Messy Me Blog

Welcome to the first installment of my weekly blog post:

The Messy-Me Top 30 Superfoods for babies and toddlers

Each week, I'll choose a superfood, tell you a bit about why it's so good for little ones and then pick out a few delicious sounding recipe ideas (either from my considerable selection of weaning and baby food books or from websites).  My aim is to include a recipe for younger babies, a recipe for toddlers and a recipe for all the family (for when children are a bit older and you don't want to be cooking twice each evening).  They may be specific recipes or just some thoughts and ideas to inspire you. 

So here goes... Week 1 - Avocado

One of my favourite foods for little ones - it's a great ingredient for preparing a quick and easy meal for little ones.  Avocados can be used in the early stages of weaning and get a big thumbs up from nutritionists and weaning experts.

Avocados are packed full of goodness.  They are one of the richest sources of vitamin E (required for immunity and wound healing), are full of B vitamins (for energy) and potassium (for healthy hearts).   They are also a great source of healthy Omega 6 essential fats (important for hormone and brain development).

The main downside to avocados is that they don't freeze well and don't keep well in the fridge.  Once cut open, they turn brown and look pretty horrible quite quickly.  Adding a bit of lemon juice can help make them last a bit longer.  

Recipe ideas:

From 6 months +

One of the easiest recipes around..

Mush up half an avocado and mix with some of your baby's usual milk, until the consistency is right for your baby.

Variations - add some mashed banana, pureed apple or pear (All other superfoods we'll be covering soon).  Great for adding extra nutrition to mealtime and introducing different flavours to your baby.

From 9 months

Use mashed avocado as a sandwich / wrap filling, alongside cheese slices, cream cheese, ham or tuna.

Make Guacamole and serve with breadsticks / pitta bread and chopped raw vegetables -for a lovely messy mealtime!

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado (cut in half, stone removed)
• 1/2 clove of garlic - crushed
• 2tsp soured cream or creme fraiche
• Optional extras - some finely chopped tomato or freshly squeezed lime

Method:

Scoop out the avocado and put in a bowl.  Add in the crushed garlic and soured cream / creme fraiche

Mash until guacamole is the right consistency for your children.

Add in some finely chopped tomatoes or a squeeze of fresh lime if wanted. 

Family Favourites:

Use the guacamole as part of a tacos or fajitas meal with the children. 

Ingredients:

• Wraps or tacos
• Grilled chicken or mince (with or without chilli beans)
• Grated cheese
• Guacamole
• Soured cream
• Salsa

Lay out all the ingredients in bowls on the table.  Allow everyone to make their own tacos / fajitas

Has been a while since I last blogged - where does the time go?  Here we are in May, and finally the sun is beginning to shine, evenings are getting lighter and spring feels like it's finally arrived! 

The children are venturing back out into the garden and bouncing on the trampoline again and Oscar is not always completely covered in mud at the end of his walk! 

It's also so much easier to encourage messy play when it can be done outside - sandpits, playing with water, making mud pies...Anything which encourages a good intake of fresh air and exercise gets my vote. 

Yesterday, Florence suggested helping with the washing up.  When this happens, I usually try to distract her or prepare (taking lots of deep breaths!) for a deluge of chaos around my kitchen sink.  However, this time, she did the washing up outside - she had so much fun and apart from some damp clothes and a wet tea towel, there was no real mess to tidy up afterwards - perfect!!  

Life is busy as always at Messy Me.  We've had some exciting news over the last couple of weeks - with our high chair cover being shortlisted in the Best Feeding Product category in the Junior Magazine awards.  Junior is one of my favourite baby / children's magazines, so I'm feeling very chuffed about that.  We'll be featuring in their 'The Chosen Ones' section and are looking forward to hearing if we've won an award. 

The high chair cover has had some great feedback on the lovely blog -  Oh So Amelia.  Kerry really loves it - both in terms of its practicality (helping keep her high chair clean) and its gorgeous design.  Her full review is over in the news section. 

