Baby led weaning​, also known as BLW , originated in the UK. This baby led weaning​ approach involves introducing finger foods as soon as complementary foods are introduced at six months or older, bypassing purees and mushy foods.

The term “baby led weaning​ ” is used because the premise is that – from the very beginning – the little one feeds herself with the healthy foods she wants to eat. This allows the baby to learn to chew first and then swallow.

There are three main features of the complementary food introduction method of “baby led weaning​”:

The baby decides for herself when to eat complementary foods

Usually, parents take the initiative to introduce complementary foods when their child is six months old, but baby-led weaning emphasizes observation by the parents. After the child has reached the age of six months, if it can sit unaided, keep its head steady, coordinate its eyes, hands and mouth so that it can look at food on its own, pick it up and put it in its mouth by itself, and swallow the food without spitting it out, only then can baby led weaning​ be implemented.

The baby decides what to eat

In conventional complementary feeding, the caregiver decides what the baby eats, often following some principle from a book or website. baby led weaning​ , however, encourages giving the baby a range of choices and letting them decide what to eat.

The baby decides what to eat

baby led weaning​ suggests that the baby can choose whether to eat with their hands, a spoon or a bottle, and that the parents just need to go with them.

We now have a basic understanding of “baby led weaning​”. It is a method of complementary feeding, and the name is not strictly accurate. The aim is not to wean the baby immediately, but to gradually guide the baby to wean itself without pain.