Family Recipes for Baby Led Weaning (2024)

I love these family recipes for baby led weaning as the great thing about blw is that you can feed your child whatever you’re eating for dinner but the less than great thing is that having a baby doesn’t suddenly fill your head with a million recipe ideas. Spaghetti bolognase again? (We had it again tonight, I feel your pain!)

I’ve shared a lot of stuff about baby led weaning here and today I’m sharing some gorgeous looking family recipes for baby led weaning.

There’s loads of fabulous recipes here but if you need some more inspiration I’ve also shared some of my favourite family recipe books for baby led weaning and if you check out the links at the bottom of this page you’ll also find loads of ideas for baby led weaning dinners as well as ideas for things your kid can eat if they don’t have any teeth yet!

Got a recipe your baby loves that you love too? Tell me about it in the comments as I’d love to share that too.

*Ihave included links to affiliate programmes in this post if you click on these and buy I may earn a small commission*

What You'll Find on This Page

Our Favourite Books for Family Recipes for Baby Led Weaning

When we did baby led weaning with our kids there were two books that really stood out and that we referred to again and again.

The first was The Baby Led Weaning Cookbook which is a great resource and which we used loads of times and the second was The River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbookwhich includes a couple of purees too but I really enjoyed it.

Want more family recipes for baby led weaning?

As well as all the ideas below I’ve also got two posts that you’ll love – baby led weaning lunch ideas and baby led weaning dinner ideas, both crammed with delicious ideas by parent that they love as much as their kids do! Make sure you check them out.

Finger Food Snacks

Need inspiration for finger food snacks? I’ve made a little video with some of my kids favourites in it, you can check it out below!

Don’t Forget These Ideas!

Everyone knows that the early years of parenthood go pretty much hand in hand with extreme tiredness and I know that for me that meant being super forgetful too (in a room and you can’t remember whet you went there for? Yep, I hear you!) If you want to make sure you don’t forget any of these great family recipes for baby led weaning make sure that you bookmark this page or pin the image below so that you can refer to it when you need a bit of mealtime inspiration.

Family Recipes for Baby Led Weaning

Sugar Free Mom – Broccoli Cauliflower Quinoa Bites

Baby Led Feeding – Butternut Squash Creamy Pasta

Wings and Roots – Hidden Veggie Meatballs (website no longer available)

Hip2Save – Baked Broccoli Tots

MoreBaby Led Weaning Meal Ideas

We love sharing ideas about baby led weaning because it can be so tricky to think of new ideas! Just click on the link above the links below to find more ideas tried and tested by other families.

20 Finger Food Ideas for Baby Led Weaning

40+ Foods your baby can eat before they have teeth

10 Baby Led Weaning dinner ideas your whole family will love

10 More Baby Led Weaning dinner ideas

Baby Led Weaning Recipes for the Whole Family

Family Recipes for Baby Led Weaning (2024)

FAQs

How many meals should I start with baby-led weaning? ›

12+ month baby-led weaning food chart

At 12 months, a baby should be eating 3 solid food meals a day and two snacks. Food should be cooked until soft enough to mash between your fingers and cut into small pieces. At this age, families may choose to introduce whole cow's milk or an appropriate milk alternative.

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What is baby-led weaning for families? ›

“The basic idea behind baby-led weaning is that parents and caregivers can follow a baby's lead,” says Dr. Churbock. “This means watching for signs of developmental readiness and, when a baby is ready, allowing them to self-feed.” Babies are also skipping many traditional baby foods such as purees, Dr. Churbock says.

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What are the arguments against baby-led weaning? ›

BLW has some obvious downsides. The infant may not get enough energy, iron, zinc, vitamins, and other nutrients, or too much protein, saturated fat, salt, or sugar. The risk of choking, which must be distinguished from the physiological gagging reflex, has not been ruled out by scientific studies.

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Do you skip purees with BLW? ›

Baby-led weaning (BLW) involves skipping the spoon-fed purées and letting babies feed themselves finger foods when starting solids.

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Can you overfeed a BLW baby? ›

One of the advantages of BLW is that it's very difficult to overfeed your baby. As long as you're providing a good variety of nutritious food it will be up to your baby to decide whether or not they want to eat it.

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Is baby-led weaning safer than puree? ›

Overall, it's up to parents to choose whichever method you are most comfortable with, purées and spoon-feeding, baby-led weaning or a combination are all safe and healthy ways to introduce solids.

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Is baby-led weaning just a trend? ›

Baby-led weaning (BLW), proposed as a new form of complementary feeding, has emerged as a real trend phenomenon in the media. Infants are seated at the family table from the age of 6 months, facing the foods they grab and bring to their mouth: they decide which foods they want to eat and what amount.

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What is the baby-led weaning strategy? ›

The overarching principles of BLW are therefore: the infant is milk fed, ideally exclusively breastfed, until approximately six months of age, they then transition to pieces of whole food that they feed themselves, and the infant shares their meals with the family, eating the same food as the family wherever possible.

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What are the negative impacts of weaning? ›

Once the time has come to start final weaning, it should be a gradual process. Abrupt weaning is traumatic for the infant, uncomfortable for the mother, and may result in blocked ducts, mastitis or breast abscesses. Abrupt weaning is to be avoided if possible.

How many meals a day for baby starting solids? ›

Most babies won't be having any significant amounts of food until about 7 months. One small 'meal' of solid food each day will probably be enough for a while. You can slowly build up to three meals each day (plus drinks and snacks) over the next 6 months.