The top reasons why you should start baby led weaning at 6 months.
There are so many different ways to feed your baby including purees, baby led weaning or a combo of both. It is important to talk to your doctor before introducing solids to your baby but generally six months is a good age to start.
In this post, we will specifically talk about baby led weaning (also known as BLW) and the many benefits of it, which include:
- Development
- Independence
- Appetite Control
- Ease / Less Expensive
- Variety
- Family Meals
- Fun
What Is Baby Led Weaning?
Baby led weaning is a type of feeding that allows your baby to feed himself. It exposes babies to a variety of textures and flavors and gives them control to self-regulate the amount of food they want to eat.
Prior to the introduction of baby led weaning, babies were introduced to pureed foods first and gradually worked up to more solid foods as they got older.
But baby led weaning is growing in popularity and it is no surprise given the incredible benefits it provides. Let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of baby led weaning starting at 6 months old.
Benefits Of BLW
1. Development
Baby led weaning at 6 months old is the start of an opportunity to practice critical oral and motor skills. This is one of the most important things in my opinion!
Self feeding involves oral skills like tongue movements, jaw strength and swallowing. Fine motor skills are also used to pick up different sizes of food and bring utensils to the mouth.
2. Independence
Baby led weaning fosters independence in babies from day 1. Gone are the days of pretending puree on a spoon is an airplane flying into your baby’s mouth.
Instead, baby led weaning involves your baby learning to eat on his own, having control over what he is and is not eating, and being able to decide when he is done eating.
Handing over the control might be hard for some parents. But the independence and exposure to different flavors and textures can help combat picky eating later in life.
3. Appetite Control
With baby led weaning, you provide the food and your baby will be in charge of deciding what and how much he eats.
This will teach your baby how to listen to his hunger cues and stop when he is full. This is a really powerful skill to learn and one that some adults are still working on too.
One of the surprising things is that babies have small stomachs and really do not need as much solid food as you might expect. Plus, your baby will still be receiving all key nutrients from formula or breastmilk until he is around 1 year old.
4. Ease / Less Expensive
Another benefit of starting baby led weaning at 6 months old is much easier and less expensive than purees. You can mostly serve what you’re eating – no jarred purees or pouches needed!
Think broccoli, green beans, strawberries, bananas, meat, toast and so much more.
And just because you are not buying or making purees, your baby will inevitably have foods that are in a puree form naturally. Examples include mashed avocado, yogurt, applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc.
There are certain foods to avoid though and ways to safely serve certain foods so it is important you understand the basics.
I took this course when preparing to start BLW with my son and it was incredibly helpful!
5. Variety
Baby led weaning encourages introducing a lot of flavor and textures early on.
Babies are much more likely to try a new flavor or texture compared to toddlers. For this reason, BLW can be extremely helpful with minimizing picky eating as your baby gets older.
Your baby’s gag reflex might be strong when you start out. But with repeated exposure and introduction of a variety of foods, it will improve over time and your baby won’t hesitate to pick up different kinds of foods.
6. Family Meals
Baby led weaning at 6 months is a great way to bond with your baby. Pull the high chair and your baby can eat with you.
This is a great way to model how to eat and chew for your baby! Plus, your baby can mostly eat everything you do.
If you are struggling to relax with baby led weaning, try to take the pressure off how much your baby eats. Instead, focus on providing the food but letting your baby decide what and how much to eat.
It also makes dining out at restaurants easier and feels like an adventure!
7. Fun
Babies have so much fun with baby led weaning! They get to taste, touch, experiment and explore with different flavors and textures.
Playing with their food is a central part of baby led weaning, especially early on. So embrace the mess and let them have fun!
[…] led weaning (otherwise known as self feeding) is another great option! It has so many amazing benefits and has become increasingly popular over the recent […]