Daddy Led Weaning - guest blogger

Hi All, 

After a busy few months I'm sorry to say blogging has taken a back seat, so to take the pressure off (not really pressure, I love blogging) my wonderful husband has stepped in to write as our first 'guest blogger'....

When Hannah asked me if I fancied being a ‘guest blogger’, I thought to myself ‘how hard can it be’, after all I’m writing about food (which is one of my favourite subjects). In reality, it’s a whole different ball game and not anywhere near as easy as it may look. Anyway, here it goes…

I thought I’d give my take, as a Dad, on Baby Led Weaning (BLW) plus an insight in to some of G-R’s recent escapades. I must say when Hannah first floated the idea I was unsure, like many I didn’t know what BLW was. But, Hannah explained it to me, I read up on it a bit and then thought why not give it a go? What’s the worst that can happen? G-R’s not interested and we revert to feeding her using baby food? Well that’s been done for generations and has produced millions of happy and healthy babies. So BLW was hardly a risk!   

I did think in some ways that I would miss out on directly interacting with G-R on a 1:1 basis. She was breastfed before, so my interaction with her at meals times was definitely at a minimum! So when food was introduced, I was pleasantly surprised. I help prepare her meals, I can sit with her, talk to her and watch her enjoy her meals. In fact, she regularly offers me some of her food, which is a good thing as she’s not gone down the Joey Tribbiani route of ‘not sharing food’.  

I’ve been surprised in a lot of ways by the success we’ve had with BLW. G-R’s basically eaten everything we’ve put in front of her. When we were at Centre Parcs recently we went to the curry house, G-R of course had her own meal. First up poppadoms, with some of our onion bhajis. She dived straight in and before we knew it the food had gone! Now, here’s something I’d never thought about, 1 year old’s don’t understand the concept of starters and main courses! Her meals all come on tap and pretty much in a single course, not with a 10-15 minute gap in between! Needless to say she looked at us like we’d stolen her favourite toy and was clearly thinking ‘Seriously, is that all I’m getting?’. So we had to keep her going with entertainment and a little snack in between courses!

Long story short, once the main come she was in her element! She scoffed her whole mild curry down, rice and a bit of naan down in a manner that the cookie monster would have been proud of!

We decided a while back that we would save the joys of cake and chocolate until G-R was one. So true to our word, at her 1^st birthday/Christening party we presented her with a decent size slice of moist chocolate cake. Let’s just say she takes after her mother (who asks for the dessert menu on arrival at restaurants), blink and you missed it, the cake literally evaporated before our eyes!

 Needless to say, I’m proud of G-R and how amazing she has been with food. Of course we will hit a phase in the future when she starts rejecting some foods, but until then, she will continue eating more types of food than her Mum.

The next challenge is to try and get G-R to use cutlery, not just to flick food around the room, but also to shovel some of the food from her plate in to her mouth. I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun, but also messy (our cats will be hovering to try and take advantage of this!). The vanish is very much on standby (in a true BBC fashion, other cleaning product are available).

Thanks All

Mike  

Your mission if you choose to eat it...

Operation 'full meal' has been taking place over the last month.

Training required: Learning to cook for 2.5 people rather than two!
Equipment required: Husband to cook his amazing Toad in the Hole and a dishwasher for all the dishes used!

We've been really chuffed with ourselves (husband and I) with operation 'full meal' we discussed which meals G-R could have with us, but that are able to be reheated and frozen. At the moment dinner for G-R is 5.15pm onwards...depending on how tired she gets. So apart from breakfast and lunch its her only solo meal (unless I have a sneaky biscuit whilst she's having her dinner). So meal wise we decided to go with...

• Toad In the Hole
• Shepard's Pie
• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Salmon fish cakes 

Toad in the hole in mini form worked really well, we've already established G-R is a fan of Yorkshire puddings (thank god because I'd live on them if I could) so it wasn't too much of a risk. She loved them, alongside some veg which we mixed up each time another winner!









