- Which is better, baby-led weaning or spoon-feeding?
Each method has a core group of strong advocates
and an equal number of people
who are strongly opposed to it,
and there's a lot of pressure to do it the right way,
but is there such a thing?
Is one method actually better than the others?
In this video,
I'm going to walk you through what each method involves,
the myths surrounding each of them,
and what the research shows
to help you decide on the best method for your family.
So let's start with baby-led weaning.
If you aren't familiar with baby-led weaning,
the idea is that you skip pureed food
and offer your baby finger food from the first bite.
When you follow this approach,
the baby is in complete control.
The baby chooses which food
they will pick up and place in their mouth
and most importantly, when they will stop eating.
This approach differs significantly
from the spoon-feeding approach
where the baby is initially given pureed or mashed food
from a spoon,
which is held by an adult.
Baby-led weaning advocates
argue that when a spoon-feeding approach is used,
the parent controls the amount of food that is being offered
and may inadvertently encourage
or force their baby to overeat
and this act alone
significantly increases the risk of obesity.
Whereas when you follow a baby-led weaning approach
and let the baby choose what they will eat
and when they will stop eating,
they have the ability to regulate their appetite
and this leads to a healthier weight gain
and reduces the overall risk of obesity.
Although this theory does sound plausible,
research doesn't actually support this claim.
One study which disputed this claim
was actually completed in 2017 by Taylor and her team.
And in this study,
206 mothers were randomly allocated into two groups.
In one group, the mothers were supported
to follow a baby-led weaning approach
and in the other group,
the mothers followed that traditional spoon-feeding approach
when introducing solids.
And the babies were weighed at 12 months of age
and then again at 24 months of age.
And the findings from the study
found that following a baby-led weaning approach
did not appear to result in a healthier growth
or reduce the risk of that child being overweight
when it was compared with the babies
who just followed that traditional spoon-feeding approach.
Another big argument
for following a baby-led weaning approach
is that babies who follow the baby-led weaning approach
are less likely to be picky eaters
compared to babies who follow the spoon-feeding approach.
And this assumption exists for a few reasons.
Firstly, when following a baby-led weaning approach,
babies are generally exposed
to a wide range of flavors and textures from an early age,
they're encouraged to touch and inspect food,
and they generally eat when the family's also eating,
and all these factors can help to reduce picky eating.
However, the evidence again is mixed
about whether or not baby-led weaning
stops babies from becoming picky eaters.
There is also the belief
that following a spoon-feeding approach
may delay oral motor development
and the baby may develop a preference for soft food
and have a hard time managing textured food
and this will result in them being a picky eater.
Now, this is possible if the baby is only given pureed food
in that first year of life,
but only giving the baby pureed food
for their first year of life
is not following the spoon-feeding approach.
When you follow the spoon-feeding approach,
the baby is initially given that pureed food
at six months of age,
but by seven months of age,
the consistency of the food changes from puree
to thicker, lumpier food,
and by eight to nine months of age,
the baby is eating lumpier food from a spoon,
as well as being introduced to finger food,
and by nine months of age,
the baby should be predominantly eating
a range of finger foods varying in textures and flavors.
So as you can see, following a spoon-feeding approach
does not delay a baby's oral motor development
or result in them developing a preference for smooth food.
There is also a general perception
that following a baby-led weaning approach is easier
as parents don't need to prepare a special meal.
And this is true
that when you are following the baby-led weaning approach,
you don't need to make a special pureed meal,
but you do need to modify the family food
you are giving your baby
to ensure that they're able to safely manage the food.
For example,
when you're following a baby-led weaning approach,
your six-months-old's first foods
will be soft sticks and chunks of foods
like sticks of cooked vegetables or fruit.
I would also argue that following a spoon-feeding approach
to introducing solids
isn't any harder for a parent
as many family meals can be quickly pureed
before everyone sits down at the table
and then given to the baby.
And by nine months of age,
babies who follow that spoon-feeding approach
are predominantly eating finger food
and at this point, essentially eating the same types of food
as those who are following the baby-led weaning approach.
Before we cover the main argument
against following a baby-led weaning approach,
if you haven't already,
make sure you click on the link in the description box below
to get my free mealtime essentials list
where you'll find exactly which products I recommend
to make meal times a whole lot easier
for you and your little one.
So what is the main argument
against using a baby-led weaning approach?
Well, there is a perceived belief
that babies who are using that baby-led weaning approach
are at higher risk of choking on food
than babies who are just following
that traditional spoon-feeding approach.
But emerging evidence actually suggests
that baby-led weaning may result in more gagging
as babies get used to swallowing and the different textures
and that's completely normal and safe,
but they're not at higher risk of choking on food
as long as that caregiver is aware of
and giving the baby food
which is suitable for their age
and oral motor skill development.
This finding was supported by a randomized control study
completed in 2016
where the researchers found
that if an infant's parents was actually given advice
on how to minimize choking risks
when they were implementing a baby-led weaning approach,
those infants were not more likely to choke on food
than infants that were following
that traditional spoon-feeding approach.
So as you can see, based on this evidence,
it is obvious that there's no right way to introduce solids.
What's important is that you choose the method
which suits you and your family best.
Regardless of which method
you choose to use with your little one,
it's important that you know the common foods
which babies are at high risk of choking on.
So, make sure you check out this video next
to find out what these foods are
and how you can minimize the risk for your little one.
Thanks for watching and I will see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.