
As a parent, it’s only natural to want to research everything when it comes to your baby. As you explore introducing solids to your baby, you might come across the acronym BLW. But what is BLW?
BLW stands for Baby-Led Weaning, which essentially means “weaning guided by the baby.”
With the BLW approach, babies have the opportunity to feed themselves independently from the very beginning.1
The phase of introducing solid foods begins at 6 months and lasts until 2 years of age.
Introducing solids begins when your baby moves from being exclusively fed breast milk or formula to being exposed to a variety of foods, textures, and portion sizes. It’s around this time that parents begin to wonder what BLW is.
Instead of “weaning,” the term Complementary Feeding is also used as you introduce foods whose nutrients complement the intake of breast milk or formula. It’s important to remember, however, that until 6 months, breast milk (or formula) is all your baby needs to grow and develop.
However, around 6 months, babies begin to require more energy and nutrients and need something beyond what milk provides. Even so, until 1 year of age, milk remains the primary food.
From 1 to 2 years, as the consumption of other foods increases, breast milk (or formula) becomes complementary to solid feeding.
Using the BLW method for starting solids doesn’t just end at 2 years. It has a positive impact for life.
BLW helps babies develop motor skills while feeding themselves. It encourages them to use all of their senses which is extremely beneficial for their development1
Other ways your baby benefits from BLW:
- Opportunity to experience a wide variety of flavors and textures
- Develop good eating habits
- Manage food selectivity
- Gradually become familiar with the social aspects of family meals.
Babies follow our lead.
It is important to remember that our children are a reflection of ourselves. If we don’t make efforts to consume healthy and varied foods, it will be very difficult to pass this practice on to them.
During family meals, your baby learns from your actions. They will want to eat what they see you eat. This is why it’s pertinent to not only offer nutritious food to your baby, but also to consume it yourself. The habits they pick up from you now will impact their eating patterns in the future during both childhood and adulthood.
In other words, developing good eating habits is the foundation for good health throughout life and helps prevent the onset of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity2 and cancer3.
Each baby is unique.
Remember that every baby is different and develops at their own pace with their own preferences, appetite, and growth curve. Never compare your baby to another child.
You don’t need to worry about how much your baby is eating as long as they are growing and hitting developmental milestones. The pace at which babies adapt to the process of introducing solid foods and the portion sizes they will consume will vary from child to child.
Understanding what BLW (Baby-Led Weaning) is means recognizing that this is an approach that lasts for a lifetime and will likely also transform YOUR relationship with food, too.
What is BLW and how does it work?
If you are wondering what BLW is and how it works, here is what you need to know before you get started:
Baby feeds themselves
When using a spoon or offering finger food, it’s crucial to let the baby take charge of their own eating process. This means allowing them to lean in and reach for their food themselves, rather than placing the spoon in their mouth without their awareness.
However, your baby should never be left unattended while eating. Adult supervision is essential, and the caregiver’s role is to be present to guide and assist. This approach is one of the key principles of Baby-Led Weaning (BLW).
To make mealtime easier and more enjoyable, consider using the BLW Meals app, which provides a variety of delicious and healthy recipes tailored for baby-led weaning.
Baby eats with the family
Instead of feeding your baby before the rest of the family every time, try to eat at least one meal per day together. This lets baby learn and socialize in the family setting. The BLW feeding journey is about bonding and letting your baby learn from you when starting solids. If you’re curious how to incorporate your baby into your family meals, check out our 3 day menu for 6-month-old babies. Try including these ingredients in the family meal so that it makes prep time easier.
Offer food safely
When starting solids with your baby, especially using the BLW method, it’s important to offer food in shapes that are easy for them to pick up and hold. The best shapes will vary depending on your baby’s age and motor skill development.
For a 6-month-old just beginning their BLW journey, stick-shaped or longer strips of food are ideal. These allow your baby to easily grasp the food, control it in their mouth, and chew using their gums.
As your baby’s motor skills and coordination improve, you can gradually adjust the size and shape of the food to match their growing abilities.
Baby decides what they want to eat, how much, and at what pace.
Keep in mind that your baby’s appetite can change from day to day, influenced by many factors.
Some days, they’ll eat everything on their plate, while on others, the food might end up on the floor. One day they may eat quickly, and the next, they may take their time.
Every baby is unique and follows their own feeding pace. Trust your baby—they’ll let you know when they’re full or still hungry.
This is where you need to take a deep breath and manage your expectations. It’s easy to imagine that your baby should finish everything you’ve prepared, leave nothing behind, and eat quickly, but that’s simply not realistic.
What are the advantages of BLW?
- With baby led weaning, your baby gets to experience a variety of textures, colors, smells, and flavors. This is more educational than the most expensive toys on the market.
- Your baby will explore and play while learning to eat.
- There’s a lower chance of your baby becoming a “picky eater”.
- BLW aids in the speech learning process by enhancing oral motor skill development.
- Baby will learn to chew and swallow more efficiently.
- Establishes a more positive relationship with food throughout their life. They will learn to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.
- Less time is spent preparing baby food, as everyone will eat practically the same meals, just adapted to safe formats.
- There’s a good chance the whole family will start eating better.
- You’ll be able to relax while eating since your baby will be focused on their broccoli and busy exploring and learning about food. You just need to supervise!
With baby led weaning, your baby’s development, pace, and autonomy are respected.
What are the disadvantages to BLW?
As with anything in life, there are some disadvantages to the BLW approach. While we believe that BLW is worth it, we’ll let you be the judge. Some of the disadvantages include:
The mess
There’s a good chance that food will end up everywhere, especially on the floor. However, with time and practice, your baby will improve.
Is the mess causing you stress? No need to panic. We have a section in the BLW Meals app specifically about this topic with tips to help you prevent and manage the mess. Click here to download.
Anxiety
It is normal to have a fear of your baby choking when introducing solids.
To ease your mind: studies show that choking is a rare event. The likelihood of a baby choking while practicing BLW or with purees from the traditional approach is exactly the same.2
Talking to others about the BLW method
When you are starting solids, you will likely have to explain what baby led weaning is to your family and convince those close to you that it’s a good idea.
Chances are your parents didn’t use the baby led weaning method with you, so there could be a lot of skepticism, and traditional opinions will come from all sides.
Before you even start, you may need to convince grandparents, your partner, babysitter, daycare, and sometimes even some outdated pediatricians that everything will be okay.
Having a support network is very important, so we created a section in the app just to help you communicate with your support network and explain what it is to use baby led weaning when starting solids.
Comentários (2)
How do I offer foods safely with BLW? - Feeding Babies and Kidssays:
March 27, 2025 em 2:22 pm[…] okay if your baby puts the whole thing in their mouth or bites off large bits. If it’s too much, they’ll chew and swallow it or spit it out. […]
5 Things You Should Never Do When Introducing Solid Foodssays:
April 9, 2025 em 1:55 pm[…] you are following traditional spoon-feeding or a Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) approach, respecting your baby’s hunger and fullness cues is essential. Early feeding is about […]