Baby-Led Weaning: The (Not-So) Revolutionary Way to Start Solids and Make a Happy Eater

by Teresa Pitman, Jack Newman (Foreword)

Put down the spoon and forget the pur�es -- baby-led weaning is the easy, natural way for your baby to start solid foods. Around 6 months, most babies are developmentally ready to self-feed. The philosophy behind baby-led weaning is to offer your baby healthy finger foods and let her determine how much or how little she wants to eat. The baby-led method has been proven to:


Encourage healthy eating habits Discourage pickiness Help children learn to listen to their bodies Build confident eaters.
Author Teresa Pitman, a leading parenting authority and mother of four, has put together all you need to know about the baby-led method in an informative, visually appealing package. Baby-Led Weaning features at-a-glance nutrition and food tips as well as specific chapters on special diets and allergies. Parents around the world are turning to the baby-led method, and Baby-Led Weaning is a uniquely authoritative and lively volume on this growing phenomenon.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Canada, Food

192 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2018

Reviews

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite being a leche league breastfeeding fanatic (for a book about solid foods there is A LOT of breastfeeding content), this author does have a few useful chapters in here about introducing solid foods in pieces rather than going through the hassle of pureeing or buying tiny jars or pouches of baby food. I'd recommend pretty much just reading the last couple chapters with FAQs and recipes. A lot of the rest is filler without any actual practical tips. If you're vegan/vegetarian/paleo there are chapters on that, which might be helpful?

[Kristy Hetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A five star rating means that it's a book I would go out and buy. It was just what I needed.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the historical background on baby feeding to be interesting. Especially with this in mind, the key concepts of baby-led weaning (giving babies real food instead of purees and letting them use their hands to feed themselves) generally seem sensible to me. Perhaps there really isn't that much to be said about it, though. This already slender book ends up tagging on quite a few chapters about special situations (e.g. dietary restrictions, food allergies), as well as devoting early pages to advocating for exclusive breast feeding. I suspect most of the book's content could easily be found online, but it is not a bad overview of the topic.

[Kayla Frank]

Quickly skimmed. Meh. A mix of research based and anecdotal evidence. Lots of sections about differences between breast fed/bottle fed/formula fed babies, so if you want more info on that, this would be helpful. I think for me it just stressed me out having so much detailed info.

[Jana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book is judgy lecturing about how the baby was fed in its first six months - kind of late for that if you're trying to learn about adding solids - and the second half is information that I found when I first googled the topic. Not especially useful, nothing new to learn, but it was written in accessible language and would be a good resource to someone who didn't do a google, I guess. I read it very quickly, but you should probably skip it.

[Jessica Fahey · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book no stars I would.

I didn’t even get to the actual baby led weaning information in this book because it’s completely biased.

The “what if I’m formula feeding” section picks sections of a 2012 study by the American Association for cancer research that was never peer reviewed and not only that, chooses information from the study that is worded a certain way to fit their “breast is best” narrative.

This book claims the study showed that every month a baby is formula fed increases their risk of a certain cancer. When in fact, the study said “bottle feeding”and they could not find a direct association with formula feeding. Lots of parents bottle feed, even parents who choose to breastfeed. There are exclusive pumpers out there too.

The book also forgets to mention that this study found this type of cancer highest among babies who’s mothers smoked during pregnancy.

I will not be reading the rest of this book. If they can not correctly source research or they shame parents for formula feeding (even if they didn’t have a choice) they do not deserve people to buy this crap.

There is plenty of online resources that are unbiased. Steer clear of this book.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is ok. I got it at the library because I have a 5-month-old and am getting ready to start BLW, and this was the only book on the shelves on the subject. It provides a general overview and a lot of propaganda exaggerating the benefits of both baby-led weaning and breastfeeding. I'm an exclusively breastfeeding mom who's already thinking of BLW and even I found it really judgmental and a lot of the claims were excessive. The author has a lot of nutrition-related opinions that remind me of orthorexic/eating disordered fitness bloggers. The last couple of chapters have some useful suggestions and recipes that I'm going to copy down for the future. I think there are probably much better books on the subject.

