Food fussiness and early feeding characteristics of infants following Baby-Led Weaning and traditional spoon-feeding in New Zealand: An internet survey

The aim of this study was to compare food fussiness, weight, serious choking, and early feeding characteristics in babies following Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) and babies following traditional spoon-feeding (TSF) at 6-7 months of age. The First Foods New Zealand Internet Survey recruited 876 New Zealand caregivers of children aged 6-36 months through social media. Information was collected on food fussiness, infant weight, choking, infant feeding practices, and demographics. Based on infant feeding at 6-7 months of age, participants were described as: TSF (mostly or all adult spoonfed), partial BLW (half adult spoonfed, half self-fed), or full BLW (mostly or all self-fed). A total of 628 (72%), 93 (11%), and 155 (18%) infants followed TSF, partial BLW, and full BLW respectively. Compared to infants following TSF, infants following full BLW had significantly lower food fussiness scores at 6-36 months (difference, 95% CI: −0.37,-0.51 to −0.24). Infants following BLW had been exclusively breastfed for longer (P = 0.019), and at 6-7 months had 1.96 times the odds of consuming red meat, but 0.10 times the odds of consuming iron-fortified infant cereal. Only 21% of BLW participants had received advice from a health professional. In conclusion, many New Zealand parents are following BLW. Benefits associated with BLW included less food fussiness. Although BLW infants were more likely to eat red meat, they were less likely to eat iron-fortified infant cereal. These results suggest the need for studies with biochemical measurement of nutritional status, standardized measurement of weight, and rigorous assessment of diet in infants following BLW.