Baby-led weaning can be trendy and give babies a more varied diet, but how does it compare to a standard pureed baby food diet?
By Kinzie Matzeller
If you’re a parent, the 6-month pediatrician appointment can be exciting—it’s time to start solid foods!
For fifty years at these appointments, parents have heard that they should spoon-feed their babies now that they’re 6 months old. But what if there was a better way to teach your baby how to eat? This question inspired “baby-led weaning,” which lets the baby feed themselves soft finger foods and encourages many types of foods, not just purees.
Could baby-led weaning help babies grow, or will they eat foods that they shouldn’t? A longitudinal study done by researchers at Colorado State University suggests that babies who follow baby-led weaning grow at the same pace as babies getting pureed foods. The research team also found that baby-led weaning was related to higher sodium and fat intake compared to purees.
“These findings are helping fill a gap by showing that babies following baby-led weaning grow at the same trajectory as those weaned with spoon feeding,” stated lead researcher Dr. Minghua Tang. Dr. Tang further states that baby-led weaning has important considerations. Parents should choose foods that are soft enough to squish and cut into small pieces due to the risk of choking. Parents should also make sure to offer healthy choices to their baby when they are developmentally ready for solid food.
What is baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning is different from conventional weaning. In a typical US household, parents spoon-feed purees to their baby once they are 6 months old. These purees can be homemade or purchased from the grocery store, but are given by the parents to their baby at mealtimes. Most studies that have looked at solid foods in babies have used pureed baby foods; there is much less research about baby-led weaning.
“Baby-led weaning” was first described by Gill Rapley in 2005. In this parenting diet approach, babies feed themselves with soft table foods instead of purees. This approach has become much more popular in recent years, appearing all over social media and within parenting circles. The idea behind it, however, is much older. What did parents feed their babies before jarred purees were available? Baby-led weaning may be how solid foods were introduced before these processed foods became normal.
Baby-led weaning is thought to improve development. Since babies are encouraged to feed themselves, it could reduce picky eating, improve motor skills, and help them listen to their hunger cues. But, it also relies on parent choices. If a parent gives their baby unhealthy foods, babies could develop a preference for those foods. Because baby-led weaning is newer than purees in terms of nutrition research, researchers and pediatricians are still not sure if it can achieve healthy growth and diet choices.
The study design
This study followed 150 babies from 5 months through 1 year to compare baby-led weaning and a “conventional” pureed approach. Researchers recruited parents with infants in the Denver, Colorado, metro area for a larger clinical trial comparing different types of protein foods during complementary feeding. This analysis included a subset of participants who had completed the study and provided both diet and growth data. The sample had a high average education and income level.
Researchers measured the babies’ weight and length at 5 months, 9 months, and 1 year old. Parents recorded and weighed the food their baby ate for 3 days at each of these ages. The researchers used the food records to determine what nutrients the babies were eating. Researchers used a cutoff of less than 10 percent of pureed foods to decide if a baby was following baby-led weaning. While the diet of parents was not measured, researchers assumed it was representative of the general Denver area.
Study findings
The researchers looked at two main outcomes with the feeding approaches: diet and growth.
- Diet: Babies had different diets depending on how they were given solid foods. Babies who followed baby-led weaning had higher fat and sodium (table salt) in their diets, but both groups had too much sodium at 12 months compared to current recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Council on Nutrition. Baby-led weaning infants also ate fewer carbohydrates. This means that parents likely give more foods like oatmeal and vegetables as purees, while finger foods may lead to a more American-style diet in babies.
- Growth: Even though they had different diets, babies grew the same in the study. This includes weight-for-length (the baby BMI), which is a snapshot measure of how proportional a baby’s weight is for how long they are. The two diet approaches also did not show a difference in rapid weight gain. Rapid weight gain means that a baby is gaining weight faster than they are getting taller over time, and it is a risk factor for developing obesity later in life.
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So what should I, as a parent, do?
This study found that babies grow the same with baby-led or conventional weaning, but their diets look different. We know that babies’ diets often look like their parents’. We also know that US adults often do not meet nutrition recommendations set by organizations like the American Heart Association and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It is important for parents to pick foods wisely when they are feeding their baby to encourage a healthy diet as they get older. This includes choosing lower sodium options and prioritizing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
This is the first study in the United States to look at the diet and growth of infants who are fed using a baby-led weaning approach. The study suggests that healthy growth and development are possible with both feeding approaches, if babies are given a variety of healthy foods. Whether you decide to follow baby-led weaning or give purees, make sure to offer foods high in iron and low in salt and added sugar, as recommended by the B-24 project and federal nutrition guidelines.
This study is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
References
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Lee, E., Fitzgerald, N., Downs, S., … & Setoguchi, S. (2025). Misperception of diet quality among US adults: implications for cardiometabolic health promotion. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79, 762–769. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-025-01605-1
Matzeller, K. L., Hernandez, M. L., Glime, G. N. E., … & Tang, M. (2026). Associations between complementary feeding approach, dietary intake, and growth: a secondary analysis of the maternal and infant nutrition trial. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 126(9), 156376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2026.156376
Raiten, D. J., Raghavan, R., Porter, A., Obbagy, J. E., & Spahn, J. M. (2014). Executive summary: Evaluating the evidence base to support the inclusion of infants and children from birth to 24 mo of age in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans—“the B-24 Project”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99(3), 663S–691S. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.072140
Rapley, G. (2006). Baby-led weaning. In V. Hall Moran & F. Dykes (Eds.), Maternal and infant nutrition and nurture: Controversies and challenges (pp. 275-298). Quay Books.
About the Author
Kinzie Matzeller is a PhD Candidate and registered dietitian at Colorado State University, and she was on the research team that conducted this study. She is passionate about communicating the research she and others do to the people who are affected by it: babies and their families.
