A few days ago, talking about the Baby-led Weaning with an acquaintance who asked me to explain what it was, he replied that "often weirder name to call what has been done a lifetime." And she told me that her mother had fed her and her siblings like this: "She gave us pieces and we were frightened with them ... now I find out that it has such a strange name."
However, his "lifelong thing" is not the same as that of many people, and now, when you say that experts recommend giving babies pieces, there are many (pediatricians and nurses included) who They say not to speak, that the best thing of a lifetime, which are porridge and purees, because with this method you can suffocate.
A study recently translated into Spanish and published in Evidence in Pediatrics, however, makes it quite clear: children who eat chunks do not seem to have more danger of suffocation or choking.
Although it is the "whole life" there is little science
I suppose that you will agree with me when affirming that the thing of all the life is not the porridge nor the crushed ones, by pure logic: the utensils to crush foods like meat, beans, etc. until obtaining porridge they exist for a short time in the history of humanity.
So the recent return of the pieces to infant feeding responds only to the logic that says if babies have been preparing to eat alone for months (holding their hands and everything they manage to take between their fingers in their mouths), and so on they have a better relationship with her (the food) and will know the food and its flavors better, normally they eat like this.
But of course, logic is sometimes scary, and the scientific method needs to look for the answers to adopt one or the other feeding method: Do they feed better? Do they have fewer or more lacks? Do they become less obese? Do they choke or suffocate more (it won't be dangerous)?
And the study we mentioned comes to contribute some science on this last question, telling us how safe or insecure it can be.
A group of babies fed with porridge vs one with BLW
And how to know? Well, recruiting a large number of women about to be mothers (in this case New Zealand) and excluding babies born prematurely with congenital malformations or alterations that could affect their diet.
Of 1900 pregnant women finally participated 206, which were randomly divided into an intervention group (babies who would eat using BLW) and a control group (babies who would eat porridge).
Both groups were explained how to feed safely according to the method chosen, to try to emulate what would happen in real life. Then the number of asphyxiation and choking (nausea) episodes at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 months was evaluated.
In addition, everyone was urged to begin with complementary feeding at 6 months, so that everyone started at the same time and the data could be comparable.
But those who ate porridge started before
They will probably consider it when evaluating the results, and although 65% of BLW children started at 6 months (the rest before), only 18% of the group of porridge waited at that age.
When assessing how many children had at least one episode of suffocation with food between 6 and 8 months of age they saw that the number was similar in both groups (The same number of children, in proportion, had choking episodes).
The difference was that those in the BLW group had arches more frequently that the children of the porridge group between 6 and 8 months (56% more); however, after 8 months, BLW children had 40% fewer episodes of retching than the children of the crushed group.
The bottom line: both methods are equally safe.
The researchers probably took into account that those who were fed with porridge had started eating before and were somewhat more "trained", and did not consider the difference in choking episodes to be significant because the number of children who suffered from them was very similar.
Since after eight months, babies who ate alone did so in a safer way, they ended up considering that the Baby-led Weaning, along with tips to minimize the risk of suffocation and choking, it does not seem to increase the risk compared to spoon feeding.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and more | Too accustomed to crushing? Have your food stolen, Supplementary feeding: complete guide, Eva Hache speaks clearly about breastfeeding and Baby Led Weaning
