Baby-led weaning or BLW has gained vast popularity as a feeding practice for babies in recent years. It is in part due to its practicality, as babies self-feed solid foods at their speed. Your baby also gets to decide how much they want to eat.
The best thing about BLW is that, before taking the food to their mouth and ultimately chewing, babies first learn to pick up the food and explore the textures. This helps in sensory development as well as fine motor skills.
When babies pick up their food, they first play with it (and make a mess!). This is an important step as they form a bond with the food they will eventually be eating. This way, babies develop a healthy relationship with food. So let us look into the best first foods for baby led weaning which brings nutrition and taste all at one place.
What is Baby Led Weaning or BLW
BLW is a weaning approach in which you offer soft, easily chewable foods to your baby and let them eat it with their hands. With BLW, babies learn self-feeding right from the start.
Unlike traditional spoon-feeding, it allows babies to discover new textures, tastes, and emotions at their speed. Just like traditional weaning, BLW is simply a manner of introducing solid foods alongside breastfeeding.
Right age to start first foods for baby led weaning
As per WHO, for the first 6 months of life a baby should be exclusively breastfed. After this age, you can start with baby led weaning anytime if your baby shows signs of solid readiness. Look for the following signs in your babies to know whether they are ready for solids –
🟣 Your baby has doubled their birth weight.
🟣 They show interest in foods when you eat in front of them.
🟣 They can sit for short periods of time without support.
🟣 They have gained good neck and head control.
🟣 They reach for food when you eat.
Most importantly, they do not have a tongue-thrust reflex anymore. Check this by feeding them a small bite of food. If they move to chew it instead of spitting it right out, they’re ready for the exciting journey of flavours and foods!
How should I start baby led weaning?
Starting first foods for baby led weaning may seem like a daunting task to you. However, with the right knowledge and a few tips and tricks, introducing solid foods to your baby can be a breezy job!
When you know your baby is ready for solids, take one day at a time to let your baby and yourself adjust to this new beginning. Balancing breastfeeding and solids is crucial to maintaining the tempo for BLW. Start with one meal a day for the first 15 days, then add one more meal to your baby’s diet.
Start by offering soft finger foods or mashed foods to your baby (more below) for breakfast. Offer single ingredient meals first and then move to two ingredient meals.Make sure that your baby has already been introduced to both the ingredients separately.
Top tips to start baby led weaning
- Start with one meal a day – preferably breakfast.
- Do not offer breastmilk for 1.5 – 2 hours prior to offering solids.
- Let the baby digest their stomach contents and feel a bit hungry – this way they tend to eat to their fill.
- Plan your baby’s meals ahead and prepare accordingly.
- Don’t rush to make your baby’s meals at the last moment as this will make your baby cranky.
- Buy a highchair with straps and baby-friendly spoons, plates, bowls and cups.
- Expect a lot of mess, it’s the only way your baby will learn to eat!
- Bibs with a collector come in real handy to reduce the mess.
- Do not offer foods with spices or any hard chunks as the baby will play with it.
- Offer water in a straw cup or open cup.
- Be patient. Your baby will first feel the texture of the food, then play with it and finally eat. This may take days to weeks.
- Sit down with your baby to eat, let them see how you eat – they love to mimic you!
- Don’t have high expectations from your baby. Let them eat at their own pace and more importantly, let them decide how much they want to eat.
- Overfeeding, force feeding and distraction feeding are a huge no. They may lead your baby to associate negatively with food and avoid eating entirely. They may also lead to unhealthy eating habits in their adulthood.
Best first foods for baby led weaning
Banana
6-9 months: offer ripe banana in mashed form or cut it into long strips resembling an adult human finger.
9-12 months: offer bananas cut into 1-inch cubes that your baby can easily pick up and eat.
Apple
6-9 months: steam a peeled and deseeded apple in a steamer. Offer it mashed or cut into long strips resembling an adult human finger.
9-12 months: offer steamed apples cut into 1-inch cubes that your baby can easily pick up.
Carrots
6-9 months: steam a peeled carrot in a steamer. Offer it mashed or cut into long strips resembling an adult human finger.