Our mini changing bag- the Messy Clutch - has also had a great month or so - winning a Bizzie Baby silver award.   The reviewers loved the size (compact, yet big enough to hold all your nappy changing essentials), the fabric (great quality, easy to keep clean, stylish designs), the thickness of the mat (not bulky so very portable), the versatility (can be popped into handbag, glove compartment, pushchair and handed over easilty to dad / grandparents when they take children out and about).  Perhaps my favourite comment - although I am biased - is...

'What a genius product, wouldn't want to be without it now' 

Berice Baby, a lovely mummy blog - also gave our Clutch bag a big thumbs up - 'I never knew a small clutch bag could come in so handy...'. There are some lovely photos of our clutch bag in action on her blog - again, it's over in our review section. 

I'm busy working on blogs on coping with fussy eaters (an issue very close to my heart - with my no. 2 (now 7) still tempted to think I'm poisoning her if I try to give her anything new or different!) and my top 10 superfoods for little ones.  I'll be blogging about these soon...

Enjoy the sunshine! 

In January, Messy-Me.com won an award, which we're so chuffed about - a Silver Website Award from Mumpreneur UK, a UK support network for mums in business. They've judged the websites on visual appeal, how easy they are to navigate, and the simplicity of the payment process. Thanks to our team at Digital Forest for all their work on the website, and Mel at Mellow Designs for her gorgeous ‘stylishly messy’ designs. 

We’ve just joined Not On The High Street (www.notonthehighstreet.com) which I am so excited about.  I have loved this site for quite a while now – and back in the days when I was dreaming about setting up my own business, I wished I’d come up with their idea!   They sell so many unusual, original items and provide a great platform for small businesses to sell their products to a wider market.  For me, they are a great source of inspiration at Christmas and birthdays. 

Our new Classic Red bibs and tunics are in and look super stylish...We've used a new photographer and think he's done a great job.

A couple of weeks ago, I took the highchair covers to be photographed again - this time in 3D - so we'll soon have rotating 360º images of the covers on the high chair on the site. This will make it easier for people to visualise how the covers fit on the high chair - and how great they look! It's amazing what cameras and digital technology can do these days...

I'm working on some new products to add to the range - aprons for little budding artists and cooks and cushions for wooden high chairs - both using our lovely oilcloth designs.  I've just made some tweaks to the first prototypes, so am hoping they will be ready to launch later this year.  

Reviews for our products have been coming in thick and fast - see our News section for some of the latest ones.  We're running various competitions over the next few months with Mummy bloggers and parenting websites.  You can keep up to date with all of these on our Facebook page. 

Our oilcloth highchair cover and clutch bags have been entered for the Junior Magazine Design Awards - so fingers crossed for that! 

Our bibs, tunics and clutch bags are available to buy at The Packhouse - a treasure trove of vintage and unusual goodies, near Farnham.

With the sun finally shining, and March nearly here - I'm hoping Spring is finally on its way, so we'll be getting creative and messy with some springtime ideas over the next few days!

 

 

I love Pancake Day - I have very happy memories of it as a child and love it just as much as a mum.  The children start looking forward to Pancake Day from about mid January and the pancake making experience is equally exciting for my 9 year old and my 3 year old.  

We always had a double dose of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday - savoury for our main course, with sweet pancakes for pudding.  So, following the family tradition, we'll be doing the same this year.  Here are some ideas - with (in true Messy Me style) a bit of mess involved...

Savoury Ideas: 

Pick and Mix:

A variety of different foods on the table so they can pick and choose what goes in the pancake - the only rule being they need a mix of protein and vegetables.  (Being Pancake Day, I make sure they've all got something they really like to choose from - in my view, it's not a day to fight food battles!)

Protein options could include - ham, grated or soft cheese, pieces of cooked chicken / sausage, tuna...

Vegetable options could include - tomatoes, cucumber, raw / cooked carrots, sweetcorn, pepper, avocado

Pancake Tacos

Again, a serve yourself idea...

