When I started weaning with Florence I found it incredibly difficult to get her to eat anything at all. She just wasn’t interested and her take on food hasn’t really changed much. She doesn’t seem to need or want much of it at all, doesn’t appear to eat much for pleasure and is eager to get the whole process out-of-the-way so that she can get on with whatever else she’s busy with.

I tried to feed her everything from purees to what we were eating ourselves but very rarely did she actually take anything. Of course she does eat now but still not as much as most I would say and even when it comes to chocolate (which she definitely does like) she will stop when she’s had enough (unlike her mother)! It’s good that she only eats what she needs but because she’s so slim it has always worried me a little. I think if a baby is a bit chubby (as most are) then when they get coughs, colds and sickness bugs they have that extra padding to fall back on but not love nor money would get Florence to eat something she doesn’t want to and there’s not a way in the world she’d let anyone else feed her with a spoon!

You always imagine babies will just take food from a spoon, just as you see them do with other people but as soon as I got one out she would purse her lips and refuse… She had to hold it herself from the word go so I ended up baby led weaning not because I chose to but because she wouldn’t do anything else. Just as she never took a bottle despite being offered one every day for 10 months, as I didn’t make the decision to co-sleep but had it thrust upon me, the same way I carried her in a sling most of the time and like I have breast-fed way beyond the expected time, my baby knew exactly what she would and wouldn’t do – and still does! Baby Led Weaning was the ONLY WAY.

Even with a yogurt at 6 months old she HAD to do it herself and then none actually went in!

It stressed me out at the time, I remember taking out tiny little pots of things and my friends would laugh at the size of them but she wouldn’t even eat half of one. Every time I took her to be weighed, even though she gained weight steadily, they were terribly bossy and opinionated about her being on the lowest end of the centile charts. Looking at photos of my husband at the same age and he too was skinny so it’s in her genes but at the time I was just beside myself with worry. I would make all sorts of yummy foods, spend ages thinking of things to entice her but I was mainly met with it being pushed away. What I should have done was just chill out because she had energy and wasn’t lethargic, if anything she never slept! She continued to grow and develop skills, not just at the rate of normal but far exceeding the expectations, however other people, health visitors especially, caused me paranoia about it all. Everyone has an opinion, a way to do it better and thinks they know what’s best. My daughter was fine, I knew it deep down but the doubt put in my mind still caused me anxiety.

Having watched Florence flourish and knowing I was obviously not doing a terrible job, I decided when I was pregnant with Jimmy that I wasn’t going to worry like I did last time. I made a decision to only go to weigh in when I wanted to and not because someone there had worried me senseless the week before and when it came to food I would just do whatever, just like with Florence but without the worry.  I had thought perhaps Jimmy would take a spoon so I did prepare him some purees and bought him those handy squeezy sachets but he, just like Florence, was having absolutely none of it! NONE whatsoever. I persisted for a bit just in case it was that ‘they have to taste something 10 times before they like it’ thing but naaaa, he’s exactly the same and baby led weaning it is once again! This time I’m not worrying about what goes in and what comes straight back out again. I adapt our food for him, prepare special things and give him specially bought finger foods for snacks. It’s going well. He’s gaining weight, he’s on the lower end of the centile chart but my children are just built that way! I’m happy, he’s happy and you know what? It’s so much flipping easier than spoon-feeding anyway!

I always found Florence liked a particular brand of snacking food and even though she didn’t appear to eat much she definitely enjoyed the experience of having something in her hand to chew. I was always really conscious that she have nothing with anything bad in it and even though I think I’m much more lax about that now and Jimmy has definitely been allowed things his sister wasn’t at the same age, I think it’s a good principle to follow in general. That’s all ok at home when I’m preparing the meals but Snacky foods for on the go don’t always make it easy to assist with this so I buy finger foods from the Organix range and they go down very well! In fact Florence has rediscovered a love of their rice cakes and would eat the whole bag given half a chance! We all are particularly fond of the organic carrot sticks which are like giant Watsits but flavoured with carrot and totally organic and good for you! They’re actually delicious, a little bit sweet and a pack lasts ages (as long as I don’t start eating them myself)! It’s the raspberry and blueberry rice cakes that Florence likes so much and they’re great for a no mess snack that you can give the baby in the buggy. Jimmy sucks on them and they keep him occupied and happy when he doesn’t want to be in the buggy anymore. Again the pack lasts a long time and even though my children have them daily I’d say we only get through one bag a week. I started Jimmy on these before he was 7 months old but I guess you just have to judge it by how you think your baby will cope. We’ve just discovered their multigrain hearts which are recommended for 10m+ but at 8 months Jimmy copes fine with them. They’re little puffed up pieces of rice which are flavoured with vanilla and he loves them. Because they melt in the mouth I’m not worried about them being too small and actually because of their size they are helping him develop. He picks them up between his forefinger and thumb which is helping him hone fine motor skills as well!

I’m so happy with Baby Led weaning and have even been devising my own recipes for handy foods. Between my recipes, the food he can eat which is the same as ours and the healthy Organix snacks and I’m not worrying at all this time round! If he’s hungry he’ll eat!

Jimmy enjoying his Christmas lunch which he just got on with while we got on with ours!

Both my children enjoying Granny’s chocolate buns! Sometimes a little of what you fancy does you good! 

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