Yes I sure do! I have two! 

1)

A 4 Week Meal Plan e-book that is an instant downloadable PDF, which includes:

• a 4 week Paediatric Dietitian approved meal plan containing over 40 recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner for your baby led weaner and family.
• Visuals and explanations on every recipe on how to offer foods to babies *6 months old +
• Each recipe between 1-6 ingredients only. With the focus important nutrients B12, Zinc, Iron and Calcium.
• Explanation on what is baby led weaning
• How to know when to start baby led weaning
• Top tips for baby led weaning
• A list of the top choking hazards
• How to cut fruits and vegetables and other family foods.
• Information on allergies and a guide on how to introduce them
• No puree, no spoon-feeding, just straight up finger foods for babies that are showing all readiness signs from approx 6 months old to commence their solids journey.

Note: recipes include meat, fish, eggs and dairy. If you would like a vegan e-book please purchase the vegan e-book on sale now under ‘shop’

To be used as a guide only to help you with simple and healthy daily meals for your baby, toddler and family.

2)

YES there sure are!

• This meal planner includes potential allergenic foods, which is in line with the recommendations by ASCIA regarding early introduction of these foods from 6 months old. Please note: this meal planner assumes there is NO history of allergy. If you do have a family history of allergy (i.e. egg, peanuts, tree nut dairy, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat, a sibling with an allergy or a child that has had history of breast-milk/formula intolerances or history of eczema), please consult your doctor or pediatrician prior to using this planner.
• This meal planner offers allergenic foods either for breakfast or lunch when first exposed: it is recommended to provide allergenic food earlier in the day when baby will be awake for a few hours to watch any signs/symptoms of an allergic reaction. Once your baby tolerates these, you may continue to offer allergenic foods in baby’s diet consistently.
• This planner introduces 1 to 2 allergenic foods per week, offering it 2-3 days consecutive OR away from that NEW allergenic food.

*ASCIA has developed these guidelines to outline practices that may help reduce the risk of infants developing allergies, particularly early onset allergic diseases such as eczema and food allergy.

They sure can! The recipes are simple, delicious and healthy for everyone. Just adjust portion size according to baby, toddler or adult.

Here is a list of top tips for the 4 Week Meal Planner:

• Offer water at each meal preferably in a open cup
• ALWAYS watch your baby when he/she is eating, never leave baby unattended
• Make sure baby is not too hungry (has had her breast milk/bottle feed), tired, crying, upset, distracted or excited/laughing when eating, hiccups or with nasal congestion
• Ensure baby is always sitting upright, NO feeding in bouncers, laying back highchairs or reclined car seat or reclined prams/strollers.
• Avoid distractions: Discourage your child from walking, talking, watching television, lying down, or doing anything else while eating that might distract him/her from his meal
• Ensure you are prepared with an appropriate high chair (easy for baby to reach food and supports the trunk of the baby i.e. with padding or cushioning and ideally with good footrest
• If you skip a meal because you don’t have time with sleeps and milk feeds there is no need to stress just simply move on and get back to the meal planner
• Feel free to change up the fruit or vegetable according to what is in season in your country
• Gagging is NORMAL: gagging (face may appear red, splutter, cough, may vomit) as opposed to choking (silent and unable to make noise, blue) is a safety response to food travelling too far back into the mouth so when baby is gagging (coughing and splattering) they are actually handling the problem and it’s best just to stay calm and wait until baby coughs it up or carries on. Babies have a very sensitive gag reflex, designed to keep them safe from choking. If it is a big gag always offer some water afterwards
• It is always suggested to do a baby first aid course before or when you start solids, so you know what to do in the unlikely event of a choking incident. Please see choking hazards
• Baby must be in control of food at all times (unless you have to intervene)
• Always check your babies mouth after each meal, wait until all food is out of his mouth before they go to bed or play (Tip: say and mouth ahhhhhhh to motivate baby to open his mouth up)
• *Allergenic foods are in astrix. (Please consult your doctor or pediatrician if you have any questions or concerns about your baby and food)
• Note: Eating foods that are high in Vitamin C will help your baby’s body absorb non-heme iron (usually present in plant-based foods). The majority of iron that most people receive is non-heme iron; this type of iron has less bioavailability and is absorbed in smaller quantities by the body. Include foods rich in Vitamin C when eating plant based including grains and legumes. Some sources of Vitamin C are oranges, strawberries, kiwi, grapefruit and broccoli.
• Under 1 year’s old: avoid honey, whole cows milk as a drink (however cows milk added in recipes is ok), salt and choking hazards.

Yes you sure can. 

I have a 4 Week Vegan meal plan e-book which has no dairy, no egg, no fish, no shellfish. All recipes are plant-based and full of nutrition (iron, B12, calcium and lots more!)

I also have a list of substitute ingredients in the book and some below for you.

Breakfast grains: gluten-free oats, millet flakes, puffed rice, quinoa flakes or puffs.

Dairy milk in recipes: try replacing with almond milk, coconut, rice or oat milk. (note: babies primary nutrition in the first year of life is breastmilk or formula. Dairy milk or other milks are ok in recipes, however are NOT recommended as a beverage until your baby is 12 months old).

