If you’re just starting to think about weaning, all the information, guidance and advice out there can be overwhelming. The options include spoon feeding, baby led weaning or a mixture of both.  At doddl we have years of experience in feeding, so we’ve created a hub of information to help you navigate weaning through to independent eating and everything in between.

Or read our guide ‘How to wean a baby’

When you choose baby led weaning you’re essentially skipping purees and spoon feeding and heading straight to age appropriate finger foods. It’s called baby led because that’s what the premise is — letting your little one feed themselves a range of different foods, giving them choice about what they select from their tray and giving your baby the opportunity to learn how to chew (or more accurately, gum) first, then swallow. It also prevents us from giving our children too much food, since our babies are in control of how much they put into their mouths. Read more about the benefits of baby led weaning from our blog ‘5 reasons to choose baby led weaning’ or visit the doddl information hub

visit the doddl information hub for everything you need to know.

First make sure your baby is ready to start weaning:

• Are they 6 months old?
• Can they sit up unassisted?
• Have they shown an interest in food?
• Are they more hungry than usual?

Once you’re confident it’s the right time, you’ll need to decide what weaning approach you want to take, either baby led weaning, spoon feeding or a mixture of both. You can find this and more in the doddl mealtime information hub or the blogs

Weaning what do I need to know to get started?

You can also keep track of your progress with our simple ‘weaning journey markers’

Getting the timing right for mealtimes is important. Not too tired, not too hungry, but hungry enough… It is all in the timing, so if this is a problem you face, shake things up a bit.

As much as you may want your baby eating at the same time as you (which we highly recommend) it only works if they are in a good state of mind, not completely exhausted.

If you’re finding evening mealtimes aren’t working, move the main meal to lunchtime. And be flexible, if even lunchtime becomes the wrong time, just give a snack like a piece of toast or banana and let them sleep.

Afterwards you will have so much more chance of sharing an enjoyable mealtime. Having positive experiences at mealtimes is so important for your child’s development and their relationship with food. So, forget the routine, by doing this you’re setting them up for success by avoiding times when they are tired.

As soon as your baby starts to feed, you can introduce appropriate cutlery. Introducing doddl baby cutlery from the start will help your baby become familiar with cutlery as they get used to food and mealtimes. It will help them develop their skills (pincer grip, co-ordination, and dexterity) and helps avoid confusion if cutlery is introduced later, when mealtimes are more established. Simply giving your baby the option is enough at this early stage. Start by placing doddl baby spoons down, handle facing them alongside their food, whatever type of food that is, and they will start to explore. Picking up the baby spoon, banging it on the table or using their mouth to explore it – both ends – is a great start. You can find out more in the product help section.

And read ‘Top 4 tops to encourage spoon feeding during weaning’

When your child has developed some dexterity and coordination using their doddl toddler spoon and toddler fork, and are able to feed themselves with these, you can introduce the doddl toddler knife. You can find out how to introduce the doddl toddler knife in the product help section and find out more about stages of self-feeding by viewing the doddl mealtime information hub.

This very much depends on your child and your situation. There is a lot of evidence that sharing mealtimes with your child is incredibly beneficial to their development. Babies and children love to mimic, it’s a big part of learning, so being able to see how you eat your meals and how you behave during this time will only help in their understanding. The social aspects of mealtimes also offer your child the opportunity to learn; Communication, listening, engaging with others. Important life skills and very helpful when your child eventually starts school and sit with their peers at lunchtime. Finally, there is also evidence to show that happy mealtimes have an impact on your child’s developing relationship with food, and the influence this can have on their future. So, ideally, get your baby around the table as soon as you can, whether in a highchair or in a booster so they can start to feel part of mealtimes.

How can you foster independent eating? At doddl, we believe that unleashing independence in every child starts with feeding, their first major milestone. Read ‘How to teach a toddler to feed themselves’ here.

If you’ve moved your little one from a highchair to a small table – or even to a booster seat at the big table, and you’re finding they consistently try to leave, there are some simple things you can do to help.

1. Make sure they have equipment that makes it easy for them to succeed, like doddl cutlery, so mealtimes are positive and successful not frustrating and emotional.
2. Include your child in a family mealtime – so they are not sitting alone eating. Even if you only sit with them while they eat, children love to copy, and if they have no one to copy from, they will struggle to stay engaged.
3. Give them choice at mealtimes helping them feel independent and ‘grown up’ – whether it is choosing where they sit, or what foods to add to their meal.
4. Create a mealtime experience that they can be part of – design menus together or place settings or get them involved in the food preparation using the doddl toddler knife.

If you’ve tried all of this and it hasn’t worked, try changing it up completely, do something different to get them out of the habit of leaving the table, create a picnic on the floor, have a ‘grown up’ meal with candles and napkins, pretend to be a waiter and make it a positive and fun experience. Through all of this, try and remember everything is a phase, keep plugging away and you’ll eventually get there.

As frustrating as it is, it’s totally normal for your little one to throw things, including food and it can be a sign of learning. It’s basically cause and effect, I have something, I do X with it (lift my arm and let it go) and Y happens (it lands on the floor). Then there’s the obvious one that it’s their way of communicating they don’t want to be sat in their chair or eating that food.

