This does not translate, though, into me not needing to entertain her most of the time. So, we do end up with a lot of pick me up put me down, which is fine, but distraction is always welcome.

So the day is a long sequence of Talitha emptying the contents of a bag or splashing in a bowl of water while I wash up for, if I’m lucky, a few minutes, until she tugs at the leg of my jeans full of fuss. If she could say “bored” she would. So I can use all the help I can get.

First we tried it downstairs in the diningroom and it was OK

This rainbow maker is our current distraction. When I selected it from Find me a gift I thought it looked pretty cool. It was the kind of thing we’d enjoy but wouldn’t buy ourselves. I generally think that’s what constitutes a good gift.

When it arrived, it did not look impressive in the box. In fact, it looked quite cheap (despite being marked at £24.99) and I doubted that it would actually do anything or have any noticeable effect.

Then we put it upstairs in her bedroom and she was suitably impressed

Still I put it up, in hope. It caught the light right away (it needs direct sunlight) and its solar panels got turning. Suddenly there were bits of rainbow spinning around Talitha’s bedroom. She went from grumpy to transfixed, following the light with her eyes everywhere.

My photos sadly don’t do the actually rainbows justice. Take me word for it that they’re really cool.

It’s not a necessity, by any means, but it’s a cute touch for a baby’s room. Actually, it’s just the kind of thing I would have loved for my room as a teenager. Sadly, we’ve had a lot of cloudy days recently so we haven’t got that much use out of it yet. That’s Britain for you.

I’m also finding it a bit tricky putting it somewhere where it can catch the light but where Talitha won’t try to grab it. It’s definitely not meant for little hands – fragile with too many choking hazards attached. The Swarovski crystal which refracts the light is pretty itself so I don’t blame her.

I can see this becoming a good tool later on for when I’m trying to explain rainbows and light refraction to her, actually. So I guess that will be another distraction for a future developmental stage too.

Find me a gift sent me a Swarovski Crystal Rainbow Maker to try out.

Almost every year that I’ve known him, he’s done something like this for charity. Twice it was the London to Brighton cycle ride. Once it was a Rickshaw Run across India. This time he’s running with a group of 500 from our church and they’re calling themselves Love Running.

I really dig the name. I’m drawn to the idea of getting out and physically doing something for the love of others: the poor, the oppressed and the needy. This is how they put it: “Love Running is about seeing love in action, love with legs.”

I also admire the charities they’re raising money for: World Vision (who were represented at Cybher), CLIC Sargent and Tear Fund. You can find out more about the specific projects they’re supporting here.

So although, I’m still not sold on the running thing (I won’t be signing up for next year’s Bristol 10K, let’s put it that way) I do feel inspired to get out from behind this laptop and go do something real.

While I work out what that is, Talitha and I will be cheering for her Daddy at the finish line on Sunday. He ran 10K by accident this week (how does one do that?) so it should all be OK.

If you’d like to donate even a pound to sponsor Laurence please visit his JustGiving page or text 70070 with “WVMY77″ and the amount (eg: WVMY77 £5).

Despite what it says there he’s actually raised £109 so far (as of 17/05 21.40pm). As an added incentive, if you donate you’ll be in with a chance to win a bottle of English sparkling wine. A winner will be drawn on Sunday 27th May 2012 at 7pm.

Dear baby,

I’m sorry you are so ill. It hurts to see you so dazed, worn out, inactive – well, for you, anyway, which probably means your fever’s making you behave like a normal baby instead of an infant mentalist, but I wouldn’t know.

You latch my breast for moments before gasping for air. You wake up every hour, every two hours to feed again. Little and often is all you can manage right now. I am tired but so are you.

I feel like transported back to your newborn life where you mostly slept or screamed. You demand to be in my arms at all times, hardly content even to be carried on my back.

So I get stressed worrying about the laundry and the dishes and at least a dozen other chores to be done around the house. You are unaware and unbothered about these things. You only know that I must hold you.

I rage against being pinned under your tiny, snuffly, sleeping body. I am trapped by your smallness, by your fragility. I couldn’t do this if I had more than one child to look after…

But I only have you. And I only need find solutions for us today. I stop to look down at your sweet lips and hot forehead. Your closed eyes make you seem to trust me since you’re so at ease with me.

If I would relax I know my peace could transform this moment. So I do.