Yogurt: rice and coconut yoghurts are a great alternative to full fat greek yogurt, if your baby has a dairy allergy.

Eggs (Baking), these each equal 1 egg:

• Ground flax (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water. Blend until mixture is thick, creamy, egg like)
• Chia Seed (1 tbsp chia seeds + 1/3 water. Mix and let sit for 15 minutes)
• 1/2 mashed banana
• Applesauce (1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce)
• *Peanut butter (3 tbsps)
• Orgranics No Egg replacer.

Nut butters : try a chickpea spread (hummus), black bean spread, *sesame seed spread (tahini)

Wheat/gluten free flours: buckwheat, chickpea, rice (brown and white), quinoa, polenta (corn meal), corn flour, millet.

*potential allergy food

Disclaimer: before you start this meal plan or any meal plan with your baby, please discuss with your doctor or pediatrician if you have any related questions or concerns.

WHAT DOES WEAN MEAN?

This is from the UK, not American. In the UK, ‘weaning’ means ‘adding complementary foods’, whereas in the States it means ‘giving up breastfeeding’.

WHAT IS BABY LED WEANING?

Baby led weaning (BLW) or baby led feeding (BLF) is a way of introducing solid foods to your baby from around 6 months old.

BLW skips the puree stage due to the ability of babies from 6 months onwards to naturally handle finger foods. Offering finger foods from day one allows baby to control everything, from picking up the food, bringing it to its mouth, learning to chew and eventually swallowing… all this without any pressure or assistance from parents/carers. It’s like learning how to roll, crawl, walk or talk;eating is a learnt skill and baby will get there in its own time with lots of practice and trust.

All we need to do is offer a variety of appropriately cut foods, soft enough for baby to pick up, thus introducing different textures and sizes. BLW is also about learning how to share family mealtimes with the emphasis on conversations and quality time at the table.

BLW encourages use of fine motor skills such as hand-eye coordination i.e. picking up food, feeling different textures and bringing it to its mouth. By observing, you will come to know when baby has had enough to eat. Signs may be: frustration, fidgeting, disinterested, throwing food and wanting to get out of the highchair. If you are not sure if baby has had enough or wants more, offer more food.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) & health authorities around the world recommend waiting until your child is around 6 months old before introducing solid foods.“Before this, digesting anything other than milk feeds is difficult for babies & is not good for babies.” <ref: Gill Rapley, page 19> The old belief is 4mo, but this is no longer advised. A substantial number of families ‘use to’ introduce complementary solid foods around 3-4 months, especially if the infant is perceived as fussy, however this is not the case these days after much research by world authorities. Introduction to solids prior to 4 months is associated with increased weight gain & adiposity, both in infancy & early childhood. Research also indicates that it is important to expose children to a wide variety of flavors and textures, which can be offered from 6months old when bub is showing all readiness signs.

Readiness signs: baby is probably ready to try solid foods by the time she can do all of the following which happens around 6mo.

• Sit up with little or no support.
• Hold his head steady.
• Reach out and grab things effectively.
• Take objects to their mouth quickly and accurately.
• Make gnawing and chewing movements

These signs usually appear together at around 6mo – rarely much earlier. But the most reliable sign is when your baby grabs food from your plate and takes it to his mouth and starts to chew it. <Gill Rapley: July 2018>

Note: some babies may need to start earlier than 6 months due to medical reasons or advised by their pediatrician. Please if any concerns or questions regarding your baby please discuss with ur doctor or pediatrician.

The most common example of NOT ready:

❌“I think my baby is ready for solids, he seems really hungry, not sleeping through the night & is picking everything up & interested in food?! But he is not showing the other signs of readiness”

? sleep is a developmental milestone and is not linked to food intake. – Gill Raply BLW book. Babies put EVERYTHING in their mouth and are interested in everything it’s there way of discovering and learning… this ALONE is not a readiness sign of starting solids. Breastmilk or formula remains the primary nutrition in the first year.

Guidelines for Complementary feeding by WHO

Around the age of 6 months, an infant’s need for energy and nutrients starts to exceed what is provided by breast milk, and complementary foods are necessary to meet those needs. An infant of this age is also developmentally ready for other foods. If complementary foods are not introduced around the age of 6 months, or if they are given inappropriately, an infant’s growth may falter. Guiding principles for appropriate complementary feeding are:

• continue frequent, on-demand breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond;
• practise responsive feeding (for example, feed infants directly and assist older children. Feed slowly and patiently, encourage them to eat but do not force them, talk to the child and maintain eye contact);
• practise good hygiene and proper food handling;
• start at 6 months with small amounts of food and increase gradually as the child gets older;
• gradually increase food consistency and variety;
• increase the number of times that the child is fed: 2–3 meals per day for infants 6–8 months of age and 3–4 meals per day for infants 9–23 months of age, with 1–2 additional snacks as required;
• use fortified complementary foods or vitamin-mineral supplements as needed; and
• during illness, increase fluid intake including more breastfeeding, and offer soft, favourite foods.

Reference: WHO guidelines here 

It is enjoyable! Playing an active part in family mealtimes and being in control what, how much and how slow to eat. Babies learn to eat themselves just like crawling, walking and playing.

