Introducing solids to our infant is something we do as parents when he or she begins to show an interest in different meals and flavors and refuses to eat breast milk. When it comes to weaning, baby-led weaning is a great option.
Mothers can do a variety of things to achieve this goal. During a family meal, they might help the infant practice self-feeding with his or her fingers. In addition, they can select foods that are easy for newborns to consume. Allow your infant to experiment with new foods and textures without putting undue pressure on them to do so.
In This Article
- What Is A BLW?
- When Is Baby Ready For Weaning?
- Tips For Baby-Led Weaning
- Benefits Of BLW?
- How To Get Started With BLW?
- Foods For BLW
What Is A BLW?
Baby-led weaning is an interesting way of introducing your baby or your toddler to self-feed through fingers instead of a spoon. Baby Led Weaning (BLW) is a natural method where babies naturally divert their interest from breast milk to solids.
When Is Baby Ready For Weaning?
According to the experts, we can delay the solids in our baby until the middle of the first year of life, this is the time when the digestive system is mature. Some babies are ready to have their solids at 5 or 6 months of time, while others may not be ready until 8 months of age. So it is advisable to consult with your baby’s pediatrician for the signs of readiness.
As per the study, the signs of baby weaning are –
- When baby can start to sit up well without any support.
- When a baby starts pushing solids out of the mouth with the tongue.
- The baby develops motor skills to self-feed.
- The baby has tried to chew, even if the baby has few or no teeth.
- Baby shows interest in food at mealtime, and starts grabbing food from the plate and putting it in their mouth.
Tips For Baby-Led Weaning
Following are some of the Tips for baby-led weaning:
- Give your baby a bottle of feed up to an hour before offering solids so that the tummy isn’t empty.
- Don’t expect much; let it be a learning experience.
- It will be messy. So be prepared for it.
- Don’t serve small pieces of food, but instead serve pieces of food large enough for the baby to grasp easily.
- Give the food to your baby, which is easily smashed between your finger and thumb.
Benefits Of BLW
Following are some of the top benefits of BLW:
- It is easier for babies to eat mashed food.
- BLW babies aren’t pressured into eating.
- Babies feed themselves, so parent can also eat at the same time. It gives moms the time to relax and eat themselves.
- Baby develops good eating habits
- Baby learns self-regulation.
- It’s educational
- Babies learn to chew food.
- Babies learn to differentiate between various textures, sizes, tastes, and shapes of food.
- Babies get lots of hand-eye and fine motor practice to grasp food and move it to their mouth.
- Eating food with family gives the babies a chance to learn best by observing and copying.
How To Get Started With BLW?
The best thing about baby-led weaning is that it doesn’t require much to get initiated. The only thing you need to arrange is a safe place for the baby to sit or a high chair, but actually, the lap of a parent is the best place. A BLW offers solid whole finger foods to the babies.
Give your baby a healthy environment like family mealtime which helps to learn by observation. When everyone in the family eats together and eats the same food, then the baby also feels included, and mealtime has become a fun time for the baby and you too.
Foods For BLW
Always try to give your baby healthy food. Try to give your baby a first food which should be fresh fruits, healthy carbohydrates, soft cooked vegetables, and fats. Try to give soft and easy-to-swallow food.
Some great solid foods for baby are:
- Avocados
- Sweet potatoes
- Banana
- Soft cooked apples
- Pumpkin
- Soft-cooked carrots, green beans, zucchini, and beets
- Very ripe peaches and pears, plums, and melon
- Egg yolk
- Green beans with the skins removed
- Liver
- Meat or poultry
- Slices of sprouted bread, cooked pasta, brown rice
