Baby Led Weaning ???

Went to a Weaning talk last week, led by my local health centre and Health Visitors / Nursery Nurses. It consisted mainly of watching a DVD from the La Leche League about Baby Led Weaning. As the La Leche League are advocates of Breastfeeding the DVD concentrated on this only and did not mention bottle fed babies at all.

Baby-led weaning (often abbreviated to BLW) means forgetting baby purées and weaning spoons and simply letting your baby feed himself. Many parents unconsciously choose baby-led weaning, particularly with second or subsequent children. Babies love to copy their older siblings and try to grab food from their plates and are often much happier if they are allowed to feed themselves. www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/startingsolids/babyledweaning/

After the DVD they asked us to discuss the issues raised, but I am afraid I came away more confused than before I went. What was good though was the Bounty Pack we were given with some free samples in as well as a couple of leaflets that were really helpful with regards to weaning!

Jamie himself has now had 3 nights of 10-12 hours sleep which is wonderful. He has begun to dribble a lot more and suck his thumb and we have started giving him Hungrier Baby at bedtime.

Gurgles latest email (www.gurgle.co.uk/stages/Baby/18_Week_Old/default.aspx) asks: Are you noticing your baby putting everything in her mouth? Babies at this stage are practising for when they teething and some babies are even born with a few teeth. If your baby is dribbling excessively, has red cheeks or is irritable, it may be a first tooth coming through. To stop your baby putting the wrong things into her mouth try to baby-proof your house by removing small items that your baby may choke on.

Yesterday was a bit stressful however as he had his last of his 3 sets of injections. All 3 of us shed tears at one or more times during the day. Jamie was not a happy bunny but he seems back to his normal happy self this morning. We keep pinching ourselves as so far Jamie has been quite a dream baby. The sleepless nights seem a long way off now and we are left with a very smiley, giggly baby who chortles away to himself and anyone else who will listen - usually at about 3am.

I can't believe its about a year since I got pregnant!!!