Starting Solid Foods

Once you've determined your baby is ready to start solid foods, there are a few guidelines to follow...

• For most babies, it doesn't actually matter which foods you start with.
  • You can start with single-grain baby cereal (oat or barley for example), veggies, fruit, meat, dairy, etc.
  • There is no medical evidence that starting these foods in any specific order is best.
• There is, however, evidence that we can prevent food allergies from happening by introducing them early and often.
  • Early means 4-6 months of age.
  • Often means several times per week.
  • Please read our food allergy prevention guide to make sure you do everything you can to stop food allergies before they start.
• Always use a baby spoon, not the bottle.
• Offer small amounts on the baby spoon a few times per day.
• In the beginning, offer this food after baby's had some breast milk or formula, not at the beginning of the feed when hungry and easily frustrated.
  • After a few weeks like this, you can start offering pureed food at the beginning of the feeds.
• Don't be discouraged if he doesn't seem to like what you give him.
  • It can take babies 15 or more times of trying a food before they'll accept it into the diet.
  • Even if he tries to convince you he hates that food and always will, be patient and keep offering it every day.
    • He doesn't hate it, he's just not used to it yet.
• At first, the majority of the nutrition will still come from breast milk and/or formula.
  • Over the course of several weeks to months, this will begin to change.
  • Follow your baby's lead on this.
  • If he seems to like the food you give and want more, follow his cues and give more.
  • There is no minimum amount of milk your baby must have per day.