Frequently Asked Questions

Baby-led weaning (BLW) is a way of introducing solid foods where, instead of being fed purées by a spoon, babies are offered appropriately prepared finger foods and encouraged to feed themselves.

It's about giving your little one the opportunity to touch, hold, explore, taste and learn about food at their own pace.

There may be a lot of grabbing. A little squishing. Quite a bit of dropping. And definitely some mess. But that's all part of learning.

Current NHS guidance describes BLW as offering finger foods and letting babies feed themselves, and notes that some families combine it with spoon-feeding.

Yes. As babies learn to self-feed, mealtimes become an opportunity to explore different tastes, textures, shapes and colours, while practising skills like reaching, grasping and bringing food to their mouth.

And perhaps most importantly, they begin to discover: "I can do this myself."

Solid foods are generally introduced at around 6 months, when your baby is developmentally ready (NHS).

Signs of readiness:

• Sitting with good head and neck control
• Coordinating their hands and mouth to pick up food
• Swallowing food rather than pushing it back out

Every baby is different, so if you're unsure, check with your baby's doctor.

Not at all.

Some families choose traditional spoon-feeding, some choose BLW, and many do a little of both. There isn't one right way to introduce solids. What matters is that your baby gets a varied, developmentally appropriate diet and is fed safely (NHS).

And yes, it's going to get messy. ♡ That's where Rumpumbumm comes in.

We create mealtime essentials for little hands learning to feed themselves, because when babies are allowed to explore, meals become about much more than simply getting food from plate to tummy.

They're learning. They're discovering. They're growing. One messy meal at a time.