Spoon feeding infants may be bad for their growth, study finds - as letting babies hand feed themselves could be better for their development By By Xantha Leatham, Deputy Science Editor Published: 23:56, 30 June 2024 | Updated: 23:58, 30 June 2024 e-mail View comments Most parents will remember the hours spent spooning pureed food into their child's mouth. But allowing infants to hand-feed themselves may be better for their growth, according to a study. New findings suggest that baby-led weaning - a popular way of introducing solid foods to infants - provides ample calories for growth and development.
The method emphasises allowing infants to hand-feed themselves whole, non-pureed foods when introducing solids versus the more traditional approach of spoon-feeding infants pureed solids. Advocates say that it encourages healthy eating habits because babies self-feed and can explore a variety of foods from the family's meals. Instead of spoon feeding, a new study has found that allowing infants to hand-feed themselves may be better for their growth (Stock image) Researchers from the University of Colorado studied baby-led weaning in 70 healthy, five-month-old infants.
During the study, caregivers recorded three days of the baby's intake from all foods. The team classified a child as following baby-led weaning if less than 10 per cent of their calories came from pureed baby foods. Analysis revealed there was no significant difference in energy intake between the two weaning group.
