My mother, as I many have mentioned once or twice, was very dubious about Baby Led Weaning when I first suggested it. She seemed convinced that my having kept her grandchild in one piece until the age of six months was largely a fluke, and that any further off-piste baby decisions would surely result in disaster. (Remember that Babybear had been sleeping in a hammock since the day she'd been brought home from the hospital, so my mother felt that she had paid her dues already with regards to toleration of her daughter's loopy childcare ideas.)

So I mention Baby Led Weaning and she tells me that I should go ahead so long as I don't mind Babybear choking to death, or words to that effect. Babies must have their food mushed for them, otherwise how will they learn to chew?

Now I know that there isn't a great deal of information out there about BLW even today, after all why would you be reading this godforsaken prose if you had a choice? But at least now more people are talking about it on websites like Mumsnet and others. A few months ago it felt like there was nothing but the excellent Yahoo users group and that spooky Dutch website... after that you were on your own, with just a vegetable steamer for company. No leaflets, no recipe books, no Annabel Karmel ticky-box calendars of weaning... nothing.

So there wasn't much that I could employ to fend off my mother's concerns, other than clear-eyed logic. It worked, and I am delighted to pass on my wisdom to you all.

Simply ask: "When did you start weaning your children?"

(In my case the answer to this question was an astonishing two weeks but really that wasn't my mum's fault, it was the midwives at the hospital putting Farex infant rice into my bottle. And yes, I do suffer from IBS thank you for asking.)

Generally, however, the British matron will reply 'three months', for that was the advice back then.

Now leave them to think about whether they spooned and spooned and spooned for, what, six months, before offering so much as a slice of toast? Didn't happen, did it?

Of course after three whole months of spoon feeding, women of our mothers' generation were only too happy to try finger food with their babies, it's just that they fondly assumed that their children had needed the three months of puree to get used to the idea. (Which was kinda true in a way, in that a three-month-old is incapable of self-feeding).

So when my mum realised that I was doing was my best to adhere to both modern WHO guidelines and copy her own shining example, she suddenly chilled right out about it, surprise, surprise. And the funniest thing is that I've now overheard her recommending baby led weaning to her golden girl grandma pals and she is proud fit to burst when she sees her grandchild eat her roast potatoes.

Who said 30 seconds? Yep, that's right.

The bowl was stuck tight, tight, tight to the tray, there was no way it was shifting... until I turned around and Babybear frisbeed her spaghetti bolognese across the room. I've tried it again a couple of times with different plates and things and she overwhelms them all with her Hulk-like strength.

It cost a fiver... available from all good supermarkets selling baby shite you don't need that doesn't work.

You can't have too many, it turns out.
We favour the t-shirt neck style ones which you yank over the babies' heads, worn with a pelican bib to catch spillages. My baby has already learned that if she drops something there's every chance that it's in the scoop of her Tommee Tippee bib.
The reason she wears another bib underneath is that the Tommee Tippee ones appear to be designed for older babies (but of course, our infants are so very advanced...) so their necks remain a bit exposed to grime.

Post Script
I think this was one of the first things I ever wrote on this blog, so imagine my embarassment today, just over two months later, when I realised "... but if I just cut another hole in the neck then I won't have to faff about with two bibs every time..."

Eureka! Easy-peasy. I just cut a cross where I would have liked a hole to be with a sharp kitchen knife and hey bingo, one fully operational bib. Don't know what the Health and Safety implications are - obviously I wouldn't recommend cutting the cross shape while the child is still wearing the bib - but it looked fine to me.

Also, just while I'm here, a question... why are so many fabric bibs white?

While out and about I always pack a ‘lunchbox’ for Boomer. Common contents are some rice cakes or rye crackers, some fruit (usually nectarines or a banana), dried fruit (apricots, apple slices), and pieces of cheese. All these types of food travel well in a plastic box and can be fed whilst on the move. Although I would watch out for banana – our buggy has a few sticky patches.

Boomer and I are going away for a couple of days (travels including airports, trains and buses)  so I there may be a few top tips direct from the field – watch this space.

Now I know that the absolute ideal is for the whole family to eat together every day, and if you have other children then baby led weaning must be perfect as the bubs should fit right into your existing schedule, but I do find it a bit tricky to organise in our rigidly disorganised household. Plus, as yet neither my husband nor I has any desire to eat our evening meal at 5pm.

So the point I was wanting to make is that despite this, I do make quite an effort to eat when she is eating, even if it is only some peach slices and a bit of cheese. And I have noticed, to my delight, that if I put quite a few different bits on her highchair tray, draw up  my own chair and we both make a grab for the things we fancy then she eats more and for longer. So, not quite as sociable as a big 'insieme' Italian family meal but if you're not Italian and not that sociable then it does work, I promise.

Having had it pointed out that the spare bit of lino in our bathroom would make the ideal mat for under Boomer’s highchair (thanks Aitch!). I’ve been using this square of lino for a couple of weeks now.

 

It’s great , the bits that Boomer has finished with pretty much land on the square. So once breakfast/lunch/snack etc is finished I just shake the lumps of banana or whatever into the bin and give the lino a quick skoosh with the anti-bacterial stuff and a wipe down.

I think my main top tip is ‘Try It Out’ - you really don’t know if your baby will like a food unless you try them. Today, for example, baby Boomer loved some crayfish tails with pretty spicy sauce. Grandmaw was quite surprised especially as she drank quite a lot of water after her spicy crayfish salad.

 

Other surprising things Boomer has tried and liked are ;

 

Lovely juicy organic mint and lamb burger (eaten outdoors at a food fair)  – admittedly I held this while she sucked at a bit but she was peeved when I removed it.