I sip the rise and fall of you against me. I marvel at how you’ve tripled your weight since being born yet are still so connected to me. My mind tries to wrap itself around this mystery God has given me.

Instead of raging, I rest in your beauty. I kiss your cheek. I draw you closer. I too go to sleep.

Love,
Mummy.

Anyway, I ate enough of it to get really picky and set in my ways about it and now when I eat any yogurt, it doesn’t taste right if it’s not Yeo Valley.

So I was intrigued when Yeo Valley invited me to come hang out with them last Friday. I wasn’t sure what to expect though. Would we walk through a factory, dip our faces in yogurt, and maybe wave at a cow?

Anyway I said yes because I welcomed a day out in the Somerset countryside. They’re based in Blagdon across the lake from my in-laws (the lake in the sexy farmer Xfactor advert) so I hoped I could entice my mother-in-law to babysit. She loved it.

Blagdon lake

What mainly sold it to me was that it would be a chance to spend time with other bloggers and with a brand I’d already fallen in love with. OK, maybe it was the allure of death in dairy. You’ve got me.

The day began with a short walk over the Mendip hills in the crisp morning air. Our guide Les gave us a history of the area in rocks, showed us some wild garlic and nettles, and even pointed out an orchard he’d helped plant.

With each step he drew intricate connections between Yeo Valley’s sustainable farming and the stunning nature that surrounds it. His phrase “history, mystery, myth and magic” summed up for me the charm of his storytelling.

Mum2babyinsomniac

The day painted for us a picture of Yeo Valley that went beyond the yogurt to tell a story of the people behind it. I got the sense that everyone working here shares a passion for enjoying beauty, producing quality and living in tandem with nature.

Meadow in a car

Up at Wills Barn, an education centre which only uses enough electricity to boil a kettle, we got stuck in with yogurt tasting. On one end the samples began with the natural yogurt which die hard fans like me hold fast to, along with a milder version for those who find its distinctive taste overpowering (to which I say, “huh?”).

At the other end was the new luxury “Top Notch” line with fruit compote at the bottom. My favourite of these was the Sticky Fig & Honey. Other stand-outs for me were the Lemon Curd from the fruity flavours (it’s basically a pudding) and the First Yeos which contain no refined sugar so would be perfect for Talitha.

We then had a cooking demonstration from the chef about whom I tweeted: “The @yeovalley chef is stunning enough to have been in the advert with the sexy farmers… #appreciationofbeauty”. He showed us how to make a sour dough bread made from a starter that’s been going for a mind-blowing 25 years, tea smoked trout which apparently anyone can do (we’ll see when I try!), dressing and a ridiculously easy cheesecake. Lots of recipes are available on their website.

And, of course, our appetites were being worked up for a reason.

Tummies filled, it was time for a jaunt around the gardens led by the head gardener with some gardening tips thrown in. I basically now want to burn my compost or will it out of being. It’s apparently got so much rubbish in it. And lord knows I’m never going to turn it but I now know that I need to. Fun fact: Yeo Valley has the country’s only organic-certified ornamental garden.

Lessons in composting

We did see some cows in the end, as expected, but they were indoors as the weather’s not great. I heartily recommend a visit to the West Country to spend a day with Yeo Valley. It was the best day out I’ve had in a while.

It was also lovely to see Mum2BabyInsomniac, Knitty Mummy, Being Mrs C and Bishopston Mum.

Me in the gardens

That said, I missed my baby as I’m not used to leaving her. I came home bearing gifts though. A couple of days later she eagerly demonstrated both how much she loves Yeo Valley’s natural yogurt and how messy baby led weaning is!

Disclaimer: Yeo Valley invited me to come spend a day with them and it was lush. That is all.

1. If you don’t pump for a day, even at eleven months into your breastfeeding journey, you WILL live to regret it

I knew this. So my single electric pump was sitting there in my handbag saying “Hey, lactating lady, remember me?” but like a n00b I ignored it because I was having too much fun at Cybher, my first blogging conference. Also, despite working out where to pump with Mummy Limited who’d been organised enough to check it all out days before, I plain copped out. I’d worn a dress with no boob access as I wouldn’t have to breastfeed. Pumping would’ve seen me topless in the Cybher office. Lovely.