It is Natural! babies love to explore with their hands and mouth. With BLW a baby can explore family food at his own pace, in his own time. It is human instincts.

Learns how to chew different shapes and food textures (looks, smells and tastes) from the very start of a babies food journey. Where with spoon-feeding everything is blended into one. Babies can then practice chewing and moving food around in their mouth skills, rather than suck and swallow (spoon-feeding). This is a very important and key benefit of BLW babies. Babies who start of spoon-feeding can find it harder to transition to ‘real solid’ foods as they get used to one texture. Learning to chew also helps with digestion and speech.

Appetite control. Eating habits developed during infant/childhood can last a life-time. If babies eat at their own pace (deciding when they have had enough ore wanting more), choosing from a variety of healthy food options at meals times, “learn appetite control and how much their body simply needs at that point in time. This may be important part of preventing obesity.”

No meal time battles or tricking baby. The philosophy of BLW is also about Mum and Dad NOT pressuring baby to eat. No airplanes, no games, no tricking baby or hiding food within food to make their baby eat a balanced diet or just to eat! Trusting your baby can make her own decisions and picking up/ playing and discovering foods from the very beginning (6mo+), no pressure to eat how much or how little, then there is no opportunity for mealtimes to become a battle. Stress-free, relaxed parents, relaxed baby all eating as a family.

Less pickiness as a toddler. Eating as a family from the very start,  being included in on mealtimes, no pressure, no battles, eating the same meals, no need to transition from baby foods to lumps then family meals (which many babies feel difficult), creates babies/toddlers that are less likely to be picky or fussy eaters.

Relationships & family time. Baby isn’t left out and gets to engage and watch conversation with the whole family.

Eating out is easier and family meal times are cheaper. No need to blend and spoon-feed at the table. Baby can simply have some of Mum or Dads meal or most restaurants have healthy sides on the menu.

Better nutrition. As a BLW mum, as I am cooking for the whole family, we now watch our salt content, sugar and try to limit packet or preservatives when family cooking. Eating as a family and offering a healthy and varied diet, demonstrates and teaches babies/kids good habits for life!

Spoon feeding is left over from the days when ‘our parents’ were advised to begin feeding their babies solids around 3 or 4 months of age (when their baby is too young to self-feed). (ref: Gill Rapley) Now days, health authorities including the world health organisation (WHO) recommend to begin a babies solids journey around 6 months old. Research now indicates babies prior to 6 months old babies do not need solid foods, their bodies aren’t really ready for them, especially when breast milk (or formula) is the primary nutrition for babies within the first year of life. So if you wait to your baby is 6 months old, this means you have skipped the spoon-feeding stage. At 6 months old babies are clever enough to feed themselves and they do not need to be spoon fed.  (ref: Gill Rapley) Babies at 6mo want to handle their food themselves and love to discover new textures with their hands and mouth – it is a natural instinct! That is why Baby Led Weaning is the PERFECT way for your baby to discover food and textures naturally.

I believe in starting with ‘foods from the ground/nature’s food! this is how i think about it… if i have just landed on earth and there was no supermarkets what would i eat? or what would i feed my new born baby? For me, when it came to first foods for bub i started with nature’s foods. This just made it so easy and i wanted bub to try every vegetable, fruit, a variety of meats out there (we are still getting through the list). My BLW theory was to ‘KEEP IS SIMPLE STUPID’ (the KISS acronym).

We started with a variety of fruits, vegetables, protein, good fats whilst introducing family meals from day 1 focusing on iron, B12, zinc, calcium, omega-3 and vitamin c (to assist with he absorption of iron):

Vegetables (steamed, boiled, roasted): Broccoli, Sweet potato, Pumpkin, Carrot

Fruit: avocado, peach, pear, mango, steamed or baked apple (to soften a little), strawberries, banana, cucumber

Proteins: (steamed, boiled, roasted, pan-fried): Chicken, Beef, Pork, Fish – Salmon, Tuna light, *eggs

*Dairy: Full Fat Greek Yogurt, Cheese (watch salt and processed)

*Bread and cereals: Snow balls, toast fingers with avocado or *peanut butter or black bean paste, spinach eggy-bread, Flat Bread, Breakfast Loaf, Egg-muffins, Porridge Bites, pasta shapes, spaghetti, black bean paste, rice sushi balls, pancakes etc

But remember – there’s no reason what so ever why your baby can not  have a pile of spaghetti bolognese, a mild curry, mashed sweet potato to dive into, risotto, a roast dinner, salmon steak and veg, if that’s what the rest of the family is having (just watch salt, sugar and processed ingredients).

*See research & allergies about introducing potential allergy foods into bubs diet. Recommendations do now state to introduce allergy foods early (from 6 months old+ , before 12 months old) to reduce the development of an allergy, and continue to offer allergy foods in babies diet consistently to prevent allergy development. Do note: some babies still develop allergies, especially if there is a  family history of allergy ie egg, nuts, dairy, fish, soy, wheat or soy, so please consult your dr or ped if you have any questions or concerns about your baby. (ref: ASCIA recommendations)

Gill Rapley (author of BLW book)  reinforces the importance of offering babies foods that are rich in iron, zinc and vitamin B12 from six months onwards.

