Try baby-led weaning with soft finger foods

Offer soft, appropriately sized finger foods and let your baby self-feed from the start instead of spoon-feeding purees. Baby-led weaning (BLW) encourages babies to explore textures, develop motor skills, and regulate their own intake from around 6 months of age.

How to Do It

1. Cut food into finger-length strips that the baby can grasp with a palmar grip (roughly the size of an adult finger).
2. Choose soft foods that squish easily between your fingers: steamed broccoli florets, ripe avocado strips, soft-cooked sweet potato sticks, banana spears, well-cooked pasta.
3. Place 2-3 pieces on the highchair tray and let baby pick them up independently.
4. Stay seated with the baby throughout the meal and never leave them unattended.

Why It Works

Babies develop chewing skills and hand-eye coordination through self-feeding. Research published in peer-reviewed journals suggests BLW may support healthy appetite self-regulation. The baby controls what and how much enters their mouth.

Tips

• Gagging is normal and different from choking; gagging is noisy and resolves on its own, choking is silent
• Take an infant CPR course before starting solids regardless of feeding method
• Avoid hard, round, or sticky foods: raw apple, whole grapes, nuts, popcorn, and globs of nut butter are choking hazards
• BLW can be combined with spoon-feeding; it does not have to be all-or-nothing