INTRODUCING SOLID FOODS
Section Overview
When starting solid foods, many parents have a lot of questions. This section discusses how you know your child is ready to start solids, provides guidelines for starting solids, infant signs of hunger and fullness, foods to avoid and notes for feeding success!
Is Your Baby Ready to Start Solids?
You don’t want to start solids until your baby is ready. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans of Pediatrics recommend starting solids when children are 6 months old. Babies should be able to do the following to indicate that they are ready!
- Sit up alone or with support
- Able to control neck and head
- Open mouth when food is offered
- Swallows food
- Brings objects to mouth
- Tries to grasp objects
- Transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue
Remember all children develop at different rates and their readiness will depend on their own rate of development.
Guidelines for Starting Solids
When starting solids it is important to try one new food at a time. You should wait 3-5 days in between trying new food items to ensure that the baby doesn’t have an allergic reaction. When giving new food items, start with a small amount, 1-2 tablespoons of food and look to the baby for signs of hunger and fullness.
| Signs of Hunger | Signs of Fullness |
| Leans towards food and opens mouth | Spits out or push food away |
Gets excited when sees food | Fidgets or gets distracted easily |
Focuses on and follows food with eyes | Closes mouth or turns head away when you offer food |
| Plays with food |
There are a lot of philosophies on which foods to give babies first, but most pediatricians and dietitians agree on a few general rules:
Start with foods that are high in iron and zinc
- Iron and zinc are both important to help your baby grow. Formula contains enough iron and zinc to meet the baby’s needs for the first year of life, however breast-fed babies need to get additional iron and zinc in their foods in order to meet their dietary needs starting at 6 months.
- Iron moves oxygen around the body and when your baby doesn’t have enough of it they can become sluggish and weak. Babies are born with large iron stores, enough for about 4-6 months of their lives. After 6 months babies need to consume iron as part of a well-balanced diet to get the amount they need.
- Zinc is important for brain development, immune function and cell growth and repair. Again starting around 6 months it is important to introduce zinc rich foods to ensure babies meet their dietary needs.
- Some examples of foods high in iron and zinc include meats and iron-fortified cereals
Foods should be soft or pureed and cut into small pieces
- It is important that when you start feeding your child solid foods that you start out with soft or pureed foods to help prevent choking.
- If participating in baby-led weaning, when children are between 6-8 months old, foods should be cut into long, thin strips, or with a crinkle cutter to make it easier for babies to manage. Children this age, do not yet have their pincher grasp making it harder to pic up foods on their own. In addition, foods should be soft and easy to smash within your fingers.
Each meal should be about 4 oz of food
- 4 oz of food is the amount of most small baby food jars. In addition to baby food you may want to try small finger foods such as pieces of banana, cookies or crackers, scrambled eggs, pasta, finely chopped chicken and cooked vegetables like carrots and peas.
You don’t need to wait to introduce eggs, dairy, soy, or fish
- Although it is important to check in with your health provider, most evidence suggests that it is ok to introduce eggs, dairy, soy and fish to babies once they are at least 6 months old.
Provide your baby with a well-rounded diet
- By the time your child is 7-8 months, your baby’s diet should start consisting of a variety of foods representing the various food groups including meats, vegetables, fruits, grains, eggs and fish along with breast milk/formula. Remember, your should continue to provide your baby with breast milk or iron-fortified formula throughout the first year of life.
Foods to Avoid
It is important that when you are introducing foods to your young baby that you avoid foods that are considered choking hazards or that require a lot of chewing. Infants do not have advanced chewing skills and may have a difficult time coughing or clearing their throats on their own if food gets stuck.
Some examples of choking hazards include (but not limited to):
- hot dogs
- nuts and seeds
- chunks of meats and cheese
- whole grapes
- raisins
- popcorn
- chunks of peanut butter
- raw vegetables
- hard fruit chunks (like apples)
- hard, gooey, or sticky candy
Other foods not recommended for infants:
- milk
- juice
- foods/beverages containing sugar
- caffeinated beverages
- honey (It is not recommended to give children under 1 year of age honey because of the risk for botulism.)
Tips for Feeding Success
Be ready for messes! When babies first start to eat, many want to get involved in the process. Getting messy is part of the eating process.
- Tip: You may want to put a garbage bag under the baby’s high chair to catch messes and have a change of clothes handy.
Your baby may spend more time exploring the food than eating it and that is ok. Remember most of the baby’s calories when they first start eating are still coming from breast milk/formula. So it is ok if they don’t seem to eat that much as first.
- Tip: As your baby gets older and more confident eating, they will eat more and more solid foods and depend on breast milk/formula less and less.
Eat together as a family as much as possible.
- Tip: Try to give your baby foods that contain the same ingredients that you are eating. Modeling healthy eating from the beginning can help to ensure positive eating habits for a lifetime!
