Intro to baby food

You’ve made it through the fourth trimester and are on your way to your baby’s 4-month checkup. During this appointment, you may be planning to ask a big question: When will my baby be ready for solid foods? This is an exciting but often confusing transition point for parents. Here’s what our experts recommend.

When to start feeding your baby solids

Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast milk (or formula, or a combination thereof) as the sole source of nutrition for your baby for approximately the first 6 months of life, your pediatrician might give you the go-ahead to start solids at the 4-month checkup. 

Around the 6-month mark, the iron stores your baby had at birth will start to deplete. Babies can get iron from food, so you don’t want to delay the introduction to solids much later than that. 

However, at 4 months of age, infants who are breastfed for more than half of their feedings should also receive iron supplementation, such as a liquid multivitamin with iron for infants, says Dr. Manisha Panchal, a pediatrician. 

“This takes the pressure off introducing solids to meet nutritional needs, since that transition can take some time,” she says. 

The advice you receive will be based on certain developmental signs indicating readiness for solids—and will be unique to your baby. If anyone in your family has dealt with a food allergy or eczema, you can still start your baby on potentially allergenic foods. 

“Your baby might be tested, if eczema is present, but pediatricians don’t typically restrict diets anymore because the most recent research shows that early exposure to common allergy-causing foods improves immunity,” says Dr. Panchal. (We know this may sound confusing; for more, check out the scoop on food allergies.)

“All babies should be given common allergy-causing foods by 12 months of age, including eggs and peanuts, in an age-appropriate form such as well-cooked eggs and smooth peanut butter (not whole nuts or pieces),” she says. “This includes babies who have eczema, another food allergy, or a family member with a food allergy–even though they may have a [genetically] higher chance of developing food allergies.” 

Your family’s pediatrician can help you determine if it’s time to start solid foods based on whether your baby has reached certain physical milestones.

Risks of starting solids too early, before 4 months 

You might be really excited to introduce solids, but waiting until your baby is developmentally ready will reduce the following health risks:

Risks of starting solids late, after age 6 months

As babies grow, they need more iron in their diets, and after about 6 months, your breast milk and most formulas don’t meet all of your baby’s iron needs. First foods need to be rich in iron and provide a variety of other nutrients to support your baby’s growth; a late introduction to solids has been tied to anemia and iron deficiencies. 

Early exposure to different kinds of foods and textures is also important, as there’s evidence that it can prevent picky eating later on in childhood⁵,⁶.

If your baby hasn’t hit the milestones mentioned above, but you want to help your baby make progress in that direction, try some of these tips.

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:

There are a few ways to determine whether your baby is ready for solids.

Here’s what we know about baby-led weaning, according to science: 

Rewards of baby-led weaning

Risks of baby-led weaning

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.

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.

The introduction to solid foods is an exciting milestone for parents. There’s a whole sensory world of flavors and textures for babies to explore. Observing your baby develop a palate. accepting (and rejecting) different foods during this transition is a rewarding, frustrating, and sometimes hilarious experience. 

Tips for a successful introduction to solid foods

Before we talk about food for your baby, there’s one important thing to address: You. It’s true! Parents are incredibly important in this process, especially because things can get pretty emotional, pretty quickly, once you start getting into this phase. Here are a few things to keep in mind, when you feed your baby: 

“Some days babies have bigger appetites than others, so never force them to eat. Babies can start rejecting all foods, if they are forced to eat—it’s called feeding aversion,” Dr. Panchal says. 

Your language matters, too. Try not to label a food good or bad, or healthy or unhealthy—this attaches shame and other negative emotions to food. Food is just food. And at this stage, milk is still meeting almost all of babies’ nutritional needs; introducing solids is less about nutrition than about eating skills (and exploring senses).

The science behind your baby’s palate

You may have heard from your pediatrician or friends that exposing babies to 100 different foods before their first birthday is an ideal approach. That’s because from 6 months to about 16 months, you have an open window, developmentally speaking, to influence your baby’s food preferences—and this is especially true before 12 months. 

Because your baby will likely be receptive to myriad food choices during this time frame, it’s a great opportunity to introduce as many textures and flavors as you can, prepared in as many ways as possible. This is a proven strategy to reduce picky eating later in life².

When babies are just getting started with solid foods, they’re likely to love everything they’re offered. Parents can take advantage of this, helping to hardwire their children’s brains to register foods later in life. Translation: A baby who is fed a Brussels sprouts puree is more likely to like Brussels sprouts at ages 2, 12, and 22.

Crossing 100 foods off your baby food list sounds like a daunting task—and yet another thing to add to your laundry list of parenting to-dos. But the number doesn’t matter. Simply try to serve a variety of foods, and then boost exposure by serving the same food prepared in many different ways. You’re creating food memories! 

When your baby is first starting out, try pureed carrots, for example, then try mixing the puree with other fruits, veggies, or spices. Finally, when your baby is ready for pieces of food at around 8 or 9 months of age instead of puree, try steaming or roasting carrots, and cutting them into smaller pieces. No matter the size or raw consistency of the food, just ensure that it is served soft enough that it isn’t a choking hazard, Dr. Panchal advises. 

