Is Baby-Led Weaning ACTUALLY Better Than Spoon Feeding?

I do a combo of both. I give him textured food that is mashed but not too pureed. I let him play with the food and try to feed himself while simultaneously feeding him a little cuz my elders feel bad for him struggling to eat on his own🤣

My daughters during spoon feeding with a BLW blend , they would always turn their heads away when they were full .

If they were still hungry , their mouths would always still be wide open with almost a lunge forward like saying keep feeding me 😂.

They tell you when they’re done.

I will start feeding my 6m old solids when he can sit up on his own. However, he will explore puréed food first. He can experience textures with hands and mouth while trying new foods. We embrace the messiness…it’s fun :) My oldest did BLW and she has her picky moments, but her favorite thing to eat are fruits and vegetables. Apples and red bell peppers.

What about babies that refuse food and only want milk?

Well at 9 months they can’t even chew solid foods lol. They are just sucking on it and starving

We were a little late with our son and we're about to start "finger foods" at 9 months old. Is there a problem with this??

Thank you for this! So refreshing to find a video that talks about both options and isn’t biased.

We're kind of doing a mix. Our almost 7m.o. baby girl has been on purees for a month and already shows signs she wants to use the spoon and the silicone chew straw to feed herself. XD So puree 2x a day with one being a self-feed lesson/experience and one full spoon-fed. Also is showing the beginning signs of getting ready to suck on a straw cup thanks to that chew straw! Lol. She's got neurogenic bowel/bladder problems so we are taking it slow on foods to see how constipated (or not) she gets.

What is your honest opinion on this? I know everyone is different but how did u do it with your children? What worked beest?

Thank you. We're at 6 months and I was looking for that timeline of when babies should be eating purees vs more and more chunky stuff.

For Asian food I would say its difficult.

I’ve been doing baby-led weaning without even realizing that’s what it was! My 8-month-old daughter refuses purées and gags if I try to spoon-feed her, but she’s super interested in real food. She’ll grab soft bread, pancakes, or fruit and feed herself — sometimes making a huge mess, but clearly learning and enjoying it. It used to worry me that she wasn’t eating “properly,” but now I see she just wants independence and control. She also drinks water from her own bottle, which surprised me. BLW has been a learning curve, but watching her explore food on her own terms is actually amazing.

My girl will grab the spoon from me with so much sass lol 😂 sometimes I just put the food on the trays.

I did a mix of both with my first and now with my 7 months old but I tweaked one thing where when I puree, I hand him the spoon and he enjoys eating by himself. I really don’t like when people want to pressure parents to choose one thing and one thing only. Babies are different humans with different reactions and needs. The myth of puree started in the old world where they truly shoved more food down their babies’ throats thinking that’s how it’s done. On the other hand so many parents go for BLW without knowing any kind of CPR which is also a big concern. I love your video and I hope it gives some peace to so many parents

I am evidence that spoon feeding increasing obesity 😂😂

@emma hubbard do you have any videos on how to introduce common food allergens to babies when introducing solids?

I've been so stressed about blw vs spoon feeding. Thanks for this video ❤

What about chocking

My baby has choked multiple times on BLW. It’s not worth the risk

What about in case of IUGR babies?

It might be a little different when parents start introducing CF earlier than 6 months, as the baby won't be ready to sit upright and pick up the food and bring it to its mouth.
I'm living in Germany and here most of the parents start with puree at the babys age of 4 months. There is a pretty strict "plan of CF", when and what to introduce.
In this video, I'm missing the facts about nutrient intake...

By baby not eating anything refusing food by spoon when we feed
She wants to eat everything by her own n ends up eating very less instead making lotta mess
How do i feed her or make her eat prpperly
Someone plz reply

Babies first foods should be meat. This was well know hundreds of years ago. Now we are doing some garbage baby wed leaning where kids are eating like half a carrot. Theres very little nutritional value to that compared to an egg yolk or beef liver pate. Everyone wants to reinvent the wheel, but often times tradition is best.

