Offer these foods to your baby as soon as your little one starts eating solids. Make sure they're served in forms that your baby can easily swallow. Fruit juices are not recommended for babies. Juice offers no health benefits, even to older babies. Juice can fill them up leaving little room for more nutritious foods , promote obesity, cause diarrhea , and even put a baby at risk for cavities when teeth start coming in. Reviewed by: Madhu Desiraju, MD.
Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. Other signs that babies are ready to eat solids foods: They're interested in foods. For example, they may watch others eat, reach for food, and open their mouths when food approaches.
They have the oral motor skills needed to move food to the throat and swallow it. They usually weigh twice their birth weight, or close to it. How Should I Start Solids? These foods include cakes, biscuits, chips and fried foods.
Introducing allergenic foods early can reduce the risk of your child developing food allergy. All babies, including babies with a high allergy risk, should try solid foods that cause allergies from around six months of age.
Babies with severe eczema or who have parents with food allergies are more likely to develop a food allergy. Skip to content Skip to navigation. Introducing solids: why babies need them As babies get older, they start to need solid food so they can get enough iron and other essential nutrients for growth and development.
Signs your baby is no longer interested include: turning their head away losing interest or getting distracted pushing the spoon away clamping their mouth shut. Food texture when introducing solids When your baby is ready for solids, first foods might be smooth, mashed or in soft pieces , depending on what baby likes. To these iron-rich foods, you can add other healthy foods like: vegetables — for example, cooked potato, carrot or green vegetables like broccoli fruit — for example, banana, apple, melon or avocado grains — for example, oats, bread, rice and pasta dairy foods — for example, yoghurt and full-fat cheese.
Breastmilk and infant formula while introducing solids Keep breastfeeding or using infant formula until at least 12 months , as well as introducing solids. Introducing water Once your baby has reached six months, you can start to offer baby cooled, boiled water in a cup at mealtimes or at other times during the day. Until they're old enough, babies only know how to suck and swallow milk, not how to move more solid textures to the back of their mouth to be swallowed.
Giving solids before your baby is ready can also mean they fills up on solids and won't drink the milk they need to grow and thrive. Breastfeeding or formula feeding should continue until your baby is 12 months old.
After that, water and cow's milk should be your baby's main drinks. Some babies can have an intollerance or allergy to cow's milk , so they may need an alternative, such as soy. Follow your doctor's or allergy specialist's advice and read food labels carefully. Breastfeeding can continue for as long as you and your baby are happy to keep going, but infant formula is not needed after 12 months.
Read more about balancing solids with milk feeds. Allergy foods are foods or drink that can trigger an allergic reaction. Common allergenic foods are peanut butter, cow's milk, wheat, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts such as almonds, coconut and hazelnuts , sesame and soy. The best time to introduce allergy foods is when you are introducing solids. It is also recommended that you introduce allergy foods before your baby reaches 12 months old. Leaving it until they are older may increase the chance of your baby developing an allergy.
Solid foods can be introduced in any order as long as they are iron-rich and the food is the right texture. Look for signs that your baby's ready for solids. There is no clear recommendation about the best time of day to offer first solids. But it can be helpful to give your baby solids after a milk feed, mid-morning, so if they're unsettled, it's less likely to impact their night-time sleep.
If you find your baby loves solid foods so much that they're cutting back on their breastfeeds or bottle feeds, reduce the amount of solids you're offering. Milk is still an important source of nutrition for the first 9 to 12 months of life. Offer your baby healthy, nutritious foods which will support their growth and development.
When they first start on solid foods, they won't need much. One to 2 teaspoons is plenty until they learn what's involved in coordinating their mouth to open, chew and swallow. Start by offering your baby pureed foods that have a smooth and easy-to-swallow texture.
Even though your baby won't have teeth to chew and grind their food, they will still use their gums to 'chew'. As they get older, they can eat foods with more texture. Chewing also helps with jaw and speech development. As your baby grows, transition them from purees to mashed foods with lumps and textures.
You can also serve minced or chopped food, then 'finger foods'. These are foods that are cut into small pieces which babies can pick up and eat themselves. Aim for variety when it comes to your baby's foods. Colour, texture and taste are all important characteristics of first foods. Where possible, cook and prepare your baby's foods so you know what's in them. Aim for fresh fruits and vegetables, cooked with a minimum of water until they are soft enough to chew.
Freeze small containers or ice-cube trays containing freshly cooked meals. Most babies show some hesitation when offered new foods and textures. It's worth reoffering foods a few times until they show interest or it's clear they're not keen and would prefer something else.
Share suitable food from your own plate and get into the habit of offering your baby different tastes. Avoid adding salt or strong-tasting additives or spices to your baby's food.
Their taste buds are very sensitive and can detect even the most subtle flavours. By around 12 months old, most babies should be eating mostly the same food as the rest of the family. Once your baby has reached 6 months, they're old enough to be offered water to drink. Cooled, boiled water can be offered in a sippy cup at mealtimes and in-between.
As long as a breastfed or bottle-fed baby is offered plenty of milk, they don't need extra water to drink. It's the practice of drinking from a cup which is useful. Babies and toddlers fed a vegetarian or vegan diet can thrive as long as their food contains sufficient energy kilojoules and nutrients for growth.
Iron is especially important from 6 months.
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