The traditional way of weaning is to use purees from sixteen weeks. The World Health Organization now recommend milk only for six months, although it seems many babies (especially boys) cannot wait that long. We felt Rachael was ready for solids at five months.

However, we had read about a new concept called Baby Led Weaning. Ideally, you wait until the baby is six months old, then give it solid (non-pureed) food to feed itself. This sparks cries of 'choking hazard!' among some traditionalists. However a baby's natural gag reflex is much further forward in the mouth than that of an adult, which, coupled with close parental observation during feeding, greatly minimises the risk of choking. It is practically unheard of for a baby to choke to death on food, although some gagging is not uncommon to start with, even with purees.

Along with the benefits of allowing the baby to explore the texture and shape of food, baby-led weaning also by its very nature causes the baby to experience a single type of food at a time - unlike purees which are often mixtures of various different flavours. In theory, this is supposed to gently train the palate and make the baby much less likely to be fussy about food in future.

Although we started Rachael three weeks early, she responded amazingly. As she had no teeth we chopped things into chip-shape, then assisted her where necessary (pear is a little slippery!) By six months, she could somewhat spoon feed herself (very messily). As there were still no teeth, she couldn’t manage meat unless it was pureed, but everything else was unprocessed. At eight months, she was eating the same meals as us, yet still struggling with meat (but not fish). At eleven months (and still just two teeth) we finally twigged she just doesn’t like eating animals! A bowl of dhall (curried lentils) doesn't last long though!

So mealtimes are rather messy, as hands are much more fun to use than cutlery, but mum and dad can eat in peace alongside Rachael. And she likes virtually everything - she loves just about all fruit, vegetables, pulses, oily and white fish, and cereals. The only things we have found she won't eat are meat and avocado. We also didn't allow her to have any sugary foods for the first 10 months or so, and even then only as an occasional treat. This seems to have worked well because whilst she enjoys the odd biscuit or cake now, she doesn't go mad hankering after more - she is content with just a little treat.