Advocates of baby-led weaning are encouraging toddlers to ditch purees and feed themselves finger foods to help them grow up to be happy, healthy eaters.
It's Saturday night. Shweta and Sunil Sharma, residents of Faridabad, are eating at a Mughlai restaurant with their children. While four-year-old Sharab devours butter naan and paneer makhani, her 18-month-old sister Saanvi sits in a high chair, dipping a bite of aloo paratha into curd. She grabbed the spoon with her chubby little fingers and scooped up a generous portion of her curd into her mouth, savoring the taste with a big smile on her face. At a nearby table is another family with young children. Here, the older child is watching cartoons on an iPad while his mother stuffs something in his mouth and her nanny chases the two-year-old, begging him to eat fries. As Shweta quietly enjoys her soup, she knows she did the right thing when she looks at the other family members. “She was so proud of herself,” says the content writer.
Shweta practiced baby-led weaning (BLW) with both children, a new method of introducing solid foods into children's diets. In contrast to traditional weaning, where babies are spoon-fed pureed foods, parents who practice BLW offer their children a variety of finger foods from the beginning (from 6 months onwards) and let them feed themselves. only.
The term 'baby-led weaning' was coined in 2005 by British public health nurse and lactation counselor Gill Rapley. Through her books, she promoted this system as a means of raising independent and happy eaters. The idea resonated with parents all over the world and became very popular in the United States, Europe, and New Zealand. Fans of baby-led weaning food are increasing in India as well. Facebook peer support groups such as BLW-India and Traditional Weaning India have sprung up over the past few years, and discussions about self-sufficiency have become regular occurrences. Mothers and some fathers post videos of their young children eating and playing, and share their experiences, both good and bad, with each other.
Airplane spoons and baby cereal are prohibited.
One of the key principles of BLW is to avoid using “baby foods” that contain little nutritional value, such as popular commercial cereal mixes, homemade purees, and watered-down foods like dal ka paani. BLW encourages parents to feed their children from the “family pot” by the time the child is 7 to 8 months old. This means offering your child something made for adults that doesn't contain salt, sugar, or coldness (until their first birthday). Food must be prepared or cut in a prescribed manner so that it is safe for infants. For example, grapes should be quartered lengthwise, apple slices should be steamed until they are soft enough to crush between the fingers, and dal chawal or upma should be rolled into laddoos that kids can easily grasp.
Another important tenet of this ideology is to avoid forcing, distracting, or coaxing your child into feeding, even if the child does not eat a single bite during the meal. This means parents can't use the screen or airplane spoon trick to “land” a morsel in their child's mouth. Michelle Noronha, a big supporter of BLW, proudly declares that some parents don't distract their kids by watching cartoons to feed them, but they don't let their kids sit on their balconies. He says he doesn't realize that taking him out to show him the birds or hanging toys to feed them can also be a distraction. “The purpose of BLW is to help children understand their hunger and eat as much as they want, so distractions are a big no-no,” said one mother who recorded her child's progress. says a Mumbai-based event curator. A journey of self-sufficiency on social media.
Like most new parents, Noronha bought a pack of baby food mix when her daughter turned 5 months old. However, Myra fell ill after drinking her first concoction, so Noronha started looking into weaning tips for her and discovered her BLW. “I threw her a box and waited until Myra was six months old. Then I offered her whatever I made at home and introduced her to different textures and We tried to give it flavor,” says Noronha.
She admits that there were days when mealtimes were such a hassle and overwhelming. “The first time she served Upma, it was a nightmare. It took an hour to sweep her floors and wash the fine particles from her hair,” she says. “But we quickly devised a system. Myra would eat in just her diaper and apron, and a booster chair would be placed on an old sheet on the floor that I could clean up in five minutes. ”
Noronha's persistence paid off. By the time Myra was eight months old, she was eating almost everything her parents were eating. At 10 months old, she was able to polish off two of her chicken legs. By the time she was two years old, she was able to successfully eat fish while removing the bones, and by the age of three, she was able to break crab claws with her teeth. Her Myra's video of her adventures with her meals was a big hit and inspired many of her parents to feed themselves. Mayra is now 6 years old, but Noronha still regularly receives DMs from moms with questions about her BLW.
