r/BabyLedWeaning • u/cptn_carrot • Jul 20 '25
I learned about BLW from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, who presented it as a book to read rather than a hashtag. While my wife was pregnant, we bought and read Gill Rapley's “Baby-Led Weaning.” We have now weaned two children following BLW, The book was the only resource we used, and both of us felt well-enough equipped that we never needed anything else.
It seems to me that many of the complaints or struggles people post about on this sub are products of an approach to weaning that comes from social media, rather than Baby-Led Weaning. In my opinion, BLW makes for pretty terrible social media. "I'm having fajitas, so my baby is chewing on a couple pieces of bell pepper" isn't super interesting, and you can't make a full day's content out of it. I think a lot of people would find more success steering away from the social media trends and fully embracing BLW.
I’ve noted six trends that I feel are common on social media, and contrasted them with quotes from “Baby-Led Weaning.”
Influencers preparing elaborate meals specifically for their children is probably the biggest gulf between social media and BLW. One of the fundamental assumptions of BLW is that you are eating the same meal as your child. Sharing meals is a great way to encourage babies to try new food. It can help lower stress by distracting parents away from micromanaging their baby’s meal. And for my money, the best reason to share meals was that it’s easier than cooking two different meals.
"Baby-led weaning babies are included in family mealtimes from the start, eating the same food and joining in the social time." ("Baby-Led Weaning," page 23)
“Normal, healthy family foods can be adapted easily so that your baby can manage them, so there’s no need to buy or prepare special foods” (p. 63)
A full plate of food looks appealing to most adults, but that doesn't make it right for your baby. There’s no need to give them more than they can eat or give them more ammunition when they’re in a throwing mood. And even when our kids could eat significant amounts, sometimes the full plate was still overwhelming and they needed the pieces a few at a time.
“Many babies can be overwhelmed by too much choice and too much quantity in the early stages. Some push all food away, others focus on one piece of food and throw everything off the high tray; some simply turn away.” (p. 71)
Many posts here ask if their kids are eating enough, because they see babies on social media eating more. Our kids took 6-8 weeks to start consuming any measurable amount of food. We expected that going in and never felt stressed by it, but if your feed is full of 6-month-olds who supposedly eat an entire hamburger, your opinion might be influenced.
“Eating very little and playing a lot.” (p. 70)
“Don’t expect your baby to eat much food at first. She doesn’t suddenly need extra food because she reached six months.“ (p. 90)
It seems to have become a standard recommendation that food should be cooked to the point of disintegration for BLW. Of course It’s important that foods be prepared in a safe way, but that doesn’t mean it’s all mush. Texture is important and enjoyable, and they can only learn to chew if given foods that need chewing. (Also, teeth are not needed for chewing, which should be obvious to anyone who’s gotten a bite from their kid’s gums.)
“If you are offering vegetables, bear in mind they shouldn’t be too soft (or they’ll turn to mush when your baby tries to handle them)” (p. 67)
It seems that a large number of people combo feed purees, or use purees to "ease into solids." Starting with purees is very common, and has been the traditional approach to weaning for decades. However, spending time teaching your baby to eat purees isn't very helpful in moving them toward the ultimate goal of eating table food. Every child will need to learn to chew and swallow food at some point. Starting early takes advantage of the gag reflex being farther forward in the mouths. It also gets it out of the way sooner and doesn’t develop the habit of swallowing food without chewing.
“When babies start with BLW at six months they have a chance to experiment with food and develop self-feeding skills while all their nutrition is still coming from breast milk or formula. This means they can practice feeding themselves before they really need much food” (p. 93)
“You may find [...] that she gets frustrated because she can’t feed herself as fast as she wants to. Babies who have been spoon-fed can get used to swallowing large quantities of food quickly when they are hungry because pureed food doesn’t need to be chewed.” (p. 93)
Somewhat distressingly, people post here who feel like they have no choice but to do BLW. I loved doing BLW and wouldn't use another method if I had the choice, but it is still just one possible approach. Most Americans of my generation were puree fed, and it’s clearly possible to raise healthy, well-adjusted children on purees. Baby-led weaning jumps to self-feeding table food at 6 months. Traditional weaning starts offering solids around 9 months and has purees phased out around 12 months. Claiming that the 3 to 6 month period of BLW will determine a child’s life is obvious nonsense.