2. My daughter is a stubborn boob enthusiast and she will wait

As in, she’ll wait the 14 hours it takes mummy to get back home. I was so stressed out before going about the milk situation because every time we or anyone else offered her a bottle of ANY kind of milk, she wouldn’t have it. Water – fine. Milk? That only comes out of boobs. This from the baby who was combination fed for months. Anyway, people assured me that she wouldn’t starve herself and she didn’t. She ate lots of food, especially yoghurt, and drank lots of water. Then boy did she make up for it, feeding every two hours the whole night. And yet, I’m still pumping the excess for my aforementioned stupidity.

3. If you’re planning to meet someone so you can go in to a conference together, make sure you mean the same place

I ended up standing outside Charing Cross waiting for Mum2Babyinsomniac having totally missed that she’d said Embankment. So no morning coffee before the games began. At the moment I don’t function without caffeine at the start of the day. I soon found myself cutting short a conversation with Mother’s Always Right like a serious junkie in search of a fix.

4. Plan your journey ahead of time

In fact, I hadn’t got coffee at the station because we’d booked train tickets last minute late the night before and written down the booking code wrong. Then I couldn’t get through to Laurence or Talitha’s godfather Kevin (we were down in Brighton this weekend so they were both looking after her – walking along the beach and looking like a modern family as strangers knowingly smiled at them). So in the end I bought a second ticket, making it the single most expensive Brighton to London journey I’ve ever made. Tell me I will outgrow this? That I’ll one day turn into this thrifty, organised, perfect homemaker? No? Well, OK.

5. Always go into sessions with an open mind

When we got there, I spent time looking through the timetable and thinking: “What on earth is that about?” I vaguely picked what stood out but nothing seemed like it was going to be particularly relevant to me or something I didn’t know about or something I couldn’t search for later. How wrong I was. Virtually every talk was stimulating. I was reinvigorated to keep blogging and trying to create something meaningful. I was challenged to think about what would make it meaningful to me.

6. Within my blogging niche I have a lot of room for experimentation

I joked about being such an erotic blogger hence going to Ruby Kiddell and Lori Smith‘s session on sex blogging. Actually, what I left realising is that as a feminist, a mother and even as a foreigner, I have a wide scope to talk about sex from a distinct point of view. And I don’t mean detailing what goes on in our house though Laurence did look a bit pale when I told him this.

This aha moment repeated itself when I went to the thrift blogging session run by AThriftyMrs. Again, I won’t become a thrift blogger but her session made me realise that I have gained specialist knowledge just by living off one income and there is scope for that direction in this blog if I wanted to pursue it.

Though I mainly went because Transatlantic Blonde said I should, the feminist session reminded me why I want to write more about gender and equality issues. My conscious feminist journey began when I was a first year uni student acting in The Vagina Monologues.

Hopefully my feminist views have matured over the years. Now as mother to a daughter it seems more vital then ever to work at challenging the patriarchy in the world she grows up in even if only in small steps. Also a question came up that made me realise I want to talk about my faith more on the blog. It’s a huge part of me and my feminism DOES fit with it.

Even the self-publishing session run by PJPublisher was useful and I’m not even sure I would self-publish though it could happen. What it did for me was get me to think a bit more about what I want to get out of blogging. That and “I need to get off my arse and write more fiction.”

7. I think too much and don’t do enough

I was seriously flagging by the time I went to Cathy Presland‘s session but hers was probably the most useful considering where I am in my life right now. Talitha is almost a year. The call to return to work is strong, the instinctive need to stay with her is stronger. I know that I need to strike some sort of compromise but haven’t been able to settle on a plan. So I skip around the problem in circles until I collapse, mentally exhausted. I realised in Cathy’s session that I need to take another look at the way I set goals and, more importantly, start acting on them.

8. Small talk is not my thing

I loved meeting other bloggers and had good chats with many but part of the reason I was so shattered on the way back was that I find situations like this emotionally strenuous. It wasn’t always this way.

9. A little prioritising goes a long way

Like a total keen bean I filled every time slot with a session. I wish I’d skipped a couple and just looked for people to have longer and quieter chats with. I also wish I’d made more plans with people ahead of time.

Jax from Liveotherwise and the best accessory ever – and I don't mean the wrap

10. I am rubbish at recognising anyone

Thank you, Tea and Biscotti and Circus mum for coming to say hi but you show me that I’m hopeless. I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t recognise David Beckham if he’d been at Cybher.

