Starting Solids with Baby-Led Weaning (BLW)

Breastfeeding Success is a lactation-focused company, but babies graduate to other foods, even while they’re still breastfeeding. We know it’s an important and sometimes scary milestone for families, and we are still here for you! We have Registered Dietitians on staff ready to meet with you and answer any questions or concerns you might have related to feeding your baby. 

How to Start Solids

There are different ways to do this, and it’s a good idea to do what works for you and your family. You might be really excited to start feeding your baby new things or you might be dreading it. Your baby might be really enthusiastic about trying new things or reject everything. Or the baby might not even be ready to eat solid foods, and you get to have the experience of them immediately spitting or dribbling everything out. My first baby started eating solids accidentally. I tried spoon-feeding baby rice cereal to her once when she was about 5 months old, and it was a disaster. She kept sticking out her tongue and nothing went in. I also had a big mess to clean up. After that I decided I would wait until she could pick up the food herself. 

Then one day we were having lunch in a New York style deli. My husband and I were involved in conversation, and we suddenly looked up to see her sucking on one of the pickles that had been in a bucket on the table. It was extremely sour and salty, and she loved it until it was just a shriveled pickle skin! She’s 18 now, and still eats pickles every day. 

Whether you choose to start with spoon-fed purees or finger foods, here are a few things to consider. 

• There isn’t necessarily an ideal food to start with (although pickles might not be the best first choice). You might hear that you should start with a very bland grain cereal, but that’s not really true. It could be fruit, veggies, meats. Depending on the culture, there are a lot of different “normal” foods to start with. 
• Serve one thing at a time. It is usually a good idea to introduce just one new thing at a time, so if your baby does have an allergy or intolerance to something, you’ll know exactly what caused it. 
• Make sure your baby is ready. To reduce the risk of choking and to make it more likely that your baby will accept the new foods, you can look for some signs of readiness. Is your baby sitting up confidently on their own without being propped up? Do they seem interested in what you’re eating? 

Besides these basic guidelines, there aren’t really any big DOs or DON’Ts. I DO recommend that you stay relaxed and try to have fun with it. Your baby is going to enter this milestone with curiosity and excitement, and it will be so much more enjoyable if you can also share some of their spirit.  If you’re a perfectionist like many of us are, try to take comfort in knowing that there is no perfect way to do this. 

Puréed Foods

Some people choose to start by spoon feeding puréed foods. That’s how a lot of people assume things will go as a baby is graduating to more than milk. Often, these are commercial foods packaged in cans, glass jars, or now more commonly, pouches. These commercial baby foods have been the standard/trend in the United States for a long time. They were originally introduced in the 1920s and gained popularity especially after Gerber marketing targeted the medical community. The ad campaigns focused on the opinions of doctors telling parents that canned baby foods were safer than home cooked foods, and that the convenience was healthier than having to work in the kitchen so much. These campaigns also encouraged families to start feeding their babies canned foods at earlier and earlier ages. The age of “weaning” (introduction of solid foods) had been much older, even up to 11 months before that. People were even introducing solids as early as 4-6 weeks at one low point. 

As long as it’s not done too soon, using commercial or homemade purees can be a reasonable option. Here are some things to consider while you’re deciding: 

• You can make your own. Not all commercial baby foods are healthy. Making your own means you can control exactly what goes in, and how you prepare it. A fun tip to make your job easier is to make a large batch and then freeze it in ice cube trays so each cube is a serving. This can also help avoid waste. 
• You can buy pre-made purees from the store. This can sometimes be a bigger expense, and you might want to do a little label reading to be sure you know what’s in it and whether it’s a healthy option.
• Spoon-feeding can get very messy and requires your complete participation. Young babies will not be able to use a spoon by themselves.

Baby-Led Weaning (BLW)

Baby-Led Weaning is an alternative to spoon feeding and pureed foods. This method has become much more popular in the United States since the early 2000’s when the approach was first popularized by Gill Rapley, a British public health nurse and midwife in the 2009 book “Baby-Led Weaning” that she co-authored with Tracey Murkett. There are some clear guidelines and recommendations outlined in the book and with this approach. 

Before the BLW movement, and before the age of commercial baby foods, people fed babies a lot of different ways depending on the culture. As babies grew stronger and more coordinated and started showing an interest in what the family was eating, they might have been given small amounts of what everyone else was eating. Water might have been added to foods to soften it before being given to a baby. And believe it or not, a lot of parents gave their babies pre-chewed foods. No need for a blender!  

Some version of BLW was probably happening in certain cultures and families. This may not have looked exactly like the current BLW approach, but with some similarities. Our modern BLW method focuses on waiting and watching the baby for natural changes that might mean they’re ready and willing to eat more. It takes a lot of things into consideration, including safety. Here are some things to know about BLW: 

• Many parents worry that unblended or “chewed” foods will cause choking, but there actually isn’t much research to support this concern. As long as you are following some basic guidelines to prevent choking, BLW can be a very safe approach. 

• Babies can experience health benefits by being exposed to whole foods. Without the overprocessing and additives that can come with commercial foods, health concerns are minimized. You can also know exactly what your baby has eaten and what they might need more of to adjust accordingly. If your baby ate a lot of shredded chicken for lunch and nothing else, you might offer some steamed sweet potato spears and some whole beans at dinner. 

• Another benefit is that a baby gets to experience the textures and flavors of the food they’re eating. It’s not all mashed to the same consistency and blended with other flavors. There is some evidence to show that this can prevent pickiness. Here are a few ideas: 

• • Soft or steamed fruits and veggies cut into finger sized pieces that your baby can easily grip in a fist and chew on. Raw avocado, ripe mango, cucumber, steamed squash, sweet potato, broccoli, etc. 
  • Scrambled eggs and purees can be offered. You can let the baby use their fingers, or add them to other foods as a topping or a dip. 
  • Small pieces of tender shredded meats, tofu, meatballs, beans, etc. 
  • Small pieces of pasta, pancakes, a stick shaped piece of lightly toasted bread or balled up bits of cold or warm cooked oatmeal, rice, or other grain. 

• Babies also get some benefit by practicing using their hands and fingers and can develop a lot of manual dexterity. They perfect the pincer grasp when they’re motivated to pick up a favorite small piece of food. 

And finally, BLW can be a lot of fun for babies and families. For parents, it can be a little intimidating at first. Give yourself some pep talks so you can develop a higher tolerance for messes and trust the process. You might have fun too. Babies love to play with their food, and in BLW it’s encouraged! They might squish avocado through their fingers before licking or gumming it off, but they eat it. Offering a variety of sizes, colors, and textures means a baby will be thoroughly entertained. Eventually, at least some of it gets in. Then, you can feel good that you fed your baby AND kept them entertained and happy. It’s also a great way for families to bond and share a love for food. Invite your baby to the table, try to have fun with them, and be sure to take plenty of pictures!

Resources

Baby-Led Weaning: What Parents Need to Know (Texas Children’s)

Baby-Led Weaning: Is It Safe? – HealthyChildren.org

The History of BLW with Its Founding Philosopher Gill Rapley, PhD (Part 1)

History of Baby Food – Solid Starts

Baby-led weaning: what a systematic review of the literature adds on – PMC

An Evaluation of the Nutritional and Promotional Profile of Commercial Foods for Infants and Toddlers in the United State