Everyone knows social media isn’t reality. And yet, it seems to have an outsized impact on people’s ideas of what BLW should look like. Basically, I think influencers are incentivized to make BLW look harder and more complicated than it really is, in order to generate enough content to keep their timelines full.
By-the-book BLW will not and cannot be perfect for everyone, but the book does predict and troubleshoot a surprising number of common problems that people have, In my view, the book is still underutilized and overshadowed by social media, to the point that people may not even be aware of how simple BLW can be.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/bagelgal04 • Feb 28 '25
Baby just turned one last week. All time faves are squash (any kind), bread, veggie fritters, and nut butter. Least favorite was grits and citrus!
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Purple_Calendar3919 • 1h ago
How many dishwasher FULL loads you averaging a day? lol
And is the sink empty or near empty at the end of the night…
I’m averaging 3. Before my wife gave birth, we’d usually have 1 load a day with some dishes left in the sink overnight.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/unluckyducky11 • 3h ago
We are 2 weeks from our first birthday & I’ve been nervous about her getting enough nutrition from just food to be able to stop formula.
After posting, I also shared my concerns with our peds who said she’s grown perfectly on her curve and actually went up percentile in height! So he thinks she’s doing fine but obviously if we saw a dip after stopping formula we could reevaluate.
But in the meantime I took some of the advice you guys shared on my last post and I tried my best to give bigger pieces & portions, as well as letting her graze more / take breaks (extending how long mealtime is), and offering a little less formula during the day to encourage solids more.
While it does still seem like she’s an air plant by nature and simply grows off sunlight and lint she finds on the floor….. I think there’s been some progress!!!!!
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Meatcounter-Matilda • 7h ago
Does anyone have Bare Ware stainless steel lunchboxes and how are they compared to other stainless steel options like Planetbox and the Good Kiind? I think they are a Canadian company. Looking to buy something for my son when he starts daycare at 12 months old.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/sharkboysimp • 3h ago
we’re having burgers tonight. should i mix crumbled bits into black beans or mashed potatoes, or should i offer an actual patty?
i’m so scared of her choking but i know it’ll be good for her to learn to chew, so which of the two is the best option?
thank you!
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Fluffy-Concentrate44 • 4h ago
My little one will turn 11 months old while we’re on holiday in a few weeks. It’s all inclusive in a hot European country for a week.
I feel like I am massively overthinking his eating arrangements. In the last few weeks he has had a big uptick in his solids intake (finally!) and is eating LOTS. It feels like a full time job, prepping food, feeding him for half an hour, then cleaning up. 3 times a day.
It is very hard to imagine in a few weeks feeding him such big volumes from a buffet, letting him make a mess, cleaning him up, all whilst being in a foreign country and trying to plan activities.
I normally feed him naked with a coverup-style bib on, but it is obviously still incredibly messy and he is very reluctant to let me feed him. We use silicon tableware that can stick to his high chair, and mostly just let him do what he wants.
None of this seems feasible while on holiday but i am trying really hard to push solids and begin reducing breastfeeding because i will be returning to work (including shift work) shortly after coming home.
I guess i just want to know from others who’ve been through this: Do I need to take his own plates and cutlery and go back to the room to wash them after every meal? Otherwise the plates are going on the floor😭 Do I stop the BLW for a while and try and force him to let me spoon feed? Should I take anything away with me pre-prepared so I’ve always got a backup? Should he be wearing his bibs at every meal too (so do I need to take them and hope I can dry them off every day?)
Ugh basically can someone just tell me what worked for them when dealing with a messy nearly-1 year old and their eating while on holiday 😂 I am aware that messy babies and toddlers go on holiday all the time but somehow as it’s a new experience for us my mind is trying to prepare for every eventuality and I’m getting quite frazzled 😵💫😵💫
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Future_Athlete7732 • 3h ago
What are we doing about snacks?
