5 Manfaat Baby Led Weaning untuk Fase MPASI, Ini Poinnya!

As time goes by, your little one's nutritional needs will continue to increase. This is because their body continues to grow and develop, so what is in breast milk is no longer enough for them. At the age of 6 months, ideally, they should start being introduced to complementary foods (MPASI). As an insight that you can use, let's learn more about the baby led weaning or BLW method, which has become one of the popular complementary feeding methods lately.

You may have already tried exploring various methods to see their pros and cons. Now, let's learn more about baby led weaning, which has recently become popular because it is considered to provide many benefits.

Simply put, the baby led weaning or BLW method is a method used to introduce complementary foods to children by letting your little one choose and eat their own food with both hands without your help.

More About BLW

Furthermore, this method can be applied when your little one is in the age range of 6 to 9 months. Because it demands active movement from your little one, many parents consider this method effective for introducing complementary foods while stimulating the child's motor skills at that age.

You no longer provide food with a very soft texture, but rather more solid food in small, bite-sized pieces. Several options are given to your little one, and you simply watch your little one reach for this food and try it one by one.

In a short time, the child will be able to reach for the food, put it into their mouth, and start chewing.

This method itself was originally introduced by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett back in 2008. Although it met with opposition from some parties, in fact, this method is now popular and widely used by parents who have babies in the complementary feeding phase.

Main Principles You Must Remember When Applying BLW

Actually, the main principles held in applying this method are quite simple. The principles are divided into three:

• First, your little one will learn to eat by exploring the food themselves. This means that your little one has been introduced to several types of food and chooses for themselves based on their own impulses.
• Second, your little one regulates the amount of food they swallow themselves. You must remember that your little one's digestive ability is still limited. So, the food options provided must be considered in terms of size and hardness, so as not to cause them to choke.
• Third, the food provided is family food with a modified texture. Besides acting as an introduction, this also makes your little one feel like part of something bigger because they are consuming similar food.

5 Benefits of Baby Led Weaning for Babies

Moving on to the third part, this complementary feeding method is popular because it brings at least five benefits for your little one in the process. The five benefits include the following.

1. Training Fine Motor Skills

Because your little one will try to reach for their food on their own, they will directly train their fine motor skills. At the same time, your little one will also practice eye and hand-finger coordination in their efforts to reach the food within their reach.

2. Developing Sensory Ability

The availability of several different food choices will also help them train their sensory abilities. These abilities include recognizing taste, texture, and smell.

Naturally, your little one will try several foods that they find interesting. Reaching for them, smelling them, and putting them into their mouth. If the food is considered suitable, the process will continue, but it is not impossible that your little one stops and chooses to try other food.

3. Learning About Feeling Full and Hungry

Your position here is as a supervisor and facilitator of your little one's desire to fill their stomach. By providing several food options at mealtime, your little one will also start to know what it is like to feel full and hungry.

These two things encourage them to keep reaching for food and trying, or to stop putting food into their mouths altogether.

4. Reducing the Risk of Being a Picky Eater

It does sound quite contradictory because your little one will choose the food provided themselves, but you must also be disciplined in this matter. The food options provided have already taken into account the nutritional content and texture, so in the end, your little one still has to try the food provided until they feel full.

Introduction to various types of food tastes and textures helps them avoid being a picky eater which can trigger a lack of certain nutritional intake.

5. Increasing Self-Confidence and Independence

Yup, by being able to do something through their own efforts, your little one will build their self-confidence step by step. In the future, they will have the courage to try new things independently, and this instills an ideal attitude for your little one in their adult life.

Not only for babies, baby led weaning also turns out to bring benefits for you, you know. This BLW complementary feeding method will make this phase more practical because you don't need to make purees and feed your little one every time mealtime arrives.

Preparing BLW baby food will also feel simpler, so you don't need to feel stressed every time you are about to give complementary food to your child. Don't forget that by having your little one show effort during shared mealtimes, they will also trigger positive interactions for all family members, which has a good impact on both your and your little one's emotions.

Here's How to Apply the BLW Complementary Feeding Method for Babies

After knowing the definition and the benefits that can be obtained, you are now ready to know more about how to apply this BLW complementary feeding method for your little one. This section will be divided into four different points so that the explanation feels more detailed.

