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Starting Solids


Starting solids is a new experience for your baby, and for you. He is likely to be ready for first tastes around six months, so now’s the time to read up on it.


When to start?
Starting solids at the right time is really important for your baby’s development and health. The Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and unless otherwise advised by your health professional, solid foods in any form (baby jars, cereals or rusks) should not be started any earlier.

With each baby you have to find the right moment for introducing the first tastes of food.

Most babies are not ready for mixed feeding before six months because:

Yes No
1. They can’t digest foods
2. They can’t sit up
3. They may develop allergies
4. They are more likely to be overweight
5. They still sleep too much
  1. Yes Babies cannot make all the right enzymes to digest a variety of foods before this age and their kidneys may not be mature enough to cope with foods other than milk.
  2. Yes It’s not only that they can’t sit up; they don’t have enough co-ordination or muscle control to cope with the foods put into their mouths, and can’t maintain the posture needed to swallow.
  3. Yes If solid foods are introduced early, babies may be more at risk of developing allergies, including eczema and asthma and there may be an increased risk of respiratory illness and wheezing in childhood.
  4. Yes Early introduction of solid foods may contribute to a child being overweight.
  5. No Your baby will be having alert times and sleepy times by now.

Most babies are ready to try new foods by the age of six months because:

Yes No
1. They need iron
2. They have to drink too much milk
3. It will help them speak
4. They have teeth
5. They can pick things up and put them in their mouth
6. Other people’s babies will be eating solids
7. It will help them sleep through the night

  1. Yes The stores of iron that babies are born with are running out; babies need to get new iron from foods.
  2. Yes Milk is a bulky food, babies have to take more and more of it to meet their needs, but solid foods are more concentrated.
  3. Yes The process of learning how to deal with foods helps a baby’s mouth and tongue to develop and so the muscles are strong and ready to form words.
  4. Yes Many babies do begin to cut teeth by six months and it seems sensible that they cut their teeth about the time they are ready to try solid foods.
  5. Yes Many babies begin to pick up things and put them in their mouth, about now and it’s a sign they’re ready to experiment with new tastes.
  6. No It’s not a race, though it sometimes feels like that. Every baby will be ready for solids at a different time, so try to stay tuned-in to your baby.
  7. No The only time it may help is if your baby was sleeping well, but now needs more milk feeds at night and during the day...this may be a sign that milk is not enough and he is ready for solids. But if your baby has never slept through, introducing solids is unlikely to help.

What food when?
Breastmilk or formula milk will still be the main food for your baby for months to come, but it’s good to let him have some experimental tastes of other foods now. Take things slowly. He may welcome new foods and try everything that you offer him, or he may need a little while to get used to the idea. Gradually he will be ready to try lots of different foods, but begin with just one new food at a time. Then you will know if he doesn’t like it or it upsets his digestion.

Honey warning
Don’t give your baby honey until she is over a year old as it could contain harmful bacteria.

Stage
 Foods to offer from 6 months
Start with
 Baby rice, smooth purées of vegetables, and fruit purées.
Around 6-9 months
 Cow’s milk products, e.g. yoghurt, custard, cheese sauce.

Coarser minces or purées of vegetables, chicken, meat, fish or lentils and pulses like kidney beans.

Lumpier finger foods including chopped hardboiled eggs, cubed or grated hard cheese, pasta, raw soft fruit and vegetables, e.g. tomato, banana. Some wheat-based breakfast cereals and bread.
Around 9-12 months
 Some wholemeal breads, cereals and pasta.
Chopped meats, liver (no more than once a week, and only if your baby does not take supplements containing vitamin A. See ‘What not to give’), chicken and fish.
Lightly cooked or raw vegetables and fruits.
Adult textures for potatoes, noodles, and puddings, e.g. rice pudding
Well-diluted fruit juice as a drink with meals.
One year-plus
 Family meals. Take the baby’s portion out before you add salt, and leave as adult texture, and chop to bite size if needed.
Whole milk as a drink.
Soft cheeses.
Lean meat and oily fish, e.g. sardines, kippers.


Nut sense
Never give whole nuts to children under five years old because there is a risk that they could choke on them. If there is a family history of allergies, avoid giving your baby peanuts until she is three years old, as she could have a severe allergic reaction to them. Avoid peanuts if you are breastfeeding.

What not to give

Don’t give your baby any of these foods:
  • whole/chopped nuts or seeds
  • extra sugar
  • fizzy drinks, squashes or flavoured milks
  • herbal drinks
  • salt; foods meant for adults, like gravy or sauces, may be high in salt and additives
  • high fibre foods, e.g. added bran
  • low fat foods
  • tea or coffee
  • raw/undercooked eggs
  • Liver, if your baby is taking supplements containing vitamin A.
Delay giving your baby the following foods until he is used to eating other foods

Not until after six months:
  • wheat-based foods, e.g. pasta, bread and pastry, which contain gluten
  • breakfast cereals, which may contain gluten and salt (sodium)
  • citrus fruits
  • fish or shellfish
  • eggs (hard-boiled).
Not until one year:
  • cows’ milk as a main drink. Cows’ milk products, e.g. custard, yoghurt, etc. can be given after six months
  • honey
  • soft cheeses.

For the next You and your growing baby guide Chapter, Thinking about you, Click here arrow

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