Baby-Led Weaning

After reading about Baby-Led Weaning during my pregnancy, we decided that this was the method we would use to wean Sophia.  Ten days before Sophia turned six months we decided to give it a go and, not yet owning a highchair, we sat her in her Bumbo and handed her some banana and apple slices. Predictably, most was flung to the floor but eventually she did put some in her mouth, which was possibly one of our proudest parent moments to date! (We have a lengthy home video to record this event!)
I had actually expected to feel quite sad that, as a breastfeeding mother, I was no longer going to be providing my baby with her only source of nutrition. As it was, I didn't feel that way at all, just excited that she was now able to try new flavours and textures which she seemed eager to do!
Later that day we purchased a highchair and are continuing the long journey of weaning our daughter! One of the main "rules" of baby led weaning is that you don't place food into the babies mouth. This is so they have the chance to explore it themselves and eat in their own time. (An example I have heard a few times is to imagine, as an adult, someone coming towards you with a spoonful of an unidentifiable food - your first reaction would probably not be to open your mouth and eat it, but to push the spoon away and try to get control of it yourself so that you were able to first, look at what was being fed to you and secondly, to control how much was put into your mouth - makes sense really!)
This sounds easy but I have found it to be incredibly difficult resisting the urge to feed Sophia! Especially when she eats soft foods such as yogurt - I pre-load her spoon and she 'feeds' herself (to an extent!) but it is so tempting to spoon feed her. So far I have avoided doing this, as after reading Baby-Led Weaning: Helping your Baby to Love Good Food by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett I personally really identify with the theory behind this weaning method. But boy, is it messy!

It is really difficult to know how much (if any) food is being eaten at the moment (although there are a few clues in her nappies!!) but we are only a couple of weeks in and I am so pleased with how well Sophia seems to be doing. Unless she's really tired she always gives new foods a try, current favourites seem to be melon, banana (this stains clothes, beware!!) and sweet potato.
If you're considering trying baby-led weaning I would definitely recommend getting hold of a copy of the Gill Rapley book. I've read through it a couple of times now and it really explains the weaning process well. I got my copy from Amazon who were the cheapest seller when I was looking - linky here if you want to grab a copy for yourself! Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food