11. I am broody!

Apparently bloggers like babywearing. There were so many gorgeous wraps there being sported by Liveotherwise, Patch of Puddles and Mixed Up Mummy among others. And all those little babies! Anyway I was happy to get back to mine. In all the excitement, I really missed her. Part of me is beginning to feel ready for another…

12. Fabulous stuff can happen at the eleventh hour

Wellies and Worms, an ecommerce site that sells outdoor clothing for children stepped in at the last minute to sponsor me for Cybher. When I say last minute, I mean on the train up. How cool is that? I’ll tell you all about them later this week. Massive thanks to them.

I’ll tell you more about them next week. For now I’ll mention that they’re an ecommerce site selling outdoor clothing for children.

Their products are both pretty and functional, and Wellies and Worms has such a bright feel as a brand. I’m glad they’re the ones sending me to Cybher.

Name : Adele Jarrett-Kerr

Blog : Circus Queen

Twitter ID : @AdeleJK

Height : 5’6″

Hair : Longish, very dark, curly and pretty wrecked since all my glowy pregnancy hormones started slipping away eleven months ago

Five things you should know about me…

1. I grew up in Trinidad and moved here seven years ago so have fresh migrant “issues”

2. I’m not a book, film or TV snob. In fact, for someone who holds an English Literature MA, I make truly appalling choices in the entertainment department

3. I am pretty disorganised and I’m not sure any creativity I possess makes up for this but I am trying to get better!

4. I write for a living. At the moment I’m mainly mothering and I’m still getting to grips with that fact.

5. I get extraordinarily passionate about things. For me it’s not enough to love something. I must sing its praises. This sometimes throws me off balance but I prefer seeing the world alive in colour.

If you’re also going to Cybher and you’ve left it to the last minute, join in the Meet and Greet.

Mind you nothing’s necessarily wrong with that either. A mere century or so ago it was illegal to feed an infant solids before a year without medical advice to do so. Not that I’m advocating waiting that long either! I digress. On to the carnival.

About two weeks ago I invited bloggers and others to share their baby led weaning experiences as inspiration and encouragement, and generally as a resource for anyone visiting this Circus. Somehow I’ve got my dates mixed up, horrendously. So, this post was meant for this morning but it is now nearly the next day. Alas.

First off, if you’re not sure what I’m on about when I say “Baby Led Weaning”, head over to WAHM-BAM where Tasha gives a clear and thorough explanation of what it entails, with some tips about how to do it. I fully identify with the mess captured in her photographs and envy her the dog.

Next, we’ve got a photo from Molly of Mother’s Always Right. Her gorgeous daughter Frog is just past one here and making good headway with an apple. Unpeeled and unsliced, it was the stuff of nightmares for her unconverted friends. She looks like she’s loving it and it’s almost given me the courage to offer Talitha the same!

Fear can surround introducing a baby to solids this way, though. So, helpfully, Niamh from It’s Yummy Mummy knowledgably tackles the two biggest worries: gagging and what your mum thinks.

There’s a number of healthful reasons for going down the BLW route (that acronym amuses my father-in-law no end). One is that by waiting until a baby can sit up and manipulate food for herself, you ensure that the gut is sealed, ready for solids. Aly of Plus 2.4 talks about this in her response to the misleading media reports surrounding an inconclusive study of whether solids should be introduced earlier than six months. She explains further in a footnote to a guest post on her blog which looks at how breastfeeding and Baby Led Weaning fit together – a topic I want to visit myself at some point.

This way of introducing solids doesn’t have to an all-or-nothing deal. Chloe from ChloeWitters had her fair share of back-and-forth. In fact, Emily from Mummy Limited even wonders if it really matters whether we spoon feed or baby led wean (she didn’t offer this specific post but did mention she’d written a lot about BLW so I hope she doesn’t mind I’ve included this).

I know that talking up Baby Led Weaning this way risks idealising and overcomplicating it so, thankfully, Jenny from Don’t Wake the Baby reminded me that this really is the perfect way for lazy mums to introduce solids. She even offered a second post in which she casually lets her one-year-old indulge in some Yo-Sushi!

Ever ready to tell it like it is, though, Jane from Northern Mum poo-poos on the idea of it being for the lazy mum, warning that doing things this way is messy, redeemed by the fact that her daughter BB loved it. You and I need Tasha’s dog, Jane.

