Weaning is often talked about like it’s a checklist.

Start at six months,

Offer these foods,

Follow this method

Avoid those mistakes.

But when you’re the one sitting at the table with a baby in front of you, it doesn’t feel like a checklist at all. It feels emotional. Personal. Sometimes exciting, sometimes overwhelming, and sometimes completely confusing. After more than two decades supporting babies, children, and families, I’ve come to understand something very simple. Weaning isn’t a method, It’s a relationship.

It’s the beginning of your baby’s lifelong journey with food. And the tone of that journey is set not just by what goes into their mouth, but by what they feel in those early moments. The pressure, or the calm. The expectations, or the curiosity. The fear, or the connection. So often, I meet parents who feel like they’re already getting it wrong. They’ve read too much. Heard too many opinions. Been told there’s a “right” way and a “wrong” way.

Baby-led weaning or purées.

Organic or homemade.

Finger foods or spoons.

And somewhere along the way, the baby gets lost in all the noise.

That’s why I created the KIND approach to weaning, not as another method, but as a gentler way to experience this stage together.

KIND stands for:

Kindness

Individual journey

Nurturing connection

Discovery through exploration

Because every baby is different. Every parent is different. And every weaning journey deserves to be treated with care, not comparison. For professionals, this matters just as much. When weaning is reduced to a feeding schedule or a set of rules, the emotional and sensory experience of the baby is often overlooked. But when we start to see weaning through a baby’s eyes, everything changes.

Confidence grows,

Pressure drops.

Mealtimes become moments of connection, instead of performance, weaning isn’t something to master it’s something to experience together.

When we lead with kindness, the rest tends to follow.