Introducing your baby to solids: 3 approaches
When your baby is ready to start eating solid foods, you may be curious about how to approach the introduction. People might be advising you what to do—and what not to do. You might hear talk about baby-led weaning, or other approaches, and have no idea what any of it means, let alone whether you need to subscribe to a specific feeding methodology.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to introduce your child to solids. With the guidance of your child’s pediatrician, you’ll figure out an appropriate approach. The key considerations, regardless of which path you choose, are ensuring that your baby is ready to start eating solids, that the foods are safe to eat, and that the foods meet your baby’s nutritional needs, says Dr. Manisha Panchal, a pediatrician. (Parent readiness is also a consideration, especially because of choking risks; more on that in a minute.)
You’ll likely fall into a good solids-feeding groove by the time your baby reaches 9 months of age, Panchal says. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know.
Ways to introduce solid foods:
- The traditional route: You start with purees and then gradually add texture, with some lumps and thickness.
- The baby-led weaning route: You skip purees altogether, offering your baby soft finger foods such as a roasted sweet-potato wedge to self-feed. These foods typically range between the size of your finger and bigger than your baby's palm, such that your child can grab it—and not choke on it.
- The combination route: Sometimes called baby-led feeding, this introduction method involves a little bit of both approaches.
There are a few ways to determine whether your baby is ready for solids.
4 signs your baby is ready for solids
Dr. Panchal
Pediatrician
Although they may seem mystifying or confusing, there are important developmental indications that it’s time for your baby to start eating solid foods. Here are a few physical milestones that can help you (and potentially your child’s pediatrician) determine whether your little one is ready to begin this important transition.
To eat solids, babies need to be able to sit up, with obvious head, neck, and trunk control. This is because we use neck, arm, and abdominal muscles when eating. Body control provides a sturdy base and facilitates a happy eating experience. Babies should be able to sit upright in a high chair or other appropriate baby seat, and bring their hands to their mouth without slouching over. Infants who cannot hold themselves upright on their own (or with minimal support) are not likely ready for solids, Dr. Panchal says.
If you are letting your baby lead the transition to solids by self-feeding finger foods (and skipping over spoon-fed purees), it is extra important to ensure that your baby is able to sit upright without assistance.
Swallowing solids requires a different tongue motion than sucking and swallowing milk or formula from a nipple. When babies push early spoonsful of puree out of their mouth with their tongue, such that it ends up on their chin or chest rather than down their throat, this is often an indication that they are not quite ready for solids, regardless of how much they appear to love the flavor.
Babies usually outgrow this natural food-pushing response, called the tongue thrust reflex, between 4 and 6 months of age. At this point, they are capable of using their tongue to push solids into the back of their mouth to swallow.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a baby weighs twice as much as at birth, or at least 13 pounds, before beginning to consume solid foods.
Babies often show interest in solids by staring at something their parent or caretaker is eating, then opening their mouth and leaning toward it. Some babies cry when they see and smell food they want to try, and they haven’t been served any. Some also reach for solid foods or attempt to grab the entire plate.
Although you may notice these interest cues first, the developmental milestones indicating physical readiness are more important, so make sure that your baby has reached those milestones before introducing them to solids.
The 411 on feeding approaches
Dr. Panchal says there’s no downside to the traditional route nor the combination approach. But if you’re considering baby-led weaning versus a more traditional route, you might be wondering about the differences, what science says, and what experts recommend.
Before we dive into those differences, we’ll note that although baby-led weaning is increasingly gaining attention—proponents believe that it encourages your baby’s autonomy and ability to self-regulate1—the American Academy of Pediatrics does not endorse it.
It’s helpful to think about your solid-foods introduction approach in terms of what works best, when considering your baby’s behavioral cues and your family’s own rhythms. As with sleep, we can’t necessarily force our babies to do what we want. "We have to parent the baby we have, not the baby we want," Dr. Panchal says.
Another consideration is your baby’s birth order. “The younger kids learn from watching the older ones, and they are more confident because they see their sibling eating regular textured food,” she says. “They tend to be ready earlier.”
