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We would like to say a huge thank you to all the people who have helped to make this book possible. Firstly, thank you to all the mums, dads and babies who gave up their time to talk to us about their experiences of baby-led weaning or to have their pictures taken to illustrate the book: Emily Ackroyd and Rosa and Rafe Ackroyd-Todd, Bronwyn Ashby and Florence and Niall Lewis, Melanie Edwards and Jude Edwards, Ruth Fisher and Hetty Radford, Sarah Meagher Gaymer and Nate Gaymer, Laura and Luke Hastings and Josiah and Ariana Hastings, Sarah-Jane Hurst and Rory Hurst, Zainab Lantan and Junior Lantan, Ela Law, Milly Law and William Law, Ria Mamujee-Towers and Ari Mamujee-Towers, Samantha Walsham and Jack Walsham, Rachel Walters and Toby McLeod, and Siobhan Watts and Rory Calder Watts, Roxanna Whittaker, Meredith Whittaker and Benedict Whittaker. We only wish we’d had room to use all the quotes and tips you provided.

We also want to thank Charlotte Pike for her patience, resourcefulness and kitchen know-how, Isabel de Cordova (www.isabeldecordova.com) for the use of her pottery in the photographs, and our fantastic production team: Jo Godfrey Wood and Peggy Sadler of Bookworx, for editing and design, and Ruth Jenkinson (and her assistant Julie Stewart) for photography. We’re grateful to Laura Herring for proofreading and to Marie Lorimer for taking care of the index. Finally, our thanks go to our editor, Katy Denny, who coordinated the whole process, and to our agent, Clare Hulton, who continues to support us to share our knowledge and ideas. And, as always, thanks to our families and friends for their thoughtful feedback.

Check out our first recipe book, The Baby-led Weaning Cookbook: 180 delicious recipes for the whole family to enjoy, for lots more recipes for you and your baby.

Baby-led weaning (BLW) is a wonderful way for your baby to share healthy family meals – right from his very first taste of solid food. He will gradually discover what different foods look like and how they feel, smell and taste; he will learn how to hold them, get them to his mouth and chew them – all by feeding himself at the family meal table.

This natural, commonsense approach to introducing solid foods is a hugely rewarding and enjoyable way for babies to move on to family meals. They learn to love good food and it gives them a solid foundation for healthy eating as they grow up. BLW is great for parents, too, because it takes the stress out of introducing solid foods. This book explains why it makes sense, how to get started and what to expect, and then offers delicious everyday recipes to suit the whole family.

Shared mealtimes can be among the most enjoyable experiences of being a parent and, as more and more families are finding out, the baby-led weaning approach is easier and more fun for babies – and their parents – than conventional weaning. There’s no need to spend time and energy preparing special purées or persuading your baby to accept food from a spoon – and there’s no need for mealtime battles. Instead, your baby can explore food when he’s ready and go at his own pace, meaning that everyone in the family can eat together and enjoy relaxed, stress-free meals.

It’s important that the food you share with your baby is as varied and nutritious as possible, so that he can experience a wide range of different flavours and textures and develop a taste for healthy eating. That’s where this book comes in. It will help you to prepare a range of dishes, quickly and easily – from simple spicy beans to rice pudding made with coconut milk – providing him with lots of BLW learning opportunities. All the recipes are tasty, nutritious and wholesome. They are easy to follow and quick to prepare, so they’ll soon become tried-and-trusted favourites – for all the family.

This book starts with an overview of what baby-led weaning is and why it appeals to so many parents (and babies). If you’re new to this approach, or need a quick reminder of what it involves, you’ll find a guide to getting started and what to expect in the early weeks. The basics of a healthy diet are followed by some tips for supporting your baby’s developing skills and the golden rules of BLW. If you need more information on baby-led weaning, go to our first book, Baby-led Weaning, How to help your baby love good food, which has more detail on both the reasoning behind the approach and the practicalities involved.

We know that finding time (and energy) for cooking can be a challenge when you have a baby, so all the recipes (starting here) are straightforward and quick to prepare. Some take only a few minutes, while others can be done in stages. We’ve also put together a list of dishes that freeze well (see here), to help you create a store of healthy meals that just need defrosting and heating. Some of these are good for batch-cooking too, saving you even more time on busy days. Providing healthy food to offer your baby when you are out can also be tricky, so we’ve listed dishes and snacks to make in advance, which are easy to carry without being too messy (see here).

Note: Recipes suitable for freezing are shown with this symbol ❄ on the recipe page; those suitable for taking out are marked with ☀.

Weaning is the transition from milk-only feeds to family meals. It starts with a baby’s first mouthful of solid food and ends with her very last feed of breastmilk or formula. This period, during which her nourishment comes from the breast or bottle as well as family foods, takes at least six months – and for a breastfed child it may last several years. BLW is a way of introducing solid foods that allows babies to progress at their own pace through this important transition. It will offer your baby the opportunity to explore food as soon as she’s ready, using fingers (and, later, cutlery) to eat as much or as little as she wants, and cutting down on milk feeds in her own time. She’ll join in with family mealtimes, choosing what to eat from the healthy dishes on offer, and learning as she goes, by looking at, touching, smelling and tasting the food, and by copying other family members.