Shepard's Pie is my dish, it's actually a mixture of both Shepard's and Cottage Pie...honestly I challenge anyone who makes those dishes to the exact recipe (unless it's Mary Berry, I'm not challenging that lady legend!). Using oven proof ramekins I spooned the mince mixture in and topped with mash potato (made with whole milk). Easy to freeze once cooked and then able to heat up once for meal time. Another winner, she loved that she could squidge the mash in between her fingers...oh to be a baby and not be judged for how messy you get when you eat.

Spaghetti bolognese, G-R has had this before so we know she love it. I love watching her pick up the mince, even the smallest bits.

Salmon fish cakes...I must confess here, I do not eat fish. There were three weeks in Vietnam that I did but that's a different story. Husband however loves fish and is on a mission to make sure G-R loves it too...thus salmon fish cakes. Using a BLW recipe we found for fish cakes we mixed it up a bit by replaced white fish (haddock/cod) with salmon, which worked really well and was easy to freeze.

Now one issue has arisen and it's one that may last for years to come. My husband and I have started the 'oh let's not waste her left overs...we'll eat them!' even if our own dinner is on the way! Dangerous territory for our waist lines, but does reduce food waste.

I also wanted to mix up her lunch time and after spotting a recipe on one of the BLW Instagram ladies I follow we decided to give Sweet Potato Pancakes a go.

Introducing husband Mike...making Sweet Potato Pancakes

Another great meal to freeze and the re-heat or have chilled. G-R loves these, she loves a lot of food but she gets so excited seeing these on her plate and we have to keep an eye that she doesn't stuff too much into her mouth.

Mission 'Operation Full Meal' - Result - A success!

Recently someone asked me if there was anything else we have done differently to others when it comes to parenting. A great question but also made me realise that Baby Led Weaning is still viewed as different, sometimes perhaps with negative thoughts. I really hope my blog and our experience is inspiration to others that although BLW may be viewed as different there is so much to experience with it, our little girl has become a non fussy food lover which is wonderful. Long may it continue!

Thanks for reading

Non Fish Eater Hannah 

Greek tragedy or feast? 

Yassoo everyone! Back from a fabulous weeks holiday on a Greek Island. Sun, sea, sand and no having to cook for a week!

With G-R joining the eight months old gang whilst we were away I have to admit I was nervous about what food she would be able to eat. I'll be honest whilst packing and getting bits for the holiday it was the first time I've stopped to look at baby food pouches, but stopped myself and said nope Baby Led Weaning (BLW) is how we've started, and been doing so well so let's keep fingers crossed it will be ok! I did pack her a fair few snacks, just in case (we love the Kiddylicious products).

So off we went...we stayed at a Premier Inn the night before and they offer a really good kids menu, for £4, G-R happily tucked into pasta and green beans with a dough stick on the side. Even at the airport I was chuffed that Boots now sell fruit chunks with no syrups (often they have syrup to keep them fresh) so that was G-R's plane snack sorted.

Once we arrived, I realised it was not only food that was a worry but the sun, drinking mineral water, the amount of people also in the restaurant...would G-R eat anything? Did she? Oh yes...

"Scream if you want to go faster"

After one glance at the kids buffet and it was mostly a smiley face, fried, picky eater friendly set up so we decided G-R would get bits from the adult buffet, the list of foods she tried was amazing...Olives, Pork, Turkey, Mushrooms, omelettes, mango, aubergine, courgette, grapefruit, waffle...and of course her beloved chicken, kiwi, pancakes, bananas, bread, toast with jam. She even had Chicken Gyros...a Greek fav of mine.

I needn't have worried my little head about her and food, as always she proves me wrong and makes me feel like one proud mum (I am tempted to get that on a t-shirt).

We did have to contend with a few new elements such as the fabulous waiting staff coming over to chat to her, this resulted in every meal G-R looking for people to smile at...not as much fun now we are home and just seeing mum and dad...boring! Other babies were a distraction too, but a cute one. It was lovely to see lots of under one's happily tucking into the buffet too, we all seemed to sit in the same area...perhaps to reduce the amount of clearing up!

