What is baby led weaning?

Baby led weaning is an approach to starting solids with your baby whereby your baby gradually transitions from only having breast milk and/or formula to only having solid food.

This approach means your baby takes the lead to feed themselves from the start. They will be able to pick up suitable pieces of food and bring them to their mouth.

Babies can be offered a variety of textures from the start of baby led weaning. Sticky, chewy, crispy and puree.

The BLISS study (Baby-Led Intervention to SolidS), conducted in 2012-2014 looked at the efficacy and acceptability of a modified version of Baby-Led Weaning.

The study states the key features of BLW are:

• Milk feeding – the infant will ideally be exclusively breastfed until 6 months of age, although it is acknowledged that some infants will be formula fed. When complementary feeding starts (once the infant is ready, at around 6 months of age) the infant continues to receive milk feeds (breast milk or infant formula) on demand.

• Baby-led – the infant self-feeds from the beginning of the complementary feeding period. Generally speaking puréed foods are not eaten because they need to be spoon-fed and therefore fed by someone other than the infant. Some families may offer the child utensils so that they can feed themselves purées or foods with a thin consistency (e.g., yoghurt and custard) but this is unlikely in the first few months for developmental reasons.

• Family foods – the infant is offered the same foods as the family but as finger food that is large enough for them to pick up. These pieces can get smaller with increasing developmental age.

• Mealtimes – the family eats together at mealtimes.

It is important to know that in order to use a baby led approach babies need to be developmentally ready, which for most is when they are around six months of age. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Department of Health both recommend waiting until your baby is around six months of age before offering solid food.

Babies are developmentally ready when they show these three signs:-

1. They can maintain a sitting position with minimal help, holding their head steady. We want babies to be able to focus on their food rather than trying to keep themselves upright. And to be able to swallow safely.
   

2. They are able to grab objects and bring them to their mouth. This shows your baby has developed their hand eye coordination so they can feed themselves.
   

3. The tongue thrust reflex is absent. This reflex is a protective mechanism that stops your baby swallowing things they shouldn't. You will start to notice your baby biting and chewing on toys. If the reflex is still present and you were to give your baby puree their tongue would push it straight out of their mouth.

If you are unsure if your baby is ready to starting having solid food Start4life has a short online quiz that you can complete to help you work out if they are. And there is lots of other useful information such as, equipment you might need and recipe ideas.

There is thought to be lots of positive reasons to choose baby led weaning. From it being easy, convenient and timesaving as there is no need to make separate puree meals. To the approach supporting babies to develop their eating skills at their own pace and developing less fussiness, to name a few.

While more research into baby led weaning is needed generally and to confirm some of the benefits. The current research does support that there is no increased risk of choking with a baby led approach and that the risk of iron deficiency is not increased when parents are advised to give iron rich foods at every meal. These studies do state more research is needed.

If you have concerns around choking I have written a blog on this which helps explain the difference between choking and gagging and how to reduce the risk of it happening.

I also run workshops on starting solids with a baby led approach to help parents gain more confidence and clarity with feeding their baby.