Aubrey Phelps, MS RDN PPCES IFNCP CLC
Baby-led weaning (BLW) is a way of introducing solids that has become popular over the past several years. The concept revolves around introducing solids in the form of family foods and jumping straight to finger foods that the baby self-feeds, rather than purees that are fed by the parent. Babies should generally wait to start solids until six months adjusted, but this applies even more specifically to baby-led weaning infants, as they need to have the core stability to self-feed and good core control and head control to reduce the risk of choking.
What are the advantages of baby-led weaning?
It promotes Diet Diversity: Research suggests that baby-led weaning may encourage better diet diversity, as babies are often fed what the rest of the family eats. This can also expose them to a wider variety of textures and flavors.
It expands the Palate: Most infant purees are quite simple and bland. Contrary to what you might expect, babies are just as interested in bold flavors as adults! In fact, some studies have shown a pinch of salt on bitter greens increases children’s acceptance of them. Children living in cultures that use spicy ingredients learn to like those flavors because of their regular
exposure.
It’s Easy: One of the biggest advantages of BLW is its simplicity! Instead of buying or making separate foods for baby, parents can simply make their own meals and offer
some variation of those foods to the child. No extra meals or dishes need to be made!
It encourages Self-Regulation: Because children are self-feeding with BLW, they also get to be in charge of how much they eat. Children have a very good sense of hunger and satiety when they’re little. This can be quickly overridden by well-meaning caregivers who encourage them to “finish” their plate” or “take one more bite,” etc. With BLW, the child controls what they eat, which helps them to develop their innate sense of satiety and hunger.
While we often talk about eating age with weaning families, which can make purees and mashes texturally appropriate, BLW can also be considered. In the next BLW post, we’ll take a look at the what and how of this approach to solids.