Baby-led weaning is a term coined by Dr. Gill Rapley back in 2001, and simply means introducing solids in a way that allows babies to control the process and feed themselves. Dr. Rapley and Dr. Amy Brown have both done significant and important research into the safety and efficacy of this method of weaning babies onto solid foods and have concluded that this method is suitable for the majority of babies (with the possible exception of those already identified as ‘failure to thrive’).

How does it work?

The baby joins the family at the dinner table (in an appropriate and secure highchair), and joins in when he or she is ready. Commonly, babies would start by self feeding using their fingers, before progressing to cutlery. In this method of feeding, parents have waited until their babies are physiologically ready for solids, and so there is no need to offer pureed foods (see article 33 for more details). When you’re ready to get started, following these simple steps can make the process easy!

Sit baby in an appropriate chair. Your baby should be upright, secure, and facing the table. They should be able to remain steady for around 20 minutes and have freedom of movement of her arms and hands.
Have appropriate food available. The food should be an offer rather than an instruction, so often having the food on the highchair tray in front of her or offered from your open hand can be good. The basic principle is that it’s within the baby’s control to take the food or not.
Initially cut food into appropriate shapes. Most babies find that food cut into long strips are the easiest to handle when they are starting out. Ideally the strip should be long enough to be grasped by their entire fist, with a little poking out the end. Start with foods that are a little soft (steamed) and introduce new textures and shapes as your baby’s skills grow.
Make mealtimes social. Baby’s love to be included in ‘grown up’ activities, so eating with your child is ideal, as it also introduces them to the social nature of food in human society. If possible (and appropriate), offer your baby the same food that you are eating so that they can enjoy copying you.
Pick your time carefully. Learning to eat is an educational experience, and we all learn best when we’re not hungry, tired, or stressed. Initially, think of mealtimes as a sensory play session rather than nutrition – they will concentrate best if they’ve recently had a nap and a milk feed!
Don’t change milk feeds. Initially, we want the solids consumed to be additional calories rather than displacing any milk feeds. Continue to offer the breast or formula feeds as before – this is still your baby’s main source of nutrition for several. When they needs less they will reduce milk feeds themselves.
Start introducing water. Now your baby is at least 6 months old they can have water alongside their solids. Have water there as an offer – it may take her a little while to get the hang of drinking water from a cup. One way to encourage this is to drink from a similar cup yourself as a model of what to do.
Allow your baby time and space to explore. Don’t hurry your baby or distract them while they are handling food – allow them to concentrate and take their time. This is particularly important with regards to choking – a baby who is focused on their food and aware of what went into their mouth is at lower risk for a choking episode.
Don’t try to lead the way. It’s very tempting to try to encourage your child to eat a little more or to put food in their mouth if they don’t appear to be very focused on eating. This can have negative implications for their relationship with food and can leave them at higher risk for a choking incident.

Advantages of baby-led weaning

There are many advantages of this method of weaning. Just a few of them are listed here below:

Allows babies to explore taste, texture, colour and smell
Encourages independence and confidence
Helps develop hand-eye coordination
Helps develop chewing skills
Promotes acceptance of food (lowers chance of picky eaters)
Regulates baby’s weight (86.5% of BLW babies are in normal weight range at 24 months, with only 8.1% overweight. Comparatively, babies weaned onto purees are 78.3% in normal weight range, with 19.2% overweight). Slightly more babies were underweight (5.4% vs 2.5%), which is why BLW may not be suitable for failure to thrive babies.

What about the risk of choking?

Even when weaning was recommended from four months, parents were encouraged to introduce finger foods at around six months to help their baby develop their chewing skills – the difference with baby-led weaning is that there’s no spoon feeding alongside the finger foods.

So, provided basic safety rules are observed, choking is no more likely with baby-led weaning than with the conventional method of introducing solids. In fact, allowing babies to control what goes into their mouths may actually help them learn to eat safely.

What is baby-led weaning?

This BLW article is part of Unii's Baby Feeding Journey.