Friendly Baby November Competition

Friendly Baby have teamed up with Vermillion, the publishers of Baby-led Weaning, for the Friendly Baby November Competition. This month we are offering you the chance to win one of five copies of this great book.

Why have we teamed up with Vermillion to offer Baby-led Weaning?

Baby-led weaning (BLW) means forgetting the long slog in the kitchen preparing vast batches of baby purées and simply letting your baby feed themselves ‘normal’ food.

Gradually the recommended age for introducing solids has moved from three months to six months (in line with the advice of the World Health Organisation), but the way in which most people introduce solids is still geared towards a three month old. Parents traditionally wean their children on to single fruit or vegetable purées or baby rice, moving on to other pureéd foods as their babies become older, finally introducing mashed foods and foods containing small lumps after several months.

At six months old, most babies have strong necks and can sit up if they are supported. Their hand-eye coordination has developed to the extent that they can reach out and start to grasp food and grip it in their palms.

We used BLW for our first child, and are currently doing the same with our second. We recommend starting BLW using foods that are shaped like a chip, or have a handle, such as cooked broccoli spears. This is because small babies have not yet developed a pincer grip and can only clasp foods in their fists. At first it seemed Edmund was just playing with the food, occasionally sucking on a piece, however his nappies told us otherwise!

Our biggest concern before we started BLW was the possibility of choking. However, we were quickly reassured by all of the evidence that shows that babies are actually more likely to choke on pureed food as it easily slips to the back of their throat without them having any control over it. As long as babies can sit upright, and can pick up their own food, then they can move it to the back of their mouths themselves which means the risk of choking is minimal. However, it is important to remember that babies should never be left unattended when eating.

After such a positive experience with BLW we want as many people as possible to have the knowledge to make the decision over puree and BLW for themselves.

For a short extract from Baby-led Weaning, read our next post in Friendly Baby News!

So to be in with a chance to win a copy of Baby-led Weaning head over to our Competition page.