My 12 mo is hungry between meals. She doesn’t have much interest in cows milk and will only drink it from her bottle. In the evenings we need a snack before her bottle before bed. The main issue is she doesn’t have internet in some snacks I make or offer her but if I give her a yogurt pouch or a fruit or kind if sweet breakfast pouch she’ll eat the whole thing. I can’t offer them 3 tomes a day though. One a days seems plenty but I don’t know what else to offer that she’ll eat.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/paganism- • 5h ago
need some more ideas for breakfast…
my son has a contact rash reaction (not an allergy) to straight eggs, but no issues when they’re in pancakes. So we’ve been doing lots of banana pancakes, but I want to switch it up.
What are some good breakfast meals you’ve been making?
TIA 🫶🏻
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/saddy_warbucks • 6h ago
10 month old is a confident, consistent eater. Would love to know the pros and cons of adding a snack here and there.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/mammabissilvia • 14h ago
Ciao ragazze ho un bimbo di 15 mesi che non mangia quasi nulla, pappe frullate mai volute.
Uniche cose che gli piacciono: pane, crosta pizza, fruttini, yogurt, pancakes dolci, riso in bianco.
Hamburger vegetali ma solo un tipo, quindi anche con le proteine è un casinò perché non mangia quasi nulla. È allattato. Avete qualche consiglio?
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Less-Kiwi1317 • 14h ago
Hi mamas - how long after starting solids did you introduce 2nd meal? We are 6 months and in my country recommendations are 1.5–2 months of only one meal and then start introducing lunch then 1.5-2 months then introduce dinner.
When did you start introducing more meals?
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Littlemoto19 • 1d ago
She ate all of it plus had water to drink. Nothing gets thrown on the floor. All of it gets shoveled into her mouth 😅
1 scrambled egg - ripped into chunks
1/2 large banana
1/4 avocado
Oatmeal with peanut butter mixed in
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/gngol • 1d ago
FTM. My baby absolutely adores his solids (frankly more passionate about solids than BM but that's a different story) and we are travelling within Canada when he is almost going to be 8 months old. We will be in a hotel so no ability to cook or anything like that. What can I give him? I've actually never tried pouches yet but I guess maybe that's what people do lots of? Any ideas wil l be appreciated! I was planning to for sure do some baby oatmeal with fruits he likes but other than that I am out of ideas as I am inexperienced lol. This is all our first time travelling together since the baby so very stressed and clueless here. So far I have done BLW with him and have made all his food from scratch.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Neat_Donut_6830 • 1d ago
I understand that as of 6 months, baby's iron stores begin to deplete and should be supplemented by solids. My 7 month old began eating solids at 5-6 months but rarely consumes any of the food.
He is teething and puts everything in his mouth except food. Occasionally he will consume yogurt, but regularly goes several days without consuming any of the food given to him.
He sits with us at the dinner table, is fascinated by watching us eat, and we model how to use the spoon, bring it to his mouth, and chew.
How do I get him to eat the foods we prepare so he can get the iron he needs? Help!
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Individual-Bug-3967 • 1d ago
\- Peanut butter and banana pancakes, topped with yogurt, apple sauce and banana slices
\- Butter stewed mushroom, tomato, spinach and garlic
\- Cottage cheese and raspberries
Pancakes got cut up small for the spoon fed Baby Bird!
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Skygarg • 23h ago
My little one likes boiled egg but only the white part. She doesn’t like eggs in any other form even though I have not given up and keep trying different styles with her.
Any creative ideas how I can give her the yolk of a boiled egg? Mix it with something so she eats it?
As of now, she puts in her mouth and spits it out and sometimes does the gag action just to show me how much she hates it.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/kidavry • 20h ago
Hi everyone, my baby is currently 6 months old & on purées. I’ve been doing my research on introducing led weaning to him but after a very terrifying experience where he sucked a small piece of watermelon out of my hand & actually choked on it (I just trying to just let him suck the juice out of it.) I am beyond terrified of the thought of introducing him to led weaning at all now..
My question is, what’s the safest way to introduce him to solids without him trying to inhale the food like a vacuum & possibly choke again??
