By Marsha Dunn Klein. OTR/L, MEd., FAOTA
There are lots of opinions out there about purees and baby led feeding strategies. Have you heard you can “never” use a spoon in baby led feeding? Or that purees are a “no, no”? These are myths. Let’s break it down.
Central to the idea of baby LED feeding is that the baby shares the family meal and is a partner in the process of eating, not a passive recipient of food fed to them. Grownups offer foods that are developmentally appropriate and safe and babies reach for them and actively participate in bring them to their mouths. Babies are offered a variety of food flavors, food groups and food textures so they can discover what foods they love, so that they can learn to do it themselves and so they can learn to master and be confident in the chewing involved in eating lots of different foods. Babies learn to chew by chewing, starting with the easiest and safest foods. Discovery. Autonomy. Mastery.
Baby led weaning advocates have taught us that babies are able to manage more food experiences earlier and can do it themselves. We grownups need to carefully offer safe foods as they gain skills and confidence. The how to’s of baby led weaning are broadly described in a number of books including Gill Rapley and Tracy Murkett’s originial and updated Baby Led Weaning books, Jill Rabin and Gill Rapley who also wrote about Adapted Baby led weaning for our more neurodiverse populations. (See in references below). There are also a number of online programs that teach us in great detail who how to prepare foods in a baby safe way. Katie Ferraro’s Instagram Babyleadweanteam is one such program.
Baby led weaning, though is not just about finger foods and strip foods. Purees are also food and can also be great nutrition. The important part here is that we offer purees as a way also to help babies discover the foods and flavors they love but also to feed it to themselves to support their autonomy in the process. Whether a parent makes a homemade puree, or uses a pouch of creative blends, or a jar of commercial baby food, the baby can advance their eating skills with purees as a part of the whole learning to eat experience.
First, purees can be used even before the child is in the highchair preparing to self feed. Around five months of age when each baby is bring hands to their mouth we can smear a bit of puree on the mouthing toy, the teethers (such as the Teetherheart ). The small taste of puree smeared on the mouthing toy can give the baby the opportunity to taste new flavors and inspire more mouthing, more hand to mouth play. It is not for volume. The baby is discovering what she loves (which flavor do you notice is interesting?), practice bringing food flavors to her own mouth (she will need those skills later in finger feeding and utensil use). Once the child is in the highchair, there is lots more to practice with purees.
Spoons can be dipped in purees and these preloaded spoons can be offered to the baby to reach for and figure out how to get them to their own mouth. Of course, there will be lots of wrong ends of the short baby spoon going to the mouth until the baby figures it all out!
Purees can be used in baby popsicles where the child brings the flavored popsicle to her own mouth, at her own pace. EZPZ tiny pops are great for this. There are lots of recipes avialbel through EZPZ and elsewhere. Purees can be put in a cup and are a great way to slow down the liquid as the baby learns to manage open cup drinking. Meanwhile, they are continuing to discover what flavors they love, what food groups work for them, and gradually taking in some volume, that they direct. Purees can be used in learning to drink from a straw.
There is so much great information out there on Baby Led Weaning, and Baby Led Feeding strategies.
Check out this FREE online live class sponsored by Katie Ferraro with BabyLedWean Team.
Baby Led Weaning for Grandparents Celebrating National Baby Led Weaning Day 2025. July 1, 20258am Pacific time, 11 eastern time. https://blwday.com
Announcement
Attention all those interested in baby feedingThere is a new documentary called A Solid6Months being made by Say Little Production. A short trailer about the document will be shown at this Baby Led Weaning for Grandparents event. Check out the documentary website: https://www.asolid6months.com/
Resources:
Rabin and Rapley, Your Baby Can Self Feed , too: Adapted Baby Led Weaning. (2022)
EZPZ Tiny Pops (https://ezpzfun.com/products/tiny-pops)
Instagram: Babyledweanteam , Katie Ferraro.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Leave a Reply