Earlier this week we had an interesting day of food refusal and baby led weaning, which was essentially my baby girl refusing anything I was giving her but quite happy to play and feed herself. When my eldest daughter was weaning, the time frame was diffferent, the advice was different and I was different. I was a naive mum who read baby books by the plenty (my favourite phrase was "I read in a book ....") and soaked up all the advice that was given to me by the health professionals. Two years after my daughter was born, it was reported by the BBC that spoon feeding was unnatural for babies and Gill Rapley, deputy director of Unicef's UK Baby Friendly Initiative, suggested that it could lead to health problems in later life.

So what has changed aside from the advice?

Am I any less interested in whats best for my baby, absolutely not, but I think I am probably a little more open to letting the baby lead the way, rather than being pedantic about milestones and time frames. Baby led weaning really was a new concept for me and as a "little" bit of a control freak, I sometimes find it hard to let her fling food around and not get involved.

Through talking to other parents who embrace baby led weaning I know that this behaviour isnt unusual, in fact its fairly standard and throw a bit of teething and a cold into the mix, its hardly surprising that she wants to eat at her own pace.

So what did I do ..... I had cooked a spaghetti bolognaise for dinner (which my 7 year old loves) but I was already beginning to get twitchy as to whether the little one would eat it ..... so she was stripped off and let loose. She can hold a spoon quite adeptly and puts food in her mouth, its just a shame (mainly for my floor) that the bowl usually ends up shoved off the highchair and food is everywhere! But guess what? She loved it!

Maybe I should just stop trying to be in control and led the baby lead the way!

For more posts about Baby Led Weaning, find them in the Baby Led Weaning Carnival over on Circus Queen's blog

Want to win a funky shower proof all-in-one overall from Imp Kids with the Lilypad?

Just click to enter here

Before I receive an onslaught of abuse for mentioning the C word …. It’s not Christmas! Although there are less than 100 days left until Christmas and I have actually already started buying presents, Christmas isn’t what this blog post is about. I have sat with this blog post half written for a few days, unsure if some people will be upset or offended by it, especially as my blog posts are usually light-hearted and I have always blogged for pleasure so this is a step away with more of a rant.

I recently had to go for some blood tests (for my friends and family reading this, please don’t panic) and I was in the doctors surgery with my eldest daughter sat next to me and the baby on my lap when the doctor calmly sat there and said my symptoms seemed typical of one of the three C’s. Colitis, Coeliacs Disease and Cancer. Momentarily the silence was deafening, had he really just said Cancer? Immediately I questioned his rationale for this sweeping diagnosis, not for me but for the 7 year old sitting next to me who is acutely aware of the word “cancer” and what that word can mean. 

I know that there are a lot of children that have to deal with serious illness both for themselves and their families and whilst she maybe 7 years old she is still my baby, she didn’t need to deal with that, not then, not yet … not ever. The flicker of panic in her eyes made me squeeze her hand a little bit tighter as the doctor then stated it was highly unlikely it was cancer as I would have lost a significant amount of weight (and the snugness of my trousers tells me this isn’t the case), so it was dismissed as quickly as it was suggested. 

I started this blog post being unsure whether I would upset or offend anyone, as I know there are thousands of people that have had to deal with this very situation but it was me that was upset, not for myself but for my daughter, who was momentarily plunged into the suggestion that her mum had cancer. Was the doctor right to do this in front of her? Surely he could have said there are a number of possibilities but we will do the tests and go from there? Was it really necessary to say that in front of the children?

This post isn’t an attack on my local GP, as I genuinely believe that they do a fantastic job. Thankfully the results came back clear for all of the suggested conditions, none of the “three C’s”. 

So when I say, don’t mention the C word, I think I am actually quite happy to use the word Christmas!

My eldest daughter has loved the water from a young age, happily splashing around at bath times but when the subject of swimming lessons came up, she always baulked at the idea, to the point of getting ridiculously upset and as a result, teaching her to swim has been a long and somewhat laborious process. So with the little one, when the opportunity came up to go to local Water Babies classes, I literally jumped at the chance to say yes.

There are obviously lots of different baby swimming classes available but having started 10 years ago in 2002, Water Babies is the UK's leading baby swim school, teaching a core skill to hundreds of babies & children every week which can potentially save their life. The website tells you that Water Babies course is very different to traditional swimming lessons.  For a start, because they only use warm water pools, babies can join classes from birth. (I wish I had known this a year ago!).

So we enrolled on the course and I was dissapointed that it was on a morning I would be unable to take her, but my mum stepped in and was delighted to get the opportunity to take the little one swimming. Admitedly on the morning of the first lesson, she was awake at 5 am (my mom not the little lady) fretting about how she was going to dry them both off after the lessons but off the went in the "happy nappy" swim shorts supplied by Water Babies. We chose the location at the Forest of Arden Hotel, where once upon a time I was a member of the gym (when I had both the spare time and money for the indulgence of a gym with spa facilities, but I digress), so I know what a fabulous location it is.

Nanny tells me that the Water Babies team were super friendly and welcoming (and hugely complimentary about the little one) but she was tired as the lesson is right when her natural sleep time is (again, my daughter, not Nanny), so we need to "encourage" an early sleep on Wednesdays in future! We have some exercises to try and get her used to having her face in the water, so bath times are huge splashing sessions which seem to get me more wet than the children at the moment. Although I am not joining the lessons each week, I am definately enjoying the benefits right in my own bathroom! Cant wait for more .....

I absolutely love this photo (courtesy of Water Babies Aylesbury) and cant wait to get a picture of our own little Water Baby!