Starting solids is a huge milestone for our babies for us mos as well. Such an important stage, gorgeous but so so stressful. As a new mom, who obviously is on the lookout for the best possible methods for her baby, I had over 700 questions running in my head long before Noah started solids: how will I feed him? What foods should I start with? How will I prepare it for him? What happens if he doesn’t like it and so on… thus, I started naturally reading and researching a bit more about this issue. While researching I came across Baby Led Weaning (BLW). At first, coming from a culture where baby food is a lot more water than food :D. But it didn’t take me long to be convinced on the benefits of BLW and how it was the method I wanted to follow with Noah. And that’s exactly what we are doing.  

What is BLW? 

Baby led weaning is a feeding method for babys from 6 (six) months up. Practically, the baby is seated at the table with the rest of the family, in his/her highchair and fully participates in the family meal. The food given to the baby is finger food not pureed, in most cases the same food more or less that the rest of the family is eating. If a pureed type food is on the menu, than mom can fill up the spoon, hand it over to the baby and they can easily take over. 

At its core BLW is focused on the baby’s independence, and it’s the method that is being embraced more and more from parents who want to avoid raising picky eaters. According to BLW it is crucial that the parent waits for the baby to signal that is ready to start solids, and should in no way started beforehand. It is highly important that the family eats together with the baby at meals, as its at the dinner table that the baby sees and learns. Finally the baby should not be pushed to eat more or less than what they want.  

Something also very important in BLW is the way that the finger food is cut and prepared for the baby. For 6-9 months bigger is better, and its highly important to avoid tube-like shaped or round shapes in order to lower the risk of choking. 

Is BLW safe? 

As long as the food is adequately prepared, an the baby is in complete control of the food they put in their mouth – Yes! But eitherway mom or caregiver should be always at arms length distance and observing the baby at all times. Something else to keep in mind that might put our mama-worry at ease, is that babies 6-9 months old have a very strong spitting reflex which highly protects them from choking. Which is why its the ideal time to learn how to consume solids and primarily finger food. 

References:
Solidstarts.com
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/baby-led-weaning/