Some example of foods are below:

Food rich in Iron: Iron is a mineral found in high levels in meats, beans, dried fruits and fortified breakfast cereals, supports your baby’s physical and mental development. Foods include: breastmilk, meats (beef, beef & chicken liver, pork, turkey, chicken), oily fish i.e. sardines and salmon, dark green, squash, eggs, sweet potato, mushrooms, leafy vegetables i.e. kale and spinach, beans, dried fruit, grains, porridge, broccoli, lentils, oatmeal, kidney beams, soybeans

TIP – Vitamin C aids the absorption of iron from foods particularly from plant sources, so when you can, include them in the same meal. i.e. add a piece of fruit – orange, mango, tomato, citrus fruits, berries, green veg (broccoli, cabbage), peaches, apples. bananas

Food rich in Zinc: meat (lean beef, lamb, pork, chicken), nut pastes (pine nuts, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, peanuts) spinach, green leafy veg, cooked chickpeas, mushrooms, wheat germ, pumpkin, squash, yogurt, cheese, bread, porridge, cereal, multigrain bread.

Food rich in Vitamin B12: helps the body make DNA, keeps blood and nerve cells healthy, keeps the brain working properly and helps process food. A lack of B-12 can make your baby tired and constipated and can cause weight loss. (http://oureverydaylife.com/baby-foods-high-vitamins-b12-d-11530.html) B12 is naturally found in animal products, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, yogurt, salmon, cod, cheese, eggs.

Try not to worry about how much your baby eats at first. There will be some days when your baby eats more and others when they eat less, and they may reject some foods completely.

Don’t be put off. All babies are different, and some learn to accept new foods and textures more quickly than others.

To get your baby off to a good start with solid foods:

• let them enjoy touching and holding the food
• Let them play! this is very important in the ‘learning to eat’ process
• allow your baby to feed themselves, using their fingers, as soon as they show an interest
• it may take time for your baby to accept a new food – keep trying, as it may take several attempts
• don’t force your baby to eat – wait until the next feed if they’re not interested this time
• allow your baby to go at their own speed
• cool hot food and test it before giving it to your baby
• don’t add sugar or salt (including stock cubes) to your baby’s food or cooking water – see what other foods to avoid giving your baby
• always stay with your baby when they are eating in case they start to choke

ref: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/solid-foods-weaning/

Salt: is bad for babies, their kidneys are not mature enough to deal with it. Babies up to 1yr should have no more than 1g (0.4g sodium) per day. Watch out!!! for cheeses, bread, sausages, ham, bacon, yeast extract, brine, soy sauce, smoked meats, processed foods. A general shopping guide for mums/dads: A food high in salt = more than 1.5g (0.6g sodium) A food Low in salt = less than 0.3g per 100g.

Sugar: are empty calories, have no nutritional value. Contributed to tooth decay. To sweeten things up like yogurt try dried fruit, lemon, cinnamon.

Some Fish: shark, swordfish and Marlin should be avoided, contains high levels of mecury which can affect a babies development of the nervous system. Raw fish has a high risk of food poisoning, safe if they are cooked. Oil fish (salmon, tour, mackerel, herring, sardines and fresh tuna is very nutritious, girls and women of childbearing age shouldn’t eat it more than twice a wk because of possible pollutants) boys,men and older women X a have up to 4 servings per wk). Canned tuna doesn’t contain toxins ie tuna light or other oily fish, can be eaten more often.

Additives: monosodium glutamate and e-numbers which are artificial preservatives, flavours and sweeteners should be avoided as much as possible, no nutritional value and can be harmful for babies and kids – linked to hyperactivity in children.

Honey: avoid until your baby is over 1. Can cause botulism.

Uncooked eggs: often salmonella which can make baby sick. Cooking destroys the bug. Cooked eggs (the whole egg) can form part of your baby’s diet over 6months+. Do note: if you live in the UK you can offer runny eggs from 6months+ ONLY if you buy the eggs that are “LOIN STAMPED”, these are protected eggs with no salmonella.

Hydrogenated fats: avoid trans-fatty acids interfere with healthy fats, found in many processed foods. Most healthy foods don’t have them.

Juice, sugar or sugar-free soft drinks: babies should drink breastmilk (or formula) and water (from 6mo+) for the first year of life. Try to avoid introducing juice or sugar-sweetened beverages during the first year.

Avoid choking hazards: see choking hazards FAQ below.

A few tips to take away: always sit with your baby or watch your child when they are eating. Discourage your child from walking, talking, watching television, lying down, or doing anything else while eating that might distract him/her from his meal.

(Ref: AAP recommendations, NHS, Gill Rapley, Baby Led Weaning, U.K. Department of Health)

Firstly anyone at anytime can choke on anything, all we can do is reduce the potential hazards that may lead to a choking incident. Please use common sense and offer foods that you as a care-giver feel comfortable in offering.

Please note: this short list of choking hazards may vary according to the Country you live in. Please check with your doctor or Country’s guidelines as to specific foods to avoid for your baby led weaner.