Overall I would recommend taking an under one on holiday abroad, they adapt so well to new experiences and now that Baby Led Weaning is fully established for G-R food isn't an issue, she is far from fussy. Our next step is to really embrace G-R eating our meals, so tomorrow is pre-preparing lots of meals and reducing the amount of separate meals we do seem to have (this is probably considered true BLW...as I've said before I'm not expert, simply sharing our experience).

I look forward to updating you all on how 'Operation Full Meal' goes!

Take Care All

Hannah xx.                                   

Dude! Where's my spoon?

Hi Everyone, so well over a week since my last awful punned filled blog. This last week and a bit we overcome, over done and over worked Baby Led Weaning (BLW) as we are now a month and a half in.

I wanted to focus this weeks blog on the spoon. Not the history of the spoon...

***though for those interested*** 

But the use of the spoon or utensils in general for BLW babies. I've read that from nine months old a BLW little one can take a bread stick, carrot baton etc and dip it into sauce such as humus. That
knowledge of picking something up and dipping in then putting it into your mouth is possible from that point (nine months...we all know that's an average rather than the norm). What about utensils?
Surely the same concept? Apparently not, again averages are that a baby can feed themselves using
utensils from 12-15 months.

This spoon debate came about as I was trying to think of new exciting things for G-R to try out for breakfast. Weetabix, a British family favourite was the first things that came to mind. So regardless of whether G-R could use a spoon or not we gave it a go. Using one Weetabix (other brands are available) and enough Whole Milk to create a thick sludge of cereal.
Now fellow BLW mums and dads may ponder whether next step is true BLW, but at the time I couldn't think of another way to let her try this new food. I took her spoon, put some cereal on it and then handed it to her. With intrigue G-R took the spoon, at its handle and moved it towards her face...amazing I thought she can use a spoon already...the contents then went straight onto her eyebrow before moving down her cheek and then finally into her mouth! Whether G-R knows something we don't and that Weetabix makes a good cleansing face-mask  or she couldn't quite get that coordination. A few spoons filled by me and handed to her she got the idea, however being a BLW baby she also grabbed some by hand and stuffed it into her mouth. A very messy experimental breakfast moment.

So back to fruit, crumpets, toast with Jam for breakfast for a few days. Then G-R's second favourite chef, Chef Daddy stepped in to offer her pancakes and scrambled eggs at the weekend.


After researching I stumbled upon recipes for Porridge Fingers...the idea being your BLW baby can have a oat based breakfast without the need for spoons (until they are ready). As is often my baking way I merged two recipes and gave them a go.

My recipe and method

Ingredients: 3 tbsp of Porridge oats, 3 tbsp of Whole Milk (could use expressed or formula), 1 mushed up banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon,

Method: Throw all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Spoon into two ramekins and flatten around to the edge. Microwave for one minute and then into the oven (around 180 degrees) and bake for around 4mins or until you can see golden brown oats on the top.




I then cut round the edge and like a sandcastle tipped onto a cooling rack to cool down. Cut them in half to be more finger friendly and voila!

All in all about ten minutes...winner all around and G-R tucked in, cinnamon being a new flavour got a few funny faces at first but she really enjoyed them. There are lots of recipe combo's for these porridge fingers so well worth trying them out.

Next week our biggest challenge of BLW yet...we are going abroad. Although looking forward to a nice break just the three of us (sorry G-R four if you count Wallace the Giraffe teddy) and going All inclusive should help things we are still a little unsure of how things will go. I'll update in my next blog!

Happy BLW until next time (I think I need a catch phrase to sign off on...or not that might be a bit too Tess Daly)

Hannah xx 

London Ladies Lunch

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting this weeks blog we've been playing tourists of London!

I ended last weeks blog hinting I'd be getting my 'bake on' (how to make baking sound more hip...London has got to me). I was keen to bake something easy and simple that could be frozen,
something G-R could eat if we were out and about, a lunch time food. I settled on a Cheese and Broccoli Muffin recipe from the Baby Led Weaning website. I was slightly nervous about baking as although I consider myself a bit of a baker the last experimental cake I did was a disaster...either raw or too much banana (we couldn't tell?!?).

With my apron on and my sous chef G-R in her high chair with toys a plenty to throw around the room I began...and how easy it was. I would highly recommend this recipe, for adults perhaps a tad mild on the cheese front but for babies, well the picture below says it all.