Chapati doesn't count
BLW moms say the biggest hurdle isn't getting kids to eat, but getting families to understand why they're not letting their kids eat spoonfuls of khichdi or daliyah. Swati Mukherjee, who lives in Villupuram near Chennai, started following BLW, but her parents and her husband felt that the 8-month-old was “too thin and would not eat enough on his own.” Therefore, she was switched to mixed feeding. She currently feeds her Sagnik the staple food and allows him to eat his own mid-morning and evening snacks (chopped fruit and omelet pieces). “She wants him to be really independent so she won't be nervous when she resumes her job,” says Mukherjee, an elementary school science teacher.
Noronha revealed that strangers who saw Maira eating like an adult when she was one year old congratulated her, but her own family initially “trolled” her. Ta. Every time her Myra would post a picture of her eating herself on her family's WhatsApp group, her family would say things like, “Oh, poor girl'' and “So sad. No one could help her.'' I’m not feeding them.”
Nikita Mathur's family supported her decision to follow BLW, but the mother still sometimes counts the number of chapatis her children (5 and 1) have eaten. “But moms now understand that it's their hunger, and just like us adults, some days they're more hungry and other days they're less hungry,” says the dentist. says this woman, who is also a travel blogger. Her mothers say seeing their children go hungry some days is another challenge they face. “As a new mother, it's not easy to watch your baby not eat sometimes. But I am determined to respect my children's wishes and this was the best parenting decision I made. '' said Masser, adding that her older child loves trying new flavors and is happy at restaurants and while traveling abroad.
Concerns
Proponents of BLW argue that allowing children to put food on their plates and feed themselves is actually an ancient practice, but that families spend less time feeding their children by hand or with a spoon. He points out that it has been abandoned for decades. Families who follow BLW say one of the biggest benefits of growing independent food is that the whole family can eat together without fuss at the dinner table. “I don’t have to feed my children and then sit down to eat,” says Shweta.
Despite the benefits, some parents and pediatricians are wary of BLW, worried that babies may choke while eating. Advocates say the risk is very low if parents strictly follow BLW guidelines – if babies sit upright in high chairs and eat well-cooked, appropriately sized food, cut properly. Pointed out. Additionally, he explains that infants have protective reflexes against choking, such as choking, which prevent food from entering the respiratory tract. Noronha says parents often mistake a baby's coughing or vomiting while eating to force food out as choking or panic. A study conducted in New Zealand found that the incidence of gagging and choking was similar whether infants were given pureed or ate it themselves.
Another concern is that babies who breastfeed on their own may not eat enough or get the nutrients they need. Comprehensive research has been done on this as well. In fact, proponents of BLW believe their method can prevent eating disorders later in life. A recent study by the University of Nottingham showed that babies weaned on pureed foods were more likely to gain weight than toddlers who were fed finger foods on their own. “If an adult has a fever and doesn't want to eat, it's okay. But if a child is unwell and refuses food, we try to force them to eat.'' It's important to keep emotions away from food. Noronha believes that. Myra had a viral fever when she was 18 months old that caused her to go almost 10 days without solid food (while breastfeeding). Noronha and her husband fed Maira multiple times a day, but even then she did not force her to eat.
my baby, my way
Not everyone finds BLW practical. Delhi mother Rini Kapadia tried it on her younger daughter, but she gave up after just one day. “I was inspired by a momfluencer whose 7-month-old son was eating dal rice and broccoli florets like a king. I just massaged my hair and face with dal rice,” said the freelance designer, adding that it took her “precious 30 minutes” to clean up the mess.
Kapadia went back to feeding Sheila with a spoon while singing nursery rhymes. “I want to finish her meal within 10 minutes and get back to her work and my older child's studies,” she says.
But BLW supporters feel the disruption is worth it. Shweta's phone gallery is filled with pictures of her baby, who has just started breastfeeding on her own, with porridge or poha on her face. “The sparkle in their eyes and toothless smiles as they explore and taste the food are beautiful memories for me,” she says, adding that she started BLW because she didn’t want to be like her friends and bhabhi who were always chasing after their kids. Shweta says, along with meals at family functions.