Baby-led weaning is based on the way most babies develop in their first year. By about six months muscle strength and co-ordination have developed enough to enable them to sit upright, reach out and grab things they are curious about, and take them to their mouth to investigate them. They are also developing the ability to bite and chew, and their immune and digestive systems have matured enough to cope with other foods. The coming together of these different aspects of babies’ development – curiosity, strength, co-ordination, digestion and immunity – coincides with the gradual dwindling of their body’s stores of some micro-nutrients. This means that, at around the same time they’re beginning to need other foods, they’re ready, able and more than willing to feed themselves with them. So, while conventional weaning has always included some finger foods from around six months, with BLW all solid foods are offered this way.

BENEFITS OF BLW

A positive learning experience

✪ BLW allows babies to familiarise themselves with food gradually, through looking, touching, smelling and tasting.

✪ BLW helps to develop babies’ fine movements and hand-eye co-ordination.

✪ BLW allows babies to learn naturally, by experimenting (the only way to discover how to hold a raspberry without squashing it is to try!)

✪ Being in control of what’s happening and feeling trusted to make their own decisions, encourages babies to explore and learn with confidence.

✪ Food offers a rich variety of learning experiences – even the very best educational toys can’t match it.

Healthy outcomes

✪ BLW babies develop a healthy attitude to food and mealtimes. There’s no pressure to eat, so they’re free to:

• try new foods and choose the nutrients they need

• concentrate on developing new skills and learning about different foods

• allow their natural appetite regulation to tell them when they’ve eaten enough

• look forward to family mealtimes as relaxed social occasions.

Research suggests that BLW babies:

• are at less risk of over-eating when they are toddlers

• gain a liking for healthy foods that stays with them as they grow up.

✪ Chewing encourages optimal development of the jaw and facial bones, which in turn helps with teeth spacing and speech.

✪ BLW allows babies to retain breastmilk or formula as the mainstay of their nutrition for as long as they need to.

Benefits for parents

✪ Mealtime battles and picky eating are less likely to develop with BLW, so eating as a family is more relaxed and enjoyable.

✪ Sharing the same meal with your baby is easier than preparing separate food (and then spoon-feeding her while your own dinner goes cold!).

✪ Eating alongside your baby is more fun and rewarding than trying to persuade her to eat, or fighting her instincts to feed herself.

Mealtimes are an opportunity to experiment and discover how things work. ‘What happens if I pick this plate up and then… oh!’ It’s all part of learning about eating.

Most babies require only small amounts of additional nutrients until they are around nine months old, with milk feeds providing the majority of their nourishment – and acting as an effective nutritional ‘cushion’ – for the rest of the first year. Baby-led weaning allows them to build up their intake of solid food and cut down on milk feeds gradually, at a pace that is right for each individual baby, so their bodies can adjust naturally. Babies born very pre-term, or who have a disability or medical condition, may need additional help or nutritional supplements before they are ready to fully feed themselves. If you are in doubt about the appropriateness of BLW for your baby, consult your health visitor or doctor.

As more and more parents are finding out, being baby-led just feels right. As they approach six months of age, babies instinctively want to explore food and work out how to eat it. This is as normal and natural as the drive to learn how to crawl, walk or talk. They don’t need someone else to feed them and they don’t need their food to be mashed or puréed; they simply need the opportunity to follow their instincts. Baby-led weaning allows your baby to move on to family food at the right time for her – when she is ready.

Getting started

You’ll know that your baby is ready to start handling food when she can sit upright and reach out with both hands (without falling over), and get things to her mouth accurately. Most babies are able to do this by about six months, but for some it will be slightly earlier, or a few weeks later. Of course, whether or not your baby will be ready to eat the food straight away is up to her – this is a key difference between BLW and the conventional approach. Here’s how to help her to begin discovering what food has to offer:

When to start

✭ Even before she’s really ready for solid foods your baby can sit on your lap while you’re eating and begin to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells. This is fine – just don’t expect her to get food to her mouth (or even to show much interest) until she’s at least six months old.

✭ Once she wants to start handling food, include her in as many family meals as you can. Choose times when she isn’t tired or hungry, so she can concentrate – she’s likely to be frustrated and upset if you offer her solid food when what she really needs is the breast or bottle, or a nap. Mealtimes are for learning rather than eating in the early days – breastmilk or formula will satisfy her hunger and nutritional needs.

How to start

✭ Sit your baby upright, on your lap or in a highchair, facing the table. Make sure her arms are free and she can reach the food comfortably. Most babies feel more stable if their feet are supported too, rather than dangling.

✭ Let her concentrate – don’t distract her or try to hurry her while she’s handling food. And try to resist wiping her face or hands when she’s busy concentrating on eating and learning.

✭ It should always be your baby’s decision how much she eats – don’t try to persuade her to eat more than she wants, or to eat a particular food.

✭ Offer her pieces of food by putting them in front of her on the table top or highchair tray or letting her take them from your hand (plates or bowls will be distracting at the beginning, so there’s no need to use them if you’d prefer not to). She may want to take things from your plate too, because her instincts tell her that whatever you’re eating must be safe.

What to do

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