Starting Solids: Baby-Led Weaning vs Purées

Which method is right for you & your baby?

Are you preparing to introduce solid foods to your first baby? Or perhaps it has been a while since you weaned a baby and you are unsure about the latest guidance? Traditional spoon feeding and baby-led weaning are the two main methods used today by families when starting to wean (complementary feed).

The main aim of complementary feeding, whichever method you follow is to provide optimum nutrition for your little one at a time when milk alone can no longer nutritionally support their developmental needs.

To help understand which style might be right for you and your little one, below are details of the key differences between the two, including the latest evidence on each.

Purées

This traditional method predominantly consists of cooking fruit and/or vegetables and blending the food down until a smooth runny puree is achieved.

• Often more than one type of fruit or vegetable is puréed together.
• Other food groups can be combined into the purées such as protein; lentils, chickpeas, tofu etc and starchy carbohydrates such as potatoes, pasta, rice, quinoa etc.
• Some parents report that they opt for purées so they can spoon feed their baby to help minimise mess.
• Puree feeding can help with intake of iron rich foods as baby is trying the nutrient rich food provided on the spoon.
• Infant’s oral skills are well established from drinking milk. Accepting purees still requires practice but this skill is easily accepted as the consistency is smooth.
• Baby will practices moving food from the front of the mouth to the back of their mouth for swallowing.
• The natural progression from purées would be to add in soft lumps, offer soft foods and gradually introduce harder more fibrous foods. This could include mashing food with a fork in order to leave some small soft lumps, exposing baby to a different texture.

Broccoli and carrot blended into a smooth purée

Baby-led weaning

Baby-led weaning has gained popularity in the last 10-15 years and is based on the theory that baby shares the same meal as the rest of the family and feeds themselves.

• Serving soft food in finger sized pieces to allow baby to pick it up and feed themselves
• Food should be cooked if hard when raw (for example carrots)
• Single flavours are provided ensuring baby can choose what they want to eat
• Self-feeding with stick foods allows the infant to stop eating once their stomach is full
• Offering finger foods helps baby to integrate well into family mealtimes and allows parents to provide positive role modelling by baby observing them eating the same meal.
• Baby-led weaning can help baby to improve hand-eye coordination
• It has been suggested that feeding this way may prove to be protective against obesity. The infant can choose the speed at which they eat, the quantity of food eaten and therefore when they feel full they can stop eating.
• Different texture foods require more chewing strength and stamina. At 6 months baby will not instantly be an effective eater, but they will quickly learn the skills they need with soft foods. Hard foods that are very fibre rich are a choking risk and not suitable until baby is older.
• Baby-led weaning is not suitable for all infants, premature babies have greater requirements for iron than full term infants & often find lumps of food more difficult even by 12 months of age.

Broccoli and carrot prepared for baby-led weaning, the food should be around adult finger size

Whether you chose BLW or purées there are a few things in common. It’s important to take into account that your baby will require supervising for either approach to minimise the risk of choking. Whichever method you choose your baby should be able to sit upright with little or no extra support. They may also be signalling signs of their readiness to begin weaning by placing food or cutlery to their mouths and maybe reaching for your food off your plate too.

A combination?

For some people combining a mixture might be the exact recipe for success. When I reflect on my experiences with baby-led weaning there are some foods that can’t be provided in a typical baby-led weaning stick foods such as porridge, mashed potato and soup, these are usually meals that adults would use a spoon for so even if you opt for baby-led you will still be exposing your baby to foods that are softer in their mouth. You may choose to let your baby have a spoon here or if you don’t mind the mess it’s great to let your baby feel their food with their hands and allow them to put their hands to their mouths.

Like every area of raising your baby it is important you do what is right for you and your little one and to enjoy this special time of introducing your little one to a whole new world of flavours, texture and colours.

And whatever method you choose… Enjoy it together.

Broccoli and carrot prepared for baby-led weaning, purées and fork mashed