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Is Baby-Led Weaning Safe? Plus More for Parents Starting Solids
October 2023
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
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Inside: Baby-led weaning is a method of starting your baby on solid foods. Here we break down exactly what it is.
We are so excited for you to start solids with your baby soon. You are probably looking for the best method to feed your baby.
There are several different methods of transitioning your child from breast milk and/or formula to solid foods. We’re going to talk about baby-led weaning and how to do it.
Sometimes parents choose to try flavor training with their baby. Flavor training occurs before a baby officially starts to eat solid foods, around 4 to 6 months of age.
Introducing flavors is different from starting solid foods. You can choose to expose your baby to flavors by offering smears of vegetables.
The most important things to know about starting solid foods
There are three important parts to feeding your baby, whether you use baby-led weaning or any other method:
Practice responsive feeding.
Serve a variety of flavors and safe textures.
Move to table foods as quickly as possible.
Practice responsive feeding
Responsive feeding is listening to when your baby is hungry and when they are full. These “hunger cues” and “fullness cues” help your baby eat the right amount of food for their body.
Serve a variety of flavors and safe textures
Having many flavors and safe textures is the backbone of learning to eat.
If your baby is exposed to a variety of flavors and textures in their early months, they are more likely to keep eating some of those flavors and safe textures. (1,2)
This can help prevent some forms of picky eating.
Regardless of how you start to feed your baby solid foods, it is important to serve textures that will not cause a choking risk.
Move to table foods as quickly as possible
Lastly, getting your baby to table foods as quickly as possible will help them learn to eat well. This also helps to reduce the possibility of serious picky eating as they get older.
What is baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning (BLW) is a method of starting solid foods in which your baby feeds themselves from the beginning, instead of being spoon-fed. In addition, other key features of BLW are that your baby participates in family mealtimes and that they can share family foods prepared in a safe and appropriate manner.
Baby-led weaning follows the three most important parts of starting solid foods: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Parents start by feeding their baby properly prepared pieces of whole food (about the size of a baby’s fist) that they cannot choke on. These pieces of whole food provide a variety of flavors and textures throughout the transition from a liquid diet to a solid diet.
Following BLW means your baby feeds themselves from the start, so that they are deciding what they are going to put in their mouth. This is helpful because it makes responsive feeding relatively easy.
Because your baby is starting with table foods, the only transition the parents will need to make is from large pieces of food to bite-sized pieces of food as the baby develops their pincer grasp.
Self-feeding in baby-led weaning
Self-feeding means offering large pieces of whole food that your baby can pick up and put into their own mouth. It means allowing your baby to decide what and how much they will eat, and letting them be an active participant in the feeding process.
Because a baby does not develop a pincer grasp until around 9 months of age, when starting solids, it is important that parents or caregivers serve pieces of whole food in a safe size and shape that their baby can pick up on their own.
For foods that are not “graspable” like yogurt, parents or caregivers can offer a spoon to their baby and give them the chance to feed themselves.
Is baby-led weaning safe? Does it cause choking?
No. From what we know at the moment, there is no evidence that baby-led weaning causes more choking when the food is prepared properly, according to the method.
Studies so far have concluded that baby-led weaning is a safe way to start feeding a baby solid foods.
Some people have taken the idea of “a variety of flavors and textures” to mean that babies should be able to eat all textures from the start. This is not true and can be dangerous.
Regardless of what method is used to introduce a baby to solid foods, the foods need to be prepared safely. Many textures are not safe for young babies and need to be modified before being offered to a baby.
Parents need to be familiar with choking prevention before they begin to feed their baby solid foods.
Does baby-led weaning prevent picky eating?
It is commonly claimed that baby-led weaning will prevent picky eating. This is not entirely true.
The studies that have been done about baby-led weaning show that picky eating can be reduced in some children. (1,2)
A child who did baby-led weaning may still be picky or they may be less picky than they would have been if they had started out using a different method. (1,2)
It is also possible that a child who did baby-led weaning will become very picky. This is not because the parent did something wrong. It means that the child has more difficulty eating than other children do due to other factors. (1,2)
Is baby-led weaning the best way to start solid foods?
Baby-led weaning is a great way to start feeding your baby solid foods. It includes the three most important aspects of feeding your baby: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Baby-led weaning is also structured and follows a specific set of rules, which may be something your family is looking for.
That said, every family is unique, and it may not be the “best” option for some families.