I use both methods. I give my daughter finger foods and feed puree.

I do both. Although for some reason my baby won't eat anything on a spoon. So it's hand feeding and baby led weaning. And no he won't eat porridge, screams bloody murder if I try and feed him porridge.

i dont want BLW because i dont want my baby to simply pickup stuffs on floor and eat them. then choke on batteris or sharp objects etc.
and also the mess they made, time is valueble. i'm already stress spending time cleaning n do house chorse till no time to play with my daughter. i still go out and work 12 hours a day.

baby is 10 months old, and only recently i know about this BLW thingie.
i have always been spoon feed her since 6 months till 8 month, then when i introduce finger food, she doesnt want to hold her self, she dont even touch it. only starting 9months old she hold her own food and eat on her own, but most of the time, she be playing with it. so i guess, she naturally BLW on her own~*+
but not on porridge. no no. hahaha that need to be feed by adults.

so far, her daycare teacher said she loves to eat. whatever food we put close to her mouth, she'll open and nyoms it. and chew them politely~

i'd like to know when to let them feed themselve using spoon. instead of biting the spoon caused of teething.. hahaha
but THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT INFO !

Do what makes you feel comfortable! I personally do a mix of both, let her pick a banana piece but will feed also baby cereals (oats and fruit puree) will let her suck on a big piece of steak and then feed her carrots/pea puree. Sometimes she’s more independent sometimes she feel like being fed! In the end they all will end up eating like a normal human by 2

Personally we are still on lumpier purées until we see a feeding specialist! I wanted to do more of a BLW combination but despite the dysphagia, he really doesn't even mind lumpier purées. He has has some issues with lumpy foods because of the dysphagia so I'm hoping the feeding specialist can guide us until we see our SLP again for a swallow test. Loved this videoA

One plus for spoonfeeding is you can start at 4 months. At this point, as my Dr said, it's not really about calorie intake but allergy exposure. The 4-6 month window seems to be a sweet spot for introducing and possibly preventing the development of allergies. It seems like BLW would require the ability to eat whole foods which wouldn't be until 6 months.

Me and my husband eat at different times and different foods already because of his work hours and the fact that I am a vegetarian and he is very much a carnivore, so we don't really have a family mealtime for our daughter to join.
Usually just prepare her food and give her a bite and let her munch on her goop for a bit while I take a bite of something else for me, she seems to be doing fine and we still eat together so to speak.
My mother prepared puree of food she made for herself to give me and my sisters as babies, and neither me or my sisters are picky eaters or overweight, so I literally just plan on doing the same.

Also doing a combination. Works well so far. As long as we pay attention to the child and give them healthy food both approaches are great.

BLW could also be done with fries and chicken nuggets. Same as the discussion with eating vegetarian or vegan. I am not more healthy if my vegetarian diet is fries and ketchup 😅

I never did BLW for any of my 10 children. They ALL learned to feed themselves in due time.

I do a bit of both for my 14month old, but more of the spoon feeding. She is in no way a picky eater, and will gladly try new things. She even eats a lemon without pulling a face.

What I've seen for myself as well as with videos on picky eating, is that if the parent eats with the child, especially something new, then they are more likely to accept new food. With things I've tried and I saw she wasnt too crazy about it, I used my fork and my plate/bowl, and she thought she was eating my food.

We are doing a mixed thing. I never force feed her, she opens her mouth. When she is full, she turns her head. In the morning I give her something to eat by herself, for example a banana and some yogurt with spoon. Then for dinner some lumpier food with spoon. She is 6,5 month ❤

Hi Emma

My son is 8 months born 5 weeks early. My pedi, SLP, early intervention all pressured me into doing baby led weaning and I have had to do the heimlich twice. BLW is a gimmicky social media driven new trend. Stop pushing it down our throats. All of us did purees then solids as children and I don’t see us having issues now. Wtf.

I think mix is better. When I did blw, he is so messy in eating but when I switched to spoon feed after that and go back to blw, he is a lot cleaner in eating and better at both.