It's Saturday night. Shweta and Sunil Sharma, residents of Faridabad, are eating at a Mughlai restaurant with their children. While four-year-old Sharab devours butter naan and paneer makhani, her 18-month-old sister Saanvi sits in a high chair, dipping a bite of aloo paratha into curd. She grabbed the spoon with her chubby little fingers and scooped up a generous portion of her curd into her mouth, savoring the taste with a big smile on her face. At a nearby table is another family with young children. Here, the older child is watching cartoons on an iPad while his mother stuffs something in his mouth and her nanny chases the two-year-old, begging him to eat fries. As Shweta quietly enjoys her soup, she knows she did the right thing when she looks at the other family members. “She was so proud of herself,” says the content writer.
Shweta practiced baby-led weaning (BLW) with both children, a new method of introducing solid foods into children's diets. In contrast to traditional weaning, where babies are spoon-fed pureed foods, parents who practice BLW offer their children a variety of finger foods from the beginning (from 6 months onwards) and let them feed themselves. only.
The term 'baby-led weaning' was coined in 2005 by British public health nurse and lactation counselor Gill Rapley. Through her books, she promoted this system as a means of raising independent and happy eaters. The idea resonated with parents all over the world and became very popular in the United States, Europe, and New Zealand. Fans of baby-led weaning food are increasing in India as well. Facebook peer support groups such as BLW-India and Traditional Weaning India have sprung up over the past few years, and discussions about self-sufficiency have become regular occurrences. Mothers and some fathers post videos of their young children eating and playing, and share their experiences, both good and bad, with each other.
Airplane spoons and baby cereal are prohibited.
One of the key principles of BLW is to avoid using “baby foods” that contain little nutritional value, such as popular commercial cereal mixes, homemade purees, and watered-down foods like dal ka paani. BLW encourages parents to feed their children from the “family pot” by the time the child is 7 to 8 months old. This means offering your child something made for adults that doesn't contain salt, sugar, or coldness (until their first birthday). Food must be prepared or cut in a prescribed manner so that it is safe for infants. For example, grapes should be quartered lengthwise, apple slices should be steamed until they are soft enough to crush between the fingers, and dal chawal or upma should be rolled into laddoos that kids can easily grasp.
Another important tenet of this ideology is to avoid forcing, distracting, or coaxing your child into feeding, even if the child does not eat a single bite during the meal. This means parents can't use the screen or airplane spoon trick to “land” a morsel in their child's mouth. Michelle Noronha, a big supporter of BLW, proudly declares that some parents don't distract their kids by watching cartoons to feed them, but they don't let their kids sit on their balconies. He says he doesn't realize that taking him out to show him the birds or hanging toys to feed them can also be a distraction. “The purpose of BLW is to help children understand their hunger and eat as much as they want, so distractions are a big no-no,” said one mother who recorded her child's progress. says a Mumbai-based event curator. A journey of self-sufficiency on social media.
Like most new parents, Noronha bought a pack of baby food mix when her daughter turned 5 months old. However, Myra fell ill after drinking her first concoction, so Noronha started looking into weaning tips for her and discovered her BLW. “I threw her a box and waited until Myra was six months old. Then I offered her whatever I made at home and introduced her to different textures and We tried to give it flavor,” says Noronha.
Expanding
She admits that there were days when mealtimes were such a hassle and overwhelming. “The first time she served Upma, it was a nightmare. It took an hour to sweep her floors and wash the fine particles from her hair,” she says. “But we quickly devised a system. Myra would eat in just her diaper and apron, and a booster chair would be placed on an old sheet on the floor that I could clean up in five minutes. ”
Noronha's persistence paid off. By the time Myra was eight months old, she was eating almost everything her parents were eating. At 10 months old, she was able to polish off two of her chicken legs. By the time she was two years old, she was able to successfully eat fish while removing the bones, and by the age of three, she was able to break crab claws with her teeth. Her Myra's video of her adventures with her meals was a big hit and inspired many of her parents to feed themselves. Mayra is now 6 years old, but Noronha still regularly receives DMs from moms with questions about her BLW.
