Five Advantages of Baby-Led Weaning

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Finn is officially 6 months old and is sitting up well on his own, so we’ve started venturing into the “real food” territory with him. It’s pretty hilarious!

With Max, we went the traditional route of rice cereal and baby food, but we’ve decided to try something different with Finn: Baby-Led Weaning (BLW).

The idea of BLW is that instead of spoon feeding your baby purees, you give them small pieces of whole foods and allow them to explore and eat that way (under close supervision, of course!).

So far it’s mostly just proved to be hysterical as Finn isn’t a huge fan of textures yet!

Here are 5 advantages to Baby-Led Weaning:

No extra work at dinner time – Since baby is eating regular food, they can be a part of a family dinner from early on. You don’t need a consistent extra hand to feed them, except when they start dropping or throwing food!

No worry of overfeeding – Sometimes babies can get overfed at meals because Mom or Dad is feeding them and just finishes the jar or bowl of food instead of following baby’s cues. When the baby is allowed to eat at their own pace, they will regulate their intake accordingly.

Baby learns at their own pace – Some babies are very quick to hand feed or chew different types of food, but all babies learn at different speeds. BLW allows them to stay at their own speed when learning through food.

Little spoon feeding – Spoon feeding is definitely not a bad thing, but I get a little bored with it after about 4 spoonfuls, so this is a pro for me! While you will probably still spoon feed some dishes (soup, applesauce, yogurt, etc.), BLW cuts down on how much time you sit dishing up the purees.

No deciding between buying and making purees – I think both versions have merit, but I’m also glad I won’t be worrying about which one to use! I do plan on borrowing a few of Tabitha’s recipes, so Finn can try some foods that wouldn’t be easy for him to eat on his own.

And always remember, food before one is just for fun! Don’t stress out about how much or how little your baby is eating. Breastmilk or Formula makes up the majority of their caloric intake until after 12 months of age.