Baby-Led Weaning Tips From Real Parents
Learn about baby-led weaning and find success tips from real parents.
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Medically reviewed by Candice W. Jones, MD FAAP
Starting your baby on solids can be an exciting milestone, but also an overwhelming one. You may feel unsure about the best way to begin offering solids, and how to do it in a positive, healthy way—one that teaches your baby to have a good relationship with food.
As parents consider how to approach introducing solid food, they often stumble on the idea of “baby-led weaning.” This method emphasizes having your baby feed themselves their foods—usually in the form of soft finger foods—rather than a parent spoon feeding each meal. Baby-led weaning sounds appealing to many parents, because it teaches your baby to be in touch with their own intuition when it comes to eating, and to be more in charge of listening to their hunger and fullness cues.
Still, many parents have questions and concerns about trying baby-led weaning, including how exactly to do it, what safety procedures to keep in mind, and what to do if challenges pop up along the way. Here, we’ll take a detailed look at baby-led weaning, with expert tips for how to approach it smartly and safely, along with tips from real parents who’ve tried it with their little ones.
Related: When Can Babies Eat Solids?
What Is Baby-Led Weaning?
The term baby-led weaning was coined in 2005 by U.K. infant feeding specialist, midwife, and researcher Gill Rapley. The idea was that parents didn’t need to start solids with their babies by spoon-feeding soft purees. Instead, babies could eat a “baby-fist size” portion of whole, softs foods, at the dining table with their parents.
“Baby-led weaning is a modern style of introducing babies to solid food and transitioning them away from exclusively eating breast milk or formula,” says Christina Johns, MD, pediatrician, pediatric emergency medicine physician, and senior medical advisor at PM Pediatric Care. “Unlike more traditional weaning methods that focus on feeding baby purees and soft, mushy food, baby-led weaning is meant to acquaint babies with regular food, but modified for safety.”
Baby-led weaning also emphasizes having babies participate in family mealtimes and eat many of the same foods that other family members eat, as long as the foods are safe and appropriate for the baby to eat. During baby-led weaning, babies get to decide which foods to try, how much to eat, and when to be done with their meals.
“The goal of baby-led weaning is to help a child establish a positive relationship with food, to promote curiosity, and expand the palate,” says Dr. Johns.
Related: Everything You Need When Your Baby Starts Solid Foods
How to Know if Your Baby Is Ready for Baby-Led Weaning
Most babies are ready for baby-led weaning when they are about 6 months old. But it’s not just about what age they are on the calendar. It’s about whether they are developmentally ready.
According to Pierrette Mimi Poinsett, MD, pediatrician, and consultant Mom Loves Best, your baby is ready for baby-led weaning when they:
Can sit up without support in a high chair or in a caregivers lap
Have good head and neck control
Are able to pick up small objects and bring objects to their mouths
Will swallow food instead of pushing food out of their mouth
Show an interest in family member’s foods
Related: Introducing Your Baby to Food? Here Are 18 Options Worth Trying
Baby-Led Weaning Safety Tips
Besides issues surrounding how to know if your baby is ready, many parents are concerned about risks that may be associated with baby-led weaning, Dr. Johns says. Specifically, parents worry that babies might choke on foods they are given.
“It is true that babies may often gag (not choke), but this is a natural instinct that actually teaches them to take appropriately sized bites and manipulate food inside their mouths,” Dr. Johns explains. “The risk of choking with baby-led weaning is the same (not higher) as traditional feeding, and it is always crucial to know basic first aid and infant CPR when starting a baby on solids.”
You can minimize the chances of anything harmful happening to your baby during baby-led weaning by focusing on soft finger foods or foods cut up into thin strips, and always supervising your baby while they eat, Dr. Johns suggests. You also want to eliminate any foods that pose choking dangers.
The top choking hazards for babies are:
Sliced hot dogs (cut into the shape of a coin)
Popcorn, pretzels, and other hard snack foods
Hard, sticky, or gummy candy
Whole grapes or whole cherries
Fruits with skins
Dried fruits
Nuts and seeds
Peanut butter
Cheese cubes
Related: 9 Healthy Baby Snacks That Are Great On the Go
Baby-Led Weaning Troubleshooting
In addition to safety concerns, many parents are taken aback by what a huge mess baby-led weaning can be. It’s common for most of your baby’s meals to end up on their face, their shirt, on the floor, especially at first. “Using a large wearable bib and spreading a plastic shower curtain under the highchair will help to reduce mess and make clean-up easier during this process,” Dr. John’s recommends.