Bolognaise / mince, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, guacamole (or grated carrot in the case of my middle one who wouldn't touch lettuce or avocado)

Pizza Pancakes

This is a two step process: 

The pancake is made and put on a baking tray.  Children add their toppings from a selection of pizza favourites such as tomato sauce, grated mozzarella / cheddar, ham, pepperoni, sweetcorn etc.  Once assembled, the pancake pizza is then put under the grill for a couple of minutes so the cheese can melt.

It can be tricky transferring the pancake from baking tray to a plate - a piece of foil between the pancake and baking tray can make it easier.   

Other less messy ideas:

Scrambled egg and bacon pancakes

Pan fried chicken and mushroom with a dollop of creme fraiche

Cheese sauce with their favourite vegetables  

Sweet Pancake Ideas 

Definitely the highlight of the meal in our family - orange or lemon juice with a generous sprinkling of sugar always goes down very well.  Here are some other ideas:

Chocolate sauce / Jam with squirty cream (lots of fun and rather messy!)

Strawberries and squirty cream

Blackberry and apple with ice cream

Sliced bananas drizzled with chocolate sauce / maple syrup or honey

 Whatever fillings you choose - Happy Pancake Day!!

As babies grow up, they become more confident at mealtimes and start wanting to feed themselves more and more.  Whilst it's a sign of their growing independence and an important milestone in their lives, giving up control of the spoon fills many mums with horror! 

Annabel Karmel strongly advocates allowing children to experiment with using a spoon or fork as soon as they are able to hold one.  In many of her cookery and weaning books, she talks about it being an important part of their development.

It is also suggested in a number of books, that early self-feeding can encourage children to be more adventurous in their eating - more willing to try new textures and flavours.   

It is undoubtedly a messy time, but allowing them to experiment and learn to feed themselves from an early age, will definitely be worth it in the long run, not only in terms of their attitudes to food, but also freeing you up to get on with other things. 

I remember, on a number of occasions, surveying the kitchen after meal time had finished, wondering if any food had actually gone into my children's mouths.  The vast majority was smeared all over them and the surrounding area.  It's amazing how much mess a small bowl of puree can make!   Our high chair cover was inspired by the mess splattered all over Florence's high chair at the end of every meal time. 

Here are some of my top tips for staying sane at messy mealtimes - based on my experiences with my 3 children, articles I've read and talking to friends and family:  

• Choose the right time and place - Some food will usually end up on the floor (and possibly splattered on nearby walls and furniture as well....) 
  • Finding the right place (kitchen, lots of wipe clean surfaces) and choosing a time when you're in less of a rush so will have time to clear up will help ease stress levels.
  • Feeding outside in the summer months allows children more freedom to make a mess without causing chaos in your kitchen
  • Allow them to experiment more freely with feeding themselves just before bathtime works for many mums - then the child can just be lifted up and carried at arm's lenth to the bath
• Watch out for the floor - some baby and toddler foods can stain badly - tomato, carrot and blackcurrant are major culprits. Some stone / wood floors can be stained by these and other foods.
  •  Investing in a mat or putting some newspaper or an old sheet on the floor around the highchair will help protect your floor.    
• Keep some wipes or a damp cloth close to hand to clear up spillages and wipe sticky hands quickly and easily before the contents end up smeared across their face or in their hair.   
• Make sure you are both well covered - investing in some good bibs which your little one can't pull off will help.  There will be occasions, when you will may get covered too - aprons can help or wearing clothes which don't matter so much. 
  • One friend always gave her daughter breakfast before she got ready for work so she didn't worry about ruining her outfit before she'd left the house. 
• In the early days, a two spoon approach can work well - they have one to hold and experiment with, whilst you have another to 'help' - so that at least some of the food goes in her mouth -rather than all over the table, floor, clothes, highchair etc!
• Offer finger foods at some mealtimes - bits of toast, cooked vegetables, pieces of pasta, small chunks of cheese.  Picking food up with their fingers helps them master the pincer grip which they will need to use a spoon or fork effectively.
• Choose purees with a reasonably thick consistency in the early days, such as fish pie or shepherd's pie.  The mashed potato helps food stick to the spoon for longer - so it's more likely to end up in their mouths rather than in their laps.  
• Eat together at some mealtimes.  Whilst it's not always practical to eat together at every mealtime, ensuring your baby is involved in some mealtimes is important.  They learn so much by watching you. 