Some researchers have posited that baby-led weaning leads to a decrease in picky eating, but it’s mostly anecdotal evidence, and so far, studies have shown no difference2 in picky-eating outcomes between children who were introduced to solids through baby-led weaning and those who were introduced to solids in a more traditional manner.
The biggest concern overall: “Parents need to be confident in themselves to manage when their baby is gagging or choking,” Dr. Panchal says, supervising their baby's intake of solids with attentiveness and CPR readiness.
To prevent themselves from truly choking, babies’ gag reflexes are strong. Your baby might gag when being introduced to textured foods. If you panic and stick fingers in your baby’s mouth in response, this can actually cause your baby to choke, she warns.
Here’s what we know about baby-led weaning, according to science:
Rewards of baby-led weaning
- Enjoying more family meals: One study indicates that infants who lead the process by feeding themselves finger food are more likely to eat with their family for lunch and dinner3. Another study shows that families who eat meals together are more likely to have children who eat well and are less likely to be obese4.
- Developing healthier eating habits: Babies are more likely to engage in “responsive feeding” (choosing what—and how much—they eat of what they’re offered). Research shows that babies who feed themselves foods to which they favorably respond develop a feeding style with fewer restrictions, pressures, and external controls5, which leads to healthier eating habits overall.
Risks of baby-led weaning
- Not gaining enough weight: One study found more underweight babies among those who were leading their transition to solids6.
- Not getting enough of the essential nutrients: Infants who are introduced to solids through baby-led weaning generally have lower levels of iron, zinc, and B127 than those who are fed purees. One study showed that counseling helps here, so if you have any concerns, talk to your pediatrician or a pediatric registered dietitian.
You can’t raise your baby on a vegetarian or vegan diet.
For iron needs
Iron helps carry oxygen in our red-blood cells. At 6 months old, your baby’s iron stores become depleted, and there isn’t enough iron in breast milk to accommodate their growing needs. This is one of the reasons to introduce solids at 6 months. Other than meats and supplements, your baby can get iron from iron-fortified baby cereal mixed in a bowl with breast milk or formula and fed with a spoon.
“Your pediatrician may suggest an iron supplement based on your diet,” Dr. Panchal says. “It’s a great question to ask at the 4-month checkup.”
For vitamin B12 needs
B12 plays a key role in the development of brain and nerve cells, and it is found only in animal products, including meat and eggs. Scrambled eggs and yogurt are great options for babies on a vegetarian diet.
Babies on a vegan diet need extra nutritional vigilance, including B12 supplementation. (Many plant-based dairy alternatives, such as soy, oat, and pea milks, are fortified with B12.) They may also need supplements of vitamins D, iodine, iron, and/or zinc, so make sure to consult with a pediatrician or nutritionist before attempting to start your baby on a vegan diet.
The 411 on baby food
Now that you’ve sorted out—or at least thought about—various approaches to feeding your baby, you probably are weighing the merits of buying vs. making baby foods. There are some important things to know about baby food itself, especially as it concerns heavy metals and nitrates.
What to know about buying food
There’s a lot to think about when you’re buying food for your baby for the first time, and these tips should help you think through this new process.
12 tips for buying baby food
If you don’t want to make your own baby food, or if you want to supplement your homemade food with store-bought food, you’ll likely have many options. We’ve cooked up a batch of baby food-buying tips for you.
In general, look for simple ingredients you recognize (and can pronounce), focusing on the first three or four listed on any packaged product. If it’s labeled as a carrot puree, check that carrot is listed as the first ingredient. The closer the prepared food is to a fresh homemade blend of just a few ingredients, the better it will be for your baby. (This is a good rule of thumb for adults too!)
If the baby food is found on a grocery store shelf, this means that it has been deemed shelf-stable. This also is a strong indication that it will contain preservatives and other additives. Watch out for added sugars, artificial sweeteners, or artificial colors, the latter of which are associated with child hyperactivity, Dr. Panchal says.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has registered more than 10,000 food additives as safe to consume. Some to avoid include dyes (such as Red 40 or Yellow 5), sodium chloride (salt), and sugar (most ingredients ending in -ose). You also want to scan the label for nitrates, which appear in cured meats (and in our soil) such as hot dogs and many deli meats. Research indicates that additives may interfere with a child’s development, growth, and hormones.
