What’s the deal with Baby Led Weaning?

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It’s the new phrase among attachment parenters!

Baby Led Weaning.

Baby-Led Weaning, The No-Puree Way to introduce Baby to Solid Food

So, Just what is Baby-Led Weaning?

So, what?  You just let your kid decide on his own when to stop nursing, is that it?

That’s actually what I thought Baby Led Weaning was the first time I heard the phrase!  Boy was I wrong!

In America we typically use the word “weaning” to refer to the cessation of breastfeeding.  English speaking countries outside America, however, use the word “weaning” to refer to the process of introducing solid foods to a baby.  (Someone correct me if I’m wrong here.  I only speak American.)

With that in mind, “Baby Led Weaning” simply means letting your baby decide which solid foods, and in what quantities, he wants to ingest.

So, how in the world are you supposed to know what baby wants?  Simply put, you offer your baby a variety of foods and let him decide if he is going to put them in his mouth or not.  That is not to say, you’re going to be dumping a pureed mess of food onto your child’s tray. –That would be funny, but the aftermath and clean-up would be monumental in a totally un-funny kinda way.–

Avocados

Mmm…Avocado

No. No pureed foods with baby led weaning! The BLW (baby-led weaning) baby is offered big people food and then feeds himself.

Here are some of the common questions I encounter:

Isn’t regular food bad for baby?

No way! First of all, a lot of the foods BLW babies start with are the same as their puree food counterparts: avocado, sweet potato, carrots, green beans.  The difference is that the BLW baby quickly advances to meals the rest of their family is eating: spaghetti, stir fry, salmon, baked potatoes, etc.  There is no reason a baby shouldn’t be introduced to a variety of tastes, seasonings, and food combinations.

He doesn’t have any teeth.  How does he chew it?

A baby who is fed purees first learns to swallow first and then chew later…several months later.  A baby who is fed table foods learns to chew first and swallow shortly after.  –It took Baby Z about 3 days to learn to swallow after he’d chewed up his food–  As for the no teeth thing.  Babies have intensely powerful jaws.  If you’ve ever stuck your finger in a toothless baby’s mouth and been bit you got what you deserved then you know how powerful those little chompers can be.

I find my little man to be quite efficient at chewing up various fruits, steamed veggies, and meats with his gums.

Won’t he choke?

This is the BIG question. The truth of the matter is you really can’t say, “Aw, no, he’ll be just fine.  BLW babies never choke.” It would simply be irresponsible of me to say that. That said, I’ve never heard any of my friends and acquaintances who do baby-led weaning say their child has choked.

Gagging, on the other hand is a fairly common occurrence as baby learns how to move food around in their mouth.  In instances of gagging, the parent just needs to remain calm, watch, and in almost every instance the baby will quickly resolve the situation all by themselves. I simply follow common sense and give my baby relatively soft foods, never leave him alone while he is eating, and cut certain foods that pose choking hazards (like grapes) into small pieces if he seems like he is having trouble.

Whether you do BLW or not, when you have a baby, it is a good idea to know how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on an infant.

Can he even digest solid food?

Sort of. LOL.  Until baby has several teeth they tend to swallow large-ish bits of food they’ve gummed.  Those bits usually come out in large bits just like they went in–if you get my meaning.   As baby gets more teeth, and as baby’s body begins to produce the enzymes needed to break down foods, he or she will begin chew food better and digest more of what they ingest. 🙂

Why did you choose to do Baby Led Weaning?

This was the big question for us when The Husband and I were learning about Baby Led Weaning.

Why do it? What’s the point?

With baby led weaning you’re encouraged to feed your child table foods.  For a large part your baby is going to be eating what you’re eating.  Not only is Baby Z learning to chew food at an early age, but he is getting exposure to and learning to like a variety of flavors and textures before the picky eating stage sets in.

The more I’ve seen of how we feed babies today, the more I’m convinced that part of the reason American kids are such picky eaters is because of how we feed them when they are little. A small variety of purées does absolutely nothing to prepare little ones for a wider range of flavors later.

The Husband always comments to people that Baby Z already eats a much wider variety of foods than our two older boys (who were fed commercially prepared baby food) combined.  And it is true!  Here are just a few of  Baby Z’s favorite foods: fish (salmon, tilapia, cod), fruit of all kinds, artichoke hearts, sweet potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, pot roast, asparagus.

Aside from that, recent research is suggesting that babies who are allowed to determine the amount of food they take in (as opposed to having an adult spoon feeding them) are less likely to have problems with obesity later on in childhood.  It can be difficult for parents to read baby’s cues, but babies are very intuitive beings.  They eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.

Update: Our little baby-led weaned guy is now 4 years old. We wished we’d known about baby-led weaning when our older two were little. It would have spared us so much picky-eating headaches!

Be sure to check out my other posts on baby led weaning.

Baby Led Weaning Essentials

30 Baby Led Weaning First Foods

 


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About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom

Amy is mom to three, wife to one, and a sister and aunt to many. Her family is a former military family now settled in Lehi, Utah. Oh So Savvy Mom began as a way for Amy to share parenting and product advice with others. Just as she has evolved, Oh So Savvy Mom has evolved into a resource for Healthy Living for Families, Food, Parenting, and Family Travel.

Comments

  1. This is such a great way to wean baby.Baby led weaning is the way to go when getting your baby to eat solid food. I made purees for my son, and he made a mess-like your baby in the picture-and he would eat some of it. He eventually became weaned and ate his food with the family. I like all of these tips in this post.
  2. Janice Auna says
    So good to know! I thought babyled weaning was just letting baby decide when to stop nursing. Haha. Thanks for the info.
  3. I wasn't familiar with the term, but I certainly like the idea. I hate the puree stage, and this seems just so much better for everyone.
  4. Robin Wilson says
    I never tire photos of the little ones covered in food! So cute! I was not at all familiar with this term until I saw this post. Of course I don't have any in this age group either. But it makes sense. I think the idea behind the term is great.
  5. This is a great overview of the baby-led-weaning trend. We did kind of a combo with our son...some chunks of soft foods, some purees. I was a little hesitant about introducing new foods b/c of family history with food allergies. But I think the concept of BLW makes a lot of sense. When I was ready to start thinking about introducing solids, I also found this blog post helpful: http://mamaseeds.com/blog/baby/brave-new-world-solids/ It kind of sets the stage for introducing solids, gives some helpful tips to consider, etc. Then you can proceed with BLW with confidence!
    • I really like your post on food intro! We have a lot of serious food allergies in our family so I'm always very careful, maybe a little too careful sometimes with introducing foods. lol
  6. we did BLW with our second daughter. it was great! she is a wonderful eater who will try (and eat!) many many foods. i'm hoping that BLW helped her with that b/c we want to do the same approach with our next kid(s).
  7. interesting view. i had no idea this was an issue in baby world
  8. I wasn't even aware of what this actually meant, great post that teaching the true meaning of baby led weaning. Very informative. Learned so much.
  9. How would you address trying to baby led weaning with daycare? Would you just let them do baby food there and do baby led weaning at home? Just interested in your perspective.
    • Have you talked with the daycare providers about it? See if they will let you send him with table foods. It is much less effort on their part. They just need to watch him while he feeds himself.