Baby-led Weaning Notes for Starting Solids

Harshal
4 days ago
7 min read

Readiness, finger foods, gagging vs choking, purees, and safety

I made these notes 5 years ago and then lost track of them. That became a problem when we started solids again with our second kid. So, I made this compact reference post by re-reading the refereneces and looking up more FAQs. It brings together the parts that matter most at the start: readiness, BLW, purees, gagging vs choking, and how to prepare food.

You need 6 minutes to read this.

References

General

Baby-led weaning (BLW)

Traditional weaning (purees and mixed approaches)

Allergens

General

I cover things here which are general across baby-led weaning and traditional weaning.

Readiness

Before starting solids (whether purees or finger foods), baby should show all four signs:

(1) sitting with minimal support,
(2) holding head upright and steady while seated,
(3) reaching and grabbing objects and bringing them to the mouth, and
(4) showing interest in food (watching you eat, mouthing for food, or leaning forward). Most babies are ready around 6 months. Some families start with purees or cereals from around 4–6 months and introduce finger foods (BLW-style) later (e.g. around 7–8 months). See this vlog for one such approach.

See readiness details here for details.

Physically Getting Ready

Floor time (tummy, side, back). Give time in all three positions. Entice with toys just out of reach so baby moves to get them; assist as needed (e.g. propping for side-lying, gentle support). Builds strength for eating.
Hand-to-mouth practice. Offer a soft toothbrush or safe munch toys. Let baby grab and bring them to the mouth and explore. Builds oral awareness and can soften the gag reflex.
Supported sitting. Sit baby on the floor or in a high chair with your support or a pillow. Practice holding upright and balancing. Strengthens core and postural control.

See best activities for preparing for solids here and preparing for solids (video) here for details.

Sharing snacks with an adult

Default to a seated setup (high chair or similar): baby should be upright and well supported so you can see their face and mouth clearly and respond fast if needed.
Avoid snacking while baby is in your arms or on your lap if you are standing, moving around, or multitasking, because posture and distraction make it harder to supervise and increase choking risk. [rightdecisions.scot.nhs]
If you want the social “snack together” win, recreate it without the movement: sit down with baby in the high chair (or, if you ever do lap bites, keep it very controlled, short, and with both of you seated and still).

Salt and sugar

For babies under 1 year, keep salt under 1 g per day to avoid overloading immature kidneys; this is the guidance in Salt in your diet. For 7–12 months, that 1 g is often framed as roughly 0.5 g from breastmilk or formula and 0.5 g from solid foods, so avoid spending that limited allowance on extra added salt; see Salt and your weaning baby. Cook without added salt and be selective with higher-salt packaged foods, including bread. For [bread]](https://nutrition2nourishflourish.com/bread-for-babies/) and similar staples, look for lower-salt options, ideally around 0.7 g salt per 100 g and remember that bread is only one of many foods eaten by your baby. For sugar, major guidelines advise no added sugar at all for babies and toddlers under 2 years and there is no “safe daily threshold” of added sugar in this age group; see USDA: no added sugar for babies and toddlers under two.

Allergens

Introduce allergens early and keep them in the rotation instead of delaying and then avoiding them.

Allergen sequence and frequency. HSE suggests starting with smooth peanut, hard-boiled egg, and dairy, then adding wheat, sesame, tree nuts, and fish, and keeping each in the diet at least 3 times a week for the first 4 weeks then weekly after that; see Allergies and weaning.
Peanut prevention effect. Early, regular peanut feeding reduced peanut allergy by a little over 80% in the LEAP trial, as in this blog.
Peanut exposure pattern. Aim for about 2 grams of peanut protein (about 2 teaspoons peanut product) at least 3 times per week for prevention, as per Mass General's advice
First peanut feed setup. Give the first pea-sized taste at home when baby is well, wait around 10 minutes, then offer the rest of the serving and watch closely for 2 hours.
Safe peanut forms. Avoid whole nuts and thick dollops of peanut butter; use thinned smooth peanut butter, peanut flour or powder mixed into soft foods, or peanut puffs as described in Solid Starts - Peanut.