You may have heard that some baby foods contain heavy metals. This is true, but rest assured that regulators and manufacturers are working to address them.
When your baby is starting to eat solids, go for baby foods labeled as Stage 1 because these formulations tend to be the most pureed and the simplest, in terms of ingredients and flavor combinations. They also tend to contain an appropriate amount of food.
Feel free to mix two kinds of purees together. After a couple weeks, you can introduce your infant to Stage 2 baby foods. And you can always mix in foods labeled as appropriate for earlier stages, if there are certain purees that your baby really likes.
Stages are something developed by the commercial baby food industry. Here’s what they mean:
- Stage 1: a single ingredient, pureed, 4 to 6 months old
- Stage 2: mashed or strained ingredients, textured and/or mixed, 6 to 9 months
- Stage 3: chunkier ingredients requiring more chewing, 10 to 12 months
- Stage 4: small pieces for self-feeding, 12 months and older
- Stage 5: a regular variety of foods, 12 months and older
In months 6 and 7, your baby is unlikely to finish an entire container of packaged baby food in one sitting. You can safely feed your baby previously opened (and refrigerated) food for up to three days, but only if you use a clean spoon to transfer the puree to a dish for feeding.
If you have fed your baby directly from a jar, with the spoon going back and forth between the jar and your baby’s mouth, throw the remaining contents of the jar out after the meal; such activity encourages bacterial growth.
If you can, buy baby food packaged in glass jars, as plastic containers may include harmful chemicals known as BPA or BPS. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding food in containers labeled with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene), and 7 (bisphenols), unless also labeled as “bio-based” or “greenware,” which means that they are made from corn and do not contain bisphenols.
The average family buys 600 baby food containers during their child’s first year of life, so if your environmental impact matters to you, choose container types that can be reused or easily recycled in your area. You can find lots of creative ideas for reusing baby jars online, such as for rinsing paint brushes, nurturing plant cuttings, or storing condiments for your next campout.
Some studies report that commercial baby food tends to focus on fruits and vegetables that are sweet and lack bitter, sour, or spicy flavors. This is logical: Many babies love sweet foods, and loved foods tend to sell well. It’s important that your baby gets foods with a wide range of flavors, including bitter, so be mindful of that.
Your baby’s palate is a blank slate, with no preconceptions about what is weird when it comes to flavor combinations, so don’t hesitate to offer your baby some savory foods too. Mix it up!
Expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better. Be mindful of flashy products with persuasive marketing campaigns, and focus on the ingredients instead.
You may have seen or heard news reports declaring that food pouches are “bad,” but this isn’t necessarily the case. Pouches work well for many families because they are easy to use (and relatively clean), especially when on the go. At first, you can squeeze their contents onto a spoon, bite by bite. Eventually, babies learn to hold, squeeze, and suck everything out of a pouch all by themselves.
You don’t have to decide between making or buying baby food. Many families do both equally. Some opt to make homemade purees from seasonal ingredients and buy blends of foods that are not. Do whatever works best for your family. You might enjoy having the flexibility, especially if you are traveling, or things tend to get busy at meal times.
Variety is incredibly important for your baby’s growing palate, not least because you want to promote culinary adventurousness (and avoid pickiness). Variety is also key to balanced nutrition while helping avoid overuse of potentially problematic foods.
We know it’s typically more expensive, but if your budget allows, seek out organic baby foods. Even organic soil contains nitrates and heavy metals. But if you’re concerned about pesticides or GMOs (genetically modified organisms), organic foods are your answer.
If you want to be strategic about your organic-food shopping, try buying organic strawberries, spinach, apples, nectarines, and peaches in particular, because these are found on the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list of foods that are typically the most contaminated with pesticides.
Why you might make baby food
If you like to cook, have a garden, or just like being really hands-on, then maybe making baby food is the way to go. It’s not as hard as you might think, and it’s not all that much extra work, either.
8 reasons to make baby food
If you’re debating whether to make baby food for your little one, there are plenty of compelling reasons to do so. These are our top eight.
