Baby-led weaning has a number of advantages for both kids and parents including:
- Promotes oral and fine motor skill development
- Reduces the likelihood of picky eating later in childhood [1]
- Cuts down on food prep time in comparison to purees
- Facilitates curiosity about food, and sensory exploration
- Promotes self-regulation of fullness and satiety [2]
- Associated with advanced language development and earlier crawling [3]
- It allows kids and adults to eat together by encouraging self-feeding
References
[1] Coulthard, H., Harris, G., & Emmett, P. (2009). Delayed introduction of lumpy foods to children during the complementary feeding period affects child’s food acceptance and feeding at 7 years of age. Maternal & child nutrition, 5(1), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00153.x
[2] Brown, A., & Lee, M. D. (2015). Early influences on child satiety-responsiveness: the role of weaning style. Pediatric obesity, 10(1), 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2047-6310.2013.00207.x
[3] Webber, C., Blissett, J., Addessi, E., Galloway, A. T., Shapiro, L., & Farrow, C. (2021). An infant-led approach to complementary feeding is positively associated with language development. Maternal & child nutrition, 17(4), e13206. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13206
Ready to start baby-led weaning? Get the complete guide to baby-led weaning including 60+ pages of handouts, printables, recipe ideas, and more HERE.
2 responses to “What Are the Advantages of Baby-Led Weaning?”
[…] Yes, baby-led weaning (BLW) is messy however, it’s also tons of fun! Few things are more delightful than watching your little one explore new flavors and textures and personally, I think it’s worth the clean up. Moreover, a growing body of evidence suggests that baby-led weaning may help promote infant development. (Read more about the benefits of baby-led weaning (BLW) here). […]
[…] For those doing baby-led weaning (blw), you can offer yogurt to your baby on a pre-loaded spoon or let your little one self-feed yogurt from a bowl on their high chair. The latter is a little messier but there’s something to be said for giving your child the space to explore new foods. And truth be told, a yogurt facial is adorable on little ones! (Read more about the benefits of baby-led weaning HERE.) […]