[Kelsey Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second half of this book, it’s aces. Great info on baby-led weaning. The first half, totally unnecessary condemnation and shaming of formula-feeding mothers. I have exclusively breastfed 3 babies, and even I was like “yeesh.” If you’re picking up this book, you’ve likely already been feeding your baby breast milk or formula for several months, so the information presented in the first several chapters serves no practical purpose in preparing for the next steps in baby’s feeding journey. If you decide to pick up this book and your little one is fed formula, I’d skip right ahead and start on chapter 4.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

very simple overview of BLW. Very heavy on breast-feeding and not having introduced solids as of yet. Would've been nice to have more info for parents formula-feeding and more discussion on "difficult" foods such as meats, fish, pb, leafy greens. I was hoping this book would give me more practical tips than what I got from google and mom forums. The most helpful take-away was to cut veggies and fruits into strips instead of diced or mashed.

[Gillian Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you feed your baby formula and want to learn about baby led weaning, this is not the book for you. The author was so biased in favor of breastfeeding that it made me doubt whether I could trust her guidance about starting solid foods. Not even sure why there was so much about breastfeeding in this book, as the parents who are reading it have likely made the decision of breastmilk versus formula long before picking up the book. Off to find another book on this topic that is more factual.

[Kim M · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Only chapters 4,5,and 6 gave me the information I needed on baby-led weaning. The rest of the book and even some of those chapters talked about the benefits of breast feeding. I wasn't able to breast feed due to health issues, and I thought the book was going to be focused on baby-led weening, so I ended up skimming a lot.

[Jenessa Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was feeling over whelmed on how to feed my baby. And was I doing right. This book helped a little with the confidence. I like the FAQ in the back. My family loves camping and there is an FAQ for that to help prepare for the summer. Only 4 stars as I felt there was a lot of filler and sometimes no tips on how to handle different situations or trouble shoot.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read, summary of blw from a wholesome approach. I read before baby and then again with baby, and found it much better second time around because she tells it in a story format in the beginning. History also good. Not a bad little book.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the context up front repeated what I’ve seen elsewhere and mostly skipped it. But this was more helpful in terms of food prep tips and specific recommendations, including for special diets like vegan and vegetarian.

[Kara Stroder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave a good broad overview and history and some good recipes. Still feel like I don't have enough information on food preparation and a little conflicting at times saying to chop things into cubes as well as saying it's better if they are long "fingers" easier for them to grasp.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This makes so much sense. Wish I'd started my sons on solids this way. But I am enjoying feeding my grandson the same things we eat on the days we babysit.

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overview and background info. Would have liked to see more examples.

[RaeAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good intro if you don't know much about baby-led weaning, but I don't think it gives enough info on its own to feel confident doing it.

[Sarah Taylor-Barkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I was checking out a book on solids, not breastfeeding 🙄 a bit of useful info but I'm sure most of it's available online.

[LLL USA Breastfeeding Support]

LLL USA Leader AJ Cecil-Starlin interviewed author Teresa Pitman about her new book:
*Tell us a little about yourself and your family.* I am the mother of four children and the grandmother of 10! I have a degree in magazine journalism and have written many magazine articles, as well as authoring or co-authoring 18 published books (including two for La Leche League International).

*How did you get involved with breastfeeding and La Leche League?* When my first baby was born, the hospital nurses taught us to breastfeed side-lying in bed, but not sitting up. (I know, it was a strange time in the history of breastfeeding!) When I got home, I realized that this was going to be very awkward—I didn’t want to have to lie down every time my baby was hungry! But all my friends had either not breastfed at all, or quit shortly after they came home. Finally, I heard about LLL and gave the Leader a call. There was a meeting that week so I went. When I walked in the door, the first person I saw was a mother nursing toddler twins. I was rather taken aback—I had no idea you could breastfeed twins, let alone twins who were walking and talking. But the Leader helped me figure out how to breastfeed sitting up and I found I really enjoyed the meeting. I’ve been part of LLL ever since and was the Executive Director of La Leche League Canada for three years, as well as serving on the LLLCanada Board.

