Baby Led Weaning - one month in

So we're one month into our baby led weaning journey and I thought I'd do a little update on how we're doing.

I've done so much research on the whole BLW thang, and although there is a shedload of info saying be prepared for mess, how and when to start and lots of recipes, no one really talks about what to expect as you go along, so I thought I'd share our experience in the hopes that it will help other mamas out, because let's be honest, this baby rearing lark is hard work so  any little bit of help is kind of a God send. (wow longest sentence ever right there)

Right, we've been doing this for just over a month now, and it seems to be going pretty well (at least I think so, and Henry seems happy and healthy - minus his cold).

Yes there is a hell of a lot of mess. Luckily we have wood flooring all downstairs, and we eat at our breakfast bar in our kitchen anyway. And there is an insane amount of dribble too! No one warned us about the volume of dribble linked with BLW!

Henry is getting really good at picking up and holding foods with different textures and shapes, and is really starting to gum (still no teeth!) down on pieces and get little chunks off. Admittedly about 60% of those chunks are spat/dribbled out of his mouth, but more and more of it is actually being swallowed - hoorah!

So far we've tried:

Steamed Broccoli
Steamed carrot - cut into fingers
Steamed Cauliflower
Steamed baby corn
Cucumber - sliced into fingers
Strawberries - large ones cut in half length-ways
Mango fingers
Melon fingers
Pineapple fingers
Apple slices
Banana slices
Banana pancakes
Hard boiled egg
Mashed potato
Sweet potato fingers
Sausage - cut in half long ways
Marmite on toast
Peanut butter on toast
Cream cheese on toast
Strawberry jam on toast
Penne paste - plain

So a real mix, and much of it has been what myself and dann were going to be having for dinner as well - e.g the veg for dinner.

We're going to be working on more recipes in the future once he's eating a little more.

I also thought I'd share some of the bits that we use/will be using to help us out with meal times.

Plastic bibs. We're currently using Ikea ones that just wipe clean. We love the Nuby Roly Poly Bib*, but so does Henry and he gets a bit too distracted by it, so we're saving it for a little further down the line.

Water cups. We have a range that we're trying, including the Nuby 360 mini* and the Nuby Flip N Sip* which we adore. They're both so different teach two different skillsets. We also have a very basic tommee tippee. To get Henry used to the flavour and consistency of water we have been using on old 4oz Dr Brown bottle which is really helping him get used to water.

Suction plates and bowls. We're not using these just yet, as again they're too distracting but we love our Nuby SureGrip Miracle Mat* and bowl*. We've tested them a few times to see how well they hold up as Henry is really strong and they're definitely worth their weight in gold.

Baby spoons. We have a mix of Tommee Tippee and Nuby long handle weaning spoons* ones, which we load up with say yoghurt and then give to Henry to feed himself. Admittedly and 50% of the time he has the opposite end in his mouth, but he is trying.

So there ends my round up of the first month. We're really enjoying it so far, even if sometimes I get a little anxious about it all (I'm pretty sure all mums worry about everything, all of the time). Henry is happy and healthy, and that's what matters most. 

Do you have tips or recipes for BLW? Leave your idea and links in the comments below!

*PR samples - Nuby products receivedas part of the Nuby UK brand rep programme - all opinions, as always, are my own.