Over the last few months, regular readers will have been following our weaning story. With Gemma and Jacob we tended to follow the ‘traditional’ weaning approach – a mix of spoon fed purees and finger foods. Max has been a much more baby led approach. We noticed at an early age that he liked to sit at the table when we ate, he liked to explore food with his hands, and he liked to copy us, trying to hold a spoon and fork as soon as he gained control of his hands. Because of this, we followed his lead, and let him choose what to eat and when. It has resulted in some very odd combinations – cheese and orange, pineapple and cabbage – but he is the least fussy eater of all 3 children and we have yet to find anything he won’t eat. Baby led weaning has definitely worked for us.
I have recently teamed up with the lovely team over at Tesco Baby, and we have a very exciting #BabyFoodChat planned for next week. I will be meeting with a panel of experts to chat about all things weaning and baby feeding related – and we want YOU to get involved too!
What does a good diet for little one look like? How should you deal with food allergies? Is it five portions of fruit and veg a day – or seven? And what about vegetarian and other specialist diets? For the answers to these and other questions, don’t miss your chance to quiz the panel of baby nutrition experts. Post your questions here, email me or Tweet me using the #BabyFoodChat hashtag and I can ask the experts for you!
So who will I be talking to?
Katie Fordham ANutr – nutritionist at Danone Baby Nutrition UK
Dr Rebecca Chicot PhD – child development and parenting expert, and co-founder of The Essential Parent Company
Dr Sarah Temple – children’s GP
As you can see – there is an expert available to answer any type of weaning/feeding question you can throw their way! I am really excited about putting all your questions forward, so please do get in touch! Everyone who leaves a question will be entered into the prize draw to win a £25 Tesco gift card and a weaning set.
Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com
what exactly is meant by ‘baby led’ feeding?
When is it safe to let a child have whole grapes?
can babies and toddlers grow out of allergies to foods? for example, my daughter can’t eat tomato ketchup, she gets a rash around her mouth or wherever the ketchup has touched her skin. She’s 3.5.
When is it safe to introduce solid fruit?
At 14 months, what sort of quantities of food should I be expecting my non-fussy eater to eat.? She is very willing, but I would hate to over feed.
I think it’s important to introduce children to as many different food types and flavours as possible in childhood – are there guidelines for stages in which to introduce children to extreme flavours like liquorice, mustard, chilli etc?
What foods should you avoid completely?
Im lucky at the moment my little one whos nearly 7 months seems to eat anything hes just not fussy and he eats alot too, a jar a day split into 2 meals with a 7oz bottle, bowl of cereal and bottle for breakfast, and little pudding couple hours after t to keep him going then bottle before bed. Gave him mashed banana yesterday loved it hope he stays like this dont want him to be fussy.
I would like to ask what equipment do I need to start off making my own foods for weaning ?
the rules keep chaning about peanuts and allergies. What nuts can i give to my child and from what age?
What food should you try first?
shoudl we all be so ‘hung up’ on the latest trends when it comes to weaning, surely everyone gets there eventually whichever route they take. It seems to cause so much stress these days.
My children were not keen on eating their veg, so I used to liquidiser it up in a shepherds pie disguised with tomato sauce…. the kids did not notice and they had their greens ::D
What’s the best age to start weaning and best foods to try first?
Spoon fed or baby led?
I have a very fussy little girl, everything i give her she sips out, What is the best way to combat this
spits out
With a hungry baby should we still be waiting until 6 months?
Is there ever an instance where supplements would be advised for very young children?
at what age should I start giving my daughter the spoon to feed herself?
which is better, baby led weaning on soft solids that they feed themselves with their own hands, or feeding from the parent with spoonfed puree?