Weaning Made Easy: All you need to know about spoon feeding and baby-led weaning - get the best of both worlds [Paperback]

If you are looking for a weaning book that is written by a self-styled celebrity cook, which strongly pushes a particular weaning method and disregards all others, and focuses on weird combinations of food that the rest of the family would not dream of eating..... then this book is NOT for you!!!

I cannot rate this book highly enough. I was looking for a book about weaning that explained traditional (puree-based) and baby-led weaning so that I could choose the best way to wean my first child (now seven months). This book starts off by explaining both methods, the research behind them and the pros and cons of each (for example, that research clearly shows that using BLW alone can cause nutritional deficiencies or that puree-based weaning alone can lead to a lack of independence at meal times). It goes on to suggest how the two methods can be successfully combined in order to overcome the disadvantages of each method. The book is written by a qualified nutritionist with over 18 years of experience, who has established herself as an expert in nutrition for pregnancy and childhood, and has carried out nutrition research at leading universities. She also has three children. It's your choice, but I felt much more comfortable following advice from someone with these credentials, who backs up all her suggestions with proof from controlled scientific studies, rather than someone like Annabel Karmel who is a bit of a celebrity but has no actual nutrition qualifications as far as I can find out. Also, this book has only just been published and so the research quoted is recent and relevant.

There are comprehensive explanations at the start of all the different nutrients required and how to incorporate them, which foods to avoid and how to spot hidden "dangers" such as high salt, sugar etc. She also discusses what "organic food" actually means and gives advice on deciding whether this is for you or not, how to avoid being "taken in" by the baby food industry and buying baby foods you don't actually need, and when to start weaning (based on scientific research). Surprisingly for some perhaps, the advice is that it has not healthy to start weaning before four months of age but that it should be started before six months to avoid your child becoming anaemic. The advice of many health visitors to start after six months is actually outdated, and Dr Conway explains the research which backs up her advice regarding this matter.

There are then chapters according to age of baby (4-6 months, 7-9 months, 9-12 months, toddlers and beyond) with advice for each stage, sample meal plans and recipes. There are comments throughout from parents about their own experiences of weaning. The recipes are extremely tasty in my opinion and introduce the baby to a wide variety of healthy flavourings (e.g. lemon juice, herbs, garlic, black pepper, etc.) Overall, the emphasis is on encouraging your baby to eat a completely balanced diet, gradually gaining experience of finger foods whilst being supplemented with pureed or mashed food to ensure all nutrients are provided, gradually learning to eat more and more "chunky" food rather than purees, and teaching your baby to (a) eat similar meals to those that he or she will be expected to share with the family later on (although without added salt etc.) and (b) eat with other members of the family to learn about the social aspect of eating. I think this is much more sensible than finding ingenious ways to disguise certain foods within other foods, as some other weaning books advise, because the child will still need to learn to eat normal food combinations later on.

At every stage, the author advises how many breast-feeds per day or how much formula per day is required for optimum nutrition so that you know when to start dropping milk feeds and replacing them with food and water.

The final chapters are dedicated to combating fussy eating (including babies that aren't keen to drink water), food allergies and intolerances, other dietary problems, premature babies and vegetarian babies.

As a result of this book, I have a seven month old baby boy who loves meal times, eats a wide variety of foods (including many fruits and vegetables, fish, meat, poultry, dairy foods, etc, in fact the only thing he is not keen on so far is extra-mature cheddar cheese!), eats very lumpy textures with no problems, drinks plain water happily from a cup, and is rapidly gaining confidence with finger foods. I am sorry to have wittered on so extensively about this book but I am so thrilled with how weaning is progressing that I feel the need to share this book with everyone else.

We'd rate this book as probably the best of its kind, having looked closely at many. We found it comprehensive and felt it inspired confidence that the author really knew her subject. It is eminently readable, with chapters for different age ranges, and advice offered is sensible and practical. Rather than being prescriptive, the book offers guidance to help readers come to their own conclusions on the approach that's right for them. Recipes incorporate a wide range of foods and flavours, making it easy to offer a balanced diet. The section dealing with problems such as fussy eating and allergies will be invaluable to many.

This is a first-rate book that we are delighted to own.

As a first time mum I found this book very helpful. It explains why there is confusion about weaning babies from 6 months and 4 months which makes it easier to make your own decision on when to start. It gives examples of how to start weaning and what foods to give. It has a few basic receipies for making your own purees too. I would recomend this book.