Baby Led Weaning is an increasingly popular way to introduce solids to your baby from 6 months of age. But what about the risks? Is your baby more likely to choke? How can you prevent your baby from choking with Baby-led Weaning? Read on to find out the truth about Baby Led Weaning, exactly what the risks are and how to protect your baby.
Table Of Contents
What Exactly Is Baby Led Weaning?
Baby Led Weaning is the process of introducing food to your baby without using purees. Rather than the traditional method of blending food so that it is entirely free of lumps and then spoon-feeding it to baby, with Baby Led Weaning, only the baby puts food into the baby’s mouth. Appropriately selected foods are cut into friendly shapes for little hands (more about that later) and the baby learns to self-feed. Check out the video below for an introduction to Baby Led Weaning.
This method of weaning has both proven benefits and downsides as well (such as the mess). Click the button below to read my full list of pros and cons in the Baby Led Weaning vs spoon-feeding debate.
Gagging Vs Choking
So many Mums report that they are terrified of baby-led weaning because they tried it once and their baby “was choking”. What these Mums have generally witnessed is not in fact choking, but gagging.
Allow me to explain.
Gagging
Gagging is a natural defence mechanism that is designed to prevent babies from choking. For this reason, a baby’s gag reflex is very strong. If a piece of food goes too far back into the baby’s mouth before they are ready to swallow it, they will generally gag, preventing it from blocking their airway. This can be a loud and often distressing event for parents to witness and can even result in the baby’s eyes watering. As terrifying as this may look and sound (click the video below to see an example of a baby gagging), rest assured that it is a perfectly normal part of the process which does not seem to upset babies in any way.
Choking
Choking, by contrast, is very serious. When a baby is choking, the baby has failed to gag and bring the food to the front of their mouths, something is stuck and the airway is blocked. While gagging is loud, the blocked airway will mean that choking can be silent. If whatever is blocking the airway is not removed quickly, the baby will fail to get air, turn blue and lose consciousness, meaning that life-saving CPR will be necessary.
Choking can be terrifying
But fear not, by following the advice in the rest of this article, you will be able to put measures in place to avoid choking with baby-led weaning. You will also be equipped with the life saving first aid advice and information that you need to know if your baby ever does choke.
So How Do I Avoid My Baby Choking With Baby Led Weaning?
Don’t Start Too Early
The WHO guidelines state that “complementary feeding” (i.e. offering food in addition to breastmilk) should not begin until 6 months of age. Before this age, not only is “real food” not necessary for your baby, but their body is not ready for it either.
When it comes to baby-led weaning, babies of younger than 6 months will not have the adequate strength to sit or coordination to hold the food. From a choking point of view, babies who are not yet strong enough to sit upright in a highchair are more likely to slump and be at risk of choking.
Before beginning baby-led weaning, make sure that your baby is beyond this 6-month mark, has good head and neck control and can sit upright in order to handle food, chew and swallow safely.
Check with your own health professional before beginning
As with anything when it comes to your precious bundle, make sure that your own health professional is satisfied that your baby is developmentally ready to start baby-led weaning, even if they are beyond 6 months old.
Ensure Correct Positioning
When you are offering food to your baby for baby-led weaning, ensure that they are sitting upright. Offering food in reclined positioned seats such as car seats or baby bouncers can increase the risk of choking.
Keep a close eye on your baby at all times
Reduce all distractions and make sure you are watching your baby carefully as they eat. As I mentioned above, gagging may be noisy, but choking where the airway is truely blocked is silent, so you cannot rely on simply listening to baby, even from within the same room. I cannot stress highly enough how important it is that your baby is fed while facing you so that you can watch exactly what is going on.
Avoid High-Risk Foods
There are certain foods that it is important that you do not feed your young baby as they are considered choking hazards. These include;
- Whole nuts or seeds – ground versions are fine
- Popcorn
- Raw vegetables – steam them first to soften them first. Remember that babies have no teeth to chew with, so whatever you feed them will need to be able to be squashed easily between their tongue and the roof of their mouths.
- Hot dogs – even with older children it is recommended that these are cut lengthways to avoid round chunks becoming lodged in airways.
Prepare food the correct way
Foods should be cut into long, thin shapes, rather than round or square shapes that can form a plug over your baby’s airway. Not only does this make foods easier for your baby to grasp and eat, but it greatly reduces the risk of choking too.
Check out the video below for more details and ideas of how you can cut up your baby’s food to make it both safe and easy.
Grapes are a prime example of a food that, if not cut properly, poses a high risk of choking. Check out the video below for a great hack for cutting lots of grapes in half quickly.
Allow Your Baby To Feed Themselves
When it comes to baby-led weaning, the idea is that only the baby puts food in the baby’s mouth. Exhausting as this can be to watch (yes, it’s a slow and messy process), there are reasons for this, beyond just helping them to develop their coordination and fine motor skills.
When spoon-feeding purees, there is minimal risk of choking as the food generally has no lumps. With baby-led weaning, however, it is important that the baby is in charge of what goes into their mouths, to avoid sudden surprises of chunks of food causing choking.
Learn Infant CPR
If you take all of the precautions mentioned so far, chances are that you will never be faced with a true choking incident (even if your baby gags at every meal). I am a Mum of 4 and I can safely say that none of mine ever choked as babies.
It is important, however, that you are prepared should the worst happen and your baby really does start to choke. Your health visitor should be able to let you know where you can learn these essential life saving first aid skills in your area.
The video below offers explains exactly what you should do if your baby is choking.
What do you think of Baby Led Weaning?
Are you thinking about giving it a go? Have you tried it before? What were your experiences with it? Let me know in the comments.
Read next…
Get The Ultimate Mum Bundle Now
Why Not Pin This For Later?