But since it really is such a relaxed approach, I’m really hoping that we’ll continue like this into toddlerhood. Perhaps our outcome will be similar to the one Lisa from Mama.ie describes as she talks about Baby Led Weaning two years on.

To finish off, here’s some foodie inspiration. The idea for this carnival emerged from my feeling at a loss as to what to feed Talitha so she’s not eating toast at every meal every day.

Kate of Adventures in Baby Led Weaning reminded me that I can just let her dig into porridge with her hands (her interest in spoons is irregular at best). Hannah from Muddling Along Mummy offered a step-by-step for pasta and courgettes which starts in her veggie patch and ends in the bath! And, to finish off, three (!) pancake recipes from mamacook. Pancakes are possibly my favourite breakfast and these baby-friendly wonders are definitely being added to our repertoire: pancakes, potato pancakes and dairy-free pancakes.

That wraps up the first Baby Led Weaning Carnival. The next one will be held on June 4th. I know I said bi-weekly but I’ve realised that it makes more sense not to put unnecessary pressure on my time. I’m sure any parents of small children reading this understand why. Please send any BLW posts (or if you’re a non-blogger: photos and thoughts) to adele@circusqueen.com by June 1st. The carnival will actually be on time next month! (I hope)

PS: If I forgot to include your post, I am so sorry. Please email me the link or leave it in the comments here and I will either work it into this carnival or the next. x

My mother filled the awkward baby bath with water, set it on top of the toilet and showed us how to hold and wash our daughter. Talitha howled the whole time. Mummy assured us that she would one day enjoy bath time. I was doubtful. I couldn’t imagine anything getting easier. You can’t when you’re in survival mode.

Of course, it happened. I think bath time may possibly be her happiest time of day. She plays, she babbles, she drinks the bath water, she tries to stand up. I’m all business when it comes to bathing her but it’s become a real bonding time for her and Laurence.

The tub, however, was quickly abandoned. It just takes up too much room and as I said, it’s awkward. We just got fed up of having it about so stuck it in the garage, possibly for evermore. Our life with a baby bath was at an end, surely…

…except we’re using one again. Whitestep sent us a Real Cool World Flexi Bath bath tub. I agreed to review it thinking it would be ideal for times we go to other people’s houses for the weekend. You know, people who *gasp* don’t have a bath. Not that we can’t then use a sink but that can get a tad annoying and we are SO lazy.

The Flexi Bath folds up small and tidy so we can just tuck it in the bathroom corner when it’s not in use or chuck it in the car when we’re going away. We’re thinking of going camping this year so I’m thinking this is when it will really come into it’s own.

Laurence was a bit uncertain about the whole thing. I think he’s just got used to Talitha freely roaming our massive bath. The appeal for him is that the Flexi Bath is small and so conserves water. Talitha seems perfectly happy in it. However, I’ve got to say that those two children in one Flexi Bath on the packaging were definitely in a size larger than ours. I’m pretty sure ours is a one bambino only deal.

I never bathed Talitha as a newborn. I was too skittish about it. So I asked Laurence what he thought about it as a bath for a newborn. He reckons that it’s a little awkwardly shaped for resting your arm while supporting a wobbly tiny one but that we’d likely use it anyway because it’s better than having a massive bath knocking about when not in use and getting in the way.

I was amazed at how little there was on the packaging in the way of instructions. There are a few precautions like don’t let them stand up (and really, don’t, it’s proper slippery as Talitha has demonstrated a couple of times) which you shouldn’t do in a bath anyway.

Other than that, it came with a handbook which just says in lots of different languages that the Flexi Bath is a really good idea. You know what? All in all, I think it is.

Whitestep sent me a Flexi Bath by a Real Cool World

We ended up seeing it by accident. We’d actually bought tickets for the wrong viewing of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which was disappointing when we eventually saw it.

We sat for a full 20 minutes towards the film’s end, thinking it must be avant garde, before realising the error. The mix up turned out to be serendipitous.

(Warning: This post contains spoilers)

Assuming The Hunger Games would be gratuitously violent and character-thin, I wasn’t keen to see it. How wrong I was.

Katniss Everdeen, the film’s protagonist played by the talented Jennifer Lawrence is a feminist triumph and a sign to Hollywood that blockbusters led by women do sell. We left the theatre physically aching from the tension of the film but unpacking her character was, for me, the most exciting bit.

