Gill Rapley - The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook: 130 Easy, Nutritious Recipes That Will Help Your Baby Learn to Eat

Praise for Baby-Led Weaning,
also by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett

[Rapley and Murkett] encourage parents to forgo the usual baby pure and move straight to whole foods while continuing to breastfeed primarily after a baby is six months old. Their arguments are scientifically sound, especially when it comes to muscle development in the mouth, and they address the anticipated counterarguments. If mine were little again, I would definitely try this. As long as mom is nursing, who says baby cant eat lamb chops?

Library Journal, starred review

Ive been telling mothers for years that when babies start grabbing food from the table, they are ready for solids. I had the pleasure of observing this with my own children. What I love about this book is the joy and zest the authors put into parenting, their commonsense approach, and their faith that babies will do the right things for themselves when the time is right. Baby-led weaning is easy, and it makes parenting fun!

NIKKI LEE, RN, MS, IBCLC

Gill Rapleys work is amazing and makes so much sense. I recommend this groundbreaking book to every new mother I know. Read it. It will forever change the way you think about feeding your baby.

KATHLEEN KENDALL-TACKETT, PhD, IBCLC,
clinical associate professor of pediatrics, Texas Tech University
School of Medicine, and coauthor of Breastfeeding Made Simple

The benefits are great.

Independent

[Baby-led weaning] makes life so much easier.

The Times (London)

It sounds like common sense: After all, would you want to be strapped into a high chair and force-fed spoon after spoon of bland vegetables? Its surely much more exciting to be able to exercise a bit of control over your diet.

The Guardian

Also by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett

Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foodsand Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater

GILL RAPLEY and TRACEY MURKETT

THE BABY-LED WEANING COOKBOOK

Copyright Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett, 2010, 2011

Illustrations copyright Kate Larsen, 2010, 2011

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The Experiment, LLC
260 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 100016408
www.theexperimentpublishing.com

Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2010 by Vermilion, an imprint of Ebury Publishing/Random House Group. This edition, which has been adapted and revised for North America, is published by arrangement with Vermilion.

This book is a work of nonfiction. Some of the names of people in the case studies have been changed solely to protect the privacy of others.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and The Experiment was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been capitalized.

The Experiments books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fundraising or educational use. For details, contact us at info@theexperimentpublishing.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934224
ISBN 978-1-61519-030-0
E-book ISBN 978-1-61519-131-4

Cover design by Alison Forner Front cover photograph Janice Milnerwood

PHOTO CREDITS: )

Neither the authors nor the publisher are engaged in rendering professional advice or services to individual readers and their children or relatives. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting a physician.

All matters regarding health require medical supervision. Neither the authors nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss, injury, or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. The opinions expressed in this book represent the personal views of the authors and not of the publisher.

Manufactured in the United States of America First printing January 2011

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Since writing Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foodsand Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater, weve been thrilled at how the message about baby-led weaning has continued to spread. Families across the world have discovered that by starting solids this way they can introduce their babies to the pleasure of good, healthy foodand avoid mealtime battles later on.

If you havent yet read our first book, and baby-led weaning is new to you, the first few chapters of this book will introduce you to the basics. With baby-led weaning, your babys first experiences of solid food wont be pured baby food, spoon-fed to him by someone else. Instead hell join in with family meals, picking up pieces of real food himself, feeling, sniffing and tasting them, andgraduallylearning to eat them.

Starting solids this way is easy, enjoyable, and stress-free. Preparing meals that your baby can share is quicker than making separate pures and cheaper than buying them ready-made. And its much more fun. Theres just one problem: The busy lives of 21st-century parents often dont include cooking traditional family meals, and many are short on ideas for healthy recipes that the youngest member of the family can share. This book solves that problem.

These recipes arent the usual finger foods for babies, though. Nothing has to be cut into smiley shapes and there are no hidden vegetables. Thats because with baby-led weaning theres no need for tricks. Your baby will enjoy the same rich variety of flavors and textures as everyone elseand he will learn new skills and grow in confidence at the same time.

The dishes are easy to make, tasty, and nutritious, but they arent ours; they have come from other baby-led weaning parents who wanted to share recipes that worked well for them. They are favorite family meals, tried and tested.

If youve never cooked a meal from scratch before, or if youre not very confident in the kitchen, youll find plenty of helpful tips to get you started. If youre already an experienced home cook, this book will provide inspiration for delicious meals that work easily with baby-led weaning.

We hope you enjoy sharing the recipes in this book with your baby and that they help to make family mealtimes the pleasure they should be.

Note: Throughout the book we have tried to be fair to boys and girls by alternating the use of he and she in the chapters. No difference between girls and boys is implied.