Most parents remember hours spent putting pureed food into their child’s mouth.
But allowing infants to feed themselves by hand could be better for their growth, according to a study.
New findings suggest that baby-led weaning – a popular way to introduce solid foods to infants – provides sufficient calories for growth and development.
This method allows infants to hand-feed themselves whole, unpuréed foods when introducing solids, as opposed to the more traditional approach of spoon-feeding infants pureed solids.
Advocates say this encourages healthy eating habits because babies self-feed and can explore a variety of foods from family meals.
Instead of spoon-feeding, a new study has found that allowing infants to hand-feed themselves may be better for their growth (Stock image)
Researchers at the University of Colorado studied baby-led weaning in 70 healthy five-month-old infants.
During the study, caregivers recorded the baby’s consumption of all foods for three days.
The team classified a child as having baby-led weaning if less than 10 percent of his or her calories came from pureed baby foods.
Analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in energy intake between the two withdrawal groups.
Child-led weaning was also associated with greater increases in weight-for-age and weight-for-length scores than conventionally weaned infants, meaning they had higher growth trajectories .
The team said berries, steamed vegetables, cheese and small pieces of meat are all good foods to try for self-weaning babies, as they are easy for babies to grasp and chew. babies.
Foods should be offered in sticks the size of the baby’s fist to avoid choking, they said, adding that it is important to provide a varied and diverse diet when introducing solid foods to infants .
Study author Kinzie Matzeller, a registered dietitian, said: “One of the main concerns about baby-led weaning was that it was unclear whether it provided enough nutrients to support infant growth.
Instead of purees, soft fruits, steamed vegetables, cheese and small pieces of meat are all good foods to try for baby-led weaning (Stock image)
“It’s reassuring to know that baby-led weaning provides enough calories for growth.
“Baby-led weaning can be a great way to incorporate more options and different types of foods that your little one might not otherwise receive.”
“It often takes up to 15 exposures to a food before a baby accepts it, so persistence is key.” They also found that mothers with more education and higher incomes were more likely to use baby-led weaning.
This could be because families with more money might find it easier to devote the time and resources to preparing the foods needed to wean the child independently, the researchers said.
Their future research will examine potential nutritional differences between weaning methods.
The results were presented at the American Society for Nutrition conference in Chicago.