Find more about this here ‘5 tips to stop your toddler throwing food’. Obviously it may be a way of your child getting your attention so, ideally, try not to react to this behaviour. If they are doing it for this and you don’t react, they get nothing for it and they may well stop, helping narrow down the true reason. Try not to over face your child with too much food, if there’s less for them to throw, it may not be as tempting. Create a small area on their tray for foods they don’t like, so you can talk to them about what they did and didn’t like afterwards. Finally remember its more than likely a phase that your little on will grow out of.

In addition to mealtimes with doddl, there are lots of activities you can do to develop your child’s motor skills.  You can find other suggested activities here or follow us on social @doddl for ideas.

As with all aspects of a toddler, sudden changes to your child’s behaviour can make us question our judgement as to whether we are doing the ‘right thing’. Knowing what to ignore and what to avoid will help.

Find out more here: ‘Feeding toddlers – 6 common mistakes to avoid’.

Firstly, try not to compare your weaning or mealtime journey with anyone else’s. However, whilst we all know every child is different, it is natural to look around you and wonder if your little one is making progress in the right way. To help we’ve created some simple ‘mealtime milestones’ as a guide helping you tick off some challenges (in any order) with your little one so you know you’re heading in the right direction, towards fully independent eating. Mealtime milestones

It can be worrying when you think your little one isn’t eating as much as you think they should.  Paediatric Feeding and Swallowing Specialist Speech Therapist and IBCLC Lactation Consultant Stacey Zimmels from @Feedeatspeak offers advice in her blog ‘Toddler food intake: “my toddler isn’t eating enough, what should I do?’

Dealing with a fussy eater is one of the more frustrating experiences you can have as a parent. Especially when you have spent time and energy thing about the best kind of food for your child to benefit from. It can also be worrying if you don’t feel your child is eating a variety of food that will set them up well for the future. Paediatric Feeding and Swallowing Specialist Speech Therapist and IBCLC Lactation Consultant Stacey Zimmels offers some detailed advice in her blog ‘how do I get my fussy eater to eat new foods? And because it’s such a hot topic amongst parents (you’re definitely not the only one to experience this) we asked Family Consultant at Bespoke Family, Clare Burgess to share her hints and tips about ‘fussy’ ‘picky’ choosy’ eaters.

We all want to have children that will be adventurous with their foods, and whilst we probably all recognise it’s not as simple as presenting it to them and watching them eat, there are some simple things you can do right at the start of weaning to help. Claire Burgess from Bespoke Family offers some insights in her blog ‘the next stage – real food, textures and tastes’

There is real power in establishing positive mealtimes for children, from lifelong health benefits to social & development opportunities. On a daily basis, mealtimes offer the opportunity for us to help children develop and unleash their independence. So whilst there are many routines in life that we do without too much consideration – at doddl we really believe mealtimes shouldn’t be one of them. Sitting around as a family or friend group and chatting about the day as you eat your meal may not seem like a learning opportunity, but it is for your child. Routinely they are experiencing how we interact around each other at the table, how we eat while we engage with each other, how we treat each other, how we behave. By sitting together, your child will also see you eating all different types of foods which will ultimately open their eyes to the variety of foods on offer. For more about the benefits of the whole mealtime experience read Claire’s blog ‘make mealtimes about the experience not just the food’

The simple answer is yes, because there are all kinds of benefits for both you and your child– for more insights read ‘the importance of eating out with your children’ from family Consultant Claire Burgess.

Yes. It can be messy; it can be time consuming, but it’s an investment in your child’s developing skills and independence and, with the right equipment, can be hugely enjoyable. From understanding and following instructions, to learning about different foods, looking at words, being creative, talking about weights and measures; cooking ticks a huge amount of boxes. Pouring, mixing, chopping and presentation. It’s also more likely your little one will try new foods if they have been part of creating them, helping with exploration and confidence. doddl toddler cutlery makes it easy to really get your child engaged – especially the toddler knife. Learn more about introducing the doddl knife here.

There are a huge amount of resources offering healthy recipes including our blog section. You can also try healthy food delivery boxes from brands such as Mamamade who will deliver frozen, homemade quality meals that are created by expert nutritionists & chefs to suit your baby’s stage of development.

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Whilst the plates that have separate food sections can be attractive, we recommend presenting food how we would normally eat it as an adult. By doing this you are helping to build familiarity with the way your little one will eat as they grow up, avoiding a sense of worry that food should be kept separate on a plate.

Setting yourslef and your child up for success is essential.

If they enjoy the experience, they’ll be more focused on eating and exploring the food and less on throwing it and making a mess.

Obviously, the more they get in their mouth, the less will end up on the floor and down their fronts.

To achieve this, the right products are important. Choosing an appropriate highchair can have a big impact on your child’s ability to eat successfully, find out more in this  blog ‘setting up for happy mealtimes’.

Buying a bib that helps keep some of the mess off the floor and clothes can ease the clear up time (and there are plenty of good ones on the market). Likewise, choosing doddl cutlery to make it as easy as possible for them to get the food from their tray to their mouths will help build confidence and skills at mealtimes.

Family Consultant and Early Years Expert at Bespoke Family and previously partnered with doddl whilst at the Norland College.

Feed Eat Speak is a feeding & swallowing specialist and Speech and Language Therapist

The Children’s Dietician is a Specialist Paediatric Dietitian