Getting Started With Solids

By: Amy Vespa, Nutritionist

Introducing new foods to your baby is a fun time! It’s so cute watching their faces light up with delight or scrunch up, unsure of a new texture or flavor. This article will take you through all the when’s and how’s of introducing solids, a sippy cup, and starting baby-led weaning. Here is a quick breakdown of the main changes at each age:

• Months 4-6 Introduce pureed foods

• Months 6-9: Introduce a sippy cup with water. Keep introducing more foods in pureed or mashed form.

• Months 9-12: Introduce a spoon. Start to introduce chopped, well-cooked foods. 

• Month 12: Continuing breastfeeding, or if weaning, introducing alternative milk options. 

Introducing Purees

Babies and their first foods are among their cutest memories! You can start introducing solids to your baby at around 4-6 months. You’ll know your baby is ready for solids when they seem interested in different foods. They might try to grab food on your plate, stare at the food you are eating, or be receptive when you hold food near their mouth. You also want to ensure that baby has good trunk control while sitting prior to introducing foods. 

At first, you’ll only want to introduce pureed food because it is easy to slurp, similar to how they currently eat. Early foods not only introduce your baby to new flavors and textures, they also help train and strengthen the tongue and mouth muscles for eating fully solid foods in a few months.

Infant cereal on a spoon is usually the first food introduced because it is easy to slurp. Try a baby cereal mixed with water, not mixed with milk or formula. At this stage, solid foods are not necessary for delivering nutrition (most of the cereal will adorably end up all over your baby’s mouth and tummy) so you’ll want to keep your nutritious milk or formula for when you are sure they are getting all of it. 

After infant cereal, you can choose what foods to introduce next - there’s no specific foods that should be introduced before others. It can be helpful to choose foods that your family already eats. Flavors from your diet have transferred to your baby in breastmilk, so starting with your regularly eaten foods might make it easier for your baby to accept new foods. Introduce each food alone, as the only ingredient, every 3-5 days to check for reactions (see more below about allergies). 

Commercially prepared baby food is not necessary, but it is convenient when out of the home or packing food for a sitter. It is very easy to make your own purees: 

• Chop the food into small pieces

• Simmer in water until fully cooked and soft

• Mash with a fork or puree with a hand blender

• Do not add salt or sugar

• Pour puree into a container for eating within 1-2 days

• Or, pour puree into ice trays to freeze for later. Defrost in the fridge overnight, or lightly on the stove

Not sure what to try first? Try mashed or pureed sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, avocado, banana, pears, chicken. These are all easy to find, well accepted by infants, and easy to puree. 

**Note - babies should not be given honey until after 1 years old because of the potential botulism spores. 

Nutrients for baby

For the most part, your baby will get the majority of nutrients from breast milk. However, there are instances where you might want to inquire with your doctor about additional supplements if you aren’t already. If you follow a restricted diet (such as vegan, vegetarian, or paleo) or if you are low or borderline low in certain nutrients and you aren’t taking a multivitamin, then ask your baby’s doctor about supplementing these nutrients.

Note - if you fully formula feed, these nutrients are likely already included in your formula. If your family follows a restricted diet you might want to ask your doctor about supplementing certain nutrients after you are finished using formula.

Nutrients to know: 

Iron - Your baby is growing so fast which means they need a good supply of protein, fat, and iron. If you exclusively breastfeed, your baby is getting the right amount of protein and fat, but the right amount of iron can come into question. If your own iron levels are on the lower end, if you have diabetes, or if your baby was born preterm or small for gestational age, then you’ll want to ask your doctor about supplementing iron for your baby. You can also start introducing iron-containing foods, such as pureed red meat, spinach, or lentils.

Vitamin B12 - If you eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, ask your doctor if your baby needs a B12 supplement. It is hard to get enough B12 from a vegetarian or vegan diet alone, and this vitamin is important for growth, mood, and nerve development.

Introducing a Sippy Cup

At 6-9 months, you can start to introduce a sippy cup with water. It will take several months for your baby to be able to drink sufficiently with a cup, so at this stage just give her water (not formula or breastmilk) since she won’t be getting enough liquid through the cup. Do not give juice at this age because it can easily cause cavities. 

Do not introduce juice for as long as possible. Juice has few nutrients (even 100% juice), but can fill up your baby so they are not hungry for their nutritious foods. Juice is also a main cause of childhood dental caries. Also, by introducing juice, it makes water ‘boring’ so keeping your little one hydrated gets tougher as they get older and express their juice preference. However, there will be times when your child will be offered juice (thanks grandparents!), so try to keep it after 6 months old, only 4-6 ounces per day, and only in a cup - not a bottle - to reduce dental caries. 

Moving on to non-pureed solids

Around 9-12 months you can start introducing chunkier purees and cooked, chopped foods that require chewing. Try non-leafy vegetables and fruit without skins, such as carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, squash, avocado, soft apples, or pears. Chop all of these into small cubes and cook until soft (they should be able to mush easily). You can also give your baby infant biscuits, yogurt, and cheese.

And, get that camera ready, this is also the time to start letting your baby use their own spoon to feed themselves (so cute!). At this point, meal times not only introduce more textures and flavors, and they also help your baby develop their pincer grasp and coordination to use a spoon.

It’s interesting to note: Your baby has a genetic preference towards sweet and salty tastes over sour and bitter tastes, but other than this, most food preferences are learned. Food preferences are learned in infancy and last throughout life, and as we all know, it’s hard to change long-held preferences in adulthood! Avoid sugar-sweetened and salty foods, as well as processed foods as much as possible. Focusing on fruit, vegetables, and meats (if desired) for your baby is actually setting them up for lifelong acceptance of these foods and better overall eating habits and health. This is still true even if they go through a “picky eater” stage at some point during childhood. 

Checking for food reactions

Many parents are nervous about feeding their baby potentially allergenic food, such as peanut butter. But these foods are ok to introduce starting at six months. Start with other foods that are not common allergens to make sure food in general is tolerated. Then move on to each common allergen (eggs, milk, soy, peanut butter, fish, shellfish, and wheat) as you are comfortable. Try 2-3 spoonfuls of one food at a time, 3-5 days apart. Only about 6-8% of kids have allergies, but if there is a reaction, such as wheezing, facial swelling, rashes, vomiting, or loose stool, then call your doctor for further evaluation. (If wheezing or swelling, call and go to the doctor asap!)

Eating and trying new foods is a fun way for your baby to explore their world! Getting started can seem overwhelming, but now you have an understanding of how and when to introduce foods, cups, and spoons, so you can focus on all the cute things your baby will do.