Baby Led Weaning: How to Start and What to Avoid

Ready to find out all the benefits of baby led weaning and avoid those dangerous choking hazards for toddlers? Learn the ins and outs of how to do baby led weaning in this interview with Jenny Best of Solid Starts!

  • By Jess Dang
  • April 9, 2020

In our latest podcast episode, I invited Jenny Best, Founder of Solid Starts, to talk all about baby led weaning, which is the process of transitioning a baby to solid foods using a “finger food first” approach. Jenny is a mom of 3, including a set of twins, and Solid Starts grew out of her own challenges of introducing solids to her little babes. From fears of choking to lack of information around what foods are best for babies, she started documenting all of it herself.

Now Solid Starts features an ever-growing food database offering parents incredibly pragmatic information on hundreds of foods, all for free. Each ingredient has a nutrition rating and nutritional information, suggestions on when and how it should be introduced, info on if it’s a common allergen or how it can be a choking hazard, and so much more. It’s such an incredible resource.

In this episode we also dig into some of the biggest questions parents have when starting their babies on solid foods, such as:

  1. Why choose baby led weaning and is there still a place for purees with a finger food first approach?
  2. What are the signs that a baby is ready for solids?
  3. How do you start a baby on solids? What do you need?
  4. What makes a food a choking hazard and what steps you can take to prevent it from being one?
  5. What are some great on-the-go snacks and solids for a baby?

Even though I’m a mom of 3 myself, I learned so much from this episode and wish I had had this interview 4.5 years ago when I was starting Neko out on solids for the first time. Clearly, it all ended up fine, but I would have had a lot more context and a clearer process (and I love a good, clear process!). Talking to Jenny has given me great inspiration to dig into the database and introduce even more variety into our family’s diet!

We’ll also be doing a giveaway with Solid Starts on Instagram in the next week so make sure you’re following us for all the details.


REACH OUT:

If you’ve got questions you want us to answer in a future episode, comments about a previous episode, or just want to say hi and share some love, give us a call at 1-650-386-0290 and leave us a voicemail. You might just hear your voice on the podcast!


Love from our podcast community:

“Thank you for this podcast and all that you do for the food community! I’m also a Cook Smarts subscriber and it has changed my life. These episodes are perfect, I’ve learned so much about food prep, nutrition and different ways to minimize food waste.”

– IheartBasecamp


Subscribe & review in your podcast player

Help us continue to put these info-packed episodes together by subscribing to “In the Kitchen with Cook Smarts” in your podcast player and giving us some stars. If you really love us and want to be a super supporter (and we hope you do!), please leave us a review on Apple Podcast, too. If we share your review in a future episode, we’ll send you a Cook Smarts tote bag to bring you more fun and eco-friendly grocery shopping!

IheartBasecamp, thanks for the great review above and make sure to reach out to us at hello@cooksmarts.com so we can ship a new tote to you.

And of course if you know a parent with a baby, pass this episode onto them and help take a weight off their shoulders. It’s full of super applicable information that they’ll be needing soon.




Get more helpful cooking tips and resources by signing up for our newsletter below. We send out weekly emails that will help you improve in the kitchen and live a healthier life, so join our community today and start cooking smarter!

Baby Led Weaning with Jenny Best of Solid Starts | In the Kitchen with Cook Smarts PodcastBaby Led Weaning with Jenny Best of Solid Starts | In the Kitchen with Cook Smarts PodcastBaby Led Weaning with Jenny Best of Solid Starts | In the Kitchen with Cook Smarts PodcastBaby Led Weaning with Jenny Best of Solid Starts | In the Kitchen with Cook Smarts Podcast

Overwhelmed?

Try our award winning meal plan service for free

Get our Meal Plans

The convenience of meal kits without the waste

Share the love!

Join our community

Enjoy free tips in your inbox

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
How can we help you in the kitchen?

Join our community

Enjoy free tips in your inbox

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign up for the Cook Smarts Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Cancel

Privacy Policy: We hate SPAM & promise to keep your email address safe.

Skip to content
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.