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31st out of 163 books
—
86 voters
Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food
Contrary to popular belief, there is no research that supports the current mainstream view that babies should be weaned by being spoon-fed pur�es. Self-feeding allows babies to use their natural abilities to explore taste, texture, colour and smell. It encourages independence and confidence by allowing them to experiment with foods at their own pace and helps to develop ha...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
November 6th 2008
by Vermilion
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My mom had mentioned this alternate method of introducing solids to babies, not by name, but it wasn't until a medical professional recommended it that I looked into it and ordered this first book on the subject. This method of weaning babies cuts out all the traditional stages of purees and mashed foods and involves just giving the baby what you're eating and let her decide what and how much to eat.
I found the idea quite interesting, and a lot of what the book said seemed to make a lot of sense...more
I found the idea quite interesting, and a lot of what the book said seemed to make a lot of sense...more
Great concepts, book itself is a 10 minute read, so borrow it from a friend or get it from the library.
The basic gist of the book is that you should not start your baby on pureed baby food, instead you should just give them strips and chunks of whatever you eat, whenever you eat. This way, they will learn how to eat, what they like to eat and they will control how much they eat (which is okay, since they're mostly eating breastmilk and don't yet understand that eating solid food will make them f...more
The basic gist of the book is that you should not start your baby on pureed baby food, instead you should just give them strips and chunks of whatever you eat, whenever you eat. This way, they will learn how to eat, what they like to eat and they will control how much they eat (which is okay, since they're mostly eating breastmilk and don't yet understand that eating solid food will make them f...more
I loved this book so much I read through the entire thing in a day. We had already decided to do BLW before we bought this book, so we required very little convincing. Still, this book presented some of the research done on BLW and contained TONS of personal anecdotes by BLW parents, all of which really solidified our resolve to take this approach with our son. I really enjoyed the relaxed approach to solids advocated by this book.
The only reason I gave it 3 stars was because the dietary informa...more
The only reason I gave it 3 stars was because the dietary informa...more
Apr 25, 2010
Leah
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
pregnant mothers, parents
Shelves:
kindle,
gift-ideas
I used this method (I've also seen it called self-feeding in the US) with both kids so far and absolutely love it. It is both easier and, in my experience, far more successful at creating kids with healthy food attitudes. Babies don't have to be fed purees from a spoon. They can learn to feed themselves the same foods the rest of the family eats from about 6 months on. Adults just have to suppress their concerns about babies eating the "right" amounts and learn to trust that the baby can listen...more
The puree ship had already sailed by the time I got this book , but it still has a lot of useful information to it about starting solids, how babies take to them, etc. (There's even a little Q&A section devoted to "whoops, the puree ship already sailed; can I still get on this boat?"--the answer is yes, but it may take a little more time, so that's the direction we'll be moving.)
The most useful information (to me) I found in here was the suggestion to use a shot glass when helping Baby lear...more
The most useful information (to me) I found in here was the suggestion to use a shot glass when helping Baby lear...more
There are so many schools of thought when it comes to feeding your infant! When I took my baby to his 4 month appointment, the pediatrician told me that basically we can do whatever we want when it comes to feeding. She said just don't give him honey and cows milk (to drink) until he is a year old, but besides that do what we like. She said food schedules don't really matter and that it's best to exclusively breastfeed until he is 6 months. She also said to introduce foods slowly so that if he r...more
I was reading this book concurrently with Child of Mine and Parents Need to Eat Too, and there was a lot of similar information - babies can eat a lot of the things parents eat, there's no need to rush solids, meals should be enjoyable. Baby-Led Weaning had a lot of good suggestions for potential foods as well, but it was a bit extremist in some respects. The authors's take was that if the baby can't feed it to himself he doesn't need to be eating it. No purees or mesh feeders. In my (admittedly...more
I was unsure how to start weaning and which method I would chose when my health visitor recommended BLW. I decided that this was the route to take, especially following further discussion with my friend who had done BLW with her daughter, she lent me this book and I am so glad that she did. I started reading this book about a week or so before I started weaning, so by this point I had decided upon BLW, the first part of the book is very much sales pitch for BLW, which gets a bit much to some ext...more
I definitely plan to use this method to introduce solids. However, the book itself was not much more useful then the website. The authors repeated themselves a lot. I think they were trying to find a way to fill up a whole book but failed at that. But redundancy aside, this book did raise my confidence in trying this with my daughter. I liked the explanations about the gag reflex as well as as their logic for things like 'if they are eating enough' and 'giving the baby control of feeding and cho...more
As we approached Jack turning six months old, we began to think more about introducing food. I had read a couple of things online about Baby Led Weaning and my interest was peaked. Then a friend from high school wrote a blog post detailing her experience with this process and I was even more interested {it helps to come across people you know verses random strangers on the internet}.