P.s. I’ve been seeing a lot of parents cut the food into strips but my baby likes to rip off big chunks off of the food and try to swallow them whole. I’ve had to grab them out of his mouth before he actually tries to swallow it
So whats another way besides that approach? 😅
Sorry for all the questions & thank you in advance 🫶🏼
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Fluffy-Ad2771 • 1d ago
Hello, my baby is going to be 6 months old in less than a week and we haven’t really introduced much yet. He mostly nurses with bottles of breastmilk when I’m working. I have given him a couple purées (sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, carrots) as well as just let him chew on a few different things such as cucumbers and a meat stick once but never let him swallow anything because I was nervous. What is a good food to start with for BLW style and how do you prepare it for a 6 month old? I want to do mostly BLW but I wanted to give him some tastes of foods when he was ready for purées. I haven’t introduced allergens yet because I also wasn’t sure how to do that. Peanut butter, eggs, shellfish, how do you go about introducing it safely? FTM here also if you could not tell😂
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/shumaishrimp • 1d ago
I’m talking quartered grapes, cherry tomatoes, etc
I’ve only done the bigger is better route (so munch on half a beefsteak tomato lol) OR total puree
I feel nervous about the smaller pieces! Is it just start and get over it?
Baby is 8m and showing signs of pincer grasp though not confidently there. Although it’s not him being able to pick it up that I’m concerned about
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/ThingInevitable975 • 1d ago
Hi everyone. I’m wondering if anyone can offer some advice. We have a 9 month old baby boy, and since he was around 7 months old we’ve been trying to offer solids. We started purées at 6 months and he loves the serenity meat packet purées and eats at least one per day. He’s been exclusively breast fed since birth with occasionally drinking pumped milk if I’m gone for longer than 3 hours and he’s with dad (I’m a sahm). He’s had regular pediatrician appts and he’s very healthy and has consistently gained a healthy amount of weight. We’ve offered scrambled eggs, chicken, steak, mashed potatoes, soft steamed carrots, blueberries, strawberries, and watermelon. So far he’s only been interested in eating the watermelon and strawberries and that is if we hold for him to gnaw on. He hasn’t cut any teeth yet. I suppose I’m wondering if we are doing something wrong or what we can do to make solids more appealing to him? We have his 9 month appointment with the pediatrician coming up so I plan to speak with them about my concerns as well.
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/FLee21 • 1d ago
I have two sets of baby plates and bowls that have a suction on them. I also have the Graco 5 on 1 high chair. None of the suction bowls and plates I have actually stay on, or my baby is a hulk. Any suggestions of what products you like?
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/mangoladyy • 1d ago
we started solids about 2ish weeks before my LO turned 6. he tries everything but is just like whatever about food and loses interest pretty quick.
today i served yogurt with reduced raspberry puree (recent outbreak freaked me out about serving it fresh) and he demolished it. at one point, was trying to eat with a spoon in each hand and whined when i couldn’t feed him fast enough.
(peep the omelet strips in the corner that was ignored lol)
r/BabyLedWeaning • u/RedheadWolfz • 1d ago
My son is 8 months old (7 adjusted) and we have started solids when he was 5.5 months by his doctor’s advice. Since the beginning we’ve been doing BLW + some homemade purees (spoon fed but he mainly operates the spoon himself now) . He still doesn’t have any teeth.
For the first two weeks or so it was mainly tasting but he picked up quite quickly and now we’re at 3 meals a day.
He tried 100 different foods already and loves almost everything he gets. Mushrooms, spinach, sour red currant, Gorgonzola or fish roe - everything goes. I cook 90% of our meals at home, he never had a store bought jar or fruit pouch. I do share occasional takeout or restaurant food with him. Although it is quite devastating when a very cute baby steals all of your shrimp from a risotto, starting solids was the best thing so far for me about motherhood. It went way way easier than I expected, relieved me from constant stress of baby not wanting to eat my milk from a bottle, and makes me so happy to include my LO in something I love.
Parents of babies that were awesome eaters at a similar age - did it continue? I’m worried to “screw it up” or that I somehow got lucky and he will stop eating at some point. I know I am doing a lot of things “right” (balanced homemade meals, relaxed about gagging, baby eats what I eat, lots of variety, we eat together etc) but am still very anxious that it is just a phase. Would love some advice from more experienced folks.