Wishing you lots of luck with your messy mealtimes  - we're here to help make these times more stylish and help make clearing up after them quicker and easier! 

 

Family cookbooks for Christmas

As the weather over the last few days has shown,  we are well and truly into late Autumn.   Autumn messy moments have descended on the house - wellies, hats and gloves left lying around, children forgetting to take shoes off and leaving muddy footprints throughout the house, Autumn mementos - leaves, chestnuts, twigs left to wither on work surfaces...

This is our first Autumn with Oscar and he is certainly contributing his fair share of mess in the household.  He is a complete water and mud magnet - be that a lovely clean lake or a small muddy puddle...luckily, he's black so it's not very visible - until the mud dries once back at home and he leaves a trail of dried mud and dust around the kitchen and utility room.  

All that said, when the sun is shining, I love Autumn - the beautiful colours in the sunlight, the children shuffling in the leaves, shrieking playfully trying to catch leaves falling from the trees, splashing in puddles and squelching in mud.  Despite frequent moans about not wanting to go out for a walk, more often than not, they have lots of fun and come home with rosy cheeks, looking forward to hot chocolate and getting cosy in front of a log fire. 

Embracing the Autumn theme, our messy play at the weekend was handprint hedgehogs.   Once again, I tried to stay calm as paint went everywhere...

I found these hedgehogs on the Activity Village website - a fantastic source of crafty / messy play ideas: 

You need: 

2 shades of brown paint (we didn't have 2 shades so made our own)

Black paint / pen

Paper

Instructions:

Keeping your fingers together, make a pale brown handprint horizontally at the bottom of your piece of paper. This is the head.

Make lots of darker brown handprints with your fingers spread out - these are the prickles.

Finish off your hedgehog by making an eye / mouth with the black paint / pen. 

The finished result...

 

Lots of fun and not too much mess... thanks to our oilcloth tablecloth, a pack of wet wipes close to hand, and big bowl of soapy water for handwashing afterwards.

We'll be getting festive now - with some great messy Christmas activities lined up. 

   

Thank you to Jane at www.birthworks.co.uk for this great article on baby led weaning...

I like the idea of baby led weaning, although my youngest was born in 2005 before I’d heard of the term. Instead it was purees and mashed up food, spoon feeding and ice-cube trays full of miscellaneous vegetable mush in the freezer. However daughter number 3 was very enthusiastic about finger foods and wasn’t past grabbing a handful of food off her siblings plates. In hindsight she was initiating baby led weaning herself and I think it’s no accident that out of all my children she’s my most adventurous eater.


Photo courtesy of www.messy-me.com

Baby-led weaning is all about letting your child self feed and learn to love food through experimenting with taste and texture on their own terms. The idea is to involve your baby in mealtimes from about 6 months (when they can sit and hold their heads up properly) and allow them to try foods with the rest of the family. Milk continues to be your baby’s primarily source of nourishment in the initial stages of weaning: as they become more adept and consume larger quantities of solids they will naturally reduce the amount of milk they require.

Most parents will be anxious that there is a chance of choking, however the authors of Baby-Led Weaning – Helping your baby to love good food, Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett, argue that there’s no greater risk of choking than for a child on spoon fed purees. In fact a baby’s natural gag reflex (often mistaken for choking) pushes food away and out of the airway. Of course babies and small children should never be left unattended when eating.

Advocates of BLW believe that allowing a baby to feed themselves independently gives them a healthier attitude to food by letting them explore a range of tastes, textures and colours, encourages dexterity and teaches them from a young age about the social aspect of mealtimes. Gone are the battles and frustration of spoon feeding: allowing parents to be much more relaxed about mealtimes and stop worrying about the quantity of food their offspring consumes.