If you know how to cook and enjoy it, making baby food isn’t much of a stretch. For example, if you make a stew for yourself, your baby can eat some of the blended broth, meat, and mashed vegetables. Blending ingredients you love—and are already buying and preparing—introduces your baby to the way the rest of your family eats. It’s possible to cook only one family meal, starting on your baby’s first day of solids. And we encourage doing so!
Babies who are ready for solids are ready to explore a plethora of textures and flavors. In fact, in comparison to adults, they have double the number of taste buds, and those are constantly evolving. The sweet foods your baby naturally loves will mix well with foods that are not sweet. And although babies may seem to show a preference for sweet foods, it is important to also introduce them to (and regularly mix in) foods that one might consider sour, bitter, or even spicy.
The more variety infants are exposed to while they are in this very food-curious stage of life, the higher the chance they will be open to trying new foods—and new combinations of foods—as they get older. So don’t be afraid to get creative (and unconventional) when preparing food for your baby. Your brand-new eater won’t know that your homemade blend of asparagus puree and applesauce is weird!
If you make baby food, you have more insight into and control over your child’s nutrition because you can more easily know what’s in it and where it came from. You can also methodically introduce certain flavors and textures.
Once your baby gets into the swing of eating, and you’ve identified some favorite foods, you can experiment with new ingredient combinations, mixing and remixing, blending and blending again. (You might even discover a smoothie recipe you love.) This method allows you to introduce variety when and how you want to.
Even the highest-quality baby food sold at the best markets can feel processed in comparison to baby foods you can make with the local and seasonal produce already in your shopping cart or on your kitchen counter. Your concoctions will likely be more fresh and flavorful—and offer a lot more variety—than prepared baby foods you typically find at the grocery store.
There’s no sugarcoating it: Taking care of a baby can get very expensive. Making your own baby food will likely save you some money for three reasons:
- You aren’t paying a premium for special baby food marketing and packaging.
- You are buying just a little bit more than your typical amount of food.
- Fresh in-season produce is typically less expensive than its packaged counterpart.
We all get into food ruts, routinely making certain meals. There are amazing fruits, vegetables, proteins, and grains we forget about—and others we haven't tried yet. If you are making your own baby food, you have a great reason to try new ingredients and recipes—or go back to ones you haven’t prepared in ages. Maybe it’s time to pick up some mushrooms, ground bison, or lentils, for example. Your family has the chance to try foods with a fresh perspective—and watch as your baby tastes them for the very first time.
Making baby food provides ample opportunities for creative meal planning. It also can give you flexibility. In the early months of eating solids, your baby will eat smaller portions. Freezing your baby’s leftovers in small containers or even in an ice cube tray can give you a variety of quick options for future meals. If you’re planning to be away from home for a family meal, you can pack a frozen morsel and let it naturally melt before feeding it to your baby.
Beware of people and companies telling you that you need special gadgets and guides to make baby food. If you have a blender, a roasting pan, and a steamer insert for a regular saucepan, you probably don’t need to buy anything new. (A food processor is nice, but not essential). For the first couple months your baby eats solids, at least, you’ll only be making purees.
At the end of the day, how you feed your baby is a highly personal choice, and you have plenty of options. There’s a good chance that you take a combination approach of spoon-feeding purees while offering chunks of soft, finger-size foods to fluidly respond to your baby’s increasing levels of autonomy.
“By 8 or 9 months, all of this sorts itself out anyway, so there’s nothing wrong with combining your approach,” Dr. Panchal says.
References
1 https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/baby-led-weaning-introducing-complementary-foods-infancy
2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4400680/
3 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302270995_How_different_are_baby-led_weaning_and_conventional_complementary_feeding_A_cross-sectional_study_of_infants_aged_6-8_months
4 https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/127/6/e1565/30112/Is-Frequency-of-Shared-Family-Meals-Related-to-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext
5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20830511
6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4400680/
7 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302270995_How_different_are_baby-led_weaning_and_conventional_complementary_feeding_A_cross-sectional_study_of_infants_aged_6-8_months
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