It’s one of, if not the biggest milestone of baby’s first year.  The beginning of the transition from feeding to eating, moving on from a milk based diet, weaning, introducing solid food.  Whatever you want to call it, for most parents it is simultaneously exciting and nerve wracking!

It’s also another opportunity for anyone and everyone to have an opinion and give conflicting advice about when to start, which meals to start with, what food to give or not give, even how to give it!

But fear not! It’s really not as daunting as it seems.  Before you know it your baby will be chowing down at teatime with the rest of the family.

NB If your baby has allergies, developmental delays or was premature please seek advice from your paediatrician or dietician. Not all of this information will be appropriate for those situations.

When to start

How do you know baby is ready to start eating solid food? There are plenty of ‘false signals’ you might have heard – baby is big or small, has started waking for night feeds again, or is watching you eat.  None of these are reliable indicators that your little one is ready for food.

There are three clear signs that your little one is ready to start weaning and they are if baby:

✅ Can sit well, holding their head steady and not slumping in the high chair.  A straight line from mouth to stomach is important to minimise choking risks.

✅ Has sufficiently developed hand eye coordination that they can look at, pick up, and put a piece of food in their mouth, with no assistance.

✅ Has lost the ‘tongue thrust reflex’ and can swallow food.  If your baby keeps pushing their food back out then they are probably not quite ready for food yet.

Your baby is ready for solid food only when all three signs are seen together. Of course all babies are individuals and develop different skills at different rates, but it is very unusual to see all three signs together much before six months.

You may have seen baby food in the supermarket, some of it is marketed as suitable from 4 months, just because it says it on the label doesn’t make it true! Please only wean early on advice from a health care professional such as your paediatrician.

How to start

Pick a time of the day that’s convenient for you – if you’re very busy in the mornings then maybe don’t start weaning at breakfast time! Your little one is unlikely to eat a lot of food at first, so don’t prepare too much.  Oh, and expect there to be at least some mess!

In the beginning your baby won’t associate solid food with satisfying hunger.  If they’re likely to be hungry offer some milk first, or try the food in between milk feeds. A hungry baby won’t be interested in food when you first start weaning.

Start by offering just a few spoonfuls or pieces of food once a day. At six months most babies can manage lumps and finger foods so it may not be necessary to finely purée their meals.  You may decide to sidestep the mush all together.  Take a look at our Baby Led Weaning blog for more information on letting your little one take the lead when introducing solid food.

Gradually increase the amount and variety of food you offer until your little one is eating 3 meals a day and a wide range of chunky and/or finger foods (by 10-12 months).

When my eldest was a baby a number of people said to me ‘food before one is just for fun’. Now that’s not entirely true, by age one food is an important source of nutrition and energy.  However weaning is also a learning experience. The opportunity to develop motor skills and coordination, encountering new tastes, smells and textures.  These are also important outcomes from the process of introducing solid food; so have fun and remember it’s not all about the food!

‘A glass of the house white please’

Although your baby will begin to get more nutrition from food as they approach their first birthday, their usual milk is still an important source of nutrients and calories and should be their main drink until they reach 12 months. If you are formula feeding, first infant milk is suitable right up to their birthday when you can start to transition to full fat cows milk, and as a guide, at 10-12 months your baby may still need around 400ml per day. If you are breastfeeding you can continue to feed on demand, your baby will regulate their intake, some babies will still be feeding a lot at their first birthday and others will be down to just three feeds a day. After 12 months you can continue breastfeeding for as long as you both want to, either instead of, or alongside introducing full fat cows milk as a drink.

On the subject of drinks… you can offer your baby a small drink alongside their meals, they don’t need:

❌juices

❌fizzy drinks

❌tea

❌cows milk or any dairy alternatives

Either a bit of their usual formula milk, expressed breast milk or just plain old water is fine.  If baby is under 6 months you will need to boil and cool the water before they can drink it.  After 6 months they can have it straight from the cold tap.

Help your baby get used to drinking from a cup by putting their mealtime drinks in a skippy cup.

What’s for tea?

There used to be a long list of foods that you couldn’t give to babies.  One of the many advantages of waiting until 6 months to introduce food means that your little one will be able to eat a huge range of food. Prior to 6 months babies can only really eat purées of fruit, vegetables and rice cereal, after six months the world is their (well cooked) oyster! There are still some things to avoid for now though:

• Sugar – natural sugars in fruit are fine.  Your baby doesn’t need sugar added to meals such as on top of cereal, sugary drinks like juices and milkshakes, or chocolate, sweets, biscuits and cakes.
• Salt – It’s not good for baby’s kidneys, so avoid jarred sauces, ready meals and gravy.  Stock cubes, bacon and sausages are also high in salt, and don’t add salt to your little ones meals.
• Honey – it contains a bacteria that can cause botulism, a very serious illness that can make your baby extremely poorly. Completely avoid until baby is 1.
• Certain cheeses – unpasteurised cheese, mould ripened soft cheese, ripened goats cheese and soft blue veined cheese all carry a risk of listeria.
• Whole nuts and peanuts – ground and chopped nuts are fine from 6 months. Whole nuts pose a choking risk, don’t give whole nuts to babies or children under 5 years.
• Raw shellfish can cause food poisoning so make sure it’s thoroughly cooked.
• Shark, Swordfish and Marlin contain high levels of Mercury which can damage your little ones nervous system.
• Rice drinks – avoid until at least age 5 as they can contain high levels of arsenic
• Tea or coffee.

Gagging vs. Choking

Most babies gag when learning to eat solid food.  It’s part of the process of understanding how much food they can chew and swallow, and how much they need to chew before they swallow. If you’re not expecting it though it can be a bit of a shock and you might think they’re choking.  So how do you tell the difference?

A baby who is gagging will cough and make gagging noises.  Their eyes may water and they might go a bit red.  Their tongue will push forward to force the food out and they might even vomit the food up.  As tough as it might seem, if you let them get on with it their gag reflex will deal with it.  Don’t be tempted to try and remove the food from their mouth as you could push it further in and cause them to choke.

A baby who is choking will struggle to cough and may make no noise at all, their lips and face will usually turn blue or pale and they will need help from you:

• Get them out of the high chair and shout for help,
• Lay them face down on your lap with their head slightly lower than their bottom,
• Support their chin,
• Give 5 sharp blows with the heel of your hand right between the shoulder blades.

For more detailed advice on how to help a choking baby take a look at the British Red Cross website.  If you can, attending a family/baby first aid course is always going to be a good idea.

To reduce the risk of choking there are a few simple things you can do:

• Sit baby up straight in their high chair.
• Never leave your baby unattended while they’re eating.
• cut small round foods, like grapes and cherry tomatoes, into small pieces.
• peel the skin off fruit, vegetables and sausages (though remember that sausages can be high in salt).
• remove hard pips or stones from fruit.
• remove bones from meat or fish.
• children under 5 years old shouldn’t be given whole nuts.
• raw jelly cubes can get stuck in the throat, never give these.

For more information ask your health visitor if they, or another local service offer information sessions on introducing solid foods, or have a read of this great leaflet from Unicef and the NHS