My best friends baby boy (a Boxing Day baby with a smile that melts your heart) also tried some and loved it. What a lovely feeling, making something and knowing your baby and others love it.

Out and About

Baby Led Weaning is not all about staying in, the safety our own high chair, under mat, an array of
bibs etc...well quite frankly we'd never see anyone or go anywhere if all G-R's meals were at home!
This week we've gone from one extreme to another. Sunday was G-R's first Sunday roast experience, she loved having bits of beef and seasonal vegetables and had it not been for a skipped nap I may have shared some fruit salad with her...alas dessert was skipped for the sake of our fellow diners ear drums!

London 

With work being done at home we decided to play house at my parents place in London. This allowed me and G-R to become culture vultures with a trip to the Tate Modern and British Museum. Before the Tate we meet a friend and her gorgeous little girl who is one, and with both the little ladies in high chairs we shared some of our lunch. I learnt a valuable lesson here... pack more snack bits for G-R or even order something for me that she could share, the haloumi wrap I had (though a gift from the flavour god) had a lot of spice so I decided to steer clear of sharing it. She did happily tuck into a flat bread and blueberry cracker. I did feel for the waitress who saw us packing up to leave and had to embark on the mega floor sweep from not just one BLW child but two!

On Tuesday, feeling more organised off we went to the British Museum. After G-R slept through most of the Greek pots and European Clocks we stopped for a mid afternoon snack. Happily and loudly she snacked on some pear whilst I had a cheeky brownie. As I've said in previous blogs, a sign that little miss is happy with the choice of food is when she is chatting away...anyone who has been to the British Museum will know the central area is very echoey...a good job we weren't too close to any priceless glass wear!


So my top tip for any BLW mums and dads...pack some snack bits. Some chopped up cucumber (great for teething), fruit like pear or apple (not to messy but easy to eat) goes down a treat either as a snack or to add to a meal you are sharing.


We are still really impressed with how G-R is doing and it is really enjoyable. Four weeks in and I've realised that not worrying about food being slipped off the high chair tray or food being rubbed in her hair, eyes, nose etc and just sitting watching her is simply wonderful. Baby Led Wonderful...that's awful, sorry....less puns more chat next week!

Hannah

More pancakes please!

Since our last blog it's been a great week of Baby Led Weaning (BLW) with Georgia-Rose (G-R) trying more new foods, developing new techniques and finding some foods hilarious (who knew chicken was so funny!).

We started the week having a sleepover at my parents place, here G-R has a small seat with a tray rather than her high chair so with our floor mat packed I was keeping fingers crossed that this wasn't going to be the night G-R learnt how to throw food! (Bet my mum can't wait until G-R starts eating Spag Bol!)

We decided to try out tomatoes. I'd read that some babies react to raw tomatoes with red blotches around their mouths, not necessarily a sign of allergy in the long term I understand. With no blotching to be seen G-R delved into the tomatoes skin and all, (sucking them dry and then munching the skin), giggling away. Although some tomatoes ended up on the mat it was G-R doing her cleaning technique, telling us she has finished eating by
arm sweeping any food on her tray off and onto the floor!

This is the week I wanted to start adding more textures, we've focused on lots of fruit and veg which she loves but our aim is that she'll soon be eating smaller portions of our meals.

***let me stop here a second*** some parents who are going down the BLW route offer smaller portions or versions of their own dinners from the get go. This is our intention soon but at the moment it's a rarity rather than the norm. Again here there is no right or wrong way...we're just doing it our way and touch wood at the moment it seems to be going well.

So back to those textures...we've tried out pasta, we went for fusilli as it's easy to grip and this was a winner! A sign of a winning food seems to be her chatting loudly as she eats and giving us lots of food filled smiles.

Chicken...G-R's first meat! With a bit of flavouring she loved this, it shredded easily in her mouth and it's one of the meals she has eaten the most of! I've never seen the cats look more like vultures though, circling below her in case she dropped any!