At about month 10, babies start developing their own preferences and won’t be as interested in trying new foods. You’ll notice that it will be harder for you to introduce new foods. But don’t lose heart: This is likely a phase, and it’s entirely possible that your baby will come back around to foods previously accepted. Keep experimenting and offering. 

That said, this end-of-infancy development is a good reason to take advantage of your baby’s earliest solids-eating months to easily introduce new foods. The less mealtime drama down the road, the better.

When—and how often—to feed solids

By the time your baby is 6 to 7 months old, aim to be offering solids one or two times per day. The number of daytime breast or bottle feeds will stay the same with the introduction of solid foods, because the majority of your baby’s nutrition will still come from breast milk or formula, and your baby will initially eat only a tablespoon or so of solid foods. 

At this point, your baby may no longer require nighttime feeds³, but to maintain your breast milk supply, you might find that you need to continue breastfeeding or pumping at night. If you and your baby want to continue breastfeeding at night, that’s more than OK!

How often and when you should feed your baby solids depends on what works for you. However, we recommend that you offer solid foods 30 minutes after breast or bottle feeding, and at least two hours before bedtime. Let’s take a look at a few sample days.

If you’re back at work (and breastfeeding/pumping):

If you’re home with your baby:

If home with your baby, and your child is ready for 2 daily meals:

How much solid food your baby should eat

As we mentioned above, babies still get most of their nutrition from breast milk or formula when starting to eat solids, so you won’t need to feed them more than a tablespoon or two at first. The general recommendation is to offer two tablespoons per food group (vegetables and fruit, grains, dairy, and proteins) per year of age per meal. 

This will help you plan what you need to buy or make, and avoid wasting food. But know, too, that some days babies might eat less than usual—or more of one food group than another. This is normal; don’t stress about what your child is eating each day: Just offer a good nutritional balance at each meal, think about it on a weekly basis, and trust your child’s eating intuition. 

Feeding your baby safely

Food should be pureed or soft for babies between 6 and 7 months. The goal is to be able to mash the food easily with your tongue and to avoid choking. You’ll want to either puree it, or serve pieces of food in a couple ways: larger than babies can fit into their mouths, or in strips the size of an adult index finger that are soft and therefore not a choking hazard. Babies and toddlers are more at risk to choke than older kids because their chewing skills are not yet fully developed, and they do not know how to clear their throats or cough on command⁴.

Is my baby choking or gagging? 

Babies often gag when they are learning how to eat. It can look like choking and freak you out a bit, but here’s how it works. 

A baby’s gag reflex starts in the middle of the tongue, and as they grow older, it starts to move toward the back of the tongue. This effectively means that as babies gain more experience with eating solid foods, they become less likely to gag.

At 6 months old, your baby can and should be drinking water alongside (and between) meals. Between now and 12 months is the ideal time for your child to learn the important skill of drinking from an open cup.

Learning to drink from a cup will take some time—including some messy trial and error—as holding, lifting, tipping, and drinking requires the following:

Some advice about water 

Once your baby starts on solids, drinking water helps prevent constipation. It also helps aid digestion, normalize blood pressure, and regulate body temperature. You can offer your child any kind of safe drinking water, including bottled, filtered, well, or public water. Some things to keep in mind:

Start serving water in an open cup, with or without a straw

Helping your child drink from an open cup, with or without a straw, can get messy—and feel like a lot of work at first—but it’s an ideal introduction to drinking all manner of liquids. 

Think about serving a few ounces of water at mealtime. The best way to do this is with an open small cup, or a tiny cup that may or may not have handles. (You can buy small open cups that have handles, or you can buy sippy cups with handles and lids, and simply remove the lids.) 

Sipping through a straw is another great skill your baby is ready to learn at 6 months. It might take some time to figure this one out! Don’t expect your little one to just “get it.” We’ve detailed two methods of introducing straws below—one with a pipette, and the other with a honey bear straw cup.

The purpose of introducing your baby to drinking water in an open cup is not necessarily to ensure that your baby drinks 4 to 8 ounces of liquid per day (the recommended amount for a 6-month old)². It is to get your baby used to the idea of regularly drinking water, which aids in digestion and regulating other important bodily functions. Using an open cup also gives your baby the opportunity to learn important motor skills and reduces the number of transitions (i.e, if you start with a sippy cup, you don’t have to make two transitions–just one).

When babies start eating solid foods, their digestive systems adapt—and their bowel movements change in color, consistency, frequency, and even smell. Exposed to fiber for the first time (breast milk and formula don’t contain it), there is a good chance that your little one experiences constipation for the first time. This will likely prompt your child’s pediatrician to suggest modifying your baby’s diet.

Here’s what you need to know about your baby’s bowel movements—and constipation—during this transition.

What is a normal amount of time between poops?

This depends on the consistency of the stool. If the bowel movements are only every five days, but the stool is coming out soft, without any straining, your child is not constipated. 