*Why did you decide to write Baby-Led Weaning?* I loved the original book (by Gill Rapley) and had interviewed Gill for an article years ago. I thought there was a need for a new book for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted a book that would use language and settings more familiar to North American parents. Two, we now have a lot more research available on this topic that hadn’t been done when the earlier books were written. For example, we now have research to show that babies don’t choke any more often on foods they pick up and feed themselves than on purees that we spoon into their mouths. I thought knowing about that would be helpful for parents who might get some criticism from grandparents or others not familiar with these ideas. And three, I wanted to address some of the questions I hear from parents: about allergies, special diets, premature babies, etc. That information can be hard to find.

*What was your favorite part of writing this book?* We decided to make the first chapter of the book the story of my granddaughter Isla’s introduction to solid foods. It was fun to share her story, and she’s so delighted to be in a book! I reached out to parents I knew through LLL and the Canadian Baby-Led Weaning group on Facebook to ask for photos, and we got lots of wonderful pictures of babies enjoying trying out food. Just looking at those pictures made me smile.
I think another part I really liked was writing about the history of solid foods. You know, if you go down the baby-food aisle in a grocery store and see all the packages of cereal and little jars of food and pouches, you tend to assume all this is necessary. But in reality, the idea of special foods for babies is very recent. Understanding the history helps us find our way back to a more biologically appropriate approach to feeding.
Writing and testing the recipes was also fun for me because I did it in conjunction with my daughter, Lisa, who is a published cookbook author.

*Can you share a favorite “baby-led weaning” story from your own family?* At the time my oldest son was born, new parents stayed in the hospital for five days after giving birth. (It’s so different now!) The other mother sharing my room was told by her doctor to give her baby cereal and orange juice on day five! So she started solids at five days. Most parents I knew started solids by the time their babies were six weeks old, as instructed by their doctors. But I’d been to LLL, and seen the research showing that waiting until the middle of the first year was better. Despite dire warnings from my friends, I decided to wait. But my baby Matthew was an early crawler, and at five months he crawled over to the dogs’ food bowls and scooped up and ate several mouthfuls of their food. I was in a panic and took him to the doctor immediately. My doctor just laughed and said that the dog food probably was more nutritious than most baby food cereals. “But,” she added, “I think this is a sign that he’s ready for solid foods.” He made it clear from the start that he wasn’t going to have food spooned into his mouth, so I just put things on the high chair tray and let him eat.
After Matthew started food early, my next baby ended up being very late at starting solids. She’d just close her little mouth up tight whenever I offered her something. Both have grown up to be healthy, intelligent adults—just very different!

*Why is baby-led weaning (BLW) important?* I think that story I shared above is a great example of why it is important. We now have quite a bit of research that suggests baby-led weaning can reduce the risk of a baby becoming overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is a serious problem in North America and other countries, so that matters. BLW encourages babies to listen to their own bodies and choose the type and amount of food their bodies need. Most adults who are spooning food into a baby from a jar will tend to try to encourage the baby to finish the jar – just like most adults tend to encourage babies to finish the bottle if they are bottle-feeding. This leads to toddlers and older children who are likely to “clean their plates” at mealtimes. With BLW, baby eats what he wants and stops when he’s done. For breastfeeding babies, this is a natural continuation of the way baby feeds at the breast. For bottle-feeding parents, this is an opportunity to let their babies develop the skill of listening to their bodies in ways they may not have done when feeding from a bottle. It’s a very respectful way to feed a baby and helps teach them to listen to their own body to know what they need to eat and how much they need.
Teresa Pitman
I also think it is important because it makes feeding a positive experience for parents, too. It’s easy! Baby eats with the family, with no pressure and no battles over food. (Of course, it is messy…)

*If you could tell new parents one thing about Baby-Led Weaning what would it be?* Let your baby guide you. Let her show you when she’s ready to start solids, and let her show you how much food she wants to eat. Your baby’s appetite will go through ups and downs, but that’s normal and okay.
Read more at:
https://lllusa.org/a-conversation-wit...