Tracey Murkett says:

“Baby-led weaning is based on the way babies develop naturally. At six months most babies will start to reach out for food and are ready to learn to chew. It’s not really anything new – parents have been advised to offer finger foods at six months for years and years. We are just saying they can all their food like this. Spoon feeding is simply leftover from when we thought babies needed food before they are really ready – at six months babies don’t need to be spoon fed (and often don’t want to be!). Learning to eat is like learning to walk or talk – it’s a natural developmental stage that will happen when a baby is ready.”

Of course there’s also the middle way which is to combine both baby-led weaning and spoon feeding, some foods are perhaps a little tricky for a young child to manage alone – soup springs to mind! This takes us to the subject of mess. Having read various weaning forums many comments against BLW are that it creates mess. In my experience so does spoon feeding: babies spitting out what they’ve just been fed, missing their mouths completely or a baby taking control by grabbing the bowl or spoon and lobbing it across the room! Weaning is a messy process whatever method you use, the trick is to accept that and be relaxed about it. One of the main reasons for a child having issues with food (fussy eating etc.) is because of the atmosphere created around mealtimes.

Birthworks customer Victoria Newbould has tried both weaning methods. Just like me it was baby number 3 who was the catalyst for trying a new approach to weaning. Finding the time to prepare purees as well as physically feeding them to your baby becomes much harder when you have toddlers too. Here is Victoria’s story:

“When it came to weaning my 3rd son, I almost entirely dispensed with purees. I was too busy to spend time spoon feeding him with a 4yr & 2 yr old to look after as well and had always found finger food far more successful with all my babies despite having followed traditional guidance to feed mashed up food.
Cecily trying sweetcorn!

When my 4th child was born (now 9 months) I read the only BLW book I could find Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. I only needed to read half of the book before I was entirely convinced that this was the most natural way for babies to learn about and enjoy food. What is wonderful about it is that it frees you from all the worry normally associated with traditional weaning. When you know that breast (or bottle) milk is the key component of a baby’s diet till they are 1 year old you can then enjoy the weaning process.

I never worry about how much she eats I just try to allow her the experience of as many flavours and textures as possible. This in itself happens naturally when they simply eat what you eat, as we don’t eat the same textures and flavours of food everyday. Babies learning about food in this way will grab food from your and your family’s plates, they will drop a lot of food on the floor but they smile and enjoy every moment of mealtimes. The biggest obstacle to parents thinking about BLW is always the fear of choking on food. Most can cite a time when one of their babies were coughing and spluttering on ‘a lump’. What I’ve learnt from research and what seems to be borne out in my experience is that a baby needs to learn the gagging reflex in the same way that it learns to crawl, or to roll over. If a baby is 6 months and sitting upright when eating, and are allowed to control the food into their mouths themselves this reflex is developed naturally. In addition there is more and more evidence to suggest that is quite possible that there is less chance of a BLW baby choking than a purée fed baby whose gagging reflex is constantly bypassed by the action of spooning of a semi liquid into their mouths.

I can’t tell you how many different things Cecily has tried in the last three months because she has eaten virtually everything we have as a family – with the exception of a rogan josh – but she happily dipped nan bread into dahl at 8 months. I am incredibly passionate about BLW and have already convinced at least 2 friends to try it and they too have been delighted by the experience. I hope that soon all new mums will stop filling their freezers with purees and discussing endlessly what their baby likes and doesn’t like and will just simply sit to eat with their baby and enjoy a mealtime together because when it comes down to it that is what BLW is all about.”

Tracey Murkett summarises:

“Baby-led weaning is really easy and enjoyable for families – that’s why it’s becoming so popular. Once you see a baby eating this way you can see that it just makes sense.”

We would love to hear your stories about weaning whether you are disciples of Annabel Karmel and pureed food or whether you too are trying baby led weaning. Please use the comments section below.

