me information, check out www.babyledweaning.com or buy Gillian Rapley's book 'Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby To Love Good Food.' I'd highly recommend the book. It goes into the science and reasoning behind it, which I haven't bothered to put here. Understanding why it works gave me the confidence to try it. It also had loads to helpful tips and guidance. It wad my bible the first few months of weaning, though we decided to do some supplementary spoon feeding which the book disagrees with. However everyone I've spoken to who as BLW'd said the combination approach worked best for them.

Anyway, here endeth the lesson... for now!