Have you heard of a new approach to offering solids called “baby-led feeding,” which mixes finger foods for baby alongside spoon-feeding purees? Here’s how it works.
When it comes to introducing baby food, there are lots of options. Spoon-feeding nutritious purees of infant cereal, veggies, meats, grains, and fruits develops babies’ oral-motor skills, provides a great opportunity to interact with your child, and some parents find it reassuring to see what makes it into their baby’s mouth (rather than on the floor!). Baby-led weaning is another option—where you offer your baby nutritious finger foods to explore and taste at their own pace—develop their fine motor and chewing skills, and allows them to taste appropriately prepared foods from the family table.
What is Baby-led feeding?
Baby-led feeding mixes baby-led weaning with spoon-feeding, taking the best bits from both methods. You decide what to offer from finger foods and/or purees, and the key is that it’s baby-led. This means you offer the food, and your baby decides what and how much they want to eat. So it’s important that you respond to your baby’s hunger and fullness cues. To get started with baby-led feeding, follow these five steps.
1. Serve Finger Foods for Baby
Offer small amounts of healthy food in soft, easy-to-pick up chunks, appropriate to your baby’s developmental stage.
Steamed Carrot Sticks
- Good for: Vitamin A, important for your baby’s eyesight.
Baked Apple, peeled and cut into eights
- Good for: Potassium, a mineral that helps your baby’s nervous system and muscles to work properly
Wholegrain Fingers of Toast
- Good for: Fiber, for healthy digestion
2. Spoon-Fed Purees
Think of nutritious combinations and remember to follow baby’s lead and respect their hunger and fullness cues.
Powerblend Cereal with Lentil, Carrot and probiotics
Good for: iron for healthy brain development and probiotics that helps support a healthy digestive system when eaten every day
Good for: 2g protein and 1 serving of vegetables for baby per tub
Gerber Fruit & Yogurt Peaches and Cream
Good for: 2 tbsp of yogurt in every pouch along with real fruit and vitamin C
3. Offer One High-Iron Food Per Meal
Iron is essential in developing a baby’s brain and helping their blood carry oxygen around their body. By six months the iron stores your baby was born with are running low, so it’s important to offer foods rich in iron.
Beef meatballs, sliced
- Good for: Beef is an easily absorbed source of iron. It also provides zinc, which support your baby’s immune system and helps them fight infections.
Gerber Iron-Fortified Infant Cereal
- Good for: A plant-based source of iron, also contains folate, which helps baby’s body to make new cells.
4. Include one high-energy food per meal
Your baby needs healthy fats in moderation to help their brain and nervous system develop.
Potato wedges roasted in canola oil
-
Good for: Starchy carbohydrates like potatoes are a good source of energy, while canola oil is rich in ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), an omega-3 fatty acid that many babies don’t get enough of.
Slices of avocado
- Good for: Avocados are packed full of healthy fats, important for your baby’s brain development—it’s like no other fruit or vegetable!
Slices of boiled eggs
- Good for: Eaten all around the world, eggs are a top source of protein—an essential “building block” for bones, muscles, skin, and blood. Their yolks also contain essential fatty acids.
5. Avoid Choking Risks
Only feed baby when they are seated and supervised. Watch your baby carefully when they are self-feeding. Don’t offer raw vegetables like raw carrot or celery, or other hard or round foods, which can cause your baby to choke.
No Whole grapes
- Instead: Cut them lengthways into quarters once your baby is 12 months old
No Whole nuts
- Instead: Grind them and add them to meals
No Whole cherry tomatoes
- Instead: Cut them lengthways into quarters once your baby is 12 months old.
When starting out spoon-feeding, look to Gerber infant cereals, 1st food and 2nd foods. Once your baby has mastered purees, move on to thicker textures and mashed food to help them develop chewing skills. Mixing infant cereal into purees is a nutritious way to thicken favorite fruits and veggies.
Don’t Forget! There is no need to add sugar or salt to your baby’s food. Instead, try experimenting with herbs and spices that the whole family will love.
