Overview of baby-led weaning, a more natural and fun way to introduce solid food to your child.

1. Baby led weaning
Richella King

2. What is Baby led weaning?
• Baby sits with the family at meal times and snack
times
• Baby chooses food items
• Baby feeds themselves
Important that:
• Solid food does not replace milk feeds
• Baby should not be hungry at ‘mealtimes’

3. Advantages of baby led weaning
• It’s fun
• It’s natural
• It’s easy
• Allows baby to explore the taste and textures of real food
• Baby learns to eat safely
• Baby learns to eat to appetite
• Increases baby’s confidence
• Baby quickly learns how to chew effectively (critical for
development of speech)
• Nutritionally better for baby
• Baby develops a positive attitude to food

4. When do we start?
When baby’s ready:
• Can sit up with little or no support
• Grabs objects and puts them in her mouth
• Around 6 months

5. Developmentally, where is baby
at?
• Baby can sit upright unsupported or with
minimum support
• Baby’s tongue reflex has gone or almost gone
• Baby’s gag reflex is much nearer the front of
their mouth
• Baby can hold food in their fist but will open
fist when their attention goes elsewhere
• Baby cannot open fist to get at food that’s
inside

6. How to do it
• Think playtime NOT mealtime
• Baby should not be hungry
• Cut food into ~5cm long fingers
• Baby must be sitting upright (so they can clear
their air way)
• Sit next to baby and eat together
• Always offer baby water with food
• Check baby’s mouth at the end of the meal

7. What to expect

9. What to expect
• Excitement
• Mess
– Bibs or aprons
– Protect the floor
• Baby to eat no food
• Baby to eat lots of one food

10. Tips for preparing food
• In general, serve what you eat
• Provide food with ‘handles’ for first few months
• Food with stones/pips (remove stones/pips)
• Cut small fruits e.g. grapes in half
• Big fruit e.g. melons, cut into slices
• Medium fruit, e.g. apples offer whole, but initially take
a bite out
• Avoid high salt foods and MSG
• Check temperature of food
• Expose baby to potential allergens before 8 months

11. Food to avoid
• Obvious choking hazards – whole nuts need to
be avoided until child is ~ 3 years old
• High salt foods
• Foods with MSG
• Honey until over 1 year (botulism risk)
• High sugar food
• Tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, undiluted fruit juice,
• Animal milk until over 1 year old

12. Common concerns
• Choking
• Is my baby eating enough?
• Weight gain – lack of compared to growth
charts
• Allergies
• Can my baby really eat what we eat?
• Can I trust baby to choose a balanced diet

13. Safety Summary
• Sit baby upright
• Only let baby feed baby
• Check baby’s mouth at the end of a session
for food stored in cheek
• Watch out for salt
• Check temperature of food
• Never leave baby unattended with food

14. Questions ?

15. Further information
• Book: Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley and
Tracey Murkett
• http://www.babyledweaning.com/
• http://www.baby-led.com/
• Google it for some blogs
http://www.babyledweaningblog.com/http://
• Spoon feeding 'makes babies fatter’
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16905371

16. Notes: Research 1
• Dr Clara Davies studied 15 children for between 6 months
and 4.5 years. All aged between 7 and 9 months before
experiment started and had been exclusively breast fed til
then.
• Offered 33 foods at each meal
• Baby ate whatever they wanted (or were spoon fed their
choice)
• Blood and urine tests and X-rays were taken to monitor
children’s health
• Each child choose an extremely well balanced diet
• C.M. Davis, ‘Self-selection of diet by newly weaned infants:
an experimental study,’ American Journal of Diseases in
Childhood, 36:4 (1928), 651-79

17. Notes : Research 2
• A study from the University of Melbourne and
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in 2010,
which found babies given cooked egg between
four and six months were five times less likely to
develop an egg allergy than babies introduced to
it after 12 months.
Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/who-knows-best

18. Notes: Salt guidelines
• Under 1 maximum 1g a day (0.4g sodium)
• 1 to 3 years: 2g salt a day (0.8g sodium)
Look at the figure for salt per 100g:
• High is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g
sodium)
• Low is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium)
• Salt = sodium x 2.5