Baby-led weaning

When and how often

Start offering solids a few times a week from around 6 months.
Offer about 1 hour after nursing.
Offer, don’t force.

How to offer

Seat baby upright so they can spit out food if they have too much and reduce choking risk.
Give a cup of water with the meal for sipping.
Baby will gradually ask for less nursing (often from around 7–9 months onward).

Food shape and size

Don’t cut food into bite-sized pieces. At this stage babies don’t reliably release their grip to put food into their mouth.
Ideal shapes: chip-sized pieces, or foods with a "handle" they can hold and gnaw.

Development and safety

Development: Reach and grab → chew → move food to the back of the mouth. With BLW they slowly learn to pick up smaller items (e.g. peanuts).
Allergies: After 6 months there’s no need to delay allergens; you can offer everything. With BLW they often encounter small pieces (e.g. peanut) as they learn to handle food.
Gagging vs choking: Gagging sounds like deep coughing. Choking: baby is silent, eyes may bulge, skin can turn blue. Know the difference and keep baby upright so they can clear food.
Guideline difference: HSE recommends finger foods from 7 months, not 6. Other sources use 6 months; worth checking which guidance you follow.

Nutrition and flavour

Limit added salt and sugar.
You can offer foods with healthy fats and spices.
Healthy fats: Butter, olive oil, coconut oil.
Spices and flavour: Parmesan, paprika, chilli powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, Italian seasoning, dill, balsamic vinegar, parsley, nutmeg, cardamom.

Preparation and cooking

Cooking methods: Roasting, steaming, sautéing, boiling. Cook until soft.
Foods to cut: Grapes, cherry tomatoes: cut into halves (e.g. two hemispheres) to reduce choking risk.
Choking risks: Remove stones and seeds. Avoid whole nuts, large nut pieces, and half-popped popcorn kernels.
Frozen food: Pat dry after thawing.
Fruit vs veg: Fresh fruit often needs less cooking than vegetables. If baby isn’t interested in veggies, try fruit.

Low-prep finger foods

Cucumber sticks (strips).
Avocado: strips, cubes, or mashed.
Tinned beans: cut sideways, check sodium.
Cheddar cheese: check sodium.

Traditional weaning (purees and spoons)

When to start and how often

Solids (purees, cereals) can start from around 4–6 months when baby shows readiness. You can introduce BLW-style finger foods later (e.g. from around 7 months) if you use a mixed approach. One parent in this vlog started solids earlier and began BLW around 7.5 months.

Texture progression and spoon-feeding

Preparation: Cut vegetables and fruit into small pieces, then steam until soft before pureeing or mashing. See this vlog.

Runny puree technique: Steam vegetables longer than you would for yourself so they break down into a smooth, runny puree. After pureeing, add some of the cooking water to thin the mixture if needed. See weaning recipes here.

Basic puree method. For most foods the steps are the same:

Peel (if needed)
Chop
Boil or steam until soft
Cool
Puree

Sources that list many single-food purees (example video with six vegetable and fruit purees) repeat this method. The ingredient changes, the process does not.

Recipes and meal ideas

First foods (root vegetables and fruit). Root vegetables are easy to digest and some are naturally sweet (e.g. sweet potato, butternut squash), so they work well as first purees. Steam or bake; if you bake, you often do not need to peel (e.g. butternut squash, sweet potato). Other good first vegetables include carrot, broccoli, and cauliflower. Broccoli can taste bitter on its own; mixing it with cauliflower (or with fruit) makes it more palatable. Fruit can be offered from the first few days as well.

Puree combinations. Once single tastes are accepted, try mixing flavours:

Parsnip and pear
Butternut squash and apple
Beetroot and plum
Broccoli, pear, and tahini

Reference: weaning recipes here.

Recipes for bean, sweet potato, and butternut squash purees are in this video.

Grains and protein. Barley, oats, and multi-grain cereal porridge work as early cereals. Chicken can be introduced in traditional weaning (e.g. pureed or soft, minced). See this vlog.