Can Infants Begin Solid Foods by Self-Feeding?

Solid foods are typically introduced between 4 and 6 months of age when pureed foods are spoon-fed to infants. An alternative approach, pioneered in Great Britain and New Zealand, allows an infant to feed herself at an early age with foods that can be grasped. The “baby-led approach to eating” is seen as a potential strategy to allow a baby to self-regulate caloric intake and reduce childhood obesity.

To evaluate the choking risk with this method, researchers randomized 206 healthy full-term infants in New Zealand to begin self-feeding with solid foods at 6 months of age (study group) or to be fed the usual way (controls). Mothers were given a list of solid foods that pose a choking risk. Choking and gagging frequencies were recorded by moth…