In recent parenting trends, parents are beginning to put down the spoons, and are choosing to follow the method of baby led weaning. It may sound uncommon to some to consider the idea of not feeding your baby with an airplane spoon full of mashed up foods, but many are setting this old classic to the side and allowing their babies to pick up their food and feed themselves. According to Parents.com, dietician Clancy Cash Harrison claims, “Baby-led weaning supports the development of eye-hand coordination, chewing skills, dexterity, and healthy eating habits.” Maybe it is time to give the idea of letting your one-year-old feed themselves a try.
Parenting Trend: Baby led weaning may be the best way for your child to learn important motor skills and to feed themselves.
It can be hard to put down the reigns and let our babies feed themselves. They depend on us so much that it seems natural to keep feeding them even after they turn one, but it turns out that it might be better for them overall if we allow them to do some of the work at meal times themselves. Cupid has some advice about baby led weaning:
1. Learn to self-regulate: When we feed our babies it can be hard for us to know when they have had enough. This can, unfortunately, lead to accidental overfeeding. However, babies who feed themselves are less likely to continue eating once they are no longer hungry, and this will teach them to self-regulate their food intake, instead of taking in too much food, which could lead to issues where they eat even when they’re full as they get older.
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2. No more jarred food or time blending: Do you dread buying all those little jars of baby food, or spending a lot of time blending food into mush only to have your baby spit it out? With baby led weaning, you can forget the jarred food, and tuck that blender away in the cabinet because your baby won’t need that mashed food any longer.
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3. Soft foods in the beginning:Â You don’t want to dive right into the more difficult foods with your one-year-old. Instead, start them on their self-weaning journey with soft foods like puffed cereals, cooked egg yolks, and cooked pasta. These are foods that will be easy for them to consume on their own with you supervising.
Soft foods, self-regulation, and no more jars of blended baby food are just some examples of why it is a best parenting practice to use baby led weaning. Let us know your thoughts about this method in the comments below.
