A nonprofit that’s seeking to improve transparency in consumer product labeling recently reported that hundreds of baby food products tested positive for chemicals, such as arsenic, lead and cadmium, that could be toxic to developing infants. The report by the Clean Label Project is yet another reason many new parents and health professionals are scrambling for safer options to feed infants.
In the early stages of life, nutrition plays a critical role in laying a healthy physical and neurological foundation for children. And a growing number of parents are opting to make their own baby food to ensure nutritional quality, or simply serving their infants the foods they cook for the rest of the family. Given this and a desire to sit down to family meals, parents are increasingly embracing a baby-led approach to weaning.
[See: Starting Solids With Your Baby? Avoid These 8 Mistakes.]
Baby-led weaning is a feeding method that allows a baby to self-feed when developmentally appropriate to start solids (at around six months of age). This feeding style skips purees and spoon-feeding, while letting a baby self-regulate by choosing what to eat from offered foods the family is already eating. The term baby-led weaning was coined by Gill Rapley, an infant feeding expert, public health nurse and co-author of the book “Baby-led Weaning.” Rapley used this method of feeding with her own children and in her clinical practice in England. She continues to be a pioneer and an advocate of BLW today.
Now that BLW is becoming a trend in the U.S., pediatricians, nutrition professionals and researchers are taking a closer look at the new feeding method. It’s argued that infants self-feeding solid foods isn’t new at all. Humans have survived and thrived without baby food for thousands of years. However, as BLW has increased in popularity, so have concerns around certain nutrient needs and the potential for choking. This has spurred international interest and research.
One study has employed a modified approach to BLW that provides advice to participants on avoiding choking hazards and foods to serve to prevent potential nutrient deficiencies. Early findings from the Baby-Led Introduction to SolidS, or BLISS, study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2016 suggest there’s no difference in choking risk resulting from BLW compared to a traditional feeding method. The authors report that all feedings methods have risks, and safe feeding practices should be followed to prevent choking.
[Read: 7 Surprising Foods Dietitians Feed Their Kids.]
As a mom and registered dietitian nutritionist, I researched BLW on my own and used the method with my daughter. When I first started talking to friends and clients about baby-led weaning, people either thought I was crazy — or that I was saying “baby linguine.” To clear up confusion, I simplified the lingo: “I’m skipping baby food and letting my daughter self-feed the foods that we cook for ourselves,” I explained. I added that we served the food in a safe texture (mashable with your lips or fingers) and in finger-shaped pieces my daughter could hold herself. I still got the occasional crazy look, but most people, new parents in particular, leaned in to hear more. They liked the sound of not making baby food or buying expensive blenders and trays.
The potential benefits of BLW don’t end with ditching purees. It’s proposed that this self-feeding approach may improve parental feeding practices (to be less controlling), support an infant’s ability to self-regulate her intake (making the child more responsive to hunger and fullness cues), increase overall family meal quality, reduce picky eating and promote faster fine motor skill development and feeding skill confidence.
[See: 10 Concerns Parents Have About Their Kids’ Health.]
No matter the feeding approach, don’t forget that you as the parent get to decide what’s best for you and your family. That may be a traditional spoon-feeding approach, baby-led weaning or a combination of the two. As long as your baby gets to decide how much to eat from what you’ve offered, you’re on the right track.
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Could You Skip Baby Food Altogether? originally appeared on usnews.com