9-12 months: offer steamed apples cut into 1-inch cubes that your baby can easily pick up.
Yogurt
6-9 months: offer yogurt mixed with smooth strawberry, mango or chikoo puree.
9-12 months: offer yogurt mixed with soft small chunks of ripe fruits such as mango, banana, chikoo or strawberry. Hand mash the fruit chunks before adding them to the yogurt.
Paneer
6-9 months: offer grilled paneer pieces cut into long strips resembling an adult human finger. Use ghee or butter to grill the paneer.
9-12 months: offer grilled paneer cut into 1-inch cubes that your baby can easily pick up. Or make paneer sabzi and nicely hand mash it and apply over small roti pieces and offer.
Eggs
6-9 months: offer well cooked omelette cut into long strips resembling adult human fingers. Hand mash nicely before offering.
9-12 months: offer well cooked omelette with pre cooked veggies cut into small pieces for easy grabbing. Ensure the veggies are soft enough to chew with gums.
Sweet potato
6-9 months: offer nicely hand mashed boiled sweet potato. You can mix it with any other fruit puree for a flavour boost.
9-12 months: offer boiled sweet potato as a sabzi. Nicely hand mash the sweet potato sabzi and apply it over small roti pieces and offer.
Beetroot
6-9 months: offer beetroot puree in a baby-friendly bowl with a spoon and let your baby eat on their own.
9-12 months: offer beetroot as a sabzi or cook it with dals/legumes. Nicely hand mash the dal/sabzi and either mix with rice and offer as balls or apply it over roti pieces and offer.
Oats
6-9 months: cook oats with a dash of cinnamon and any fruit puree of choice. Offer it in a baby-friendly bowl and let your baby eat it on their own.
9-12 months: Add veggies to oatmeal and cook completely. Offer hand mashed oatmeal in a baby-friendly bowl with a baby-friendly spoon.
Ghee rice
6-9 months: Steam cook rice. Mix some ghee with the steamed rice and nicely hand mash them. Make small balls out of it and offer it as finger food.
9-12 months: Steam cook rice and mix ghee with it. Add some dal to the rice and nicely hand mash it. You may add sabzi to it and nicely mash it with your hands. Make small balls out of it and offer it as finger food.
First Foods for baby led weaning to avoid
Most foods that you consume are safe for your baby. However, there are some first foods for baby led weaning that you should avoid. These foods are either choking risks or may not be suitable for your little one’s tiny tummy. In any case, steer clear of the following foods in your baby’s first year.
Animal milk
Animal milk contains complex proteins which may cause digestive problems in babies under the age of one year. Hence, stick to breast milk until 12 months.
Honey
Honey may lead to a dangerous condition, known as botulism, in babies if given before 12 months of age. Use natural sweeteners like date powder, date syrup or best, fresh fruit puree to sweeten baby foods.
Raw foods
Raw foods such as carrots and apples may pose a choking hazard for toothless babies. Always steam carrots, apples and other raw foods before offering it to your baby.
Salt
Salt is high in sodium and babies practically do not require salt in their diets before 2 years of age. Avoid giving salt to your baby strictly before 12 months of age. After that, you may add just a small pinch in your baby’s food.
Sugar
Sugar has no nutritional benefit for your baby and it leads to addiction and tooth decay alongside a myriad of other issues in babies. Avoid offering sugary foods to your baby before 12 months of age. Use date powder, jaggery or fruit puree instead.
Hard foods
Hard foods such as nuts, popcorn, laddoos including sticky foods may lead to choking hazard for your baby. Offer nuts in a fine powder form. Avoid popcorn until 18 months and offer laddoos after 12 months with finely powdered ingredients.
Partially cooked foods
Some partially cooked foods such as eggs, fish, meat, poultry may be harmful for your baby. Apart from choking risks, these foods may pose an infection risk if uncooked/partially cooked. Hence, to avoid any discomfort to babies, cook all these foods thoroughly before offering them.
For exciting recipes and yummy dishes, download the Happy Eaters App today. Get a daily balanced meal plan for your baby as per their age. What’s more? You can track your baby’s food journey in a couple of easy steps, swap the meals as you want and get valuable nutritional info – all at the same place.