Avoid choking hazard

• Whole grapes: avoid until more skilled eater. Grapes must be cut into quarters (from stem top to bottom, not around the equator), progress to halves (cutting from top to bottom only) as baby progresses.  (until approx 4 years old)
• Whole cherries, remove stone, and cut into quarters (until approx 4 years old)
• Cherry tomatoes must be cut long ways in quarters (until approx 4 years old)
• Whole nuts avoid (until 5 years old), try serving peanut butter or nut spreads/pastes or flours instead ie almond meal.
• Popcorn (avoided until at 5 years old)
• Avoid hard candy or hard lollies (no nutritional value in these)
• Raw jelly cubes can be a choking hazard for babies and young children. If you’re making jelly from raw jelly cubes, make sure you always follow the manufacturers’ instructions.  (no nutritional value in these)
• If you give your baby a bottle, always hold the bottle and your baby while they’re feeding.
• Watch out for bony fish
• Cut off gristle on meats or anything that may contain hard pieces
• Round Sausages and hot dogs: Avoid or slice into rounds and quarter long ways
• Hard apple or raw carrot, can start offering once toddler is capable with more teeth/molars and parents are comfortable with their toddler’s capability in chewing foods, meanwhile raw apple and raw carrot should be cooked (steamed or baked) OR it can also be finely grated and mixed into moist foods ie yogurt or avocado.
• Any hard fruit or vegetables that can not be squished or based with ease using your thumb and index fingers. Tough skins can also make foods risky.

Many of these foods, such as round candy, grapes, marshmallows, and meat sticks/sausages, share the same high-risk physical characteristics that create effective plugs for the pediatric airway. (ref: AAP)  This is why they should be avoided until older.

Behavioral factors may also affect a child’s risk for choking. High activity levels while eating, such as walking or running, talking, laughing, and eating quickly, may increase a child’s risk of choking.¹² Child games that involve throwing food in the air and catching it in the mouth or stuffing large numbers of marshmallows or other food in the mouth also may increase the risk of choking. (ref: AAP)  

Some tips for parents when their baby is starting solid foods:

• Do a first aid course for babies: this will boost your confidence and ease your nerves when starting out when offering food to baby.
• Always sit with your baby or watch your child when they are eating
• Stay relaxed and calm at meal times: bub will pick up any anxiety from you which will unease them.
• ALWAYS ensure baby is sitting up right: in a highchair or an inclined seat pram at meal times or upright on my lap. DO NOT  feed baby laying down or in a car seat that reclines or a bouncer, laying back and not being upright could lead to choking.
• Ensure baby has full control of her food at all times: and don’t be tempted to place food or fingers into babies mouth as this could push food into the wrong direction and could potentially lead to a choking incident. Place food on the babies highchair tray or handing a piece of food to baby is ok, as long as she takes the control from there onwards.
• Watch baby when she eats at all times: especially if we hand her a piece of fruit or veg that has skin left on it for grip ie banana skin or avocado skin. We also downloaded this amazing first aid app called “baby and child first aid by british red cross”it’s free and always accessible on your phone in cause u forget what to do in case of any baby or toddler incident. Australia also follow the UK recommendations for choking, if u are from the US or other countries u may have different guidelines, there may be another app for u to be able to download & local first aid course u can go on!
• Avoid distractions: Discourage your child from walking, talking, watching television, lying down, or doing anything else while eating that might distract him/her from his meal.

How to help a choking child – read more here + watch a video.

(ref: AAP)  

“The amount of iron in breastmilk is pretty constant throughout a mother’s lactation.  It’s not very high – but it doesn’t need to be because, provided they are born with good stores of iron, babies don’t need to source much iron from their food in the first six months.  From about six months these stores are beginning to dwindle, meaning that the need for dietary iron increases beyond the level that breastmilk alone can supply.  Babies whose umbilical cord was cut early, or who were born prematurely, may be already running short of iron before this but most babies will be fine until at least six months.  From then, all they need is access to an additional source of iron on top of a full intake of breastmilk.  There is a risk that focusing on large amounts of fruit and vegetables at the beginning of weaning will not only fail to provide sufficient iron but also fill the baby up and decrease her/his appetite for breastmilk.  A better option is to offer iron-rich foods – especially meat – while continuing to breastfeed whenever the baby wants.”

Ref: Gill Rapley Q&A response.

WHO and UNICEF recommend:

• exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life; and
• introduction of nutritionally-adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. (ref WHO)

Note: breast feeding can me hard at times and can lead to exhaustion, stressful situations and depression. Try to keep it up as long as you can and speak with your health care nurse or lactation consultant for tips and alternative ways to relieve the pressure for you and bub (alternate methods may include expressing, relaxation techniques, creating a routine etc)

Baby led weaning ideas question:

“In your study did you ever find out if teeth correlate to food intake? In your book you make reference to the fact babies don’t need teeth to chew all sorts of food (except raw carrot, apple)… what are your thoughts on this?”

Gill Rapley’s reposnse:

I didn’t specifically study any connection between tooth eruption and solid feeding but I have never found anything to suggest that babies who don’t get teeth until quite late (over a year, say) take any longer to get going with their actual food intake than those whose teeth appear earlier.  What may change more or less rapidly is the range of textures they can cope with, so, for example, babies who are later getting teeth may not be able to manage raw veg (such as carrot sticks) until later.  But they still seem to eat the same gradually increasing amounts of food.

