The general idea of baby led weaning is that they always feed themselves – initially using their hands.  Its like the finger foods bit of the weaning guide you get – but they eat everything that way. It can take a while for babies to get the hang of it, but they’ll do it when they’re ready, and all they need up until the age of 1 is milk, so they can take their time about it!

People worry about the choking thing, but from what I have read, if you are sensible about how you give your child food, and never leave them alone to eat, you will be fine.  They have an excellent gag reflex, and a bit of a pat on the back will help them fix everything else.

There are a load of good resources around to help you if you’re interested in Baby Led Weaning (known as BLW):

• The BLW blog, run by a couple of mums who wanted to document their experiences
• and the associated BLW forums
• BLW guidelines
• General advice on what it is safe to feed babies

In about 7 weeks we’ll be starting off on this adventure, so I’ll be posting plenty about it!