Introducing solid foods to your infant is an exciting early milestone in your child’s life. There are many different strategies for introducing solids that can be influenced by one’s culture, lifestyle, past experiences, and personal preferences. Here are some flexible tips to help get you started, allowing you to navigate this journey at your own pace.

Signs of readiness

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting to introduce solid foods around 6 months of age but not prior to 4 months of age. If you are considering starting earlier than 6 months, check for signs that your child is developmentally ready.

• Your child should be able to sit in a highchair with some support while keeping their torso and head upright.
• The other major milestone is that the tongue thrust reflux should have disappeared. The exact age at which this goes away can vary. If you try introducing food to your infant and their tongue just pushes it back out, this is a good sign that your child isn’t ready yet, which is okay! You can try again every few days or once a week until you notice that the reflex is gone. Once your baby starts mushing the food in their mouth and swallowing it instead of pushing it back out, you’re ready to go!

First foods for baby

While there is no one set food that is best to start, one option is to start with breast milk or formula mixed with an infant cereal. Infant cereals are fortified with iron, and especially for infants who are breastfed, it is recommended to incorporate iron-rich foods to decrease the risk of anemia.

Other good first foods are thin purees made up of a single ingredient. If you make purees yourself, it could be helpful to get one Stage 1 baby food from the store just to get a sense of how thick to make the puree.

Introduce one new food every 2-3 days so you can monitor your child for any reactions. As you notice that your child starts to do well with purees, you can start mixing in new flavors and textures and combining different foods to continue exposing them to new experiences.

Purees vs. baby-led weaning

Another approach to introducing solids is commonly referred to as baby-led weaning. This approach entails giving your child a variety of foods of different sizes and textures to allow them to explore their new skill of eating on their own. Rather than spoon-feeding your child, you provide them with foods they can feed themselves. While there is often an initial impression that this could pose a choking risk, there is evidence that this is just as safe as traditional feeding when done correctly.

Especially while your child is just getting started, be sure to sit with them to ensure things are going smoothly. Foods that could pose a choking hazard, such as hot dogs, whole grapes, popcorn, or cherry tomatoes, should be avoided.

In the beginning, most of their nutrition will be coming from breast milk or formula, so it is less important that they’re actually consuming the food and more important that they get the opportunity to try new things.

Preventing food allergies

There is strong evidence that early introduction of high-risk allergens such as peanuts decreases the risk of developing food allergies. There are a number of different ways to achieve this. Some examples are mixing peanut butter into a puree that your child enjoys, offering peanut butter puffs (such as Bamba), or mixing in peanut powder. It is also recommended to introduce other high-risk allergens at an early age in a form that is safe for your child to ingest. If you’re unsure whether a food is safe to try, check in with your pediatrician first.

Have fun!

Regardless of which method (or combination of methods) you choose, there are a few things to consider.

• Keep things fun and low stress! Sometimes, infants need to see and try foods multiple times before they will accept them. If a food doesn’t go over well the first time, it may be that your child wasn’t developmentally ready or just wasn’t interested in what was offered. Try again in a few days or weeks, and you may get a different result.
• Eating is a great opportunity to spend one-on-one time with your child, so keep an eye out for their cues, preferences, and overall feelings about eating. This is a great way to bond with your baby and sets the stage for healthy eating in the future. So, relax, have fun, and enjoy this special time with your little one.

As always, if you ever have any questions about introducing foods to your children or concerns about how things are going, be sure to ask your pediatrician!