1. Signs Your Little One is Ready to Try BLW

First, you must see signs that your little one is ready to try this complementary feeding method. The signs themselves are quite simple, namely being around 6 months old, being able to sit upright with minimal help, starting to lose the tongue-thrust reflex, and showing interest in the food they see.

When these signs appear, it means your little one is ready to try the BLW method for their complementary feeding stage.

2. Initial Food for Baby Led Weaning

To choose the right food, you should understand a few things. First, your little one's hand strength is not yet very strong, similar to their coordination skills. Second, your little one's mouth size is still small. Third, their digestive system's ability is limited, and fourth, their nutritional needs are diverse.

Therefore, you can make BLW complementary food in the form of sticks or pieces that are easy to grasp, nutritious, have a soft enough texture, and avoid types of food that can make them choke, such as nuts, grapes, or popcorn.

3. Brief Tips for a Smooth BLW Experience

Because this process is a food introduction for your little one, you must always be by your little one's side to handle things. Do not leave your baby alone during this BLW complementary feeding session, and provide first aid as soon as possible when your little one appears to be choking. Simple, but this easy method can help BLW complementary feeding trials run smoothly and safely.

BLW and Purees, Which is Better?

Yup, eventually you will certainly compare which method is better, whether baby led weaning or using purees as usual.

Basically, you can observe the advantages of the BLW method in the previous section. Its disadvantages lie in the possibility of choking because the food texture is clearly more solid than a puree, the mess that will occur, and the possibility that your little one's nutrition is not sufficiently met because they can stop eating whenever they want.

In the puree method, the advantage might lie in its practical ease because it has been a habit for a long time. The soft texture helps your little one absorb nutrients better and helps ensure their nutritional intake is met. Your little one also tends to be safer from the risk of choking, but in the end, the stimulation provided will be less because it only relies on sensory stimulation in the mouth and digestive system.

So with these considerations, which one do you think is better?

Metode MPASI baby led weaning akan menjadi opsi menarik untuk dicoba, jika Bunda merasa metode tradisional seperti puree perlu kebaruan. Masing-masing hadir dengan manfaat dan tantangannya, sehingga pilihan kemudian kembali pada preferensi keluarga dan pertimbangan Bunda masing-masing.

Tidak ada salahnya mencoba BLW untuk fase MPASI si kecil. Namun ingat beberapa poin di atas, bahwa terdapat risiko pada cara ini, sehingga Bunda perlu tetap cermat mengawasi si kecil setiap saat.

Baby led weaning akan bekerja dengan baik jika Bunda terlebih dahulu berkonsultasi dengan dokter kepercayaan Bunda. Berdasarkan rekomendasinya akan didapatkan output terbaik, seperti apa yang Bunda inginkan untuk si kecil. Nah untuk membantu fase MPASI ini, Bunda juga akan memerlukan wadah makanan yang praktis dan berkualitas. Hegen, dalam hal ini, siap memberikan opsi produk andalan dengan kualitas yang tidak main-main. Eksplorasi produknya di laman produk kami, dan dapatkan produk solid untuk setiap tumbuh kembang si kecil!

 

Referensi:  

• Siloam Hospitals. Metode Baby-Led Weaning, Benarkah Baik untuk Si Kecil?. https://www.siloamhospitals.com/informasi-siloam/artikel/baby-led-weaning. 
• Alodokter. Ingin Coba Baby Led Weaning, Ini Faktanya. https://www.alodokter.com/ingin-coba-baby-led-weaning-ini-faktanya.
• Capella Project. Kenali Manfaat dan Kerugian dari Baby Led Weaning (BLW). https://www.capellaproject.com/news/2017/12/15/kenali-manfaat-dan-kerugian-dari-baby-led-weaning-blw.
• Little Bellies. Baby Led Weaning – Tips for New Parents. https://littlebellies.com/learn-play/baby-led-weaning-tips-for-new-parents/.
• Halodoc. Ini Kelebihan dan Kekurangan metode Baby Led Weaning pada Bayi. https://www.halodoc.com/artikel/ini-kelebihan-dan-kekurangan-metode-baby-led-weaning-pada-bayi. 
• Cookpad. Resep Blw 6 bulan (23). https://cookpad.com/id/cari/blw%206%20bulan.