Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, M. Medical Review Policy All What to Expect content that addresses health or safety is medically reviewed by a team of vetted health professionals. These sample feeding schedules may help you envision how solids can fit into your baby's day — just remember that every child and every family!
Back to Top. In This Article. Feeding Baby Solids Safely. View Sources. Baby Feeding. First Year. First Year Groups. Go to Your Baby's Age. Please whitelist our site to get all the best deals and offers from our partners. Your Baby's Vision Development. Baby-Led Weaning. Many healthcare providers suggest these foods be saved until after your child is age 3 or 4.
Always watch a young child while he or she is eating. Insist that the child sit down to eat or drink. Healthy babies usually require little or no extra water, except in very hot weather. When solid food is first fed to your baby, extra water is often needed. Don't limit your baby's food choices to the ones you like.
Offering a wide variety of foods early will pave the way for good eating habits later. Don't restrict fat and cholesterol in the diets of very young children, unless advised by your child's healthcare provider. Children need calories, fat, and cholesterol for the development of their brains and nervous systems, and for general growth. Arrowroot cookies, assorted finger foods, cookies, toast, crackers, plain yogurt, cooked green beans.
Arrowroot cookies, assorted finger foods, cookies, toast, crackers, plain yogurt, cooked green beans, cottage cheese, ice cream, pudding, dry cereal. Number of feedings per 24 hours. Make first cereal feedings very soupy and thicken slowly. Formula intake decreases; solid foods in diet increase. Children under 5 years old should not be given rice drinks because of the levels of arsenic in these products.
For information and advice you can trust, sign up for weekly Start4Life pregnancy and baby emails. Page last reviewed: 1 March Next review due: 1 March Your baby's first solid foods. When to start introducing solid foods Introducing your baby to solid foods, sometimes called complementary feeding or weaning, should start when your baby is around 6 months old.
Why wait until around 6 months to introduce solids? They'll be able to: stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady co-ordinate their eyes, hands and mouth so they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth by themselves swallow food rather than spit it back out The following behaviours can be mistaken by parents as signs that their baby is ready for solid foods: chewing their fists waking up in the night more than usual wanting extra milk feeds These are all normal behaviours for babies and not necessarily a sign that they're hungry or ready to start solid food.
Get tips to help your baby sleep well How to start solid foods In the beginning your baby will only need a small amount of food before their usual milk feed. Tips to get your baby off to a good start with solid foods: Eating is a whole new skill. Some babies learn to accept new foods and textures more quickly than others.
Keep trying, and give your baby lots of encouragement and praise. Allow plenty of time, especially at first. Go at your baby's pace and let them show you when they're hungry or full. Stop when your baby shows signs that they've had enough. This could be firmly closing their mouth or turning their head away. If you're using a spoon, wait for your baby to open their mouth before you offer the food.
Do not force your baby to eat. Wait until the next time if they're not interested this time. Be patient and keep offering a variety of foods, even the ones they do not seem to like. It may take 10 tries or more for your baby to get used to new foods, flavours and textures. There will be days when they eat more, some when they eat less, and then days when they reject everything. Do not worry, this is perfectly normal. Let your baby enjoy touching and holding the food.
Allow them to feed themselves, using their fingers, as soon as they show an interest. If you're using a spoon, your baby may like to hold it or another spoon to try feeding themselves.
Keep distractions to a minimum during mealtimes and avoid sitting your baby in front of the television, phone or tablet. Show them how you eat. Babies copy their parents and other children.
Sit down together for family mealtimes as much as possible. This helps them learn how to chew, move solid food around their mouth and swallow. Some babies like to start with mashed, lumpy or finger foods. Just keep offering them lumpy textures and they'll eventually get used to it. Safety and hygiene When introducing your baby to solid foods, it's important to take extra care to not put them at risk. Key food safety and hygiene advice: always wash your hands before preparing food and keep surfaces clean cool hot food and test it before giving it to your baby wash and peel fruit and raw vegetables avoid hard foods like whole nuts, or raw carrot or apple remove hard pips and stones from fruits, and bones from meat or fish cut small, round foods, like grapes and cherry tomatoes, into small pieces eggs produced under the British Lion Code of Practice stamped with the red lion are considered very low risk for salmonella and safe for babies to eat partially cooked Always stay with your baby when they're eating in case they start to choke.
Choking is different from gagging. Your baby may gag when you introduce solid foods. If your baby is gagging: their eyes may water they might push their tongue forward or out of their mouth they might retch to bring the food forward in their mouth or vomit Equipment checklist High chair.
Your baby needs to be sitting safely in an upright position so they can swallow properly. Get it free when you sign up for our newsletter. American Academy of Pediatrics. Baby's first month: feeding and nutrition. Updated July 10, Breastfeeding: frequently asked questions. Updated September 2, How often and how much should your baby eat? Updated October 29, Amount and schedule of formula feedings.
Updated July 24, Starting solid foods. Updated March 17, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Choking hazards. Updated March 30, Vitamin D and iron supplements for babies: AAP recommendations.
Updated May 27, Your Baby's First Year, 4th edition. New York: Bantam Books, American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFamily. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.
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