The 6 Best Baby Led Weaning Book To Help You Get Started
This post is all about the best baby led weaning book
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As always, I don’t like to provide a list of a million books about baby led weaning. I have narrowed your search down to the 6 best baby led weaning book for you to get started with baby led weaning in the best possible way. Plus, if you don’t have time to read books, then I have included the best baby led weaning youtube playlist that I personally watched multiple times to help me get started with baby led weaning.
- 1. The Super Easy Baby Led Weaning Cookbook
- 2. Simple & Safe Baby-Led Weaning
- 3. Baby-Led Feeding
- 4. BLW Baby Food Cookbook
- 5. Baby-Led Weaning, Completely Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition
- 6. The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook
- Helpful youtube videos about baby led weaning
- Frequently asked questions about baby led weaning
- Is there any evidence for baby led weaning?
- What’s the best food to start baby-led weaning?
- What are the signs of readiness for baby led weaning?
- What are the disadvantages of baby-led weaning?
- Can you mix purees and baby-led weaning?
- Can you switch from purees to BLW?
- Why is BLW controversial?
- Can baby-led weaning cause choking?
1. The Super Easy Baby Led Weaning Cookbook
Written by Tok-Hui, a registered dietitian and a board certified pediatric nutrition specialist, this best baby led weaning book has simple recipes to help you kickstart your baby led weaning journey. When you first start your baby led weaning journey there are so many worries and questions that come to parents’ minds, but this book will provide you with recipes that are age appropriate so that you can be sure that these are foods you can introduce at your baby whatever age they may be.
Some of the information you will find in this best baby led weaning book are:
- The basics of BLW
- Simple, healthy recipes
- Allergens at a glance
Parents love this book because it makes it easy to prepare meals that both baby and the whole family can eat, as well as it has great information on allergens, which is a concern of a lot of parents.
Click here to purchase this book
2. Simple & Safe Baby-Led Weaning
Written by Malina Linkas Malkani, MS, RDN, CDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and trusted nutrition expert, this best baby led weaning book is a great guide to help your baby (aged 6-12 months) to become great eaters.
This book provides great advice on:
- Getting started with baby led weaning
- Implementing baby led weaning while staying safe
- Being cautious with allergens
Parents love this book because it’s easy to read, while having all the information you need. It’s also popular for its simple easy to prepare meals for your baby.
Click here to purchase this book
3. Baby-Led Feeding
Written by Jenna Helwig, the food director at Real Simple magazine and the former food director at Parents and Health, this best baby-led weaning book 2022 provides a super easy way of transitioning your baby to solids while skipping all the purees! This book provides more than 100 ways to start your child off with solids. It also provides lots of great information on the benefits of doing baby led weaning, as well as a guide on when to start, some safety guidelines and more. It’s a comprehensive book with everything you need to get started.
Click here to purchase this book
4. BLW Baby Food Cookbook
Written by Laura Morton, RD and Ellen Gipson, RD, both experts in pediatric nutrition, this best baby weaning book has awesome, nutritious recipes for your baby for their exact age. It has guidelines on food portion sizes, introducing allergens, and more.
Some of the things you’ll find inside this cookbook are:
- 102 age appropriate recipes that your child will love
- Practical tips for teething food, first foods, and feeding equipment to use.
Parents love this cookbook because it’s easy to read, has lots of different recipes, also has healthy food options that are dairy-free, vegan, nut-free and gluten free. It’s a great first book for anyone who wants to start baby led weaning.
Click here to purchase this book
5. Baby-Led Weaning, Completely Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition
This is the book that started it all! This book, now updated and expanded, was one of the first of its kind that started the global phenomenon today known as baby led weaning. This book explains all the benefits of baby led weaning such as: baby learning to love all types of food, developing self feeding skills and confidence.
This edition has new information on allergens and how to do BLW at daycare.
If you want to read about the research and benefits of baby led weaning then this is the book for you, however, perhaps skip this book if you would rather go straight to what foods to cook for your baby and how to cook it. This book is mostly research based and not a lot of recipes to follow like many of the other baby weaning books out there.
Click here to purchase this book
6. The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook
Written by the same authors of Baby-Led Weaning, this is the cookbook that compliments the data in the book mentioned above. If you would rather jump into a cookbook and not necessarily get all the data behind baby led weaning, then this is a good book to purchase.
Written by Gill Rapley PhD and Tracey Murkett, this book has practical advice on which foods to start first, as well as:
- Essential information on nutrition and safety,
- Ideas on healthy snacks, desserts and meals not just for your baby but also for your whole family
- Tips on minimizing the mess (because lets face it, BLW is MESSY!!)
Parents love this cookbook because it has succinct information on baby led weaning while also providing awesome recipes for your little one.
Click here to purchase this book
Helpful youtube videos about baby led weaning
Honestly I love watching the hapa family vlog. I also love that Ashley Yeh, author of The Montessori Home: Create a Space for Your Child to Thrive has a great playlist on how to start baby led weaning.
Click here to watch the playlist.
This is what helped me be confident with baby led weaning and made me research it even more. Definitely worth a watch over and over again!
Frequently asked questions about baby led weaning
Here are a few frequently asked questions about baby led weaning.
Is there any evidence for baby led weaning?
According to this study, children that were introduced to solids using BLW are less picky with their food, and had better appetite control than their spoon-fed counterpart.
What’s the best food to start baby-led weaning?
According to Yummy Toddler Food, some of the best first foods for baby led weaning are:
- Sweet potato wedges
- Melon slices
- Mango slices
- Banana with peel
- Avocado with some of the peel still attached
The thing to remember when first introducing solids to your baby is that you should provide your baby with food that they can easily hold but can be easily mashed in their mouth without needing teeth.
Personally, the first food I introduced to my baby was avocado with some of the peel still attached. It mashes easily and is so nutritious for baby.
What are the signs of readiness for baby led weaning?
Baby Led Weaning Ideas says these are the signs that your baby is ready to start baby led weaning:
- Sit up with little/no support
- Can reach up and grab things
- Shows an interest in food (chews along when they see you eating)
What are the disadvantages of baby-led weaning?
One of the biggest disadvantages of baby-led weaning is the mess during mealtimes. Because you are not in control of what your baby is putting in their mouth and they do not have a mastery of their hand movements yet, most of the food that you give them will end up on the floor, on their hair and all over their face. This means more clean up on your part.
Some people also cite the hazards of choking when baby led weaning, but this study actually shows that baby led weaning doesn’t have a higher chance of choking vs spoon feeding.
Can you mix purees and baby-led weaning?
Yes you can definitely mix purees and baby led weaning. Many parents actually introduce purees as first foods in the 5-6 month range, and then transition slowly to fully baby-led weaning.
Personally for me, I fully do baby-led weaning, but when I am at my parents’ or at my in laws, I don’t preach baby led weaning to my parents/in laws, so if they want to spoonfeed my baby, I absolutely have nothing against it.
Can you switch from purees to BLW?
Yes! LIke I said in the question above, many parents start with purees and then eventually transition to BLW.
Why is BLW controversial?
BLW or baby led weaning is controversial because many people think that baby led weaning will increase the chances of choking in smaller babies. While I agree that you definitely should check with your paediatrician before starting your baby on solids, I urge you to read this article that talks about how BLW doesn’t have a higher chance of choking that spoon fed babies.
Can baby-led weaning cause choking?
Truthfully, yes, baby-led weaning can cause choking, as with spoon feeding your baby. However, this article talks about how BLW doesn’t have a higher chance of choking that spoon fed babies.
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This post was all about the best baby led weaning book.
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