Our weaning journey 2 months in

I first introduced Reuben to some pureed veg at 5 months on the recommendation from my health visitor as he was feeding every 2 hours day and night. The problem was, just as he point blank refuses a bottle he really didn't want us to feed him. He is so independent and stubborn he was having non of it unless he could do it himself (which he didn't quite have the fine motor skills for). So we decided to stop and wait until he was ready to do baby led weaning. We started this at 24 weeks as he pinched a cheese scone from my hand and started gumming it.

First things first...baby led weaning is SO messy, but SO easy. You literally give them a selection of veg/fruit/toast whatever you fancy and let them crack on with it. At first there will be lots of gagging (which is 100% normal) as they learn what to do with the food/ how to move it around their mouth. You can youtube the difference between choking and gagging. (its massive). There will also be quite a lot of waste to start with. Reuben has always brought everything to his mouth and had a good gum/chew since day dot but he would then spit it out/throw it on the floor. I knew he was swallowing some food and nutrients from his nappies but it was minimal to begin with and more him exploring/playing/learning.

we quickly moved on to offering some form of food 3 times a day more to get him used to sitting down and eating at a certain time, even if it was just a bit of fruit or some yogurt. He seemed to enjoy meal times from the off and the social setting they brought. (eating together). I have offered him a wide variety of food groups, tastes and textures (including allergy group foods) from 24 weeks i just made sure i only offered one allergy food at a time so i could monitor if there was any reaction. Thankfully he hasn't reacted to or turned his nose up at anything I've offered him so i'm getting the most out of this period (it probably wont last).

By 7 months we started to give Reuben 3 proper meals a day and he was actually eating a reasonable amount of the food, he even started to let us feed him things such as porridge/yogurt/mash and gravy as he wanted to eat the food. I saw a huge difference in Reuben between 7 and 8 months he was eating well and enjoying his food, opening his mouth wide for a spoon and loving a variety of meat/fish/veg/fruit/dairy and grains. I like to give Reuben Ready brek made with full fat milk and fruit puree for breakfast followed by some grapes or satsuma. lunch is always finger foods so toast and full fat cheese spread or egg, cucumber and pepper sticks a few puffs and some fruit. For dinner he literally has whatever we are having or slightly modified if it isn't suitable followed by Yogurt.

At 8 months Reuben is having roughly 6 breastfeeds in 24hrs, more if he's teething/unwell or in a stormy development leap. He is 98th percentile for height and 50th for weight so i'm happy that this is working well for us!