Finally, parents often notice that their babies may not seem as interested in feeding themselves as they expected them to. This may simply be because your baby isn’t hungry at the time you feed them, says Dr. Poinsett. “Try presenting finger food at a time further apart from breastfeed or formula feed,” she suggests. If your baby is having trouble picking up the food, you can try chopping it into smaller pieces.
Also, if your baby refuses certain foods, they may simply not like the food you’ve offered. Still, Dr. Poinsett suggests trying a food several times before assuming your baby doesn’t like it.
Related: Is Baby-Led Weaning Right for Your Baby?
Tips for Successful Baby-Led Weaning
It’s one thing to learn about the concepts behind baby-led weaning from experts, but it can be even more illuminating to get some inside tips from parents who are in the trenches of this method. We gathered some real-life tips from parents who’ve tried this technique with their little ones. Here are their words of wisdom:
Don’t Worry About Following a Specific Program
Jessica Hartsock, a registered nurse, blogger, and mom of two, emphasizes that you don’t need to stick to a strict set of rules when it comes to baby-led weaning, or do it exactly as others have done it.
“It's a great idea to get recommendations about what types of foods to start with and how to prepare them, but don't put too much stress on yourself,” she suggests. “Your baby will be fine if they don't try every fruit and vegetable before age one.” Just go with your gut, and do what feels right for your baby and your family, Hartsock says.
It's Okay if Others Don’t Get It
It’s likely that you will get some weird stares and a bit of judgment over your choice to try baby-led weaning, says Rich Tippers, father of two and owner and co-founder of the website lets.go.manchester.
“Be prepared for a lot of questioning from the intrigued,” he says. “We were very hard headed with our eldest when we met this response with our first and were adamant it was ‘our way or the highway,’” Tippers shares. But that simply wasn't worth it, he says. With his second child, he tried to be more tolerant and receptive to the naysayers, just to make his life a little easier.
No Need to Break the Bank
Sometimes people doing baby-led weaning will recommend some specific dishware or food preparation devices. Hartsock says that baby-led weaning isn’t meant to clear out your bank account. “Baby-led weaning is a lot about exploring; babies will mostly just use their hands,” she says. “You don't need special bowls or plates. Just put the food on their highchair tray.” Hartsock does recommend getting more than one bib, because there will be messes.
Don’t Obsess
Lauren Kay, writer and mom of a 20-month-old baby, was eager to make baby-led weaning work for her baby. “We wanted our daughter's first relationship with food to be positive, stress-free, and on her own terms,” she shared.
But she learned along the way that if she wanted to make it work, she had to stay flexible in her approach. “It's totally okay to sometimes do purees,” she says. “You don't have to spend 5 hours preparing an entire pot-roast just for your baby to show zero interest...not speaking from experience or anything.”
Try to Embrace the Mess
Did we mention how very messy baby-led weaning can be? Yup, prepare for your floor, your baby, and your table, to be covered end to end with food messes. Hartsock says that it’s good to try to make peace with the mess early on. “If you are going down this road, learn to embrace it,” she recommends. “If you can't handle a mess then this is maybe not for you and don't beat yourself up about it. Just take their clothes off, protect your floors, and let them go at it.”
Related: Why This Viral Electric Kids' Cleaning Product Makes This Mom Sad
Questions to Ask a Health Care Provider
All babies are different, so if your baby isn’t taking to baby-led weaning or doesn’t seem that into eating solids in general, that’s okay. You can wait a few weeks and try again later. Also keep in mind that some babies are more picky than others, so try not to compare your baby to your friend’s baby, or even your older children.
That said, some babies do need a little extra help from a health care professional. If your baby continues to refuse solids or seems to have issues with chewing or swallowing certain foods, definitely get in touch with a pediatrician or medical provider and ask questions about what the needed steps are to address the issues. Also feel free to contact a health care professional if you have general questions about feeding, solid food readiness, and your baby’s overall nutritional needs.
Related: 15 Ways to Help Your Baby Love Food as Much as You Do
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