Can You Do Baby-Led Weaning Without Teeth?

In many cases you can do baby-led weaning if your child doesn’t have teeth. However, there are a couple of milestones that your baby should surpass before you start offering them soft, handheld foods.

Being a parent of a 4-6 month old is an exciting time for a variety of reasons. Each day your child becomes a little more interactive, mobile (!), and interested in the world. Moreover, this is usually the time when you can start serving-up first foods.

One of the most common questions I get from parents about starting solids is: ‘Can I do baby-led weaning if my child doesn’t have teeth’? The answer is yes for many kids however, there a few things they need to accomplish first.

Signs of readiness to start solids/ baby-led weaning

Teeth are not required to start baby-led weaning (those little gums are hard) but your baby should have reached the following milestones before offering soft solids:

• Can hold up their head and sit in a high chair
• Open their mouth when food comes their way
• Can move food from spoon to throat
• Weigh least 2x their birthweight
• No longer exhibit the tongue thrust reflex (automatically pushing food out with tongue)

Note that babies should not start soft solids before 4 months, even if they have all the signs of readiness down pat. Research suggests that starting solids before 4 months may increase risk of overweight/ obesity later in childhood [1].

Furthermore, babies born prematurely or who have medical conditions such as cleft palate may need a little more time before they start solids and you should consult your pediatrician before offering food.

Baby-led weaning first foods for kids without teeth

Teeth or not, baby-led weaning first foods should be extra soft, and free of added salt and sugar. In addition, they should be easy to grip with the palmar grasp. A good rule of thumb is to cut food into strips roughly two fingers wide.

Examples of baby-led weaning first foods include:

• Soft-cooked cooked broccoli or cauliflower
• Soft-cook cooked zucchini batons
• Avocado strips
• Banana spears
• Melon slices
• Soft mango batons
• Soft-cooked pear wedges
• Well-cooked wedges of sweet potato or pumpkin
• Scrambled eggs or a plain omelet cut into strips
• Cooked tofu strips
• De-boned cooked salmon flaked into pieces
• Whole milk plain yogurt

Baby-led weaning and choking

Baby-led weaning has not been shown to increase choking risk providing that you serve food and textures appropriate for your child’s developmental phase [2]. That means avoiding foods that are hard, easily swallowed whole, or difficult to chew such as:

• Raw veggies such as carrot sticks
• Unripe/ hard raw fruit such as pears and apples
• Whole cherry tomatoes, olives, grapes, and blueberries
• Dried fruit such as dried apricots and prunes
• Popcorn
• Whole or chopped nuts
• Seeds
• Tough chunks of meat
• Untoasted white bread

Key takeaways

• Babies without teeth can do baby-led weaning provided that they meet key milestones for starting solids.
• Baby-led weaning first foods should be extra soft, easy to grip, and free from added salt and sugar.
• Foods that are hard, easily swallowed whole, or difficult to chew pose a choking risk. These foods should be avoided until your child is much older.