Baby-Led Weaning or Spoon-Feeding?

There is no 'right' method! Your baby's journey starting solids will be as unique as they are.

It's up to every baby and family what method works best for them. Is it baby-led weaning (finger foods), puree-feeding (spoon-feeding), or a combination?

Here are some insights that could help you with your decision:

Baby-led weaning might be right for you and your baby if...

- your family is overall eating healthy meals themselves, what could be baby-friendly

- you are familiar with how to prepare finger foods for your baby (size, shape, texture)

- you can stay calm and know it is safe if baby is gagging

- you trust your baby to self-regulate how much food to eat

Puree-feeding might be right for you and your baby if...

- you are ok with cooking separate meals for your baby

- you don't feel confident in how to prepare finger foods

- you are confident in reading your baby's signs of fullness and don't want to convince your baby to eat more 'No - just one more last bite.'

- you feel anxious when your baby is gagging

Having an intention before starting with solids is great, but I recommend staying flexible and seeing what works best. And if you decide to spoon-feed your baby exclusively, make sure to introduce your baby to some finger foods at 9 months. So finger foods slowly become the main portion of your baby's meals.

Over the last few years, puree-feeding has been judged a lot, and baby-led weaning has become increasingly popular. But the evidence shows that spoon-feeding is not the problem; it is how spoon-feeding is done often. We all know about the approach to pretending that the spoon is an airplane to get a baby to eat more. But your baby will know if they want to eat and how much they eat. And your job will be to read their body language to see what they are telling you. Some babies have not yet developed the skills to fully self-feed or don't want to be spoon-fed.

And overall, there are also a lot of foods where it just makes sense to use a spoon like we all do (like soup our sauces)

In our family, we did a combination of baby-led weaning and puree-feeding. It was great for our family. I love baby-led weaning, although it can be so messy. I believe that exploring different foods and textures and offering diverse flavors and colors early on helps set your baby up for an adventurous eater.

So let your baby guide you and decide on the best method!