Use of the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) Method in Complementary Feeding of the Infant—A Cross-Sectional Study of Mothers Using and Not Using the BLW Method

Białek-Dratwa, Agnieszka; Soczewka, Monika; Grajek, Mateusz; Szczepańska, Elżbieta; Kowalski, Oskar

doi:10.3390/nu14122372

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Concerns raised by this method for parents or paediatricians include uncertainty as to whether the child is receiving a sufficient supply of iron, nutrients and enough calories through this method, and whether the child is being exposed to a greater likelihood of choking on food [19,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, feeding at the very beginning of diet expansion is something new and interesting for the child and they treat this activity as fun. However, this defect will be eliminated with time, when the child improves the mentioned skills needed during independent eating [2,23,24,25,26,27,28,29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It differs from the BLW method in the fact that the parents of an infant are educated about products rich in iron and high in calories, as well as about products which are responsible for the higher probability of the infant's regurgitation. Other elements of the BLISS method are identical to those in the BLW method [15,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complementary feeding with traditional and baby led weaning (BLW) methods - assessment of selected aspects of infant's diet

Białek-Dratwa

Michalak

Grot

et al. 2022

J Educ Health Sport

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Background: Infant nutrition is a topic of constant debate between parents and doctors. The recommendations themselves have been modified several times over the past 6 decades. Baby Led Weaning (BLW) method is gaining more and more popularity in infant nutrition during the period of expanding the infant menu. The main aim of the study was to evaluate selected aspects of dietary expansion in a group of their children, taking into account dietary expansion with the use of the traditional method and the BLW method. Material and method: An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2021-January 2022 among a randomly selected sample of 523 mothers of children in infancy aged up to 12 months. Data for the study were collected anonymously using the CAWI method. The information collected from 500 women was considered for the final data analysis taking into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: 66.6% of the women surveyed (N=333) stated that their child is or was fed breast milk during the first six months. The child's diet was most often expanded with complementary meals after 6 months of age. This answer was indicated by 58.8% of respondents (N=294). 85.6% of the surveyed women (N=428) first introduced or intend to introduce vegetables to their diet. 13% of the respondents (N=65) introduced or planned to introduce vegetables and fruit at the same time. In the studied group of mothers the BLW method was not known or not used by 7 mothers (1.4%), 343 mothers used or intended to use the BLW method (68.6%), whereas 150 women knew the BLW method (30.0%), but did not use it or did not intend to use it during the expansion of their child's diet. Conclusions: The majority of mothers surveyed used the BLW method during the expansion of their children's diet, accepting the principle that it is the child who decides whether and how much to eat, and the parent who decides what and when the child eats.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complementary feeding with traditional and baby led weaning (BLW) methods - assessment of selected aspects of infant's diet

Białek-Dratwa

Michalak

Grot

et al. 2022

J Educ Health Sport

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“…BLW is a socially desirable approach with a growing number of publications on the subject. Although BLW is widely known (92% of professionals and 93% of parents) [ 11 ] and widely used (75% of women) [ 12 ], the area of BLW could benefit from larger, longer-term studies [ 13 ] to better determine the benefits and risks of BLW. Based upon the outcomes of future research, professional guidance could be updated on whether BLW would be more beneficial than traditional weaning [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micronutrient Profile and Carbohydrate Microstructure of Commercially Prepared and Home Prepared Infant Fruit and Vegetable Purees

et al. 2022

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Large variability exists in ingredient selection and preparation of home prepared infant purees and there is a lack of data on nutritional quality in comparison to commercially prepared purees. This work had two aims. Study 1 compared the nutritional value of commercially prepared and home prepared infant purees. Food profiles from national food composition databases were used as a proxy for home prepared puree and served as the benchmark for the commercially prepared infant purees. Study 2 focused on a subset of produce that underwent molecular weight analysis to determine differences in carbohydrate profiles. Eighty-eight percent of the measurable micronutrients fell within or above the home prepared norm range with micronutrients falling below the range explained by differences in soil and growing conditions. Physicochemical characterization showed similar carbohydrate profiles with >90% of the carbohydrate fraction in the water extract constituted by low molecular weight sugars for purees produced with home preparation and commercial preparation. The estimated glycemic load (eGL) showed comparable potential impact on blood sugar levels with all purees having a low eGL (<10 glucose equivalent). In conclusion, these data suggest that both preparations provide similar micronutrient density and carbohydrate profiles.

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“…Rapley (11) points out that the chance to eat independently reinforces the child's sensory development and draws his or her attention to the products that are offered to him or her, rather than to the person who serves the food. Children who have the opportunity to eat freely not only improve their ability to feed themselves nutritionally, but also develop precision in grasping products and motor coordination (12). Children become active participants in the full eating process, unlike infants who do not have the chance to reach for food independently and remain inactive participants in the feeding process (10,13,14).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional complementary feeding or BLW (Baby Led Weaning) method? – A cross-sectional study of Polish infants during complementary feeding

Białek-Dratwa

Kowalski²,

Szczepańska³

2022

Front. Pediatr.

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Baby-led weaning (BLW) is an increasingly well-known method of complementary feeding for infants. The BLW method is based on the fact that the baby becomes physically ready to eat on its own and can henceforth effectively supplement its diet, which was previously based on breast milk or formula milk. The aim of the study was to compare complementary feeding among mothers using and not using the BLW method. The study took into account, among other things, the frequency of spoon feeding, eating from the family table, and eating meals with a pulpy consistency. The study also determined the frequency of the risk of choking/gagging, food regurgitation or the occurrence of vomiting during a meal in the study groups. Material and method: a cross-sectional survey was conducted among mothers of children from 6 months to 36 months of age residing throughout Poland.ResultsThe study group was divided into three subgroups: mothers using BLW (M-BLW), mothers not familiar with the BLW method (M-NoBLW)), mothers not using the BLW method - mothers using the spoon-feeding method) (M-TS). Among the mothers surveyed, 413 women (63.93%) used the BLW method, 222 mothers (34.36%) did not use the BLW method of which 50 (7.73%) of these were unfamiliar with the method, and 172 (26.62%) simply did not use it. Among M-TS mothers, the child was most often entirely or mostly spoon-fed by an adult (73.84%), and the same was true for the M-NoBLW group (70.0%). In the M-BLW group, 58.60% of children were half-fed by an adult with a spoon. half ate independently.ConclusionsInfants fed by the BLW method were more likely to have their diets expanded after 6 months of age, they were also more likely to be given products from the family table than children fed traditionally with a spoon. Full BLW was implemented by only 29% of children in the BLW group. The vomiting reflex, spitting food out of the mouth, and gagging, were more common among children fed by the BLW method. In contrast, choking occurred comparably often in both groups - in 5.4% of spoon-fed children and 6.9% of BLW-fed children.

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Use of the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) Method in Complementary Feeding of the Infant—A Cross-Sectional Study of Mothers Using and Not Using the BLW Method

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

Complementary feeding with traditional and baby led weaning (BLW) methods - assessment of selected aspects of infant's diet

Complementary feeding with traditional and baby led weaning (BLW) methods - assessment of selected aspects of infant's diet

Micronutrient Profile and Carbohydrate Microstructure of Commercially Prepared and Home Prepared Infant Fruit and Vegetable Purees

Traditional complementary feeding or BLW (Baby Led Weaning) method? – A cross-sectional study of Polish infants during complementary feeding

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