At the age of six months, your baby can commence the digestion of solid foods as well as processing daily milk feeds. This is the age in which the gradual process of introducing solid foods helps to teach your baby to eat; the starting point being the sensation of feeling food in their mouth! There is no need to rush, your baby will still receive nourishment from breast or formula milk, and you too, will be breastfeeding and/ or formula-feeding much the same as before.

So, when you start feeding solid foods, it’s best to choose a time when your baby is calm and alert, and you are relaxed. It doesn’t matter whether you offer food to your baby after or halfway through one of your usual milk feeds but it’s best not to give solids when your baby is very hungry and expecting a breast-feed (or bottle-feed) – he could just get frustrated. The food may come back out of their mouths at first. This doesn’t mean they don’t like it but they just need more practice. So, it’s better not to press food on your baby if they don’t seem to like the taste, or just don’t want to eat. Rather, stop, and try again the next day.

Start by offering a small amount (say a couple of teaspoons), once a day. As your baby gets used to taking food from a spoon and moving it to the back of the mouth to swallow it, gradually build up to offering food twice, then three times a day. All babies are different and some babies are much more enthusiastic about starting solid foods than others, so you can try to give your baby more if he seems to want more.

If your baby only eats very small amounts, there is no need to worry especially if you are still being breastfeeding on demand, or feeding plenty of formula milk. In fact, your baby still needs plenty of breast milk or formula milk until they reach one year of age. How much they need depends on how well they take to solid foods, and this may vary from day to day. Let your baby decide how much milk it needs each day.

Remember that when babies are ill, they often lose their appetite for solid foods. For babies who are breastfed, they tend to want to breastfeed more often when they are ill, and breast milk will provide the nutrients to help speed up the healing process. Breastfeeding serves as a comforting experience so if your baby is ill, don’t force solid foods  wait until they show an interest again, and offer milk as often as your baby needs.

How much you give, how often, the consistency, texture, and range of different foods you offer needs to change as your baby grows and gradually learns how to chew, how to hold a spoon and, in time, how to feed themselves.

Basic tips on getting started

• Start giving solid foods when you and your baby are calm and your baby is alert
• Remember your baby will need to learn how to eat solid foods
• Start by offering just a couple of teaspoons once a day
• If your baby doesn’t seem to want to eat, stop and try again the next day
• Build up to offering food twice, then three times a day
• Give more if they want more

Practical tips that will help, to make starting solids easier, safer and more enjoyable

• Remember all babies are different: don’t worry if they don’t want much to eat at first (if they’re well and still breast or bottle-feeding) 
  Go at your baby’s pace. Allow plenty of time for feeding, particularly at first. Your baby needs to learn how to move solid food from the front of the tongue to the back of the mouth to swallow it. Food is going to taste and feel different – so it’s bound to take time for your baby to get used to it and to learn the new skills they need.
  
  
• Use a cup (with a lid) for drinks. Using a cup is better for your baby’s teeth. Comfort-sucking on a bottle can easily become a habit so it’s best to try to avoid this. If you have been breastfeeding your baby, you don’t need to start giving them a bottle when you start giving solid foods. You can use a cup for any extra drinks from six months. If you are bottle-feeding, when you start giving solids, use a cup for drinks and aim to have your baby no longer using a bottle for milk or other drinks by a year old.
  
  
• Keep a close eye on your baby when he or she is eating to make sure they don’t choke. Take particular care with hard foods such as raw carrot sticks or apple pieces, small round foods like grapes and foods with skin such as sausages. Peel and cut food into small pieces, or lightly cook vegetables such as carrots. Make sure there are no bones in fish before you give it to your baby – you might need to look carefully for any small bones.
  
  
• Don’t force feed. Wait for your baby to open their mouth when you are spoon-feeding. Most babies know when they’ve had enough to eat so don’t spend a lot of time trying to get your baby to take food – they may learn that refusing is a good way of getting attention. If they don’t seem to like a particular food this time, try again another day. Sometimes you’ll need to offer a food more than ten times before your baby will try it.
  
  
• Encourage your baby to help with feeding.
  Babies soon show an interest in feeding themselves if you let them. Encourage them by offering finger foods they can hold during a meal.  Let them touch the food in the dish or try giving them a spoon to hold for themselves.
  
  
• Eat with your baby. Sitting and eating some meals together with you, and the rest of the family, can encourage your baby to try a wider range of foods. Babies like to copy and they will often want to try what you’re eating. It also helps them to settle into your meal pattern.
  
  
• Make mealtimes fun. Some of the first words babies learn are for foods – or the word ‘more’. Starting solids opens up a whole new world of learning for your baby. So try to make mealtimes an enjoyable time. 
  
  
• Use home-prepared food when you can. You just need to mash it up for your baby. This way you’ll know the ingredients of the food, and you’ll be getting your baby used to what you eat. Breastfed babies get the flavours of their mothers’ food through breast milk and so they are more likely to take to foods their mothers eat. Bought baby foods can be useful, but don’t let them replace home-prepared foods altogether. Using your own food will probably be cheaper too.
  You can offer a wide variety of the foods you normally have in your house, but remember, when you’re cooking don’t add salt or sugar so your baby can eat the food too. And if you’re using any food products not aimed at babies, remember that many can be high in salt and sugar. You can prepare extra food and keep small portions to use later. It’s important to cool the food down quickly (within two hours), before putting it in the fridge. Then use it within two days. Or if you have a freezer, cool the food down quickly and freeze it, then use within three months. Reheat the food only once and make sure it’s piping hot all the way through, then let it cool before feeding it to your baby.