It also prevents parents from pushing food, since babies are in control of how much they put into their mouths.īut those aren’t the only benefits. This approach is called baby-led weaning because that's what the premise is - letting your little one feed herself the healthy foods she wants to eat right from the start (which is why this works only for a baby who's at least 6 months old and capable of self-feeding).īaby-led weaning allows babies to learn how to chew (or more accurately, gum) first, then swallow.

and gaining traction in the U.S., baby-led weaning is a practice where babies 6 months old or older jump straight to finger foods as soon as solids are introduced, bypassing purées and mashed-up foods.

These days, a growing number of parents are bypassing purées and jarred baby food altogether in favor of this practice, which involves offering age-appropriate finger foods to give babies more control over what (and how much) they put in their mouths.