We all know that bananas are a great and healthy food. According to Authority Nutrition “Bananas are a healthy source of fiber, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and various antioxidants and phytonutrients”. Bananas are a perfect food to give your baby as they start baby led weaning and there are many different ways that we can offer the fruit to babies. The most obvious way is to simply divide a banana into segments and offer them to your baby. The easiest way to separate a banana is to cut it in half width ways, then pick up one half and push on it gently and you will notice that it naturally separates into three long segments. By breaking it into these natural segments you will notice that the banana is also less slippery for a baby to pick up with a fist hold (from six months of age). Banana Bread. Some of you may have seen our sugar free banana bread recipe. This is a delicious bread that includes three bananas and is very moist. Its perfect for a snack […]

In this video Sarah and Anna discuss the subject of portion sizes when weaning your baby. This appears to be an area that causes anxiety for some parents who are starting out with weaning. Parents can worry their babies are eating enough during meal times. We hope this is helpful for those of you who have queries about this topic, but please do get in touch if you have any further questions for us.

Picnics are great for baby led weaning. You can take the mess outdoors and it’s a relaxed and fun way to enjoy your meal. Picnic food also really suits early weaning (6 months +) as you can make things nice and chunky for your baby to hold. We found the best way to sit is on an old blanket with your baby between your legs so you can give them a bit of support to sit upright. Have your baby’s food on a plate next to you and put a few things on a plate in front of them so they don’t fling a plate of food across the blanket. Alternatively offer them individual foods to hold if you think they will struggle to lean forward and pick things up. Have your picnic on a plate next to you so you can eat at the same time and then it wont feel either of you have to rush to allow the other to eat. Keep a pack of wipes close by and take a bag for waste. It is best […]

From what I read on the internet some parents seem to struggle with encouraging their babies/toddlers to eat vegetables, particularly of the green variety. We have also had a few Mini Munch followers ask Sarah and I how to encourage their little ones to eat more vegetables. Understandably this is something that we are all keen to get right given the great nutritious benefits of this food group. Fruit appears to be less of an issue, but this is likely to be due to the fact that fruit is generally a lot sweeter and more appealing to babies with its bright colours. Starting out with baby led weaning. The important thing when starting out with baby led weaning is to always relax. Baby led weaning really is what it says……….baby led. This means that we should never try to force feed or get frustrated at our little ones for not eating something that has been lovingly prepared or something that we know is really nutritious and healthy such as green vegetables. I know this is easy to say because we […]

In this third video Anna and Sarah from Mini Munch Club discuss the issue of babies gagging when following the baby led weaning weaning approach and how to manage mess.

Constipation is common in childhood, particularly when children are being potty trained at around two to three years old.  My daughter suffered with constipation at this age and had another recent episode at the age of 5.  I thought it would be useful to look at dietary suggestions to help constipation and come up with a recipe that included some of these ingredients. NHS choices advise children may be constipated due to: Not eating enough high-fibre foods Not drinking enough Having problems with potty training Constipation can also suggest that your child is worried or anxious about something.  Their worry may be about a big change such as moving house, starting nursery or the arrival of a new baby Their suggestions for helping to relieve constipation are: Encouraging your child to have six to eight drinks a day – this includes breastfeeding and formula milk feeds.  This is something I had to do for my daughter as she was not good at drinking compared to my son who drinks loads.  It’s easier to reason with her now about this than […]

In this second video Anna and Sarah from Mini Munch Club discuss how baby led weaning fitted so well into their busy lifestyles with two children and they recommend some good first recipes to try when starting out with baby led weaning.

These are called Devon pasties because our mum was brought up in Plymouth and this is the recipe our Grandma used to cook for her.  We have many fond memories of eating homemade pasties on family holidays and outings.  We all still enjoy them now!  They can be eaten hot or cold so are great for an evening meal or to take on a picnic. Babies in the early stages of weaning may find it difficult to pick up the pasties.  You could therefore serve them with chunky vegetables to make it a little easier.  See how they get on and let us know what you think of the recipe. Our Mum would love to hear your thoughts. Ingredients 1b good steak mince 3 medium potatoes 1 large onion ½  Swede 1low salt stock cube Pepper to season 1 pack of short crust pastry (or make your own, see below) 1 beaten egg Instruction Put the meat into a large mixing bowl Cut all the vegetables into ½ inch cubes Add to mince with crumbled stock cube and pepper and […]

Meet Anna and Sarah from Mini Munch Club as they talk about their passion for baby led weaning and why it has worked so well for them as busy working mums who love cooking healthy food for the family.

We love Easter at Mini Munch Club and wanted to come up with a picnic that suits all the family from babies (doing baby led weaning) to great grandparents!  We have come up with a few novel ideas as well as some family favorites.  This is most likely going to be an indoor picnic but we felt this type of dining is more fun and versatile with young children than a traditional roast.  However if you wanted to cook up a family roast this Easter check out last years recipe.  You may not want to prepare all these things but can pick and choose a few things to suit you, if you do prepare it all I strongly advise you delegate to your guests. Bunny rabbit sandwiches For this I simply made rounds of sandwiches trimming off the crusts and then cut them into shape using a Rabbit cookie cutter.  There are plenty available on line and children will love them.  I did a mixture of cheese and ham.  I presented the sandwiches on a bed of cucumber sticks to […]

  Mini Munch In The Sunday Times. These past few weeks have been quite exciting in the Mini Munch Club office with Sarah being interviewed twice by Josh Boswell at the Sunday Times for our thoughts on the high sugar and salt content in baby food and kid’s ready meals. It felt great that something we felt so strongly about was being recognised and published because for a long time now both Sarah and I have been stunned by the amount of sugar and salt in baby and children’s food. For those who are less aware of the issue and believe themselves to be feeding their baby/child good healthy food, it will be a shock to learn that this is not the case and that they have been deceived by the food industry and its packaging/labeling. From this we can only learn that we cannot always trust the food manufacturers to have our children’s best interests and health at heart, but that it is up to us as parents to take more control of our children’s diet. Baby Milk Action […]

We have heard many mums say that they have puree fed their first baby but their second or third child has absolutely refused to eat anything off a spoon. In these instances mums have often turned to baby led weaning (BLW) as an alternative, and soon find it is actually a much easier option that suits the whole family especially their baby. We wanted to share ‘Sarah’s story’ which is a lovely example of exactly this. We will also give you some recipe ideas to suit young children and a baby starting out with BLW. Sarah has three children. Holly who is 6 years old, Grace who is 5 and lovely little Jack who has just turned 7 months. This is her baby led weaning story. I puree weaned both my daughters which generally went well. With Holly I had time to prepare her puree meals and focus on her needs. When Grace started weaning it was more difficult to find time to prepare her purees so I used to make up large quantities at once and freeze it. Then […]