Armed with some basic knowledge, I decided to order the book, Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Foo...more
Armed with some basic knowledge, I decided to order the book, Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Foo...more
I think the intention of this book was good, but the writing was terrible. The author simply repeats herself over and over again in order to draw out her thoughts into a full book. She could have simply stated the facts and made it into almost a pamphlet size read. I also feel there should be a bit more of a warning in here about foods such as apples, beans, and roughage. My child did not do well with said items and ended up in the ER twice. Ultimately this was my fault but I just don't feel tha...more
A well-written book with an appealing argument - that babies should be trusted to experiment with the food eaten by the rest of their families from the beginning of introducing solids. ("weaning" in the UK sense - of introducing solids, not in the US sense of ending milk feeds)
There are many caveats of course - whole nuts, cow's milk - but the general principle is that introducing a wide variety of tastes and textures from an early age and trusting the baby to choose what it wants to eat from a...more
There are many caveats of course - whole nuts, cow's milk - but the general principle is that introducing a wide variety of tastes and textures from an early age and trusting the baby to choose what it wants to eat from a...more
Yes! Baby-Led Weaning! A concept so simple it's hard to wrap your mind around it for a little bit. You basically just let your kid eat what he or she wants from the healthy stuff you're eating and they'll turn into little gourmands!
As parenting books go, this one was easy to read because somebody smart advised her to hire an actual writer, unlike all the awful sleep books out there. But like all the awful sleep books out there, it's way longer than it needs to be. You can probably get by on rea...more
As parenting books go, this one was easy to read because somebody smart advised her to hire an actual writer, unlike all the awful sleep books out there. But like all the awful sleep books out there, it's way longer than it needs to be. You can probably get by on rea...more
I liked the idea of this very much--babies get introduced to solids by eating whole foods. They learn what they like and develop dexterity, etc. That being said, I have two major gripes with this book. 1. It should be a pamphlet (or her website!). There is not enough content for a whole book and it is very repetitive.
2. I think it's dangerous. My seven month old baby choked on a recommended food (pear). He was not gagging. He was choking. It was silent and alarming. It dislodged as I was grabbi...more
2. I think it's dangerous. My seven month old baby choked on a recommended food (pear). He was not gagging. He was choking. It was silent and alarming. It dislodged as I was grabbi...more
I have to agree with the reviewer who said this book was about a third too long. In one section of the book, I felt as though I was reading the same information over and over again, slightly re-worded each time. With a little editing, the book could be more concise and still contain all the same information.
That said, I found it a helpful book. After a basic rundown of all the benefits of BLW, the author gives some great suggestions for first finger foods, as well as ideas to use as baby gets ol...more
That said, I found it a helpful book. After a basic rundown of all the benefits of BLW, the author gives some great suggestions for first finger foods, as well as ideas to use as baby gets ol...more
While I was pregnant, I was excited about the idea of making all of our baby's purees. When it was time to start thinking about giving him food, though, I started hearing a lot about how babies (especially babies that had been on only breast milk) really shouldn't start solid foods until around 6 months. Some other moms on one of the organic living forums I'm on suggested I look into baby-led weaning, and suggested this book in particular. What an informative read! I'm so glad to have read this,...more
I am interested to read more about what everyone thinks about this-- I am definitely intrigued but not quite entirely sold-- still can't get past the choking fear and still not clear where the authors' authority is coming from exactly. One is a public health nurse, OK, but the other chick is like... a concerned citizen?
As to the book, kind of bummed I paid for this (libraries didn't have it which again concerns me that it's still very under the radar/not mainstream)-- as others have said it's SO...more
As to the book, kind of bummed I paid for this (libraries didn't have it which again concerns me that it's still very under the radar/not mainstream)-- as others have said it's SO...more
Very useful, interesting and about a third longer than it really needs to be. Perhaps the repetition is there to sink the ideas firmly into a baby-addled brain.
Key points so far
- if you can make sure that your meals are baby safe (no whole nuts, added salt or sugar) then you can pretty much just share them with your 6 month old.
- 5 cm long bits of food are easiest to grasp at first
- let the child control their food intake (so long as only healthy foods are offered)
- it doesn't matter whether any...more
Key points so far
- if you can make sure that your meals are baby safe (no whole nuts, added salt or sugar) then you can pretty much just share them with your 6 month old.
- 5 cm long bits of food are easiest to grasp at first
- let the child control their food intake (so long as only healthy foods are offered)
- it doesn't matter whether any...more
I enjoyed this book and found it readable and informative. However, I was already sold on the idea of baby led weaning, so I was hoping it would spend a little less time convincing me to do BLW and a little more time explaining methods and giving recipe ideas.
