Baby Led Weaning at 13 Months

I has been nearly 8 months since Archie had his first taste of anything other than milk, and we have come a long way from bread-sticks and bananas (although they are still firm favourites).  Nowadays my little man loves Pizza, curry, pasta and lasagne amongst other things and we have stuck with a mostly baby led approach.

Yoghurts, rice and similarly messy non finger foods are fed from a spoon, and although Archie is usually more than happy with this if it means the food makes it into his mouth, there are times when little ninja hands strike, throwing food all over the highchair/ floor/ anyone standing close by.

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7 Months In

Archie is now 7 months old and despite him having come so far from that precious newborn he was only a few short months ago, he still seems so little.  This month has seen the 9-12 month clothes start to come out of hiding and many are a comfortable fit on him.  As Dylan was so much bigger, his 9-12 clothing is the right season (even though hDylan was only born in the August), which is making things much easier and cheaper.

Archie is now having three meals a day and we are almost exclusively baby led weaning.  I do still have puree in the house for those days when I am too lazy to cook anything nutritional for him but he is generally eating the same as we are and is much happier for it.  This month he has been loving the introduction of meat and fish, and his favourite foods seem to be pasta in tomato sauce and sweet potato.  

Archie is also having water from a beaker quite happily now, although he has decided that he is not so keen on the milk.  I attended the MAD blog awards last week and Archie refused to drink milk from a bottle during my absense, making leaving him very hard work at the moment.  We are going to attempt it soon from a beaker or cup and see if he will be happier with that.

Sleep has been all over the place and after getting into a brilliant routine with just a 4am wake up, we regressed to feeds every 3/4 hours through the night.  I am hoping it was just a growth spurt as the last couple of nights have been much better, but he has been waking up ready for the day at 5:30 some days and I am not budging from my viewpoint that this is, in fact, the middle of the night still.  At this age, Dylan was happily sleeping 14 hours through the night without a feed so I am finding it difficult still being up so much with Archie.

Dylan and Archie are still getting on so well, and Dylan is desperate for Archie to play with him.  He will often turn down all of his toys, insisting that he only wants to play with Bubba, and he will spend the afternoon giving Archie toys and over enthusiastic cuddles.  Archie is desperate to be on the move and follow Dylan as well and I can't wait to see where they are at in a couple of months.

Archie is still rolling all over the place and would be out the door and across the road given half a chance.  He is really trying to move but so far no crawling (thank goodness).  He certainly won't be still sat immobile on his first birthday like his big brother though!  Archie's favourite pastime at the moment is definitely bouncing and you will mostly find him in the Jumperoo.  He won't stay still (which is making getting a good photo of him on my camera phone very difficult!)

7 months in to life as a family of four, and new adventures are about to begin once the littlest gets more mobile

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Weaning the Second Time Around

At five and a half months, we made the decision to start weaning Archie.  For several reasons this felt like the right time, and we decided to go for a similar approach as we had with Dylan - a mixture of traditional and baby led weaning.

I was apprehensive about starting the weaning process. My little baby would suddenly be eating real food and it marked the beginning of his independance from me.  For 9 months I grew this little baby in my tummy and then for the next 5, I fed him.  For fourteen months, I was his only source of sustenance and nutrition, and suddenly I would be sharing this role.  Suddenly I am not the only one who can feed him and it is rather strange to let go of this.  

Archie's weaning began whilst we were in hospital and as there are very limited facilities there, it mean for the first few days he had baby rice and later on some puree.  Unlike his brother, he wasn't so sure about the new tastes and seemed to still prefer his milk, but he has slowly come round to the new routine and seems to be enjoying his meals more and more.  

Breadsticks are a big hit as is banana.  He likes the apple or strawberry and apple purees, although he isn't so sure about the spoon yet! We were sent some tommee tippee spoons which have a super flexible end and he seemed to prefer these as he could have a little chew on them too.  They also sent us some lovely little pots which are just the right size for storing mini breadsticks in the nappy bag! They are also perfect for storing and heating homemade purees in.

We are taking our cues from Archie, and have been moving more towards baby led weaning over the last couple of weeks as he seems much happier with this and is proving quite adept at feeding himself.  He prefers savoury food and devoured a chilli con carne with rice as fast as his brother could!

As his appetite for solids has increased, I am starting to see the number of milk feeds decreasing and as much as I miss the dependance, it is much easier to go out, knowing that I don't need to stop and feed him quite so often.  His hunger can be appeased with a snack until I find somewhere to sit down and I can have a bit of a lie in at the weekend as the bloke doesn't need to bring him up for milk quite so much.

Archie is putting weight on again now and mealtimes are adding more of a routine into his day.  Although I miss the easy days of a purely milk diet, it is lovely to watch the boys sharing a sandwich at lunch time.

Disclaimer:  We were sent some Tommee Tippee Weaning bits free of charge 

but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

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Food Fights with an 11 month old

Dylan has recently developed an adorable habit.  He will eat a couple of bites of his lunch and then try his hardest to spread the rest of it into every corner of the room.  The amazing thing about finger foods is that they are usually just the right size and shape for target practice.  He can easily get a good couple of metres on a good day, a bad day means puddles of food around the base of the highchair.

Sometimes this game starts because he has had enough and wants to recommence playtime, sometimes it is just a fun mid-dinner game.  Whatever reason, I am not a fan!  My poor hoover has been over-used and the carpet is not looking in quite the same shape as when we moved in.  He doesn't quite seem to understand the word 'no' and often laughs in my face as I say it forcefully at him - what am I to do?

The 'game' I can just about cope with at home, but we love going out and that means eating in a public place.  I am waiting for the day a

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Silent Sunday - 08/07/12

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Silent Sunday 10th June 2012

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