Chapati doesn't count
BLW moms say the biggest hurdle isn't getting kids to eat, but getting families to understand why they're not letting their kids eat spoonfuls of khichdi or daliyah. Swati Mukherjee, who lives in Villupuram near Chennai, started following BLW, but her parents and her husband felt that the 8-month-old was “too thin and would not eat enough on his own.” Therefore, she was switched to mixed feeding. She currently feeds her Sagnik the staple food and allows him to eat his own mid-morning and evening snacks (chopped fruit and omelet pieces). “She wants him to be really independent so she won't be nervous when she resumes her job,” says Mukherjee, an elementary school science teacher.
Noronha revealed that strangers who saw Maira eating like an adult when she was one year old congratulated her, but her own family initially “trolled” her. Ta. Every time her Myra would post a picture of her eating herself on her family's WhatsApp group, her family would say things like, “Oh, poor girl'' and “So sad. No one could help her.'' I’m not feeding them.”
Nikita Mathur's family supported her decision to follow BLW, but the mother still sometimes counts the number of chapatis her children (5 and 1) have eaten. “But moms now understand that it's their hunger, and just like us adults, some days they're more hungry and other days they're less hungry,” says the dentist. says this woman, who is also a travel blogger. Her mothers say seeing their children go hungry some days is another challenge they face. “As a new mother, it's not easy to watch your baby not eat sometimes. But I am determined to respect my children's wishes and this was the best parenting decision I made. '' said Masser, adding that her older child loves trying new flavors and is happy at restaurants and while traveling abroad.
Concerns
Proponents of BLW argue that allowing children to put food on their plates and feed themselves is actually an ancient practice, but that families spend less time feeding their children by hand or with a spoon. He points out that it has been abandoned for decades. Families who follow BLW say one of the biggest benefits of growing independent food is that the whole family can eat together without fuss at the dinner table. “I don’t have to feed my children and then sit down to eat,” says Shweta.
Despite the benefits, some parents and pediatricians are wary of BLW, worried that babies may choke while eating. Advocates say the risk is very low if parents strictly follow BLW guidelines – if babies sit upright in high chairs and eat well-cooked, appropriately sized food, cut properly. Pointed out. Additionally, he explains that infants have protective reflexes against choking, such as choking, which prevent food from entering the respiratory tract. Noronha says parents often mistake a baby's coughing or vomiting while eating to force food out as choking or panic. A study conducted in New Zealand found that the incidence of gagging and choking was similar whether infants were given pureed or ate it themselves.
Another concern is that babies who breastfeed on their own may not eat enough or get the nutrients they need. Comprehensive research has been done on this as well. In fact, proponents of BLW believe their method can prevent eating disorders later in life. A recent study by the University of Nottingham showed that babies weaned on pureed foods were more likely to gain weight than toddlers who were fed finger foods on their own. “If an adult has a fever and doesn't want to eat, it's okay. But if a child is unwell and refuses food, we try to force them to eat.'' It's important to keep emotions away from food. Noronha believes that. Myra had a viral fever when she was 18 months old that caused her to go almost 10 days without solid food (while breastfeeding). Noronha and her husband fed Maira multiple times a day, but even then she did not force her to eat.
my baby, my way
Not everyone finds BLW practical. Delhi mother Rini Kapadia tried it on her younger daughter, but she gave up after just one day. “I was inspired by a momfluencer whose 7-month-old son was eating dal rice and broccoli florets like a king. I just massaged my hair and face with dal rice,” said the freelance designer, adding that it took her “precious 30 minutes” to clean up the mess.
Kapadia went back to feeding Sheila with a spoon while singing nursery rhymes. “I want to finish her meal within 10 minutes and get back to her work and my older child's studies,” she says.
But BLW supporters feel the disruption is worth it. Shweta's phone gallery is filled with pictures of her baby, who has just started breastfeeding on her own, with porridge or poha on her face. “The sparkle in their eyes and toothless smiles as they explore and taste the food are beautiful memories for me,” she says, adding that she started BLW because she didn’t want to be like her friends and bhabhi who were always chasing after their kids. Shweta says, along with meals at family functions.
