Infant Feeding and Information Sources in Chilean Families Who Reported Baby-Led Weaning as a Complementary Feeding Method

Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) is a new and emerging method of introducing complementary feeding in solid consistency, without the use of a spoon and entirely guided by the baby. This study aims to analyze the implementation of the BLW approach in relation to compliance with basic components and sources of information in Chilean families. Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed early nutrition, including breastfeeding and foods offered, maternal/child characteristics and sources of information on BLW among a non-probabilistic sample of mothers of children <24 months who reported practicing BLW (n = 261, median age = 28 years) in Chile. We found that 57.5% of mothers reported their child ate the same food as the family, 44.1% shared >= 3 meals with the family, 84.7% offered >= 3 foods at each meal and 75.6% reported only occasionally offering food with a spoon. The majority reported obtaining information on BLW from social media (82%). Moreover, 56% had offered cookies, 32% added salt and 9% sugar in the first 2 years. Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months related to higher odds of consuming family foods (OR = 2.45, 95% CI 1.24-4.84), while having received information from professional sources and social media related to lower odds (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.22-0.88 and OR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.15-0.66, respectively). Those who had appropriate weight gain had lower odds of consuming >= 3 foods in meals (OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.13-0.96). Among mothers who reported practicing BLW with their children, we observed a wide variety of feeding habits, sources of information and low compliance with the studied components. Eating the same food as the family was the most prevalent component and social media was the main source of information on BLW.

Automated summary

The study examined the implementation of BLW in Chilean families and found that the majority of mothers obtained information on BLW from social media. Mothers reported that their children often ate the same food as the family, and those who exclusively breastfed for 6 months were more likely to have their children consuming family foods. Compliance with the studied components of BLW was found to be low, with a wide variety of feeding habits observed among mothers practicing BLW.