"You know best"

Weaning is a contentious topic with lots of opinions on the 'right' way to move your baby onto solid foods. The fact is, for many families it's about trying a mixture of different things and landing on what's best for you and your baby. No one child is the same as the next, so it's important to keep that in mind before judging other people's choices during this important stage of development. Also, have a bit of craic with it! Why not kick off your babies relationship with food in a fun and healthy way so they can grow up to love food as they should. We recently came across an Instagram post on weaning that really caught our eye. Being the generous souls we are here at HerFamily... we absolutely had to share it with you. Rebecca Fennelly is a first-time mum to baby River, could we just take a second for the cuteness of this child?   I can't with the cuteness. Rebecca runs the parenting blog 'Mama what the?' on Instagram, she's sharing her journey as a new mum and if you're looking for some honest insights into the ups and downs of parenting, you should definitely check it out. A personal favourite of mine is a stunningly honest meme that reads "I have shit on my face. It's not mine". Rebecca covers everything from poop to sleep deprivation, taking time for yourself as a new mum and weaning! It's all tackled in a fun, approachable manner because honestly, if you can't joke about having poop on your face what is even the point? We'll leave you with Rebecca's tips on weaning below and make sure you check out the original post here. Make it fun - Sounds obvious but when you're in the thick of it, it might not be. I worried that River wasn't getting enough, or too much. It soon occurred to me that these early stages are all about "tasting" and building positive relationships with food. Start savoury - This seems to be the general guidance these days and it makes sense to me. Babies naturally favour sweet foods as milk ( both breast milk and formula) is sweet, so starting with savoury helps. Fave Flaves -  River adores anything with fresh mint in. Throwing this in meals has been so useful in helping her gradually get used to lots of other foods and textures. Try, try, try again - If at first they spit it out... you know the rest. I found that just because River didn't want something the 1st 2nd and 3rd (!) time, didn't mean she wasn't a fan. Sometimes they just aren't interested at that moment. Don't fret the 'C' word - I was so nervous about River choking. I spoke to some knowledgeable mama pals and learnt about baby's incredible choke reflexes. Choking is super rare in babies and as long as food is prepped properly all will be fine. No harm being informed though. There are plenty of awesome resources out there such as baby first aid courses. You do you - It's great to compare notes and get support and inspo from my amazing mama pals, but as ever, how you decide to feed your baby is up to you. You know best. There is no perfect way. I spent far too much time and energy worrying about what others were doing. Hope it helps and happy weaning!