 

Very, very, very mature cheese – this stuff was strong, the kind of stuff that even the smell makes you wince

 

Bit of Naan dipped in curry sauce – admittedly quite a creamy sauce , and before you shriek in horror it was only a tiny bit so she could join in with the social side of Mummy and Daddy’s Friday night take away binge.

 

Please don't judge me harshly , these represent only a small section of our diet, there is plenty of fruit and veg in a normal day - honest.

At about 5 ½ months I went to get Boomer weighed, I was instructed to immediately start feeding my undernourished baby (baby who is complete with bracelets of fat and double chin). I rushed home and started mashing everything in sight – cat escaped relatively unscathed. Over the next few days Boomer seemed nonplussed about any of the tepid mashed delights I offered her.

 

I then discovered baby led weaning, I instantly loved the idea unfortunately it left me with the slight issue of what to do with my ridiculous sized portions of frozen mashed carrot, broccoli, sweet potato  etc.

 

These are the few ways I have devised to use the frozen delights and still stay pure to my ‘waste not want not’ ethos

 

1. make that margarita interesting and almost healthy with a carrot ice cube
2. soothe those tired eyes with slices of frozen broccoli
3. be the life and soul of  any party with pre-frozen comedy vomit
4. have ‘conscience free’ playtime fun with you baby and biodegradable building bricks

 

or alternatively sod it and chuck it all out

A lovely word, that...stains. Really sums up the glamour of being a mother, I find. Anyway, I am most flattered to have been asked (by a real live person called Jenn who I don't even know) to start thinking about how to get food debris out of clothing, bibs and soft furnishings. Hmmmmm.

I can tell you what NOT to do, for a kick-off... under no circumstances spray Vanish onto sofas or carpets, as it bleaches the colour right out of them. I am now forced always to sit on the same cushion to conceal the fact that it is markedly paler than the rest of the couch. My husband has pointed out that it also affords the best view of the television but he is just being needlessly critical.

As far as I can make out, banana is indelible. You could use it to write protest graffitti  on council buildings and it would be there until your baby is old enough to vote. I tend to dunk banana bibs in water as soon as she's finished eating. In fact, I think that's perhaps the secret. Make sure that you scrape any actual food off the bib and dunk it in water. After a few days in the laundry bin they start to smell, which I find to be a handy reminder that I need to put another bloody  washing on.

And I do use Vanish for other things, such as peach and pear, with some success, but I'd be very interested to see if anyone has any tips which don't involve me burning my Fairy-soft hands with an industrial solvent.

So come on Mysterious Jenn, whoever you are, or anyone else... can anyone help?

Okay, this is really one for the people whose mums/health visitors/partners/husbands/grans/aunties/pals/work colleagues/fellow bus passengers and Karmelising friends keep telling them that their six-month-old should be on three square meals a day...

I think we just have to let it all wash over us and remember that babies get the vast majority of their calories from milk until they are 12 months old. Until then (according to what I've read) their food is just for fun, so it strikes me that about the worst thing you could do would be to get stressed about quantities. So ignore the baying crowds, ladies, and believe in the baby led weaning...

Oh yes you will. Even if you aren't yet at the (blissful) stage of being able to give your baby food directly from your plate, it's a good idea to show willing by eating some of the food you are giving them. And, by the way, looking as if you are enjoying it.
This has its limits, of course. Thanks to my Aunt Eileen's tried-and-tested method of cooking carrots (an easy enough recipe, simply boil for three days and serve at a clammy temperature) I cannot stomach the things. Luckily, the baby doesn't know that I am eating raw carrot while she is tucking into some lightly steamed ones.

 ...doesn't really matter which one you get, so long as you can stand it in the shower or bath and hose it down when it gets unbelievably filthy. Because it will.
Oh, and try to make sure the tray has a lip on it round the edge. Seems terribly obvious to me but we were in a cafe today and the highchair tray was completely flat, so the baby just nonchalantly flicked everything onto the ground. It was an East Coast one, very stylish, like a tribute to (rip-off version of?) the Stokke Tripp-Trapp. We had considered buying it but am very, very glad that we went for el cheapo white plastic Ikea one now.

Please see Finger Food: Broccoli.

No really. Obviously it's a good idea to clean up after your baby has eaten, unless you fancy a wee visit from the Environmental Health, but try not to do it during their meal. Why? Well, how stressful do you find it when you're out for a meal and the waiter is too attentive?
So try to ignore the mess, in fact try to revel in it. It's hilarious. It's good for them - that mess is teaching them that dinner time isn't stressful, it's enjoyable. And once your baby is finished you can just dip their hands and feet in the bathroom sink for a wash and a face splash while their father gets busy at the highchair with a selection of anti-bacterial wipes. Well, maybe.

 I've seen people recommend putting a shower curtain down, which seems a bit of a faff to me but might work for some. You can also buy a plastic sheet for £3.95 on ebay. £3.95! For a plastic sheet, for god's sake. Plus postage, naturally.

I'd like to get a nice piece of lino, probably about a metre by a metre but I haven't got that  organised yet so at the moment I'm making do with some old washable wallpaper that I found lying about my gaff. It's working rather well, I must say. And when I say washable, I mean silk-backed, 80 quid a metre, la-di-dah. It's not mine... if only.

Anyway, something is better than nothing. We've got floorboards, it was a flippin' nightmare trying to get bits of cheese out of the cracks. As the actress said to the bishop...


PS A rather charming woman called Nell has just left a comment to suggest putting a  newspaper down on the floor so that when it gets splattered you can just wheech off the top layer. It's a good idea, and as soon as I work out how to show the comments under the posts you will all be able to see it without clicking anything. Any ideas as to how I do this? Anyone?