Baby-Led Weaning Tips and Time-Savers for Busy Parents
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Baby-led weaning (BLW) offers a unique approach that allows infants to explore solid foods at their own pace, encouraging self-feeding and developing important motor skills. If you’re considering this method or are already on the journey, you might wonder how to make it work seamlessly with your schedule.
Baby-led weaning (BLW) is actually an excellent option for busy parents! With a few food modifications depending on developmental stage, BLW allows you to offer baby pieces of what you're eating, reducing the need for separate meal prep and making mealtimes more flexible.
In this blog post, we’ll cover essential tips, time-saving strategies, and critical information to help you get started with baby-led weaning and make it a smooth experience for you and your little one.
What is Baby-Led Weaning?
Unlike the traditional spoon-feeding of purees, baby-led weaning is a feeding approach where infants are introduced to solid foods in their whole, unprocessed form and allowed to self-feed from the start.
The idea is to let BLW babies explore a variety of textures and flavors at their own pace, developing their chewing and swallowing skills naturally. The more variety a baby experiences when starting solids, the more likely they are to accept a variety of different foods and flavors down the road, which can help reduce the likelihood of picky eating.
There are many potential benefits of baby-led weaning, including more practice with self-regulation of hunger and satiety, improved fine motor skills, and a positive relationship with food. Plus, the baby benefits from eating with the family, and caregivers save money and time by preparing one meal for everyone.
Many early foods must be modified to be safe for 6 to 12-month-olds to mash down with gums and swallow. However, serving modified food from the family table is easy for parents once they know what to serve and how to prepare it for babies safely.
How to Start Baby-Led Weaning
Starting baby-led weaning can seem daunting, but with a bit of preparation, it can be a rewarding experience. Here’s a simple guide to help you get started:
1. Choose the Right Time: Typically, you can begin baby-led weaning around 6 months of age when your baby shows signs of readiness, such as sitting up with minimal support, steadiness of the head and neck, grabbing things and bringing them to their mouth, and showing interest in foods. It is best to offer food at times when your baby is well-rested and alert, ideally 1-2 hours before a nap.
2. Select the Best First Foods for Baby-Led Weaning: Opt for iron-rich and soft finger foods that are easy for your baby to grasp and chew. Great options include cooked soft vegetables like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, and carrots, fruits such as bananas and avocados, and soft-cooked meats, tofu, pieces of toast with a thin layer of peanut butter, and scrambled eggs.
3. Prepare a Safe Eating Environment: Invest in a fully upright high chair for your baby that is sturdy and comfortable (ideally one with a footrest and detachable tray for easy cleaning). Ensure that the area where your baby will be eating is safe and clean to prevent choking hazards.
4. Cut Foods Appropriately: To minimize the risk of choking, cut foods according to the baby’s age and developmental stage.
For babies using a palmar grasp around 6-9 months, offer soft, tender, and mashable foods about 2.5 to 5 inches long – approximately the size of 1 to 2 adult pinky fingers.
For babies with emerging pincer grasp (usually ~9-10 months), offer soft, tender, mashable foods cut into chickpea-sized pieces. Avoid round foods that can be a choking hazard, such as hot dogs, whole grapes, and cherry tomatoes.
Tips for Busy Parents
Finding time to prepare and serve meals can be a struggle for busy parents. As a working pediatric dietitian and single mom of three girls, I’ve found planning and preparing meals and snacks to be quite challenging at different stages!
But with the right approach and a routine that includes planning ahead, baby-led weaning can fit seamlessly into family life. Here are some of my favorite time-saving tips to help integrate baby-led weaning into your routine:
Meal Prep in Bulk: Prepare larger batches of iron-rich foods and freeze them in glass portion-sized containers* or silicone portion-sized containers* (I love the ones from Souper Cubes*). This way, you can quickly grab, heat, and serve a healthy meal without the need for daily cooking.
Top Tip: Invest in reusable baby food pouches* for reduced waste from single-use pouches
Note that pancakes freeze well and can offer plenty of nutrition and even multiple top allergens when made from scratch. Try this recipe for 6-Allergen Blender Pancakes from my new BLW cookbook and freeze in layers separated by parchment paper so you can easily defrost only what you’ll need
Other baby-friendly foods I like to prep at the beginning of the week that store well in the refrigerator include larger batches of beans, lentil or chickpea pasta (for extra iron and protein!), boiled eggs or veggie egg bites, slow-cooked or soft meat such as chicken, and blueberry or pumpkin muffins
Keep Frozen Fruits and Vegetables on Hand: When the freezer is stocked with frozen fruits and veggies, produce is available and [almost] ready to eat whenever you need it (for example, making a quick smoothie or steaming veggies to make a soft, easy-to-swallow snack for baby)
Stock the Pantry: Try to keep shelf-stable items that you can use to make baby-friendly meals when you haven’t had a chance to make it to the store, such as pasta*, nut butter*, dried* or canned beans*, rolled oats*, and canned salmon* (For more ideas, check out my FREE list of budget-friendly, nutritious essentials for baby-led feeding!)
