Baby-led Weaning Cookbook, The

My daughter is now 15 months and I still use this book. There's a great intro so you don't need another book to explain about BLW, and the recipes are easy to follow. If you're torn between this and the Annabel Karmel book (I bought both) don't waste your money on the AK one. She's just jumping on the bandwagon whilst not understanding what BLW is about. Her recipes include sugar and unhelpful items such as 'Thai rice paper wraps'. That is not keeping real!

After beginning the weaning process, my son showed little interest in being spoon fed purées. Therefore we decidedly to go with a baby led weaning approach however I didn’t really know where to begin and I was nervous to be honest. This book was a game charger. It gave a lot of reassurance in regards of babies abilities to eat solid food and described the benefits of taking this approach. Excellent recipes inside but the book also gave me confidence in feeding my baby food we also enjoy. My son now happily munchies away on the food we offer him, rather than turn his head after the second spoonful. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is about to wean their little one.

I don't understand why this book has so many positive reviews. It is an okay recipe book.I like the fact it explains the baby-led process and has some nutritional facts however, when it comes to the recipes, I find that it lacks greatly.We are first time parents and on opening the recipes part of the book, I am introduced to burger, cake, bread, etc. Granted it may be recipe for the whole family BUT I bought the book titled "baby-led weaning" I expect to see baby food for a 6 months old + with beautiful illustrations (which were lacking plenty, some recipes had no picture!) not plain writing and family recipes which no 6 months old will be eating!I had to buy a different book as did not meet my needs. Save your money and get Micah's Meal by Amaka Benson. I haven't put it down since getting it, it's easier, straight to the point, beautiful illustrations and nutritional facts plus plenty baby friendly homemade recipes!

BE WARNED - assess progress and switch to spoon feeding if baby doesn’t progress by 10mo as you could be wasting time!I switched to BLW when my son was between 7 mo and tried to 10 mo.. as he stopped letting me spoon feed after first 2 weeks on purées. I watched a YouTube video to see how a baby could progress and they all recommend this book.I found the book very useful to explain what to expect the baby to do with the food at each month into weaning. It also provides recipes which basically suggests you can feed a baby exactly same foods as the family (I.e there’s not really much difference in the way you serve the food for yourself or baby!I tried this method but my son didn’t eat much by 10 months and he was drinking a litre of formula. His solid Pooh suggested he was eating but the volume of milk he was drinking was worrying me. So I rang my HV and she advised me to switch to spoon feeding.2 weeks in and my son is eating a lot more, meal times are SIGNIFICANTLY less messy/stressful and fun! And I think my son enjoys eating now and reduced formula.In summary I do think BLW can work but some will take a lot longer and could risk baby missing out on eating by 1yrs old. I was annoyed I wasted so much time with BLW as I don’t believe there’s enough info on textures/size of food as I think that’s why I failed. But the book suggests you can give LO anything, but think my son ended up giving up when he’d bite something and something was too large/hard.The book also doesn’t specify which recipes can be frozen or how to serve. Which is why I recommend to assess your babies progress as by 9/10 months your baby should be eating a lot more. I appreciate it could just be my experience but it’s worth keeping an eye on milk volume otherwise your baby may get 1yo and not be eating much.I’m working on spoon feeding now before my son starts nursery in 5 weeks time and turns 1!

Fantastic starting out recipe book for babies who opt out of mush and spoon feeding. Mealtimes had become a nightmare. Our son loved the veg stir fry with noodles (we added sauce after cooking his), drop scones for breakfast and pasta recipes. At 10 months (and 3 months into BLW) his fine motor skills are superb thanks to the self-feeding by hand approach. Gives you confidence in the early days and then you adapt your favourite recipes using these principles. OUr child is also dairy-free but you can easily swap the milk and butter for non-dairy alternatives.