Here are a few reasons that baby-led weaning might not be a good match for a family:
A parent is experiencing anxiety or postpartum depression.
The child attends daycare where self-feeding or starting with table foods is not allowed.
The child is neurodiverse and requires a longer transition period from liquids to table foods.
Structure in baby-led weaning
Some families love the structure of baby-led weaning. With baby-led weaning there is a commitment to only letting the baby self-feed and to not using purees
Other families prefer more flexibility depending on their situation. They may want to use purees part of the time and table foods at other times. They may not want the pressure of rules or a method.
What is the difference between baby-led weaning and Puree-to-Table feeding?
In Puree-to-Table feeding, the baby starts with purees and advances quickly to table foods.
Puree-to-Table feeding also covers the three most important parts of starting solid foods: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and safe textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Baby-led weaning and Puree-to-Table feeding are similar in many ways. The first few months of feeding are different, but by the time a baby is 8-9 months old, the methods are almost the same because of the focus on table foods.
Puree-to-Table feeding is more flexible, however. It allows families to offer more purees and spoon feeding as desired.
What is the difference between baby-led weaning and traditional spoon feeding?
Traditional spoon feeding does not always cover the three most important parts of starting solid foods.
It may not include responsive feeding. Parents or caregivers may offer purees on a spoon and continue to feed their baby until they finish all of it. However, this means it is easier for the baby’s hunger and fullness cues to get lost in the feeding process.
Parents also may feed the child in a way that the child does not get messy.
Traditional spoon feeding often relies heavily on smooth purees. Smooth purees are an important part of feeding some infants, and it can be easy for parents to get stuck at this stage and not move on to textured purees and solid table foods.
Lack of exposure to flavors, textures and responsive feeding can make a child’s transition to table foods more complicated and may contribute to picky eating in toddlerhood.
Choose the method that is best for your family
Baby-led weaning can be a great option for many families. However, remember that it may not be the best method for every family. You can follow all of the best practices for starting your baby on solid foods using another method or a mix of methods.
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian and has a masters of science in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2019, she founded Kids Eat in Color®, a public health resource that improves child and family nutrition and mental health. Prior to starting Kids Eat in Color® she coordinated youth nutrition programs at a food bank, performed research in inner-city food deserts, and consulted for the USDA national office SNAP-Ed program. Her academic background is in public health nutrition, cultural anthropology, and economics.
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Inside: Baby-led weaning is a method of starting your baby on solid foods. Here we break down exactly what it is.
We are so excited for you to start solids with your baby soon. You are probably looking for the best method to feed your baby.
There are several different methods of transitioning your child from breast milk and/or formula to solid foods. We’re going to talk about baby-led weaning and how to do it.
Article contents:
How to know when your baby is ready for baby-led weaning
The most important things to know about starting solid foods
What is baby-led weaning?
Self-feeding in baby-led weaning
Is baby-led weaning safe? Does it cause choking?
Does baby-led weaning prevent picky eating?
Is baby-led weaning the best method for starting solids?
What’s the difference between BLW and Puree-to-Table feeding?
What’s the difference between BLW and spoon feeding?
How to know when your baby is ready to try baby-led weaning
Around 6 months of age, most babies are ready to start solid foods. By then, your baby may be starting to show all the signs of readiness.
Sometimes parents choose to try flavor training with their baby. Flavor training occurs before a baby officially starts to eat solid foods, around 4 to 6 months of age.
Introducing flavors is different from starting solid foods. You can choose to expose your baby to flavors by offering smears of vegetables.
The most important things to know about starting solid foods
There are three important parts to feeding your baby, whether you use baby-led weaning or any other method:
Practice responsive feeding
Responsive feeding is listening to when your baby is hungry and when they are full. These “hunger cues” and “fullness cues” help your baby eat the right amount of food for their body.
Serve a variety of flavors and safe textures
Having many flavors and safe textures is the backbone of learning to eat.
If your baby is exposed to a variety of flavors and textures in their early months, they are more likely to keep eating some of those flavors and safe textures. (1,2)
This can help prevent some forms of picky eating.
Regardless of how you start to feed your baby solid foods, it is important to serve textures that will not cause a choking risk.
Move to table foods as quickly as possible
Lastly, getting your baby to table foods as quickly as possible will help them learn to eat well. This also helps to reduce the possibility of serious picky eating as they get older.
What is baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning (BLW) is a method of starting solid foods in which your baby feeds themselves from the beginning, instead of being spoon-fed. In addition, other key features of BLW are that your baby participates in family mealtimes and that they can share family foods prepared in a safe and appropriate manner.
