Saturday, March 28, 2015

Baby Led Weaning: 2nd Month Update

BLW - Our 2 Month Update 


The biggest strawberry I have ever seen.
Firstly, if you missed our Part one you can find it here. Baby S is my second child and I am new to baby led weaning.

Two months ago when we began our weaning journey, I wondered where we would be a month or so on. I delayed doing an update earlier as we got off to such a good start I figured I'd leave it to two months to see if we came across any problems or faced any difficulties, luckily we haven't. I'm very lucky and grateful to have  great little eater! It has made life so much easier than I thought, the fact I can feed both kids pretty much the same despite the three year age gap, I even get a little time to make myself food, what a treat!

Exploring her mushy peas. 'What the ...'
The only negative I can think of, and to be honest so far its really not been an issue, is that Baby S doesn't like spoons all that much unless she's the shoveller. I know all babies are a bit grabby with them but she's just "OK Mum I've got this", and she usually has, but does like to feed her eyes nose and hair as well as her mouth so we are working on that.This being the case I've still avoided things like porridge, but things like mashed potato she quite happily eats by hand which is fine at her age I think and she enjoys feeling the food too. Yogurt made her sick to start with so we had to abandon that but I'll be re-introducing that from now on as well as the dreaded spoon.


Loving her corn on the cob!
The only other thing I have found difficult is that I now have to really plan where we will be at meal times (not great for a laid back Mama), if we are likely to be out and about I have to make sure I am prepared now, bibs, beakers, food and snacks for on the go. 

One massive plus point is that big brother A has now massively upped his fruit intake, just from seeing his baby sister eating them and not wanting to feel he is missing out. He has gone from only really eating bananas peaches and pears, to all the berries, grapes, mango, pineapple and plums by the truck load!
My little fruit monkeys this week, mischief much?
We have tried lots of new foods for baby S too, here are some new of her favourites;


  • Corn on the cob
  • Raspberries
  • Chinese omelette (with spring onions, fish and mushroom)
  • Sausages
  • Waffles
  • Baked beans
  • Peas
  • Mushy peas
  • Sweetcorn kernels
  • Cake (big bro's baking) !
  • Pizza toast
  • Plums
  • Mango

Mega close up of our home made Mac cheese, served with peas & broccoli.
Baby S does seem to like everything so far pretty much which is great. I think we are a tomato and melon free house and S seems to agree. She seems a little off breakfasts this week but I think mainly because she has such a big early morning milk feed which must fill her up, added to that the joy of teething. 
Lunch and dinner however, she makes it very clear she is ready for some food and usually only stops because it runs out! Her favourites I would say are the mac cheese with broccoli and peas, Marmite sandwiches and as much fruit as she can get her squidgy hands on, a total fruit bat! She loves veggies but we have found broccoli to give her a bit of a tummy ache so I tend to give that at lunch time so she sleeps better. We've also rediscovered the local market where although the fruit tends to be riper, its at least half the price of supermarket fruit, great when you are experimenting with so many things and eating so much.

Ready to eat!
We've also introduced more water and she seems to really enjoy a good guzzle with her food. We are just using a standard soft plastic spouted beaker from Ikea. I've heard so many different opinions on what they should have to protect their teeth that I just have no clue. I am going with what I know worked well last time, especially as baby S still gloriously 100% gumsville, I love a gummy smile!

So at two months in here are a few tips from what I've learnt so far.


  • Their tastes change and some days they won't touch things they loved the day before. Just keep trying and use or freeze what you can.

  • When you make things like pasta, make a little extra for them to try cold the next day or put in a dish with some cheese for a quick pasta bake, its amazing how different and as tasty it can be!

  • There will be lots of mess on the floor, use a sheet so you can pick back up or chop small to reduce waste. Soft pelican style bibs are great, though I find just folding any bib up in front of them does well to catch bits.

  • You will get through lots of wipes. Stock up on value ones, buy some anti bacterial ones too, you will thank me later.

  • Foods that are in easy to pick up shapes save waste and are good for baby. By this I mean cutting strawberries into zig zags, sandwiches cut into fingers etc. They get frustrated and give up if they can't grab things easily. That said, letting them practise picking up little things like peas and sweetcorn is great for their fine motor skills, cruel to be kind and all that.

  • Always keep snacks on you. This is an obvious one but now the little one is eating, she won't let me forget at times so a quick snack on route can save tears and stress. I don't remember having to do this so early last time but it seems a lifetime ago now so maybe I did. 

  • Try and keep a bib and sippy cup in the changing bag in case of am unscheduled meal out or surprise invitation.

  • Visit your local market for cheap fresh fruit and vegetables. They tend to be riper but so much better than super markets and a lot cheaper. Frozen veg and tinned fruit (in juice) are always good to keep in too. I find we get through the fresh stuff so quickly.


  • If you want to eat out, Toby carvery is the best place I have found. Quick self service, oodles of veg, stuffing and gravy and best of all its free for under threes!


That's it for now though I will keep with the updates as we venture on. Our next steps are trying yoghurt again, pasta pesto and hummus and we will explore the vegetables that are coming into season. The main ones we have tried already but we will see if we can do something with cabbage and leeks to make them baby friendly.

Thanks for reading!