Baby led weaning, safe and effective? A narrative review

Introduction: the baby led weaning (BLW), or weaning directed by the baby, is a complementary feeding technique that has become fashionable in recent years thanks mainly to its diffusion on the internet. Objective: to determine if two of the main criticisms received by this method (risk of choking and nutritional deficits) are real compared to other complementary feeding techniques.

Methodology: narrative review of cohort studies and randomized designs published in recent years in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases.

Results: eleven works (seven related to choking and four related to nutritional deficits) were included and analyzed in this review.

Conclusions: the BLW is presented as a safe complementary feeding technique since it presents no more choking risk than others. Regarding their nutritional efficacy, there is no solid evidence regarding the exposure of iron-rich foods in children who follow the BLW with respect to children who follow another technique.