Baby Led Weaning (BLW) (2024)

FAQs

How do I start my baby with BLW? ›

To start BLW, ensure readiness and begin with one solid meal a day during family mealtime. Use a highchair in a safe setting, allow exploration and play with food, offer age-appropriate soft foods in manageable sized pieces, and let the baby lead the feeding process.

You may start baby-led weaning at around 6 months of age, which is also the age you would traditionally introduce complementary foods via spoon-feeding. At this age, your baby will most likely be able to sit unsupported, bring food to their mouth, and chew and swallow—all things that are important for self-feeding.

Some people feel baby-led feeding is a less hard core approach than baby-led weaning. It's sometimes referred to as “modified baby-led weaning,” in which some smoother textures and purées are combined with larger pieces a baby can pick up on their own.

I firmly believe that it's never too late to switch to BLW. They will need to learn to eat solids eventually. While a baby who has been started on purees and spoon feeding can't truly be defined as having been fully BLW'd, it's never too late to offer pieces of food.

Baby-led weaning often exposes babies to a wider variety of foods, textures, and flavors [1], which may help to reduce picky eating behaviors later on: a huge win! Greater exposure usually leads to greater acceptance of foods in toddlerhood and beyond.

Indeed, one of the main reasons healthcare providers are reluctant to fully endorse BLW is the perceived risk of choking. About 35% of babies choke while starting foods, most often because they were offered food that was a hazard.

Most babies' first food is iron-fortified infant single-grain cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. Place the spoon near your baby's lips, and let the baby smell and taste it. Don't be surprised if this first spoonful is rejected. Wait a minute and try again.

Stage 3 (typically 10-12 months old, but may occur sooner): At this stage, you can slowly replace purees with soft, chewable chunks of food, and offer your baby more finger foods that they can pick up and feed themselves.

Most babies will be ready to try baby-led weaning as soon as they're able to start solid foods. For most babies, that's around 6 months old or older. (Not earlier. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends only human milk and/or formula until the 6-month mark.)

How to serve banana BLW? ›

Grab and Eat: Cut the banana in half and peel back a portion of the top so baby can easily hold onto the skin section and gum the soft flesh. This recipe is very popular with BLW and I love to use it with babies who are progressing well with their fine motor feeding skills.

Milk itself is also a good source of vitamin D, as it is added to the milk we buy. You can introduce yogurt and cheese once your baby is six months old, as long as they continue to eat a variety of iron-rich foods. Let your baby enjoy the taste of plain unsweetened yogurt, or add fresh, canned or frozen fruit.

From 6–8 months old, feed your baby half a cup of soft food two to three times a day. Your baby can eat anything except honey, which they shouldn't eat until they reach 12 months old. You can start to add a healthy snack, like mashed fruit, between meals.

Put your baby in a fully upright highchair, ideally with a foot-plate and detachable tray so baby can eat at the table with you. Let your child self-feed 100%. This means picking up the food and bringing it to their own mouth. Offer large pieces of food that your baby can easily pick up and hold on to.

Most babies' first food is iron-fortified infant single-grain cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. Place the spoon near your baby's lips, and let the baby smell and taste it. Don't be surprised if this first spoonful is rejected.

From 6 to 9 months of age, continue to give your baby breastmilk or formula first, then try solids after the milk. From 9 months of age, you can give solids first, then breastmilk or formula.