What should my baby’s poop look like?

This depends on your child’s age and diet. Babies who are exclusively breastfed normally have yellow, seedy soft stools, and their mother’s diet tends to influence the color a bit. Babies who drink formula normally also have soft stool, though it is often a little bit more tan or dark in color. 

Once babies start eating solids, the color of their stools can be tan, yellow, brown, or green, and still be normal. Some foods—including blueberries, corn, beets, and quinoa—tend to more clearly impact the color. (And the stools of breastfed babies will still be influenced by what their mother is eating.) The consistency of their stools should resemble toothpaste or soft molding clay. Stools shaped like balls indicate constipation. 

Have you ever heard of the Bristol Stool Chart?

It is harder to make out shapes when kids are still in diapers, but in general, this chart is super handy as a visual guide to your baby’s bowel movements. Ideally, your child will have Type 3 and 4 stools. Types 1 and 2 indicate constipation, and types 5-7 are abnormally loose.

Over the years, research about when and how to introduce babies to various allergens has progressed, and the corresponding expert advice has evolved. If you have an older child, you might be surprised to learn that pediatricians are no longer advising parents to wait to introduce their babies to peanuts and eggs. 

Whereas the common belief not so long ago was that if you expose babies to allergens too early, they’d develop food allergies or asthma, the current recommendation is to introduce potential allergens early and often¹,². 

Yes, you read that correctly. Experts today argue that a widespread rise in child food allergies in the United States—the majority of which were diagnosed before age 2³—came precisely because pediatricians were telling parents to avoid food allergens: The lack of exposure led young bodies to perceive these foods as a threat to their immune system.

In 2015, results of a study called LEAP led to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ updated guidance⁴. In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its allergen introduction recommendations accordingly⁵. 

In the LEAP study, researchers compared a group of babies who were introduced to peanuts between 4 and 11 months to a second group introduced at 5 years old. At age 5, they found that the first group—those who had eaten peanuts early and frequently—were 86 percent less likely to be allergic to peanuts. They did a few more comparisons, and kept finding that early peanut introduction seemed to lead to peanut allergy immunity⁶. 

What, exactly, is a food allergy?

When your immune system reacts negatively to a food, you’re allergic to it. Typically, this means that your body makes antibodies against the food and then gets activated after exposure. 

Food allergies can cause anaphylaxis: Within 60 to 90 minutes of exposure⁷, a rash might appear on your skin, as your blood pressure drops and your airways narrow, blocking your ability to breathe. It’s serious. If you notice your baby breaking out in hives, in combination with coughing, having trouble breathing, or vomiting, you should call 911 or immediately go to the nearest hospital emergency room.

What is a food intolerance? 

Food intolerance is not as easy to test for as a food allergy; there’s no clear test for lactose intolerance, for example, Dr. Panchal says. Symptoms of an allergy tend to be clear and consistent, whereas intolerance symptoms are often more vague, inconsistent, and less severe. 

“Most food intolerances don’t cause skin reactions or symptoms, occur several hours after eating, and mainly involve GI symptoms,” Dr. Panchal says. If you have any questions about your baby’s digestive responses to food, ask your pediatrician.

How to introduce allergenic foods to your baby

Follow these five steps to determine readiness and start your baby on the path of trying potentially allergenic foods.

Step 1: Know if your baby is ready for solids

At 4 months of age, some signs will start to appear that your baby is preparing to eat solids, including increased trunk and head strength, as well as a clear interest in food. Your little one will have doubled in size since birth, and the extrusion reflex—which causes babies to push solid foods out of their mouth with their tongue—will disappear. By 6 months, your baby will likely be ready for solids. 

Step 2: Decide when to introduce allergens

At 6 months old, your baby should be ready to start with solid foods, including potential allergens.

If you know that your child already has an egg allergy, or severe eczema, talk to your doctor. (Experts say eczema is severe when it’s hard to control, you’ve been referred to a specialist, and/or you have multiple prescriptions for your 4- to 6-month old baby.) Keep in mind, however, that severe eczema doesn't necessarily have a direct connection with food allergies, Dr. Panchal says. There's usually no reason to avoid or alter food allergen introduction, and many babies outgrow severe eczema.

Experts recommend giving your baby a new food during the day—morning or lunchtime is ideal—and not within two hours of your baby’s bedtime, so you have enough time to observe a reaction, if any, to the new food, and respond accordingly. 

A high percentage of allergic reactions occur within just a couple hours of exposure, says Dr. Panchal. She recommends offering the new food at home, not at your child’s day care center or in a restaurant, so you know exactly what your baby is eating and so you can observe the response.

Step 3: Figure out which foods to serve, and how

Now that you’ve figured out when to introduce allergenic foods, you can plan which foods to offer your child—and how to prepare them. Whereas pediatricians previously advised parents to introduce peanuts and eggs first, Dr. Panchal says, today’s consensus is that the introduction order doesn’t matter. 

The nine top food allergens in the United States are: 

Here are some suggestions about how to introduce those foods: