Thank you for catching that! Using some of these instruments may prolong that process as infants are not able to touch and explore their foods. The term baby-led weaning was coined around 2003 by health visitor Gill Rapley. BLW promotes eating healthy foods, self-regulation and sharing family mealtimes. I'm a Registered Dietitian (RD), food and nutrition blogger, award winning cookbook author, a YouTuber, TV host and the founder of Abbey’s Kitchen Inc. Remember that baby-led weaning will be messy. Baby-led weaning. Do you offer it to them on a little spoon or your fingertip, or do they just pick it up in their tiny hand and independently start to move it towards their mouth?Thankfully, we’ve moved on from putting rusk in the bottle with milk, but choosing whether to opt for traditional or baby-led weaning still sparks heated debate among parents and health visitors.The term baby-led weaning was coined around 2003 by health visitor Gill Rapley. Initially, babe will be exploring the food and creating a mess more than eating but hey that’s part of the process. The first foods tend to be cereal, such as baby rice mixed with his usual milk, or fruit or vegetable purée. Now we have an understanding of baby led weaning under our belt, let’s look at how to get started.Just because your pediatrician says you can start solids at 4, 5, or 6 months (recommendations that we will cover in another post), doesn’t mean they’re ready. Baby-led weaning means giving your baby only finger foods and letting them feed themselves from the start instead of feeding them puréed or mashed food on a spoon. Parents should be on the lookout for There are lots of different self-feeding instruments on the market but there is no scientific evidence that supports the need for them. Then we did start with baby food, but BOTH of them immediately grabbed the spoons and sort of demanded that they feed themselves, LOL!Great article Abbey. The idea is that baby led weaning allows the infant to control their food consumption by “self-feeding” and “self regulating” their intake.So, what is this weaning business all about? You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at Marketing Permissions: Abbey’s Kitchen Inc. will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. These mashed or puréed foods can be single foods, such as parsnip purée, or a combination such as mashed banana and mango. But how do you decide what your baby’s first taste should be? It also allows you an opportunity to see what kind of foods or shapes are working best.Small round foods should be avoided as they can be choking hazards. The child can explore the food options at their own pace rather than being passively spoon-fed by an adult. I have a few friends with babies. Also traditionally you are supposed to introduce one new food at a time, is that not the case here? Some parents prefer baby-led weaning to spoon feeding, while others do … Thanks for the infoHello, I’m Abbey! It’s been fixed What meal would you recommend starting BLW during? This is not the time to be checking facebook, especially when you’re first starting out on solids.To prevent food from getting stuck in babe’s throat, avoid small and round foods. Give soft fruits and vegetables initially. BLW is a philosophy in which a baby is allowed and encouraged to self-feed solid food instead of receiving purees from a spoon. Poppy, my pup, is just as excited as Baby E when it’s meal time.Try offering one new food as a challenge for yourself each day for baby to explore. Parents need to trust their child’s satiety cues and stop feeding the baby when these signs are visible.One of the first things parents worry about most when it comes to baby led weaning is choking. Baby Led Weaning funktioniert ohne Füttern oder Drängen. Healthy Recipes, Nutrition Myth Busting, Healthy Eating TipsSearch any Facebook mom group and you’ll undoubtedly see Baby Led Weaning come up in your feed. If you use them, you may find it’s best to use them alongside simply letting baby use their hands.There is no specific amount of food that babies are required to consume at any point in this process. Some parents prefer baby-led weaning to spoon feeding, while others combine a bit of both.
The whole idea behind baby-led weaning is that the baby controls what and how much she eats, beginning at 6 months, by feeding herself. Serve finger-shaped food so they can easily fit inside baby’s hand with a some sticking out of their fists. How to cut foods for baby-led weaning. If you want to give them a try, here are some popular options I’ve seen:Silicon spoon with small holes for infants to self-feed easilyPlate with divided sections for the different variety of foods offeredA starter set of spoons with grips to help babies keep the food on the spoon to self-feedThink of it as a sippy cup with pureed meals, infants can suck and squeeze their mealsIt is important to note that eating is a skill to learn. Things sure have changed a bit in the last 20 years. Then introduce lightly cooked harder foods that can be easily chewed with bare gums. I think you meant that most babies gag and cough, not gag and choke, multiple times during mealtime.My youngest is ten, so I hardly remember! In baby led weaning, parents can offer a variety of baby-friendly solid finger foods right from the get go. Such a great post.Sounds like you have done a ton of research on this!