i tried reading up about it, but i don’t understand it. what exactly is it? how do you do it? does it work? is it “better”?
In: Biology
hi there! i’m a 21 year old college student who has over 2+ years working in childcare and has babysat infants for close to 5 years!
“baby led weaning” is exactly what it sounds like; you assemble a plate of age-appropriate SAFE foods for your baby (i.e. mashed up avocado, grapes cut into small pieces, etc.) and you let your baby do all the work. For awhile, it’ll be super nerve wracking and nearly send you into cardiac arrest because, due to them being babies, they don’t quite understand the process of eating. So, they typically end up grabbing handfuls far too big and shove the food—and their hand— down their mouth and it typically makes them cough/gag. *just a reminder; if your baby is coughing, they are not choking as air is still able to pass through. It’s the quiet dry-heaving like behavior that should cause you to spring into action*, nonetheless, **always** stay super aware and alert, as your baby could choke and you don’t want to miss the signs.
But — you want to try to intercede as little as possible. This is how they learn to feed themselves and use their hands. Like I said, it’s definitely very nerve wracking for every single mom, but can super rewarding results!
side note: as for whether or not if it’s “better”, that’s a total matter of opinion 🤍 it’s *your* child, so ultimately, it’s up to you how they learn to eat (whether it’s baby led weaning, or you weaning them yourself). I would say if you want to play it the safer route, then definitely stick to you introducing foods to them, as you’re able to control the amount of food going into their mouth each bite *and* you won’t be shoving the food or spoon down their throat.
Being a parent is so, so hard and there’ll never be enough information out there! just relax a little, you got this!
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