By Emily Gardner, graduate student in nutrition coordinated program
Watching babies try solid foods is an entertaining milestone in parenthood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that babies start trying solid foods at about 6 months old. Often, parents feed their babies foods that are mashed or pureed textures with the goal of improving the baby’s oral skills before trying foods with more textures. Often, parents feed their babies foods that are mashed or pureed textures with the goal of improving the baby’s oral skills before trying foods with more textures. Baby-led weaning (BLW) is an alternative approach to introducing foods to babies. In BLW, babies feed themselves from the beginning of their transition to solid foods. This sounds like a fun (and easier) approach to feeding babies, but is it safe?
One important nutrient (of many) that babies need is iron. Iron deficiency can cause serious harm to infants. Babies have enough iron stores from their development before birth to last them until about the age of 6 months. If you are looking into using BLW for your child, have you considered how you would provide enough iron?
Researchers from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand recently did a study evaluating some of the safety concerns that experts have about BLW, including the concern that the BLW approach would not give the baby enough iron. The University of Otago researchers followed 206 mother-infant pairs for their study. These pairs were divided into two groups. One group followed a modified BLW approach and a second group used a traditional, spoon-feeding approach for introducing foods to babies. Researchers then provided education to mothers in the modified BLW group on topics such as iron deficiency, growth faltering, and choking risks. The goal was to see if the modified version of BLW could be used without increasing the risk of iron deficiency.
The study’s modified BLW approach retained several key attributes of BLW, including milk feeding until 6 months of age exclusively, infant self-feeding from 6 months old, and offering family foods as finger foods to the baby. At the end of the study, researchers did not find significant differences in iron intake between infants following the modified BLW approach compared to the spoon-feeding approach. These results were encouraging but should not be taken out of context. Researchers were careful to note that they studied this modified version of BLW, which had specific education for parents on iron intake, not the standard BLW approach.
Parents, if some form of BLW is the route that you plan to take with your infant, please consider familiarizing yourself with sources of iron so you can offer them to your baby regularly. Also, please consult with your medical team to confirm that an approach like BLW is appropriate for your child. Some babies may not be successful with a BLW approach due to other factors in their health and development.