weaning methods

Question 1

BL VS SF

Answer 1

traditional spoon feeding = Pureed → small lumps → larger lumps → solids. Caregivers select meals

Baby-led = Self-feeding solid but soft finger foods. No purees or “infant” specific foods. Same foods as family. More able to influence own food

Baby-led = Self-feeding solid but soft finger foods. No purees or “infant” specific foods. Same foods as family.
good because babies have fun, messy, and develop a healthy relationship with food
More able to influence own food- however a reason some don’t do it

Question 2

weaning and weight gain

Answer 2

Townsend and Pitchford (2012) found
* Higher incidence of obesity in spoon fed (SF) group
* Higher incidence of underweight in BLW group
* Carbs most preferred food of BLW, sweet foods most preferred SF group.

WHY? =
(1)Type of food given: SF given sweet foods more often = learned preference for sweet foods. BLW: Post-ingestive feedback, learn that carbs are more satiating = preference.
(2) Caregiver feeding practices: SF infants more likely to be pressured to eat more; dictated by external cues (e.g., food left in the jar).
(3) General differences in familial attitudes towards food.
Track progress

sloan et al., 2007- Infants weaned early were heavier at 7 and 14 months, and gained more weight between 8 weeks and 14 months, even after breastfeeding was controlled for.Conclusion  Early weaning is related to rapid weight gain in infancy. This may have implications for childhood obesity
However, in other studies, early weaning was not associated with increased adiposity at age five (Burdette et al. 2006)

Question 3

weaning and weight and fussiness-

Answer 3

Brown & Lee (2015) = satiety responsiveness: BLW more responsive to satiety than standard approach. (however self-report and correlational relationship)-

brown and Lee 2011-Infant weight was positively correlated with maternal use of restriction, monitoring and concern for infant weight.

Fu et al., 2018- impacts fussiness: BLW less fussy- New Zealand study
Cox et al., 2024- compared pouch feeding and BLW-, neither feeding approach was associated with weight in infants, despite BLW being associated with greater energy intake compared with TSF. However, infants who consumed pouches frequently displayed higher food fussiness and more selective eating

fussiness affects obesity- Thorsteindottir 2021- In children attending obesity treatment, fussy eating was common. Clinical care models in pediatric obesity treatment should address fussy eating, especially in children with anxiety.

Question 4

problems with SF

Answer 4

Prolonged duration of smooth foods –
delays development of oral skills (Mason et al., 2005)
* Less exposure to different textures = more
food refusal later on (Northstone et al., 2001)
* Best predictor of eating chopped carrots in 12-
month-old is experiences with carrots in variety
of forms / textures (Blossfeld et al., 2007)
* Effect of exposure to textures does not
transfer from processed baby food to
homemade meals (Birch et al., 1998)

Question 5

Problems with BLW

Answer 5

Only effective if caregivers have varied diet
* Evidence some parents/caregivers don’t have appropriate
diets; high in salt, sugar, saturated fat, yet low in energy
density and folate (Rowan & Harris, 2012)
* Rarely ready to self-feed before 6 months
* If guidelines change to recommend earlier weaning, then
BLW not as appropriate
* Some evidence BLW infants consume less
food and more milk
* Could lead to nutritional deficiencies