Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby To Love Good Food [Paperback]

Gill Rapley (Author), Tracey Murkett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2008

This authoritative guide to baby-led weaning — the latest buzz in parenting circles — explains the benefits of infant self-feeding in terms of nutritional health, eating habits, motor development, independence and confidence. Baby-led Weaning is written by the UK’s leading authority on the subject.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gill Rapley pioneered baby-led weaning in the U.K. She has worked as a nurse for 20 years and has also been a midwife and breastfeeding counselor. Tracey Murkett is a freelance writer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vermilion (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0091923808
• ISBN-13: 978-0091923808
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Consider as a guide for new parents, December 27, 2009

By 

Cheri Kannarr - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby To Love Good Food (Paperback)

There's nothing new about Gill Rapley's ideas, besides the name, but for parents who think feeding a baby means jars and purees, it's a good read. Before commercial baby foods (and even after for most parents in most parts of the world), babies were simply offered bites off their parent's plate when they were ready to start solids. But when most of us were babies, the recommendation became to start solids at very young ages and purees were introduced (how else will you get "solid" food into a 2 week old?). Now that the recommendations have returned to more realistic expectations of when babies will be ready to eat, more and more parents are realizing that their babies don't need mush - they can eat "real" food right off the bat. If you'd like to introduce this idea to a new parent, aren't certain when or how to start feeding your baby solids, or need support for when Grandma is horrified, this is the book to buy. If you're looking for recipes for "baby" food, tables of what food to introduce at what age, or detailed lists of foods to avoid, you won't find them here. This is just a reassuring introduction to the idea of simply feeding your baby from your own healthy meals.

By the way, for American audiences, "weaning" technically begins as soon as food other than breastmilk (or formula) is introduced. If you're looking for a guide on weaning baby from the breast, you're looking at the wrong book!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baby-led Solids should be the real title, November 14, 2009

By 

Heidi Burns "Mom23inTN" (TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby To Love Good Food (Paperback)

Great book. First off this is not a weaning off the breast book, it is an introduction to solids book.

I exclusively breastfed my daughter for 8mos and when I was ready to introduce solids, she wasn't. She was more interested in feeding herself and wouldn't let me spoon feed her. Turns out that was great for me. I spoon fed my boys at 4 and 5 mos old and it was very time consuming and I wasn't sure if they were full or fussy when they'd refuse to eat.

This book eliminates the struggle. Babies have a sensitive gag reflex and by using this book I was able to let my baby take the lead on feeding herself while not overreacting at any sound she made while eating. Also it gives a great guideline of how much and when to feed them solids that correlates with breastfeeding and formula feeding.

If your little one has issues with spoon feeding or heck even if they don't, this is a great book for beginner feeders. I wish I had this with my boys.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, March 4, 2010

By 

Angelika Helper "Natural Medicine Diva" (Hartford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby To Love Good Food (Paperback)

This is a great philosophy and practice with well written book to back it up My twins are 5 months old, and I am waiting until they are 6 months old to begin feeding them (or letting them feed themselves.) This book does get a bit repetitive, as the gist can be summed up in one chapter. I sort of wish it talked more about sample menus, ways to cook or cut food appropriately, or simply had larger charts or tables. I suppose the point is that this is a more laid back introduction to weaning, but I still like easily digested charts. Also, I'm sure I'm not the only parent who wants to combine this practice with avoiding common foods that are connected to intolerances and allergies. More information about that would be nice.