That’s saying a lot in a plot-line involving a dystopian future in which twenty-four children are forced to fight to the death for a worldwide television reality show.

From the start, Katniss lives outside of traditional gender stereotypes. She hunts and trades to provide for her family. A potential love interest, Gale, is introduced early on but her story is in no way dependent on him.

In fact, its been suggested that gender doesn’t matter in The Hunger Games, in the sense that any of the characters could be male or female and it would not essentially change them or the plot.

The argument goes that Katniss is a feminist character not because she is female and protesting a patriarchal system but because her gender has nothing to do with the story.

This makes sense but I’m inclined to disagree. The world of The Hunger Games is patriarchal. Katniss is told repeatedly that her obstacle to standing a chance in the games is that she is not likeable. To be likeable, she must be desirable: dolled up and the object of Peeta’s affection.

It would be all too easy for the film to disempower a strong female character by forcing her to give in to being sexualised in order to survive. This is not what happens.

Though taking advantage of her beauty and playing the role of star-crossed lover where she needs to, Katniss remains focused. She relies mainly on her wit, prowess in archery and physical strength to protect herself and rescue others.

The film also could have traded her femininity for violence and aggression, making it difficult for us to access her character, but there is none of that here.

Katniss only kills in self-defence, never glories in the violence and spends most of the games running away or hiding to avoid killing or being killed.

In fact, her most subversive acts involve singing to younger girl Rue to ease her passage into death, surrounding her body with flowers, making a sign of solidarity to Rue’s district and threatening to take her own life later on instead of taking Peeta’s.

The way she relates to male characters is important too. I’ve seen her described as a girl between two boys which is both reductive and a clear misreading of her situation.

The film makes it obvious that Katniss performs her romantic affection for Peeta. Feelings beneath the surface are no doubt muddled but it is simply one of the many things she does to save both their lives.

At the film’s end, the look exchanged across the crowd between her and Gale is not one of regret, longing or accusation. We get the sense, rather, that he understands she did what she had to do to keep her promise that she would return. Both relationships are based on mutual respect.

Basically, I’m willing Hollywood to make more films like The Hunger Games, led by female protagonists like Katniss. If only the casting call for her role had also been open to actors of colour. When Talitha’s old enough to watch a 12A, these are the portrayals of femininity I want her to see.

Maybe she’d surprise me but I made up my mind to be suitably vague. I just didn’t want to get into it, you know?

I keep thinking now that I should have.

HV: How many times a day does she feed?
Me: Oh, it varies.
HV: She should be eating more solids by now and demanding less of you.
Me: Mmhmm.

Really, though, why didn’t I say what I was thinking – that actually it’s perfectly fine that Talitha still breastfeeds at least six times a day?

That’s her main source of nutrition for the first year. It’s more nutrient and calorie dense than any other food I can give her. When she’s ready to eat enough to displace milk feeds, she will.

This is yet another reason I love baby led weaning. It ensures that she does what she’s going to do on her own unique schedule.

That said, she really does eat. Even now, it’s exciting seeing her do it. Her dexterity has improved massively and she usually will eat all sorts of things from cereal to squid.

I seriously lack inspiration as to what to feed her, though. Left on my own, I’d eat toast all day long but I want her diet to have more variety than that.

So that’s part of why I’ve decided to hold a bi-weekly Baby Led Weaning carnival*, to gather inspiration. The other is to gather real-life stories of BLW families. Hopefully this will be both an ongoing resource and celebration.

If you blog, send me links to your Baby Led Weaning posts, old and new. Even if you didn’t do BLW but you’ve got recipes that would suit, frisbee those over. My address is adele@circusqueen.com Alternatively you can leave your link in the comments.

If you’re not a blogger but would like to share photos of your babies feeding themselves or thoughts on/experiences with Baby Led Weaning, you can email me those too and I’ll include what I can.

This will be a regular feature. Whatever I can’t include this time round I’ll use in a future week. The first carnival will go live on May 7th. Please send me your links, etc by May 4th.

Hopefully this will just be a good bit of fun and useful, especially for anyone taking this approach to introducing solids.

* Baby Led Weaning involves allowing babies to feed themselves from the start and to have control over both how much (or little) they’re going to eat and what they’ll eat. It’s often seen as a natural extension of breastfeeding but formula fed babies can do it too.
** A carnival is a post featuring other posts, usually themed in some way.