What is Baby Led Weaning?
Most of you mommas out there have probably heard about the new way of feeding your child known as Baby Led Weaning (BLW). BLW is a unique approach to starting your baby on solid foods. This involves bypassing purees and transitioning straight to finger foods at 6 months of age. It is known as “baby-led” because it does just that, lets your baby lead the way and feed him or herself new foods.
Is Your Baby Ready?
First of all, is your baby ready to start solids? No matter what the technique in transitioning to solids, it is important to pay attention to your child’s cues:
- Can he/she sit up on their own?
- Have they lost the tongue-thrust reflex (reflex that causes them to push foreign substances from their mouth)?
- Can he/she grasp and hold onto foods? (they should be developing a a pincer grasp where he/she picks up objects between thumb and pointer finger)
If you answered yes to these questions, then good news, it’s solid time!
The most important thing to remember when choosing a method of weaning is that your baby is fed. Every child and parent is different, so don’t compare yourself to others. Even if you are dead set on BLW, your child may not be and that is OK. Starting on purees will not set your child back and is a completely sound way of feeding.
Is Baby Led Weaning right for you and your baby?
The pictures and videos of babies holding a drumstick and eating like a little adult makes baby led weaning intimidating and intriguing at the same time. There are many advantages to baby led weaning but as with anything, there could be disadvantages.
Advantages to Baby Led Weaning:
- Studies have shown that BLW can lead to less picky eating due to the variety of textures and wider variety of foods.
- They are less likely to over eat– with spoon-feeding, the parent is in control. BLW allows the baby to self-regulate how much he/she eat based on hunger.
- Learning how to chew– when starting with purees, babies learn to swallow but not chew while BLW offers both.
- Develops hand-eye coordination skills.
Disadvantages to Baby Led Weaning:
- It is MESSY– I am a believer that mess is best but some do not love this aspect. Either way, it may be beneficial to invest in a good bib (below are links to some great waterproof and stain resistant options).
- Gagging– This is one of the most important factors to consider. Your child will gag, especially in the first few weeks. Although this is your baby’s natural safety response to food traveling too far back into the mouth, it can certainly be scary.
- If you are a nervous parent, this factor alone could hinder meal time. If your reaction frightens the child it may lead to a negative association with meal time and solids moving further.
- Know the difference between gagging and choking – with choking, a child’s airways are blocked so they will be silent, may change color and will look very scared.
- Risk of iron deficiency anemia in breast fed babies int the first few weeks due to the lack of fortified cereals and other iron rich foods.
- Lentils, hummus, beans, broccoli, and sweet potatoes are good foods to use to avoid iron deficiency anemia.
Conclusion:
There is no right or wrong way to feeding solids. It is important to be informed and educated on all methods of feeding when you and your little one are ready to start. Don’t feel like it has to be black and white either. It is fine to give both purees and solids, just make sure to enjoy the experience!
– Hungry Momma
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.
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