So glad you mentioned the confound in the correlational studies: parents who choose baby-led weaning are likely to be more educated/wealthier, which is associated with all kinds of things.
I also liked the comment about many parents not being purists and using a combination that works for them/their family. There are lots of ways to raise kids!
Another thing to keep in mind is that kids change. At one age a child might happily eat a variety of foods, a few months or a year later, they may turn picky, then later they might be more open to new foods.
Overall, the baby-led weaning seems very consistent with Ellyn Satter's approach to feeding older kids, which I find very sensible: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/ She emphasizes the division of responsibility: Parents decide what food to offer and when, and they try to make meals pleasant; kids decide what and how much of that food they want to eat. Patience and exposure help in getting kids to eat more varied foods. That's why Indian kids eat Indian food, and Chinese kids eat Chinese food, and Italian kids eat Italian food, etc.
One thing we know for sure is that stress and tension around eating/feeding makes both kids and parents miserable.
This is a great post! I was surprised to read that BLW parents tend to introduce solid foods later than traditional weaning parents; I would have expected it to be the other way around. Since that study is from the UK, I wonder if it's at all different in the US... I appreciated the conclusion sharing important information applicable to all styles of weaning; parents make the best choices they can with the information and resources available to them, and it's great that this article is useful even for parents not doing BLW!
Jun 7, 2023·edited Jun 7, 2023Liked by Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD
This newsletter is lovely! It sounds like participating in this practice is really up to personal choice then. I was wondering if you had more advice on creating meal plans for parents who use baby-led weaning. It feels like coming up with dishes that satisfy both the family and the baby's needs for essential nutrients requires some thinking. Do you have a favorite dish/meal that you made for your family that includes some of the baby-safe foods you mentioned?
One of my favorite meals that is older baby, toddler, preschooler and adult friendly is a pasta fagioli soup. It includes pasta, whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator, and meatballs if you eat meat. You can cook it down in a crockpot forever so everything is very soft. It is super messy as I always give the baby and toddler the broth and let them use their hands. It is definitely one of my go to meals.
I think the concept of baby-led weaning is so interesting and one that, in an ideal world, I would pursue at every meal. Reality is though that life is busy and hard so sometimes it’s a lot of “let’s make this as quick and least messy as possible” and sometimes it’s very relaxed (and very messy!). Either way, meals trigger anxiety in me because you never know when a favorite is out but I keep breathing and reminding myself that I’ve done my part and they need to do theirs. Thanks for sharing this research!
I agree that it is not possible to do at every meal and it is important to give yourself grace and do what you can do when you can do it. I think the most important thing is to try to reduce anxiety and stress around eating time. I love your comment, "I’ve done my part and they need to do theirs."
Thank you for sharing this important research. My children are older and came before the latest baby-led weaning push but I always tried to provide them multiple attempts for food and allowed them to explore. My daughter loved making combinations from an early age--prunes, avocado, ground turkey-- was a favorite. I am happy to say it was messy and fun and now they eat a huge variety of foods.
Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD
Writes Dr. Friendtastic
Jun 7
Liked by Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD
So glad you mentioned the confound in the correlational studies: parents who choose baby-led weaning are likely to be more educated/wealthier, which is associated with all kinds of things.
I also liked the comment about many parents not being purists and using a combination that works for them/their family. There are lots of ways to raise kids!
Another thing to keep in mind is that kids change. At one age a child might happily eat a variety of foods, a few months or a year later, they may turn picky, then later they might be more open to new foods.
Overall, the baby-led weaning seems very consistent with Ellyn Satter's approach to feeding older kids, which I find very sensible: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/ She emphasizes the division of responsibility: Parents decide what food to offer and when, and they try to make meals pleasant; kids decide what and how much of that food they want to eat. Patience and exposure help in getting kids to eat more varied foods. That's why Indian kids eat Indian food, and Chinese kids eat Chinese food, and Italian kids eat Italian food, etc.
One thing we know for sure is that stress and tension around eating/feeding makes both kids and parents miserable.
Thank you for also including the information on older children and Ellen Spatter’s approach!
This is a great post! I was surprised to read that BLW parents tend to introduce solid foods later than traditional weaning parents; I would have expected it to be the other way around. Since that study is from the UK, I wonder if it's at all different in the US... I appreciated the conclusion sharing important information applicable to all styles of weaning; parents make the best choices they can with the information and resources available to them, and it's great that this article is useful even for parents not doing BLW!
It is important to me to give parents all the information and then they have the power to make the decisions that work best for their family!
This newsletter is lovely! It sounds like participating in this practice is really up to personal choice then. I was wondering if you had more advice on creating meal plans for parents who use baby-led weaning. It feels like coming up with dishes that satisfy both the family and the baby's needs for essential nutrients requires some thinking. Do you have a favorite dish/meal that you made for your family that includes some of the baby-safe foods you mentioned?
One of my favorite meals that is older baby, toddler, preschooler and adult friendly is a pasta fagioli soup. It includes pasta, whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator, and meatballs if you eat meat. You can cook it down in a crockpot forever so everything is very soft. It is super messy as I always give the baby and toddler the broth and let them use their hands. It is definitely one of my go to meals.
Sounds amazing! Love the crockpot idea. Thank you for your response!
I think the concept of baby-led weaning is so interesting and one that, in an ideal world, I would pursue at every meal. Reality is though that life is busy and hard so sometimes it’s a lot of “let’s make this as quick and least messy as possible” and sometimes it’s very relaxed (and very messy!). Either way, meals trigger anxiety in me because you never know when a favorite is out but I keep breathing and reminding myself that I’ve done my part and they need to do theirs. Thanks for sharing this research!
I agree that it is not possible to do at every meal and it is important to give yourself grace and do what you can do when you can do it. I think the most important thing is to try to reduce anxiety and stress around eating time. I love your comment, "I’ve done my part and they need to do theirs."
Thank you for sharing this important research. My children are older and came before the latest baby-led weaning push but I always tried to provide them multiple attempts for food and allowed them to explore. My daughter loved making combinations from an early age--prunes, avocado, ground turkey-- was a favorite. I am happy to say it was messy and fun and now they eat a huge variety of foods.
I love hearing about children making food choices no matter how crazy and messy!