For further information visit Baby Led Weaning

• Baby-Led
• Rapley Weaning: The fuss-free way to introduce solid food
• The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook by Tracey Murkett
• Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Food
• For recipe ideas try the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook which strikes a balance between both weaning camps.

For further reading

• Baby Knows Best: Baby-led weaning promotes healthy food preferences
• Baby Led Weaning – How do you feel about letting your child feed himself – or herself?
• The Facts about Baby-led Weaning

Finally if you’re worried about mess, Messy Me have a great range of oilcloth bibs, highchair covers, tablecloths and mats.

Halloween is just around the corner, and my children, like many others will be on half term.  As always they are very excited about the prospect of trick or treating and the quantity of sweets they'll be given! 

 At Messy-Me HQ, we're always on the look out for messy ideas to try out - pumpkin carving is a good one and there are so many different crafty ideas to try as well as spooky recipes to make. 

This weekend, we tried out a few of Halloween craft ideas - choosing ones we thought could be particularly messy!  Sam, Gabi and Florence looked as if Christmas had come early as I encouraged them to paint each others' hands and feet with white paint to make ghost like shapes, allowed liberal lashings of glue and glitter to make spooky cobwebs and suggested they paint directly onto the tablecloth to make Halloween prints!

Activities like this WILL cause mess - I still have to take a deep breath and count to ten as I witness the chaos and mess in the kitchen.  However, the children always have such fun; Sam was dragged grudgingly away from the Wii to take part, yet within a couple of minutes was giggling hysterically as his feet were being painted.  Moments like that make the mess worthwhile! 

Here are my top tips for keeping the mess under control

• Use newspaper, a wipeable tablecloth or old sheet on the table and floor where you are crafting.  Taping it down using masking tape helps keep it in place for very messy activities. 
• Have a pack of wet wipes VERY close to hand
• Have a bowl of soapy washing up liquid ready for washing hands / pots / brushes etc.
• Timing close to bathtime means very messy children can be carried up and put straight in the bath - saving on wet wipes! 
• Make sure everyone is wearing old clothes - however hard you try, paint does go everywhere! 

Here are some of the Halloween ideas we tried out - all inspired by Activity Village, with a few Messy-Me tweaks...  

Sparkly Spiders Webs

You need:

• Black paper
• White chalk or white pencil
• Glue
• Glitter (I recommend glitter shakers - all the fun of glitter with less mess)  

Instructions

• Draw an outline of a spiders web
• Go over the outline with glue
• Sprinkle glitter all over and allow to dry

Hand and Footprint Ghosts

You will need:

• Black paper
• White paint
• Black pen or stick on wiggly eyes

Instructions

• Paint hands and/or feet with white paint
• Press down on a piece of black paper - with hand prints, keep fingers together for a more ghost like shape
• Leave to dry
• Cut out the ghosts, leaving a thin rim of black paper around the edge
• Add spooky eyes and mouth

Halloween Prints - a real test for my wipeable oilcloth!

You will need

• Wipe clean surface - wipeable tablecloth or tray
• Paint
• Black paper

Instructions

• Spread a thin layer of paint, slightly smaller than your piece of paper onto your wipe clean surface
• With your finger, draw a picture in the paint
• Carefully press your paper on top of the paint, making sure you don't move the paper or the picture will smudge.
• Lift your paper off and leave to dry
• Picture ideas - witch drawings on green paint, ghosts, haunted houses or spiders webs on white paint, pumpkin lshapes on orange paint

Spidery Finger prints

You will need:

• Black paint (small amount on some kitchen paper on a plate or saucer)
• Black pen
• Wiggly eyes
• Glue

Instructions:

• Press your finger or thumb into the black paint]
• Make a thumb print on your piece of white card
• Using a black pen, draw some spiders' legs
• Add wiggly eyes, sticking on with glue if needed.   

 

My children have now all past the weaning stage, but my memories came flooding back when a friend visited with her 7 month old baby this weekend. 