It’s worth remembering that the first eight teeth to come through are the incisors.  These are at the front of the mouth and are designed for biting off chunks of food – especially harder textures – but they are irrelevant when it comes to chewing, which still has to be done with the gums.  Most babies don’t get their first premolars/molars/cheek teeth/chewing teeth until they are over a year – and they don’t get the second set (back teeth) until about two years, by which time they’re already eating (and chewing) most foods, even if they haven’t done BLW.

BLW is about more than just offering your baby food to pick up – it’s about trusting her to know what to pick up and what her body needs. Topping bub up with purees after she has just played, defeats the purpose of trusting bub’s natural instincts.  “So doing some self-feeding and some spoon feeding may work for you, but it’s not BLW.” (ref: Gill Rapley)

Baby led weaning ideas question:

“Why are a lot of Paediatritions and Health Care Nurses still not trusting babies that want to self-feed i.e. full Baby Led Weaning? There is a huge stigma about BLW and it’s deterring a lot of parents to the only option of pureeing foods and baby cereals!”

Gill Rapley’s reponse:

“First, there are many nurses and paediatricians who are not convinced that it is appropriate to wait until six months to introduce solid foods, so it’s the age of introduction rather than BLW itself that concerns them.  This is a separate discussion but the two issues often get confused.  Second, it’s worth remembering that many paediatricians and dietitians are more familiar with the dietary needs of babies who have problems, not those who are well, so they are used to a high degree of control over what the baby should eat.  This can be hard to relinquish.  Some simply haven’t taken the time to learn what BLW is, and assume it’s a fad.

Parents themselves can do a lot to educate healthcare providers while we wait for more concrete research.  When I’m in conversation with doctors, nurses, dietitians etc. I remind them that spoon feeding and purees may have become common practice but that they are in fact untested interventions, and that most of our knowledge about how chewing and swallowing skills develop has been gained through observing babies who have been spoon fed, not those who haven’t.  On the plus side, like parents and grandparents, many professionals are won over when they see babies who are being BLW’d eating well and thriving.  I am hearing more and more stories from parents whose health advisers think BLW is great!”

Healthy babies under 6 months do not need extra water. Breast milk and/or formula provides all the fluids they need. However, with the introduction of solid foods, water can be added and offered to your baby’s diet at 6 months (offer with meals). Also, a small amount of water may be needed in very hot weather, but check with your child’s doctor about how much is safe. And if you live in an area where the water is fluoridated, drinking water also will help prevent future tooth decay (AAP recommendations).

Healthy Drinks:

Babies should drink breastmilk (or formula) and water (at 6m+ when starting solids) for the first year of life. Try to avoid introducing juice or sugar-sweetened beverages during the first year. (Re: AAP recommendations).

Cups

Introduce a cup from around 6 months and offer sips of water with meals. An open or free-flow cup without a valve will help your baby learn to sip and is better for their teeth.

See more about cups for babies and toddlers.

Try these natural sugar alternatives in your baking and are great for BLWers and the whole family! These alternatives taste AH-MAZING and are a healthier alternative to refined sugars:

• Date paste (great in cakes, biscuits, loafs… it is so tasty, even stir it through yogurt for a sweeter yogurt)
• Mashed banana (great in cakes, biscuits, muffins, loafs, pancakes!)
• Apple sauce (great in cakes, muffins, loafs, pancakes!)

Try herbs and spices! Fresh or dried. These bring out the flavour in family meals including food for your baby led weaner.

Spices such as cinnamon is great for a sweet or savoury dish ie sprinkled on sweet potato or apple etc

Lemon is also another great flavour enhancer! Squeezing lemon on top of your salmon, as a salad dressing, on top of rice balls, mixed in with avocado – you name it!

Breakfast grains: gluten-free oats, millet flakes, puffed rice, quinoa flakes or puffs.

Dairy milk in recipes: try replacing with almond milk, coconut, rice or oat milk. (note: babies primary nutrition in the first year of life is breastmilk or formula. Dairy milk or other milks are ok in recipes, however are NOT recommended as a beverage until your baby is 12 months old).

Yogurt: rice and coconut yoghurts are a great alternative to full fat greek yogurt, if your baby has a dairy allergy.

Eggs (Baking), these each equal 1 egg:

• Ground flax (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water. Blend until mixture is thick, creamy, egg like)
• Chia Seed (1 tbsp chia seeds + 1/3 water. Mix and let sit for 15 minutes)
• 1/2 mashed banana
• Applesauce (1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce)
• *Peanut butter (3 tbsps)
• Orgranics No Egg replacer.

Nut butters : try chickpea spread (hummus), black bean spread, *sesame seed spread (tahini)

Wheat/gluten free flours: buckwheat, chickpea, rice (brown and white), quinoa, polenta (corn meal), corn flour, millet.

*potential allergy food

Saturated fat and cholesterol should not be restricted in children under age two according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Fat plays an important role in a babies brain and nervous system development. Once bub has experienced the flavor of single foods i.e. fresh fruit and steamed/roasted vegetables, try adding a little butter or oil to make them more palatable and boost their nutrition. Try choose an organic brand whenever possible to reduce your baby’s exposure to pesticides and herbicides. And, make sure to include other sources of fat in your child’s diet like avocado, olive oil and full-fat yogurt.

