Baby Led Weaning (BLW) and spoon feeding are both very popular methods for introducing solids to babies.

But parents are constantly asking which method is best.

So in this article I'll help shed some light on the answer for you.

Both camps have strong advocates who firmly believe their preferred method is best - whether that's BLW or spoon feeding.

This article isn't about judgement on either side, rather it's a comparison and deeper look into the claims and facts around the benefits and downsides of each method for introducing solids to babies and understand how to choose the best method for you and your family.

Which Introducing Solids Method Is ACTUALLY Better?

BLW and the Spoon Feeding Approach

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 blog, 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.

BLW Reduces the Risk of Obesity

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.

BLW Reduces the Risk of Picky Eating

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.

The Spoon Feeding Approach Delays Oral Motor Development

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.

BLW is Easier

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.

BLW Increases the Risk of Choking on Food

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 read this blog 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.

Baby Development