As it turns out my little boy was born prematurely and by the time we were told to wean he was too young to do BLW, but I'm using the book to shape my attitudes to finger food in our traditional weaning, and I've ordered the cookbook from t...more
As it turns out my little boy was born prematurely and by the time we were told to wean he was too young to do BLW, but I'm using the book to shape my attitudes to finger food in our traditional weaning, and I've ordered the cookbook from t...more
I cannot wait until my daughter is ready to start solid foods. I have high hopes for following the techniques in this book in a few months. While the method is fairly common-sense, there isn’t a lot of real research behind it, so there are a lot of conjectures about the possible benefits which probably won’t convince someone who is already skeptical and are a bit overkill for those who are already on board. There is comprehensive information about how to get started, what to expect, and what foo...more
I really like the idea of this book: giving your kid normal food with the family at the table, rather than crazy blended spoon-feeding disasters. But I'm finding that its harder to put into practice than I thought. We really don't eat that many food that are easy for a 6 month old to handle! So maybe a combo of pureed stuff and solids will work best for us. I do like the idea of letting the kid explore textures and tastes for a few months before you really expect them to get much nutrition from...more
Although I did not agree with everything in this book, I am so glad a friend introduced me to it. If your 6 month old is ready to feed himself/herself solid food, why mess with all the pureeing and spoon feeding? My baby was perfectly capable of picking up soft sticks or bites of food and putting them in his mouth. He learned to chew and deal with different textures right away. Plus it allowed me to be able to eat with my baby instead of being so focused on spoon feeding him that I didn't have t...more
BLW was something I read a lot about on message boards. It seems its very popular in Britian, and this book is by a British author. The concept is pretty straight forward so it seems like you don't need a book longer than a pamphlet, but I read or skimmed it all and its not repetitive or overly obvious. the most important info was how to serve foods in the beginning in a way you baby can experiment with them easily, such as sticks and wedges to suck and chew. This approach is all about following...more
I really love the concept of baby-led weaning in theory. In a nut shell, the author advocates allowing the baby to take the lead on food, allowing her to "learn to eat" just as she learned to smile, grab, roll-over, crawl, etc. She says that forced spoon-feeding can lead to unhealthy food habits later on in life and that allowing a baby to handle and play with her food creates a positive and holistic meal-time experience for her.
In practice, it wasn't quite as easy as I anticipated and I found...more
In practice, it wasn't quite as easy as I anticipated and I found...more
This book explains an approach to introducing solid foods to babies that is rather uncommon in our society but actually quite logical. Rather than beginning with the introduction of pureed solids at the age of 4-6 months, this book encourages readers to wait until the baby can sit up fairly well and brings things to his mouth (usually around 6+ months) and then give the baby large "sticks" of food that he can put into his mouth and learn to chew and swallow rather than being given spoon-fed pure...more
When my son was 7 months old and STILL not eating solids, only getting better and better at spitting baby food out, I was worried. I erroneously thought that he would never sleep through the night if he didn't start to eat solids. The authors point out that the food we give babies is what we would eat if we were on a diet - rice cereal, fruits and vegetables. Babies get all the nutrients and calories they need from breast milk. That helped me stop worrying about his nutrition.
The authors of this...more
The authors of this...more
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Leave it to me to think I need to read a book about introducing solids to my THIRD child. It's not like I haven't done this before. But with my first two, it was frustrating, stressful, and many times not fun. I'm hoping to change all of that this go-around.
While I liked the subject and totally agree with the premise, the execution was highly repetitive (how many times can you say "trust your baby and let him eat as his own pace"?)and aggravatingly simplistic (do you really think I need you to t...more
While I liked the subject and totally agree with the premise, the execution was highly repetitive (how many times can you say "trust your baby and let him eat as his own pace"?)and aggravatingly simplistic (do you really think I need you to t...more
I like the concept (this is the approach to introducing solids we have used for our little one), but the book is far too vague for my liking. I have found far more useful information (for free) on websites such as wholesome baby and, ironically, baby-led weaning!
The text is very repetitive, and while there are many references to "studies" there is little hard evidence to back up their claims. It came off as trying to be scientific but failing at it.
The text is very repetitive, and while there are many references to "studies" there is little hard evidence to back up their claims. It came off as trying to be scientific but failing at it.
I'm so so happy my friend Wendy introduced me to this book and this method of introducing solid food to babies -- otherwise, I wouldn't have known about it. It makes so much sense! This book provides sound arguments for why this lesser-known (but growing in popularity) method is more likely to produced a less-fussy eater. In this foodie family, that's exciting news. I'm excited to give it a go in about a month and 1/2.
The book isn't particularly concise or well-written, but the method is sound. Just give your children real food and skip the purees. It's not a difficult concept, but I'm glad I read the book because it gave me the reassurance that it's a valid, safe approach. I highly recommend the method, and would just advise skimming the book to glean the core concepts.
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