Baby-led Weaning or Traditional Weaning?

It’s coming up to that time 🥕🥦🥑🫐🍓🍌

Around a month from now it’ll be time to start Leo on his first real food and I won’t lie, I’m half buzzing about it, half bricking it.

It’s one of those first time mum things I’m sure I’ll totally relax about once we start. My confusion mostly resides in whether to do baby-led weaning from the get go, traditional weaning or some sort of blend.

Spoons and Solids by Jocelyn Goodwin and the latest edition of Weaning by Annabel Karmel are helping me lose the fears, look forward to this exciting time, and get a feel for what might work best for Leo. Right now I’m leaning toward baby-led but with a mix of purées and finger foods (at different mealtimes).

It’s reassuring that for the first year, breast milk will continue to be Leo’s primary source of nutrition while any food is complementary, for fun and exploration.

It’s also reassuring to learn the difference between gagging and choking. Gagging is to be expected but I’m booked on a baby first aid course next week so I can feel more confident about what to do should actual choking ever happen.

What was your approach to weaning? Are you BLW all the way, traditional spoon fed, or a blend? Or have you tried both? I’d love to hear your experiences!