Incorporate Whole Foods: Use whole foods that require minimal preparation, such as avocado slices, bananas, or soft-cooked beans. These foods are nutrient-dense and save you time in the kitchen.
Plan Ahead: Create a weekly meal plan that includes BLW-friendly foods. This helps streamline grocery shopping and meal prep, making it easier to integrate into your busy schedule.
Top Tip: I like to meal plan for 2 weeks (and sometimes even for the month!), so I only have to sit down and exert my energy to the process 1-2x per month instead of every Sunday.
If you’re someone who likes to have the thinking and planning of meals done for you, you will love my new BLW cookbook which comes with 8 weeks of baby- and family-friendly meal plans and 80 recipes!
Invest in Time-Saving Kitchen Tools: A good pair of kitchen shears*, a high-speed blender*, slow-cooker*, and box grater* have all been game-changers for me in the time-saving department! Ezpz also just came out with some fantastic little baby-led weaning crinkle-cut food cutters to make food prep during BLW a breeze. Use my code: MALINA10 for 10% off all ezpz products!*
Get the Family Involved: If possible, involve other family members in meal preparation. This not only saves time but also helps create a supportive environment for your baby’s eating habits.
Cut Down on Mess: Offer only a few pieces of food at a time to avoid overwhelming your baby and to prevent food throwing, invest in a good bib (ideally with a pocket* for catching food), use suction plates* and bowls, try using a Catchy* to catch thrown or dropped food, and use easy to clean utensils*.
Make a Plan for Travel: Having the best baby-led weaning travel foods and/or purees on hand can make all the difference. Don’t forget a good travel cup, baby travel utensils*, and baby wipes or other clean-up supplies for on-the-go messes!
Baby-Led Weaning and Choking
Most parents and caregivers I talk to tell me that fear of choking is the biggest barrier preventing them from starting their babies on solid foods using a baby-led weaning approach. Studies show that baby-led weaning (BLW) does not increase the risk of choking if the appropriate-sized foods are offered. In fact, this study found that babies who were offered different types of finger foods the least often had the highest frequency of choking episodes.
As a parent, I completely understand that concerns about gagging and choking can create anxiety and uncertainty! Understanding the differences between gagging and choking, what causes each, and how to respond appropriately is the best way to reduce stress around feeding.
Gagging is a normal, built-in safety mechanism and an important part of learning to eat. It is very common in 6-7 months old who are just learning how to eat solids and less common in older babies. A gagging baby will make sounds like coughing or sputtering and may have watery eyes.
Choking, however, is a silent, serious event that happens when a bigger piece of food becomes stuck in the airway, blocking the airflow. A choking baby will not make sounds (because the airway is blocked), may become upset, turn blue, and grab their throat. Intervention is required to help the baby remove the blockage from their airway.
To minimize this risk, always supervise your baby during mealtimes and ensure foods are cut into appropriate sizes. It’s also beneficial to learn infant choking and CPR training.
(Use my code: MALINA for 20% off of this self-paced online course from Safe Beginnings that teaches you everything you need to know to prevent and manage infant and child choking, CPR, and first aid-related emergencies*)
Final Thoughts…
Baby-led weaning can be a fantastic approach to feeding your baby, allowing them to explore different textures and flavors while developing essential skills. By choosing the best first foods, preparing in advance, and creating a safe eating environment, you can successfully integrate BLW into your busy lifestyle.
Remember to be patient and flexible as you navigate this new feeding method, and enjoy the journey of discovering new foods and flavors with your little one.
If you’re getting ready to start your baby on solids, download my FREE BLW Starter Guide. It includes my top expert tips for successfully introducing solids, a short list of budget-friendly baby-led feeding tools, a printable 1-sheet for your baby’s caregivers, first food ideas and how to safely serve them, PLUS a 5-Day packable BLW meal plan with photos for food sizing to make your life easier.
And if you’re interested in learning more about how and when to integrate foods into your baby's diet, as well as how to reduce the risk of food allergies for your baby, check out my new baby-led feeding cookbook!
Safe and Simple Food Allergy Prevention helps reduce the risk of developing food allergy during infant feeding and makes starting solids easy, joyful, and delicious for the baby and the entire family as well.
With a complete plan for allergen introduction, 8 weeks of baby-led feeding meal plans and 80 family-friendly recipes, you’ll never again have to wonder what to feed your little one.
Thanks for reading!