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How will I know my baby is ready for solids?By about six months of age, you'll probably start noticing signs that your baby is ready to expand her diet. By now, she'll be able to hold her head up by herself, and will have lost the reflex which makes her stick out her tongue automatically. This means she can now learn to take more than just liquid food. She'll also start showing an interest in your food, eyeing meals and possibly reaching for your plate.
Of course, this doesn't mean your baby is able to sit down with a knife and fork. A baby's first solid foods aren't solid at all. In fact, first foods should be semi-liquid, as eating is a skill your baby will learn gradually.
What should I start feeding my baby?The most often recommended first food is iron-fortified baby rice cereal, which is easily digested and the least likely to trigger an allergic reaction.
To start, mix a teaspoon of baby rice cereal with four to five teaspoons of breastmilk, formula milk, or boiled, cooled water. You can use a baby-feeding spoon, but some experts recommend using your clean finger. Simply dip your fingertip into the cereal mixture and offer it to your baby. Don't expect her to eat very much at a time -- tiny tummies need tiny portions, and most of her nutrition will continue to come from breastmilk or formula for months to come.
Other foods you can start at six months include fruits, such as pureed bananas, pears, and apples, and vegetables, such as carrots, pumpkin and cauliflower. You might also like to try starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, yam and sweet potato.
You can also include fluids like the water in which you boil the lentils ( dal ka pani), coconut water, fruit juice, vegetable juice, vegetable soup/stock and gradually add mashed boiled vegetables over a period of time. Other options are rice gruel, suji upma, suji kheer, sabudaana kheer, dalia, and khichdi. See our first cereal recipes for more options.
The basic idea is to introduce the more easily digestible foods first, like diluted fruit juice or clear vegetable soups, dal ka pani and then move on to liquid foods with thicker consistency like rice gruel, and then to solid consistency like mashed bananas, stewed/pureed fruits and then to whole fruits and grainier lumpier foods.
You may add ghee, butter or oil to add to the calorific value but check with your doctor on the recommended amount. In case you want to introduce your baby to non-vegetarian food, you can do so after checking with your paediatrician.
Home-made foods are the safest and healthiest. You can cook a variety of meals and try out different combinations and ingredients to suit your baby's palate. You can also ensure that the food is fresh and clean. You can introduce a wide variety of foods, colours and textures.
Can I buy baby food for my baby?If you want to use packaged or readymade foods available in the market, keep the following in mind.
- Check the seal, manufacturing, best before and expiry date on each package.
- Learn to read food labels and watch out for food colouring, additives and artificial flavouring.
- Do not buy any foods in bloated, leaking, opened or cracked jars as the food may be contaminated.
- Make sure you buy products from a known and well stocked shop and ask for a printed bill after each purchase.
It's important you offer your baby savoury foods as well as sweet at this stage, or she may develop a sweet tooth. Read our article on which weaning foods to introduce when for more information.
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Last reviewed March 2012