Thinking back, I still remember the expressions on their faces when I tried to tempt them with their first spoon of baby rice - a rather quizzical look (what is Mummy trying to put in my mouth?), followed by the tiny spoonful of rice being dribbled all down their chins in disgust!  It was always lovely watching their expressions when they tried a new flavour or texture for the first time.  Sam and Florence were generally very accepting and open to new tastes and flavours; more often than not, my fussy eater - Gabi adopted an expression of complete horror as if I was trying to poison her!  I also vividly remember Florence sneezing at one mealtime, just as she'd opened her mouth for a spoonful of carrot puree - I couldn't believe how much mess that made...

Weaning is a fantastically messy time - with purees splattered all over the kitchen and lots of soggy bits squashed down the sides of high chairs.  Hence why I started Messy-Me.

It can also be quite a stressful time, particularly in the early days - with the advice on how and when to wean changing all the time.  I started weaning Sam at 4 months as he was such a hungry baby - but the WHO guidelines recommended waiting until 6 months.  I did worry that I was starting too early, but milk alone just wouldn't satisfy him and I'd be up 2-3 times a night feeding him. 

I also remember worrying about how much they were eating - enough / too much / too little and occasionally feeding them in their high chairs in front of the television - distracting them so I could get a few mouthfuls of food into them.  Not to be recommended on a regular basis but it worked for me on occasions when I needed to feed them quickly, with less mess involved!

By the time Florence was born, baby led weaning was becoming increasingly popular.  Having successfully weaned both Sam and Gabi on purees and mashed up foods, I decided to stick with what I knew.  It's a personal choice and depends on what works for you and your baby. 

So, based on my experiences and the many conversations I've had with  friends over the years, here are my top tips for the early days of weaning:

• When you first start weaning, it should all be about exploration, not nutrition.  Let your baby discover foods in a playful way.  Milk feeds are still their primary source of nutrition. 
• Try solids at a time when it's convenient for you. 
  • Babies only need one meal a day initially and don't need to have breakfast as soon as they get up, especially whilst they are still having an early morning milk feed.   With Florence, I would always wait until Sam and Gabi were at school / pre-school - she was too distracted when they were around (and I was in too much of a rush).  
• Don't try solids when your baby is really, really hungry or if they're very tired and ready for a nap - you'll both end up stressed!
• Try new foods at mealtimes when you don't have much planned straight afterwards. 
  • Without thinking, I tried a new fish recipe out on Sam just before we were going out for lunch.  Sam threw up the entire meal shortly afterwards - all over me and our outing ended rather abruptly!
  • Many experts recommend trying new foods at lunchtime, so you can look out for and deal with any adverse reactions before bedtime. 
• If your baby doesn't show any interest in solids, don't get stressed and force it.  Try again at a different time of day or in a few days time - they may be more receptive then.
• Start with milder flavours and focus on vegetable purees so your baby gets used to the taste of savoury food. 
  • My favourites in the first few weeks were sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash - on their own or mixed with potato, apple or pear. 
• Let your baby join in with family mealtimes.  Even if you've fed them beforehand (not many adults want to each lunch at 11.30!),  pull their high chair up to the table with everyone else and give them bits of your food to try or finger food to nibble on.  Babies learn and absorb so much from watching - if they don't see you eating, they won't have anyone to imitate. 
• In the very early days of weaning, it's easier to control the mess. 
  • As babies become more familiar with mealtimes and more confident, they will often try to grab the spoon - giving them a spoon to hold whilst you feed with another spoon worked well for me.
  • Accept that weaning will be messy!  Bibs don't catch everything, especially if your baby discovers what an effective catapult a spoon makes!  Protecting the floor with a newspaper or mat and using a high chair cover can help.
• Most of all, try to make mealtimes fun and relaxed and be patient!  If you're stressed about how much they are eating or the mess they are making, your baby with pick up on this, and mealtimes can become a battleground. 

For those of you embarking on many months of messy mealtimes - good luck and have fun!