Baby-led weaning follows the three most important parts of starting solid foods: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Parents start by feeding their baby properly prepared pieces of whole food (about the size of a baby’s fist) that they cannot choke on. These pieces of whole food provide a variety of flavors and textures throughout the transition from a liquid diet to a solid diet.
Following BLW means your baby feeds themselves from the start, so that they are deciding what they are going to put in their mouth. This is helpful because it makes responsive feeding relatively easy.
Because your baby is starting with table foods, the only transition the parents will need to make is from large pieces of food to bite-sized pieces of food as the baby develops their pincer grasp.
Self-feeding in baby-led weaning
Self-feeding means offering large pieces of whole food that your baby can pick up and put into their own mouth. It means allowing your baby to decide what and how much they will eat, and letting them be an active participant in the feeding process.
Because a baby does not develop a pincer grasp until around 9 months of age, when starting solids, it is important that parents or caregivers serve pieces of whole food in a safe size and shape that their baby can pick up on their own.
For foods that are not “graspable” like yogurt, parents or caregivers can offer a spoon to their baby and give them the chance to feed themselves.
Is baby-led weaning safe? Does it cause choking?
No. From what we know at the moment, there is no evidence that baby-led weaning causes more choking when the food is prepared properly, according to the method.
Studies so far have concluded that baby-led weaning is a safe way to start feeding a baby solid foods.
Some people have taken the idea of “a variety of flavors and textures” to mean that babies should be able to eat all textures from the start. This is not true and can be dangerous.
Regardless of what method is used to introduce a baby to solid foods, the foods need to be prepared safely. Many textures are not safe for young babies and need to be modified before being offered to a baby.
Parents need to be familiar with choking prevention before they begin to feed their baby solid foods.
Does baby-led weaning prevent picky eating?
It is commonly claimed that baby-led weaning will prevent picky eating. This is not entirely true.
The studies that have been done about baby-led weaning show that picky eating can be reduced in some children. (1,2)
A child who did baby-led weaning may still be picky or they may be less picky than they would have been if they had started out using a different method. (1,2)
It is also possible that a child who did baby-led weaning will become very picky. This is not because the parent did something wrong. It means that the child has more difficulty eating than other children do due to other factors. (1,2)
Is baby-led weaning the best way to start solid foods?
Baby-led weaning is a great way to start feeding your baby solid foods. It includes the three most important aspects of feeding your baby: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Baby-led weaning is also structured and follows a specific set of rules, which may be something your family is looking for.
That said, every family is unique, and it may not be the “best” option for some families.
Here are a few reasons that baby-led weaning might not be a good match for a family:
Structure in baby-led weaning
Some families love the structure of baby-led weaning. With baby-led weaning there is a commitment to only letting the baby self-feed and to not using purees
Other families prefer more flexibility depending on their situation. They may want to use purees part of the time and table foods at other times. They may not want the pressure of rules or a method.
What is the difference between baby-led weaning and Puree-to-Table feeding?
In Puree-to-Table feeding, the baby starts with purees and advances quickly to table foods.
Puree-to-Table feeding also covers the three most important parts of starting solid foods: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and safe textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Baby-led weaning and Puree-to-Table feeding are similar in many ways. The first few months of feeding are different, but by the time a baby is 8-9 months old, the methods are almost the same because of the focus on table foods.
Puree-to-Table feeding is more flexible, however. It allows families to offer more purees and spoon feeding as desired.
What is the difference between baby-led weaning and traditional spoon feeding?
Traditional spoon feeding does not always cover the three most important parts of starting solid foods.
It may not include responsive feeding. Parents or caregivers may offer purees on a spoon and continue to feed their baby until they finish all of it. However, this means it is easier for the baby’s hunger and fullness cues to get lost in the feeding process.
Parents also may feed the child in a way that the child does not get messy.
Traditional spoon feeding often relies heavily on smooth purees. Smooth purees are an important part of feeding some infants, and it can be easy for parents to get stuck at this stage and not move on to textured purees and solid table foods.
Lack of exposure to flavors, textures and responsive feeding can make a child’s transition to table foods more complicated and may contribute to picky eating in toddlerhood.
Choose the method that is best for your family
Baby-led weaning can be a great option for many families. However, remember that it may not be the best method for every family. You can follow all of the best practices for starting your baby on solid foods using another method or a mix of methods.
References
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24685457/
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18838198/