What is Baby-Led Weaning?

Baby-led weaning is a method of introducing solid food to babies whereby purées and spoon-feeding are skipped entirely in favor of finger foods that a baby self-feeds.

Coined by Gill Rapley, a former public health nurse in the U.K., baby-led weaning (or baby-led feeding as it is sometimes referred to) offers parents a way to bypass the idea of baby food entirely. Growing in popularity, baby-led weaning is particularly popular with parents who want to avoid raising picky eaters, as well as parents who subscribe to Montessori-type philosophies of child-rearing where children are encouraged to be self-sufficient.

At its core, baby-led weaning emphasizes independence of the baby. A parent is to wait for their baby to show signs of readiness for eating and to follow the baby's cues in all matters of introducing solid food. Babies are brought to the table for family meals, encouraged to pick up food with their own fingers, and trusted to eat as much or as little as they need. Babies introduced to solids with baby-led weaning also continue breast or bottle feeds and are permitted to determine when those milk feeds should be reduced.

Benefits of Baby-Led Weaning

Research studies are just beginning to analyze the impacts of baby-led weaning, but we know there are many benefits to letting your baby self-feed.

Of primary importance is fostering independence: with baby-led weaning, your baby will learn to eat on their own and have control over what---and how much---they eat. Our experience is that babies who are given this control over what they eat early on are less likely to become picky eaters in the toddler years and beyond. With baby-led weaning, food is less likely to become a lever for control or power in the child-parent relationship because the child is in control from day one of starting solids.

Other benefits of baby-led weaning include the opportunity for your baby to practice critical motor and oral skills. Self-feeding a variety of food consistencies and textures enables your baby to work on tongue movements, jaw strength, and swallowing as well as the fine motor skills required to pick up different sized pieces of food with their fingers.

Lastly, current research shows that babies who are started on solids with finger foods (or "baby-led weaning") are no more likely to choke on food than babies who are spoon-fed.

Benefits of Letting Your Baby Self-Feed

With self-feeding, you can employ a combination of feeding methods, with an emphasis on letting your baby self-feed a variety of textures and flavors.

Need help starting solids? The Solid Starts App can help you navigate first bites and beyond. Start your free trial.

This page has been created with typically developing infants and children in mind. If your baby/child has underlying medical or developmental differences, including but not limited to: prematurity, developmental delay, hypotonia, airway differences, chromosomal aThese pages have been created with typically developing infants and children in mind. The information here is generalized for a broad audience and is for informational purposes only. Your child is an individual and may have needs or considerations beyond generally accepted practices. If your child has underlying medical or developmental differences, including but not limited to prematurity, developmental delay, hypotonia, airway differences, chromosomal abnormalities, craniofacial anomalies, gastrointestinal differences, cardiopulmonary disease, or neurological differences, we strongly recommend and encourage you to discuss your child's feeding plan and when and how to start solids and finger food with the child's doctor, health care provider or therapy team. Close consultation with a feeding and swallowing specialist can provide safe guidance for the child's feeding journey.  Always seek the advice of your doctor, health care provider or therapy team with any questions you may have regarding your child’s development and capacity for starting solid foods.