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Baby-led Weaning (BLW) is simplyintroducing solids into a baby’sdiet in a baby-led way. This meansbabies lead when the weaning

begins (usually around six months of age),control their own food intake and feedthemselves finger foods from the very startof weaning, skipping the spoon-fed puréestage entirely.

BLW as we know it has only existed for 12years, being introduced by health visitor andmidwife Gill Rapley. Gill was working on hermasters thesis, studying whether babieswould move on to solid foodsspontaneously, if given the chance. Shequickly found that this did indeed happen; inaddition, many parents reported theirincreased satisfaction with this method ofweaning too. In 2008 Gill’s book Baby-ledWeaning was published and the method hasgrown steadily in popularity since. Despitemuch research backing the method,however, most parents still wean ontotraditional purées from four months.

BLW can seem confusing and sometimesconcerning to childcare workers, especiallyif they are used to caring for babies weanedusing more traditional methods. For thisreason, some background knowledge inBLW can really help to allay these concernsand, in addition, can really help early yearspractitioners to support families who havechosen this parenting method.

The rationaleBLW works on a similar principle to breast-feeding. A breast-fed baby is in control ofhis food, he controls the speed at which hefeeds, when he feeds, when he is satiatedand when feeding stops. In addition, it is thebaby that latches on to the breast anddraws the nipple into his mouth. He is incontrol of all aspects of his nutrition. Beingbaby-led with solid food means allowing thebaby to take control of when and how heeats. This control helps the child to growwith a much healthier relationshipwith food.

What is Baby-led Weaning and how can itbenefit young children’s development?Sarah Ockwell-Smith takes a closer look...

under 2s

BABY-LED WEANING HAS GROWN INPOPULARITY BUT REMAINS MOREPREVALENT IN CERTAINDEMOGRAPHICS...

There has been a fair amount ofresearch conducted on BLWprinciples in the last decade. Thisgrowing body of research has foundthat families who use BLW are morelikely to have a higher education, bemarried, be predominantlyCaucasian and have breast-fed theirbaby. Those who BLW tend tointroduce solids later, in line withthe WHO and NHS guidelines of“around six months”. BLW parentstend to have less anxiety aboutweaning and feeding their babies.From the baby’s point of view, BLWhas a positive impact upon theireating style. Those weaned usingthe BLW ethos tend to be lessoverweight in later life and have lessof a preference for sugary foods.

RESEARCH & BENEFITS

yourselfHelp

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Sarah Ockwell-Smith is aparenting expert and mother of four.She is the author of BabyCalm: A Guidefor Calmer Babies and Happier Parentsand ToddlerCalm: A Guide for CalmerToddlers and Happier Parents. Her thirdbook, The Calm Baby and Toddler SleepBook, will be released in 2015. Sarah isalso the founder of GentleParenting –visit gentleparenting.co.uk

abouttheauthor

Although BLW is a natural extension ofbreast-feeding it is still possible to BLW formula-fed babies. Some mothers who are used tobottle-feeding to a schedule, however, canstruggle a little with giving the baby controlover their feeding. In addition it can be harderfor formula-feeding parents to trust that thebaby will take what he needs if they are used toseeing an empty bottle at the end of a feed.Breast-feeding mothers have always had totrust their baby will take the milk that he needsand therefore the transition can often be easierfor breast-feeders, although by no means is thisalways the case.

BLW presumes that a baby is ready to moveon to solids from a biological, physical andpsychological perspective. This presumes thattheir digestive system is ready for solids, thatthey have sufficient head, neck and backcontrol, that they have a sufficient ability topurposefully pick up and let go of items, andthat they are at a period of their developmentwhere they are ready to experiencesomething new.

Readiness for weaningDuring pregnancy the baby’s main nutritionsource is glucose, passed to them from theplacenta. After they are born their nutritioncomes in the form of a simple sugarcarbohydrate (lactose) and protein from milk.During the first three to four months, a baby’seasy-to-digest milk diet does not require themto use salivary amylase, an enzyme thatenables the body to convert starch to sugar inthe mouth and the small intestines that weadults rely upon to convert our food to energy.At birth a baby’s amylase production is nil. Thisslowly increases over the first six months.Salivary amylase levels reach acomparison with an adult’s by aroundfive to six months of age. It is only atthis point that babies can convert the nutrientsfound in starchy foods (e.g. rice, grains, fruit andvegetables) into energy. If they are weanedbefore this age, their nutrient absorption will besignificantly poorer, and doing so can lead todigestive disturbances such as diarrhoea,constipation and stomach cramps.

In addition to digestive maturity, in order towean a baby needs to have lost his

tongue thrust reflex,develop his gag

reflex and beable to sit

upright (with or without support). He shouldalso have the ability to grasp and let go offoods. The tongue thrust reflex is simply theprotrusion of the tongue in babies when theyswallow. This reflex disappears at around sixmonths of age and is a good indicator ofreadiness for solids. The gag reflex is acontraction of the back of the throat triggeredby an object touching the roof of the mouth orback of the tongue, which allows the baby togag and cough up any food that mayotherwise cause him to choke. This is alarmingto many parents when their baby begins towean and they presume that they are choking;however, they can be reassured it is perfectlynormal. The gag reflex begins to lessen aroundseven months onwards.

In order to prevent choking, a baby mustalso be able to hold their head and neckupright and be able to sit upright. A verticalposition acts as protection for babies whenthey are eating solids. The ability to sit usuallydevelops at around six months. Lastly, ataround six months, most babies are capable ofpicking up larger objects with a simple palmargrasp and, importantly, are able to purposefullylet go of them again, a skill that develops afterthe ability to pick something up. They are alsoable to purposefully move food to their mouthat this stage too. At around eight to 12 monthsbabies develop a ‘pincer grip’ ability that allowsthem to pick up and feed themselves smallerobjects such as raisins.

Giving babies controlBLW is all about trusting babies, waiting forthem to be sufficiently physicallydeveloped (which happens at around

six months) and givingthem control over

what, whenand how

much they eat. BLW removes the need forfeeding puréed food and, with some simpleplanning (watching salt content, nutritionallevels and less-safe foods like honey and nuts),means that babies can eat the same food asthe rest of the family, or indeed the toddlers atnursery. BLW allows a baby to enjoy the fullsensory experience of eating and helps to growlifelong healthy-eating habits and attitudes. Asmilk remains the primary source of nutritionuntil the end of the first year, it is normal for aBLW baby to eat less at meals than a moretraditionally weaned baby. It is also normal forthem to squidge, throw and mush their foodand end up with more of it on them and thefloor than in their mouth. This is all part of thelearning process and has given rise to anunofficial BLW motto: “Food before one is justfor fun.”

For more information on Baby-led Weaning,including recommended first foods, visitbabyledweaning.com andrapleyweaning.com – the latter has some

very useful leaflets that could beprinted out and given

to interestedparents at

your setting.

BLW is all about trusting babies, waiting forthem to be sufficiently physically developed,and giving them control over what, when andhow much they eat

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