Baby-Led Weaning: How It Works, Safe Foods and What to Do if Baby Chokes

A courgette stick in one hand, a piece of chicken in the other, sauce up to the eyebrows: your 7-month-old is having dinner with you, and feeding themselves. Baby-led weaning (BLW; in French, DME, diversification menée par l'enfant) has its devoted fans. It also worries a lot of people, starting with grandparents, who watch the pieces arrive with dread.

Done well, BLW can suit most babies. It does, however, require respecting precise conditions, knowing the risky foods and being able to tell gagging from real choking. Here is how it works.

What exactly is baby-led weaning?

It is a way of starting solids where parents let their baby feed themselves pieces of food, with no purée and no spoon held out by an adult. They grab, bring to their mouth, chew, sometimes spit out, and decide the amount alone. The Quebec guide Mieux vivre avec notre enfant, published by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), specifies that the order in which foods are introduced stays the same as with purées: iron-rich foods first, then a wide variety.

For the general guidelines on getting started (age, allergens, foods to avoid), read our guide on the start of solids first. Here we concentrate on what is specific to pieces.

From what age? The conditions for starting

Not before 6 months, and not only because they are 6 months. The INSPQ sets four conditions:

1. Be at least 6 months old, corrected age for a baby born prematurely.
2. Be in good health, with normal development for their age.
3. Sit without support in their high chair for the whole meal, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Be able to grasp an object, bring it to their mouth and let go of it.

If in doubt, or if your baby has a health problem, talk to your paediatrician before you start.

Why opinions differ

On BLW, Quebec and France don't say the same thing, and it is useful to know that. The INSPQ considers that it can suit most children and that babies who feed themselves are no more at risk of choking than those who are spoon-fed, even though they gag more.

The Nutrition Committee of the French Society of Paediatrics (SFP) is more reserved. It acknowledges the advantages put forward (family meals, respect for appetite, early discovery of pieces), but underlines two risks: insufficient intake of energy, iron, zinc and vitamins, or on the contrary too much protein, saturated fat, salt and sugar. It considers the choking risk poorly assessed, and takes the view that current data do not argue for BLW over conventional weaning.

In practice, both agree on the essentials: suitable pieces as soon as your baby is ready, supervision at every moment and particular attention to iron. The SFP also asks that finger foods not be delayed beyond 10 months.

Which foods to offer, and how to prepare them

Two criteria count: texture and shape. The food must be soft enough for your baby to squash against their palate with their tongue (INSPQ). And it must be big enough to hold in their hand, long enough to stick out of their closed fist; the UK's NHS speaks of pieces the size of an adult's finger.

These examples follow the NHS and INSPQ lists. Cooked foods are served well cooled, raw fruit and vegetables are washed and peeled, and no salt or sugar is added to their share. In a Moroccan family, the day's tagine or couscous naturally provides melting vegetables and tender meat: take their share before the salt, stock cube and smen (aged clarified butter).

Think about iron every day: strips of meat, fish, egg, lentil or chickpea patties. It is the answer to the main criticism from French paediatricians. Our easy dishes for 6 to 8 months also come in a finger-food version.

Foods to avoid until age 4

Some foods stay dangerous until age 4, whatever the weaning method. The INSPQ notably lists:

• peanuts, walnuts and other tree nuts, whole seeds;
• whole fresh grapes, raisins, slices of sausage;
• raw carrot and celery, popcorn, hard sweets, chewing gum, ice cubes;
• foods skewered on a toothpick or kebab stick.

The general rule: hard, small and round, smooth and sticky foods are the riskiest. So grapes are cut in four, raw carrot, turnip or apple are grated, and bones, fish bones, stones and pips are removed. On a Moroccan table, this also concerns olives, which are salty and have stones, almonds and whole dates: they will wait, or be given crushed or as a powder.

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Gagging or choking: knowing the difference

Parents often mix the two up, yet the difference is clear.

Gagging is common at the start, especially with BLW. If your baby gags at every meal for several days, talk to a doctor, advises the INSPQ. And if the piece is partly stuck but they are coughing hard, encourage them to cough, without intervening.

What to do if a baby chokes

These steps are learned on a first-aid course, which no article replaces: you learn, among other things, how to hold your baby. Here is the procedure described by the INSPQ.

Baby under 1 year:

1. Shout for help and have someone call 141 without delay.
2. Give 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand.
3. Turn them over and give 5 firm chest thrusts in the middle of the chest, with two fingers, just below the nipple line.
4. Alternate 5 back blows and 5 chest thrusts until they breathe, cough or cry.

Child aged 1 and over: firm abdominal thrusts, with your fist placed just above the navel, inwards and upwards, until they breathe, cough, speak or cry.

Once the episode is over, even if everything seems back to normal, have them checked at the emergency department: complications can occur (INSPQ). Our article on preventing accidents at home complements this advice for the whole house.

BLW and purées: can you combine them?

Yes, but preferably not at the same meal. The INSPQ advises against offering purées and pieces together, since the mouth and tongue do not work the same way. Nothing stops you alternating, though: the spoon for a rushed dinner, pieces at the next meal. The NHS also points out that some babies start with pieces, others with smooth purées, and both paths lead to varied textures.

For allergens, the rule does not change with BLW: introduce them early, one at a time, in a suitable form, as our article on baby food allergies explains.