Starting solid foods, also known as weaning, is a big milestone for both babies and parents. In addition to continuing with milk feeds, you’ll also need to consider what solid foods to put on your baby’s dinner menu. And baby will start exploring the world of flavors and textures that comes with trying new foods.
Because this is a significant moment in your baby’s development, it’s normal to wonder if there’s one best way to approach weaning. The truth is, there isn’t – every baby (and family) has their own preferences, tolerances and needs. Multiple approaches may work.
One popular strategy, known as baby-led weaning (BLW), is considered an alternative to strictly spoon-feeding pureed foods. In this post, learn about the benefits of BLW, common misconceptions and how to begin with baby-led weaning.
Baby-led weaning is a way of introducing solid foods
Instead of spoon-feeding, baby-led weaning means putting pieces of baby-friendly foods in front of your child at family mealtimes. Baby then learns to pick up these pieces and put them in their mouth at their own pace. Caregivers will also place foods on a spoon and hand the spoon to baby so they learn to feed themselves.
Baby-led weaning is meant to be gradual, so continue to feed your baby breast milk or formula as their main source of nutrition during this process. As time passes and they begin to eat more solid foods, the amount of breast milk or formula baby needs will decrease until they’ve completely transitioned to solid foods, which usually occurs around the baby’s first birthday.
Baby-led weaning may benefit development and health
More research is needed to understand the full impact of baby-led weaning on babies’ health, but the potential benefits have a logic to them. Babies learn by watching their caregivers and peers, so serving them food during family mealtimes may help them learn the motor skills they need to pick up and eat food on their own.
At the same time, baby-led weaning may encourage a healthy relationship with food. Giving baby control over how much they eat may help them learn to stop eating when they’re full, especially when compared to spoon-feeding, in which caregivers may unknowingly continue to feed baby even if they are full.
Myths about baby-led weaning
Myth #1: Babies cannot eat any purees
While baby-led weaning focuses on introducing pieces of food to expose babies to texture and prepare their chewing skills, there are no hard and fast rules that you can’t also feed them purees. The two feeding approaches can be done in combination.
There are also many foods that are already pureed or can be mashed such as yogurt, hummus, nut butters (water down with breast milk or formula), mashed potatoes, soups, mashed avocado, etc. Feeding babies these types of foods is encouraged in BLW so they are exposed to all kinds of variety.
Myth #2: Increase in choking
It’s been found that BLW does not increase the chance of babies choking any more than other solid feeding methods. Choking is more likely to be related to an inappropriate food choice (such as round or hard pieces) than the way the food gets to a baby’s mouth.
Regardless of the feeding approach you choose, all parents should learn CPR and choking first aid before baby starts to eat solids. It’s also important to learn the differences between gagging and choking. It’s very common for babies to gag when learning to eat solid foods because they have a stronger gag reflux and have never experienced the texture of food.
While gagging may seem scary, it is not the same as choking. Signs of choking include a baby coughing or making squeaking or wheezing noises, going silent and not breathing, they may look scared or panicked, and their skin may turn blue.
Myth #3: Babies won’t get as many nutrients
When babies start solids, breast milk or formula will continue to be their primary source of calories and nutrients. Until they are fully weaned, the nutrients a baby may receive from solids are a complementary part of their diet.
Babies develop at different rates and have different tolerances for textures and flavors. It can take several attempts before they accept and eat new foods. Baby-led weaning is an exploratory process for your baby, so there’s likely to be a lot of food that ends up mashed, smeared or dropped on the floor rather than in your baby’s stomach. This is an important learning element of baby-led weaning.
Altogether, this means that baby-led weaning may require a lot of patience. If you find that it doesn’t seem to be working for you or your baby, it may be more effective to spoon-feed them purees or mashes until your baby is used to a variety of flavors.
You can start baby-led weaning after your baby meets developmental milestones
Babies are generally ready to try baby-led weaning when they’re around 6 months old (purees can be spoon fed around 4 months old). These are the key signs that a baby is ready for BLW:
- They can sit upright with little or no help
- They can hold their head steady without support
- They bring objects to their mouth or reach for small objects
- Your baby may also show an interest in solids by reaching for your food during mealtimes
Foods for baby-led weaning
Until they start teething, babies’ only way of breaking down food is to mash it between their gums. Because of this, any solid food you want to introduce should be soft and served in pieces that your baby can break down in their mouth. This can include things like:
- Fruit, vegetables and legumes that have been cooked to make them soft
- Certain fresh fruit such as seedless watermelon or banana
- Scrambled eggs
- Well-cooked starches like potatoes or pasta
- Well-cooked ground or thinly sliced meat
Also, while it seems intuitive to serve them smaller pieces of food, BLW encourages starting out with larger pieces that a baby can hold with their hands. Examples include:
- Steamed carrots cut into strips
- A full green bean
- Slices of mango or peaches (fruits like apples should be cooked first)
- Sticks of cucumber (this is a great option for teething babies to munch on)
This allows babies to self-feed until their pincer grip begins to develop at about 9 months of age, which is when you can start offering smaller pieces of food that they’ll be able to pick up on their own.
When you start weaning, introduce one food at a time to prevent your baby from becoming overwhelmed with new foods. It’s also recommended to wait a couple of days between giving your baby foods that are common allergens such as peanuts, eggs and shellfish. If your baby has eczema or an allergic reaction to eggs, talk with their doctor before introducing other allergens.
What to avoid during baby-led weaning
The main foods to avoid during weaning are those that your baby can’t easily break down in their mouth. This is what creates a choking risk, and it can include any food that’s chewy, hard, large (or too small) or sticky. Examples include:
- Raw fruits and vegetables
- Round foods such as blueberries and grapes (these should be mashed or cut)
- Nuts and seeds
- Globs of peanut butter (thin it out with water or milk)
- Chunks of meat
- Candy
Additionally, avoid adding sugar or salt to your baby’s food, and don’t give them food that has sugar added to it. Adult diets are often higher in salt and sugar than they need to be, and babies are naturally more sensitive to them.
Questions about baby-led weaning or introducing solid foods? Talk with a pediatrician.
Starting solid food is a big milestone, but it can be a slow process. If you have questions, want guidance or need help determining the best weaning strategy for you and your baby, talk with their doctor. Your baby’s pediatrician can give you recommendations based on your baby’s medical history and stage of development, assess their allergy risk, and more.
