BABY LED WEANING (BLW)

What is it?

Baby-led weaning is an approach to introducing solid food where baby is allowed and encouraged to self-feed solid finger foods instead of receiving purées via spoon. 

BLW babies:

• Are encouraged to join the family at mealtime and self-feed appropriate finger foods.
• Choose what, how much, and how quickly to eat.
• Are given the freedom to explore new tastes and textures without the pressure to eat a set amount or a specific food.
• Continue to nurse (or baby's bottle) just as often. Solids are to compliment milk, and baby is trusted to know when to increase solid feedings and decrease milk.

When is the baby ready?

Experts agree that solids should be delayed until the middle of the first year of life. This is when baby’s digestive system is mature. Some babies may seem ready at 5 ½ months, while others may not be ready until 8 months of age. 

Signs of readiness include:

• Baby can sit up well without support.
• Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex.
• Baby has developed the fine motor skills to self feed. 
• Baby is willing to chew, even if he has few or no teeth.
• Baby shows interest in participating at mealtime, and may try to grab food from your plate and put it in his mouth.

What are the benefits of baby led feeding?

• It’s easier.

• Purées are time consuming. It’s much easier to adjust what the adults are eating to suit baby.
• BLW babies aren’t pressured into eating. They are trusted to know when, what, and how much they need to eat. Therefore, there is less stress and everyone can enjoy mealtime. 
• Babies feed themselves, so you can eat at the same time.
• Baby develops good eating habits.
• Baby learns self regulation.
• Self selection of food has even been shown to increase weight in underweight babies, therefore supporting a healthy weight in most babies.
• Since BLW babies experience a wide range of healthy foods early on, they may be more likely to continue to enjoy those foods later in life.
• It’s educational.
• Babies learn to safely handle food (they learn to chew THEN swallow)
• Babies learn to manage different textures, tastes, sizes, and shapes of food.
• Babies get lots of hand eye and fine motor practice by learning to grasp food and move it to their mouth.
• Babies learn best by observing and copying. Eating meals together gives her many opportunities to learn about food.

Tips.

• Hunger can create an unhappy experience for everyone. Be sure to nurse or bottle feed baby up to an hour before offering solids so that his tummy isn’t empty.
• Forget about expectations and let it be a learning experience. Baby probably won’t eat much at first.
• Realize that it may be a slow process. Babies can take a longer time when they’re in charge. As they get the hang of it, feeding time will be quicker.
• It will be messy. Many parents find a naked baby is easiest to clean up afterwards.
• Don’t serve small pieces of food but instead serve pieces of food large enough for baby to grasp easily. Some families find cutting food with a crinkle cutter or rolling pieces of food in oat flour can make pieces easier for baby to hold.
• If food can be smashed between your finger and thumb, it’s probably appropriate for baby.
• Don’t put more than a few pieces of food on the highchair tray or table at once, so baby won’t get overwhelmed.

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