YES! We had regressions around 12mo, 14mo, 16mo, 2yo, but we pushed through them all. New teeth, tummy bugs, a cold or a change in childcare environment can all lead to phases of fussiness or even developmental skills such as Ava learning about control or decision making skills (especially 2 years old). Think about the occasions when you don’t want to eat; your baby may well be experiencing exactly the same feelings. The key is to keep calm through these dips. Don’t rush him; this will put pressure on him, which can reduce his appetite and come across as fussiness. Try eating as a family, with lots of praise when he does eat. Also, try removing any distractions such as TV or toys. Example of a regression at 12mo: Ava went off vegetables for 2 weeks, we still kept offering them to her and variety but she didn’t eat them, the following week she was back on them – this is normal! We never persuaded Ava to eat the items of food, if she didn’t want to eat, we trusted that her body simply didn’t need those nutrients at that point in time. We never bribed or used persuasive language to entice Ava i.e if you eat your dinner you can have dessert. We just left her it! She decided all food choices, all Mum or Dad could decide was the foods we offered her (which was always most the time a healthy variety of foods).

BLW is also about letting your baby join in on family meal times. Saying this, this means if you are cooking for the family what you usually cook, recipes may need altering. i.e. reduce the amount of salt, hidden salt (in stock etc), sugars, processed foods etc, These days not all households eat at the same time, your baby may go to bed earlier before you get home from work, both parents may work, baby may go to childcare etc doing BLW suggests just ‘try’ join in when bub is eating, even if you can sit and have breakfast with your baby or on the weekend eat with your baby or just grab a snack whilst your baby is also eating, so they don’t feel left out. This will make them feel more so part of the family. Eating with your baby boosts your babies confidence and understanding of what meal times is all about.

Rather than chemical sprays OR any nasty sprays to clean your babies highchair tray (and toys around the house), try this natural DIY spray:

1. Purchase a empty spray bottle, available from most supermarket OR amazon
2. Pour in 1/4 white vinegar 3/4 water
3. Additional: If you want a little scent then squeeze some lemon ? juice and add some of the peel into the bottle,
4. Tip: buy a pack of 2 face washers and rotate them and use 1 to clean the high chair and tray and the other washer to clean your babies face and hands. Once i am finished with the washers, I rinse them in wash soapy water and let them dry on the back of the highchair seat.

Baby Led Weaning ideas question:

“Would you still do Baby Led Weaning if your little one had weight issues? My babies Dr and my Lactation Consultant are telling me to do pureed food instead so she gets more calories but I feel like BLW would be the best way to go for everything except her weight.”

Gill Rapley’s response:

“While I am not in a position to offer advice about babies I have never met, and while I would not wish to undermine the health professionals involved in an individual baby’s care, I think the following points are worth bearing in mind:

There is no rationale for pushing solid foods at the expense of breastmilk (or, indeed, formula).  No solid food comes close to the concentration of nutrients in breastmilk, so, spoonful for spoonful, breastmilk will always provide better nutrition (and more calories) than any other food.  Seeking to replace breastmilk in a child’s diet risks them being less well nourished, not more.  (This is the reason many societies give breastmilk to sick or elderly people who can’t manage large quantities of other foods.)  All that human babies need, once they’re over six months, is access to small amounts of other foods – in addition to breastmilk – to make sure they’re getting enough of the smallest nutrients.  Of these, iron – and therefore meat – is probably the most important but the amounts of actual food needed to provide this are very small.

The rush to replace breastmilk is a throwback from when we didn’t know much about the constituents of human milk, and when the formula replacements for breastmilk weren’t as good as they are today.  It also dates from a time when we thought the bigger babies were, the better.  We know differently now (and have done for many years), but some health care practitioners are unconvinced.  In the light of what we now know about the value of breastmilk – both nutritional and protective – we can see that, rather than preventing them from eating other foods, breastmilk provides an important safety net for a child whose appetite for other foods is small. Put another way, if a child isn’t putting on much weight on a diet of breastmilk with other foods, the thing that makes least sense is to replace the breastmilk!

Many practitioners stress that they are advocating spoon feeding as a way to increase the baby’s intake of solid food in addition to their milk but this simply doesn’t work for breastfeeding.  Breastfed babies are in charge of their milk intake – it’s impossible to persuade a them to continue feeding at the breast when they’ve taken all their body tells them they need.  This means that, if their tummy is full of solids, they will take less breastmilk to compensate.  So, like it or not, the solid food will replace breastmilk, not add to it, thereby reducing, not increasing, the baby’s overall nutrition (see previous paragraph).  This approach can, however, be made to work with formula feeding because it’s possible to encourage the baby to go on drinking beyond the point where he would naturally stop (and encouraging him to routinely ignore signs of fullness – one possible reason why formula feeding is linked to obesity).  Sadly, many health professionals are more familiar with formula feeding, and with the control it allows the person doing the feeding, than they are with breastfeeding, in which the baby is in control.  Indeed, this aspect of control is why some health advisors are not keen on BLW.

