What is Baby-Led Weaning (pros + cons)

It seems like you’ve seen information about baby-led weaning everywhere these days.

But what exactly does baby-lead weaning mean?

The term baby-led weaning was introduced by Gill Rapley, a public health nurse and midwife, in 2005. The official definition from her handouts is “a way of introducing solid foods that allows babies to feed themselves – there’s no need for spoon-feeding or purees.” You might also start to see the term “baby self-feeding” used interchangeably with baby-led weaning in many resources. With baby-led weaning, baby starts off eating many of the same foods that the rest of the family is eating.

On the other hand, traditional weaning, often called spoon-feeding, involves the parent bringing the spoon to your baby’s mouth. Foods typically started within this approach include smooth purees, such as fruits, vegetables, rice cereal, or oatmeal. Textures gradually progress to mashed or chopped foods and eventually soft finger foods, such as cooked vegetable pieces, toast, pasta, and meats.

The introduction of solid foods, whether starting with purees or soft solids, happens along with continuing to offer breast milk or formula. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends introducing nutritionally adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months.

BENEFITS OF BABY-LED WEANING

• Baby controls what goes in their mouth. By allowing our babies to self-feed, they get to decide whether or not to eat, as well as how much to eat. This may lead to toddlers who are better able to regulate their appetite. One study found that families who followed a baby-led weaning approach were significantly more likely to be rated at 18–24 months as less food-responsive and more satiety responsive. ⁽¹⁾ 
• Baby eats what the family is eating. No short-order cooking is necessary, only slight modifications, depending on the specific meal. The process of getting a meal on the table for the whole family might feel easier and less time-consuming. 
• Baby sits and eats with the family. There are numerous benefits to having regular family meals, such as more nutrient-dense food intake, more food enjoyment, and less fussy and emotional eating. Getting your baby in the habit of participating in family meals helps set the expectation for years to come. ⁽²⁾
• Baby is exposed to a variety of tastes and textures from an early age. Research shows that infants introduced to solids between 6-9 months ate more fruits and vegetables than infants introduced to solids after 9 months of age. ⁽³⁾ 
• Baby gets the full sensory experience of eating.  Babies learn about the world through their senses, and eating is no exception. Allowing your baby to grasp, hold, squish, pinch, and mash, starting from their hands all the way to their mouth, gives them feedback about different kinds of foods.
• Baby gets extra practice at developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. All that practice with grasping and pinching foods and bringing them to their mouth is another great way to work on these developmental motor skills. 
• It may be less stressful for parents. One study found that mothers who followed a baby-led approach had lower responses regarding maternal pressure to eat, restriction, concern for child weight, and monitoring. ⁽⁴⁾ 

CHALLENGES OF BABY-LED WEANING

• Missing out on pureed foods. If you are following a “strict” baby-led approach, your baby will miss out on purees. Arguably, even as adults, we DO eat purees often (yogurt, mashed potatoes, ice cream, smoothies, soups, etc). Exposing your baby to all types of textures, including purees, provides a full sensory experience.
• Careful with salt, sugar, and (not so good) fat. If you are serving family meals with little or no modification, your baby may be exposed to higher levels of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar than necessary.
• Keep an eye on excessive gagging. Although gagging is typical for babies just learning how to eat (and different from choking), some may gag more often and have difficulty with first foods more than others. This may lead to your baby having a negative experience with early self-feeding and can also aggravate babies with gastroesophageal reflux. 
• Hard to know how much your baby has actually eaten. Granted, in the first year of life, solids are mostly complimentary and your baby is still getting the most nutrition from formula or breast milk; however, this may be something to consider if your baby is on the lower end of the growth chart and pediatrician and/or parents are tracking food and bottle intake.
• May feel more stressful for other parents. As noted above, some parents who use baby-led weaning report lower stress, but it’s worth noting that it may feel more stressful for others to start with this approach. Keep in mind that what you bring to the table can affect how your baby eats. If you feel rushed or stressed, your baby will pick up on this too. And when we feel stressed, appetite often decreases.

(1) Brown A, Lee MD. Early influences on child satiety-responsiveness: the role of weaning style. Pediatric obesity. 2015;10(1):57–66.
(2) Chantal L. Verhage, Marleen Gillebaart, Shelley M.C. van der Veek, Carel M.J.L. Vereijken. The relation between family meals and health of infants and toddlers: A review. Appetite. 2018; Vol. 127: 97-109.
(3) Coulthard, H., G. Harris, and P. Emmett. “Delayed Introduction of Lumpy Foods to Children During the Complementary Feeding Period Affects Child’s Food Acceptance and Feeding at 7 Years of Age.” Maternal & Child Nutrition 5 (2009): 75–85.

(4) Brown A, Lee M. Maternal control of child feeding during the weaning period: differences between mothers following a baby-led or standard weaning approach. Matern Child Health J. 2011;15(8):1265–71.