The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer.

UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook".


When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice?

After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook” by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. 

This cookbook taught me how to assemble meals that our whole family can enjoy together. It helped me prepare foods that will work for Henry’s current abilities and challenge him to develop new competencies at the table. I learned what to expect with BLW: the mess, the gag reflex, and the change in diaper outputs. I also gained an appreciation for the philosophical difference between spoon-feeding and BLW; BLW de-emphasizes quantity, and focuses more on trusting my baby to decide how much to eat and learn when his appetite is satisfied. Of course, it is also a great cookbook – so for the rest of this week, I’ll be cooking with “The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook” and reviewing several of the recipes.

When I decided to review this cookbook, I wanted to be able to share it with other parents. I decided to take a leap and contacted the authors to ask if they would be willing to sponsor a giveaway contest. I was thrilled when Gill Rapley and The Experiment Publishing agreed to offer the cookbook as a prize. 

That’s right -- How to Feed a Henry is giving away a copy of “The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook” to one lucky reader!

So how do you enter?

1. Leave a comment below with your name and the title of your favorite How to Feed a Henry blog post.
2. If you are a fan of How to Feed a Henry on facebook, you are entitled to a second entry. If not, you can become one here: http://www.facebook.com/HowToFeedAHenry. Just leave a comment below to let me know you’re a facebook fan.

This contest ends on Friday, September 28, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. PST. One winner will be randomly selected from all valid entries using Random.org. Good luck!

All the messy details: All U.S. residents 18 years of age and older are eligible to participate. Entrants must have a valid email and mailing address (no P.O. Boxes). The contest will run until Friday, Saturday 28, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. PST. The winner will be announced in the comment section below and on the How to Feed a Henry facebook page by Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. PST. I will also attempt to contact the winner directly by email.

The winner must respond to feedahenry@gmail.com with their shipping address by Monday, October 1, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. PST to claim their prize. If the winner does not respond within the required timeframe, an alternate winner will be selected.

This prize is valued at $15.95 USD and will be mailed to the winner directly from the book publisher (The Experiment – www.theexperimentpublishing.com). No purchase necessary. All federal, state, local and municipal laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited.