Aubrey Phelps, MS RDN PPCES IFNCP CLC
Baby-lead weaning (BLW) can feel intimidating, especially because many parents worry about choking. It can feel both scary and weird to offer your baby pieces of your own dinner! So, how does BLW work, even with a weaning child?
First, just because you’re offering your baby part of your meal doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have some modifications! Even if you’re skipping purees and mashes, the foods offered should still be a soft texture. How soft? Plan to offer foods that are easily smushed between the first finger and thumb. It’s also typically best to offer your child foods cut into strips the size of your index finger until they have a well-developed pincher grasp. Once your child has a great pincher grasp, you can offer small pieces of food the size of a pea or the tip of your pinky.
Second, know that while research has shown that choking is not more common with BLW, gagging is! And there are big differences between ‘gagging’ and ‘choking.’ Gagging is a normal, healthy response that helps babies keep themselves from choking. Gagging can look very dramatic, but little ones are generally pretty unaffected by it! A helpful little rhyme to remember:
Loud and Red, Let them Go Ahead
Quiet and Blue, they Need Help from You
As long as you aren’t providing choking hazards (nuts, dried fruit, hard candies, gummies, cubes of cheese or meat, chips, popcorn, whole grapes, raw apple, raw carrots/celery, and really anything very hard or round in shape), choking is unlikely with BLW, according to research. With weaning kids, gagging is especially likely, BLW or not, because these littles tend to be more sensitive and on guard about swallowing.
Finally, what do BLW offerings look like? Really, anything you’re eating that’s texturally appropriate! Well-cooked rice, over-cooked pasta with sauce, ripe berries, avocado, oven-baked vegetables like carrots and potatoes, canned green beans, ripe pear/peach with peel removed, flaky fish, scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, and really anything you enjoy that’s nice and soft or modified to be so.
And if you’re not sure what to offer or if something is appropriate? Reach out to your team for ideas and modifications.