It’s worth bearing in mind that weight is only one guide to a child’s health.  We weigh babies primarily in order to pick up any illnesses that might otherwise have gone unnoticed (like digestive disorders, growth hormone deficiencies and heart defects).  If no one is suggesting any reason for an individual baby’s weight that requires investigation then s/he’s probably meant to be the size s/he is!  Indeed, if there weren’t some naturally small (and some naturally large) babies, the centile lines on the weight charts wouldn’t be where they are.  Length and head circumference can often be better indicators of a child’s health and growth than weight:  if both these are on target then it’s unlikely there’s anything wrong.  If there ARE any suspicions that a baby’s gentle (‘slow’) weight gain may be due to an underlying illness, then those suspicions should be acted on – because whatever it is won’t go away just by forcing the baby to eat more.”

Baby Led Weaning ideas Question:

“Gill, what are your thoughts on ‘baby cereals?’ A lot of them out on the market say they are full of iron but there is hardly any iron in them and they are full of sugars, salts, nasty oils! And is fortified iron less absorbed by the human body?”

Gill Rapley’s response:

“According to Gabrielle Palmer (author of Complementary Feeding: Nutrition, Culture and Politics), the main reason cereal has become the go-to food for babies has nothing to do with its (limited) nutritional value and everything to do with the fact that it’s a cheap and plentiful staple food in most countries.  Yes, cereals for babies are fortified with iron, but that is only because they are so low in iron naturally – to suggest them as a main first food without adding iron would put babies at risk of anaemia.  I’m not sure about the bio-availability of the iron that’s added to cereal but the iron in formula milks is known to be absorbed very poorly.  The ‘answer’ (see next questions) is not to choose an inadequate food and then doctor it to make it suitable but to choose a different food!  Meat is full of iron, and is a great first food for babies of six months.”

Baby Led Weaning Ideas Question:

“Can babies with “tongue ties” commence baby led weaning and finger foods when showing readiness signs at 6mo?”

Gill Rapley’s response:

“For some babies, the presence of a tongue tie appears to cause difficulty in moving food around their mouth.  However, if they have managed to breast- or bottle feed effectively over the first six months the tie is unlikely to lead to real problems when they start solids.  If it appears to be causing difficulty, it needs to be addressed, because even if purees are used at first there is a) no guarantee the baby will find these easy to manage (tongue movement is important in managing soft foods as well as chewable foods), and b) s/he is going to need to start on chewable foods pretty soon anyway.”

Baby Led Weaning Ideas Question:

“What are your thoughts on nitrates in foods? Some parents are avoiding foods that may have nitrates i.e. carrots, spinach dark greens… it’s such a shame! Surely nitrates only exist in country’s that have wells etc?”

Gill Rapley’s response:

“I don’t know a great deal about nitrates but it seems to me that the ones we need to avoid are those that are added artificially, not those that are a natural and normal component of the food.  The two biggest problem areas are processed meats (to which nitrates are added to improve the food’s appearance, and which are not suitable first foods for babies anyway, owing to the presence of other additives and salt) and foods grown using artificial fertilisers.  The best way to avoid both of these is to stick to unprocessed, organically grown foods as much as possible, to wash fruit, and to remove the skin of vegetables produced non-organically.  It’s worth remembering that vitamin C reduces the conversion of nitrates to potentially harmful products, which means that most fruit and vegetables have a built-in safety factor.  Also, the key to good nutrition is variety: provided the baby’s diet doesn’t consist solely of root vegetables, all will be well.”

Baby Led Weaning Ideas Question:

“Introducing cocoa or cocao to babies under 12mo? Would you recommend? I was reading an interesting article here about carob vs cocoa”

Gill Rapley’s Response:

I don’t really have a position on this.  My primary interest is in infant development and behaviour – in what eating is like for babies, and in what they learn about food, rather than in their nutrition per se.  Clearly, the more nutritious what we offer babies is, the better, so in that sense perhaps carob is preferable.  However, my main concern is the message we give our children about which foods are desirable, or to be expected at every meal, since these messages can last a lifetime.

If a parent chooses to make sweet foods using carob and then either offers those foods all the time, or talks about them as ‘treats’, the baby/child is likely to develop a particular liking for them.  This may make them crave or seek out those flavours – or something similar (chocolate?) in later childhood/life.  The opposite can also happen, where the parent effectively demonises chocolate, explaining that ‘in our family we don’t eat X [chocolate] because …’.  This can result in the child feeling that they are missing out – and being even more keen to try the ‘forbidden’ food as soon as the opportunity arises!

For me, then, it’s not so much about ‘carob vs. chocolate’ but about how we introduce either of those foods (if at all) – specifically, whether we end up doing it in a way that distorts the child’s learned response to it, with possible consequences that are the opposite of what we were trying to achieve.

Please join my support group Facebook group ‘Baby led weaning support & ideas group’, I created this group for mum, dads, grandparents, caregivers, childcare workers, health care professionals, students etc to have somewhere for BLW support and to learn more about it. The group has hundreds of mums/dad etc seeking support and can ask the other members questions about BLW to help each other out, post photos, encouragement and motivation along their BLWing journey and food discovery. This group does not provide professional advise its just a forum for sharing experiences.

Please consult your paeditrition and speak with your health visitor or doctor if you have any concerns about your baby’s eating. Many health centres offer weaning ‘clinics’ and advice on different meal options.