• Eating out with Vegetarian Babies in the Birmingham area

  These are my favourite places (obviously based around the Midlands, UK - at the moment!) I have order them simply by my favourites according to how accommodating they have been to my boys and myself on a regular basis.

• An Introduction to Vegetarian Baby-Led Weaning

  I have been a vegetarian for half of my life - 20 years (I'm 40 now). I was vegetarian before becoming pregnant, during my pregnancy, while breast-feeding and throughout weaning my boys. They are healthy. I am healthy. In fact we are all more than he

• What is Baby-led Weaning?

  Baby-led Weaning means no more feeding your child and eating your food afterwards, it means sitting with your baby and eating the same food at the same time. It means thinking about your diet and adapting it to be baby-friendly and nutritious and the

• Veggie BLW Recipes

  These are tried and tested recipes of my own, adapted from my own vegetarian recipes that I have used for years. I always try to cook the same food as we eat, one of the principles and benefits of BLW is that you eat alongside the babies as you don't

When I commenced on our blw journey I had no idea where to start. I feel that now (the boys are almost 4 months in) I have found the best solutions for us at. However, there was a lot of trial and error. You don't need any equipment at all, but some carefully chosen items will make the whole adventure so much more enjoyable, especially if you like to take the children out to eat a lot as I do.

This is the first 'travel seat' I bought. It is a bit low for the baby to eat at your table but your can put a cushion underneath him if you want, as seen here by Arlo covered in yoghurt during his first week of weaning on holiday in Spain. It's so compact you can throw it in a handbag, and it washes and dries quickly. It's suitable for first weaners as it holds the baby securely upright and I have yet to find a chair that it won't fit onto. Highly recommended!

rrp - £21.50

http://www.totseat.com/

The most amazing piece of equipment I ever bought! Much cheaper than other similar products, made from recyclable materials, and super funky. I cannot recommend this enough - buy one! It's super light and easy to clean and therefore hygenic. I introduced the boys to these seats at about 4 months, just for a few minutes at a time with some toys. Arlo can actually pop the table off now, but he's learning the word 'no' real fast.

rrp - £26.80 (I bought mine on ebay for £24.50)

http://www.cushitush.co.uk/cushitush/

Incredibly cheap and easy to clean. You can buy a table but I like to pull it up to our table. Comes in bright and funky colours and you can try it out at the Ikea Restaurant. Seen here is Niah just before we jet-washed him.

rrp - £10.99

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00069725

I always hated plastic bibs and tried a plethora of alternatives. However, when I found these they made eating in and out altogether less messy and therefore more enjoyable. They wash easily, just rinse off, and scrunch up small into a bag. They are soft, and while may be more interesting than the food for your baby to start with, this soon wears off when they realise how many hidden treats can be 'fished out' yish! Arlo is seen here with a stash of sandwich of unknown origin or description.

rrp - £2.99

Although perhaps a little pricey, worth every penny. It is a change bag with change mat, holdall, and baby seat. Your baby might not sit in it too comfortably until about 7 months, before that I would have to sit close as Niah would tend to lean sideways. However, now, I couldn't live without it (well ok I could) - It is an instant highchair if none is available, and in fact BETTER than a high chair. I especially love how it boosts the baby up to a proper table height and you can tuck them right up to the table. I take it everywhere and It was especially a God-send on holiday. It seems to fit any chair I come across, sponges clean easily, has lots of pockets, looks really cool ... oh I love this travel seat - LOVE IT! This is Arlo in Spain, he could manage it before 6 months but Niah didn't feel safe in it until about 7 months.

rrp - aprox £55 (bought mine in Spain for 60 Euros, there are various different 'models' varying greatly in price)

http://www.hoppop.eu/

I tried many alternatives from waterproof picnic blankets, newspapers, and old towels - all of which worked out fine. However, I stumbled across this funky grass pattern vinyl fabric which you can buy by the metre and it has been by far the best solution. It wipes clean, folds up small enough to take anywhere, and looks cool. It is way better than the waste of throwing away newspaper or washing old towels, and cleans better than a picnic blanket!

The boys can be seen here looking very civilised having breakfast at 9 months. What you don't see is the cereal getting dumped out, the juice being poured into the cereal, and mom picking cereal out of everyone's hair.

rrp - £9.50 per metre at John Lewis ( I looked on ebay to see if i could find it cheaper but there wasn't much difference, you can also look for oil cloth, same difference)

I have a whole range, I love the highly recommended Doidy Cup but it isn't very independent to use. The best cups I have found are the original Tommee Tippee cups and The Cow Cup (the latter can have a valve removed so it becomes free-flow).

http://www.amadeusail.co.uk/amadeus-productd.html

I started using this when the boys reached 10 months and they could coped with 'no spill' type cups. I cannot express how great it is. One great use is for while travelling in the car, they can hold it any way up, it won't spill hardly at all, and for some reason they just love it!

http://www.amadeusail.co.uk/amadeus-productf.html

I bough these a month or so ago and wish I had found them months ago when I started BLW. I have had a lot of comments about them already, apparently most suction bowls are pretty useless. They are not infallible, but 9 times out of 10 stay put, and on the occasions they don't give me time to rescue the food. They enable me to feed the boys more interesting food when we eat out which is why I love them. You can also buy spare bowls separately. Not cheap but worth it.

http://www.vitalbaby.co.uk/types/bowls/un-believ-a-bowl-set.html

Washing-up cloths:

I call them J Cloths - those blue cloths that can be re-washed and used many times. Buy hundreds of these and have several damp ones ready before each meal. They clean up everything and can be washed and reused numerous times.

Large Tray:

I start every meal by loading up a large tray so that I can bring all the food to the table after children are securely strapped in to their seats and can remove said tray and detrius of the meal quickly before unstrapping them.