ABSTRACT

Baby-led weaning is an alternative method for introducing complementary foods to infants in which the infants feed themselves hand-held foods instead of being spoon-fed by an adult. This method does not include any spoon-feeding by the adult. The infant is offered pieces of food that can feed themselves. Lower risk of obesity, better diet quality, favorable effects on parental feeding practices and more highly developed motor skills are potential advantages of baby-led weaning. Risk of iron and micronutrient deficiency, probability of increased choking, growth faltering are the potential disadvantages. Herein, a case is reported who was fed by baby-led weaning because of the predisposition of the obesity in the family. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that baby-led weaning is becoming popular with parents, scientific research and evidence is limited. Population-based, randomized studies are needed in order to suggest this method in routine daily pediatric practice.