Pancakes! One of my favourites, and one of the many reasons I am married to my fabulous husband...he makes amazing pancakes. Selfishly I was keeping fingers crossed she would like them so I could ask for them more often...luckily like mother like daughter. Pancakes are not just for Shrove Tuesday!

A Sandwich...G-R and I went to my sister in laws Baby Shower and whilst I was eating the yummy buffet food, G-R tucked into a bit of cheese sandwich sitting on her Oma's lap (Nan). Another winner and she loved the audience watching her!

Gagging and Choking

One thing that has reduced is the gagging, although she still does it she looks less bothered by it and gagging is turning into little coughs here and there. I was made aware of how scaring (scary) gagging can be though when whilst watching G-R eat and then gag two family members both panicked saying 'she's choking!'....we calmly reacted reassuring them she was just gagging. It reminded me of the YouTube clip I was sent by an NCT tutor which is worth a look to understand the reaction.

Of course on the flip side babies can choke, which I can only imagine is terrifying. I came across this St John ambulance video for choking babies which is well worth a look.




We're really enjoying watching G-R develop, pull faces at new tastes, giggle at different textures. Not so much a fan of the new smells but it comes with the territory lol!

Next week I'm going to get my apron out and using some BLW recipes I've found to do some baking...wish my luck!

Hannah

The Theory, The Broccoli and The Cats

Let me start by saying thank you! Its quite a nerve wracking process, writing a blog then publishing. Especially given maternity leave has caused my brain to turn into mush, a little bit like the mush create by Georgia-Rose (G-R) when eating soft fruits! I've received some lovely comments, suggestions and compliments privately about the first post...no pressure for this one then!?!

I wanted to start this post with the science bit so to speak. If you are a Big Bang Theory fan imagine me doing my own version of 'Fun with flags'.

What is the difference between Baby Led Weaning (BLW) and any other type of weaning?
My bible for BLW is 'Baby-led Weaning' by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett (2008) so using their book as a reference...

BLW is as it sounds, letting the baby lead the way when it comes to food, placing them in front or within reach of solid finger food and letting them pick it up and if they are ready putting in their mouth. They control when they do this, how they do this and how much they want.

Weaning as it's more commonly known is often approached with baby rice initially (mixed with breast or formula milk), building to puree's, then onto a lumpy purée and onto finger foods.
As I said in my first blog I'm not going to preach about the best way, the right or wrong way. As parents we choose what is the best approach for our children. My husband and I decided that BLW was our favoured approach for G-R for many reasons, the main ones being...she has two teeth already (this isn't a necessary for BLW but does make difference), she has been really good with her hands and her pincer movement (imagine a crab here!) is great too. However the main reason is G-R herself has always led us...she chooses when to have milk, she told us (not with words!) when she wanted to move her bed time and with all her grunts and screeches tells us when she wants something or doesn't as the case may be!

How is it going?



This week we've tried all sorts...Monday was peach day, Tuesday broccoli, Wednesday
Sweet potato, Thursday more peach and an organic baby wafer, Friday Apple and baby sweet corn, Saturday crumpet and pear, Sunday crumpet and banana (with an attempt at mange tout) and today so far pear again.

Top tip...broccoli and nappies...let's just say broccoli is that gift that keeps in giving!

So we are now up to two meals a day...well let me clarify, these aren't meals like us adults imagine with a plate full of food, it's a few bits that G-R can choose to pick up and eat.

Overall we're doing well, the contents of her nappy show us she is eating a nice amount of food. Last week for the first time G-R dropped a breast feed, an afternoon one, with all weaning types this does happen gradually and although she hasn't done it since it was an insight for me and my body about how it will feel. A few issues this week is that by spending the weekend with family we now take even more of the house with us, so I felt bad taking over other peoples living rooms. On the other hand though our family loved watching her eating, she went into show off mode and was smiling at everyone with mouthfuls of food!

Our other issue...two of them. One named Bibi and one named Gizmo, our cats! G-R gets so distracted by them as she is eating that eating takes a fair while to get started. One of those small things we all need to get used to. Not sure they will stick around once she starts throwing bits of food at them!

Thanks again for reading, I'm looking forward to writing week three and all the fun and game a BLW will continue to bring us!

Hannah