By Ana-Marija Dolaskie —
Thanks to social media, baby-led weaning has exploded in popularity—but does it actually make a difference? According to experts, the trend is impossible to ignore. A group of researchers from Colorado State University, lead by Professor Minghua Tang, set out to find out how baby led weaning (BLD) and conventional weaning (CW) contribute to the overall growth and development of babies.
To separate hype from evidence, Dr. Tang's team followed 150 infants from six months to one year of age, comparing babies who primarily fed themselves soft finger foods with those who followed a more traditional spoon-feeding approach. Instead of relying on parents' descriptions alone, the researchers used detailed dietary records and monthly growth measurements to objectively compare the two groups. The results were reassuring. Watch our interview with Professor Tang, and check out our related article by Dr. Charles Dinerstein here.
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