Introducing your baby to solids is an exciting new milestone. But it can also feel confusing and overwhelming for a new parent or even a seasoned parent! Today I’m sharing the signs of readiness to start solids, approaches to feeding, and the best first foods for babies. My hope is that you will leave this post with renewed confidence and inspiration to start solids confidently with your little one!

Is my baby ready for solids?

While some pediatricians may recommend you begin solids at ~4 months, this advice is outdated. The World Health Organization (WHO), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and U.S. National Institute for Health (NIH), all recommend babies should exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of life and parents should wait until their baby is about ~6 months and showing the development signs of readiness before introducing complimentary foods.

So what are the signs of readiness?

The majority of healthy babies who are ~6 months old and have reached the following developmental milestones are ready to begin solids. These skills include:

• Sitting upright with minimal support
  • Your baby should be able to sit upright without slouching. With some high chairs, you may have to add some additional support by propping them up and placing a folded towel behind their back to help them get in the proper upright position.

• Maintaining good head and neck control
  • This is important to help prevent choking during mealtimes and so that your baby can focus their energy on eating and not stabilizing their body!

• Diminishing tongue thrust reflex
  • This is when your baby stops pushing food out automatically with their tongue.

• Bringing hands and objects to their mouth with precision
  • This milestone is important regardless of what approach you choose to feed your baby.

• Showing interest in food! Your Baby is watching you, opening their mouth, making chewing motions, or leaning forward for food!
  • This sign alone is not enough to begins solids. They need to also meet the additional developmental milestones listed above! So while you wait to introduce solids, you can include your baby during mealtimes, have them watch you, and offer them lots of opportunities to mouth objects!

Is your baby meeting all these signs of developmental readiness? If you answered yes, get ready for lots of mess and an exciting new food adventure with your little one!

A note on starting solids too early or too late

There are no benefits to offering your baby solids before they are developmentally ready. In fact, starting solids early could lead to higher risk for infections and allergies because your baby has an immature digestive system.

*The one exception to starting solids a bit sooner (~4-6 months) may be if your baby has a high risk for developing allergies and could potentially benefit from introduction of allergens. Always consult with your health care provider (pediatrician or allergist) if you have concerns.*

If your baby is otherwise healthy and showing signs of readiness, it is recommended you introduce solids within what I like to think of as a ‘sweet spot’ of ~6-9 months. Starting too late can risk baby missing key nutrients, not getting practice to develop their motor skills and has potential link to asthma, hay fever, eczema or food allergies long-term.

What is Baby Led Weaning (BLW)?

Maybe you’ve heard of Baby Led Weaning/Feeding (BLW)? It’s an approach for babies who are beginning to eat solid foods. It’s all about sharing meals together as a family, letting your baby feed themselves and eat intuitively! You don’t have to spoon-feed your baby or puree their foods. You are trusting your baby to pick up, explore, and eat food at their own pace.

Can I still offer purees?

Yes! With Baby Led Weaning it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Think about it, you probably eat pureed textures like hummus, yogurt, applesauce, and soup all the time! Introducing a variety of textures to your baby helps them become more adventurous and less picky in the long-term.

You can offer purees by pre-loading a spoon, dipping a puree on a solid food, or applying it as a spread on food and then offering it to your baby to feed themselves,

Wait, my baby doesn’t have teeth though!

Fun fact: babies don’t need teeth to eat solids! Their gums are very strong. Just put your finger in their mouth and feel them chomp down, you’ll understand (ouch! haha). Before one year, teeth are pretty irrelevant. Your baby can chew and grind up all sorts of foods with no teeth at all!

What are the best first foods for babies?

A reminder that breastmilk or formula feeds should continue as normal and on-demand when introducing solids.

There are so many foods you can introduce your baby to but one of the most important to begin with are iron-rich foods. Why? Around 6 months your baby’s iron stores deplete and there isn’t enough iron in breast milk to meet your their high iron needs for their brain development and growth.

You can get iron-rich foods from heme sources (aka animal-based sources like meat, fish, poultry) and non-heme sources (aka plant-based sources like beans, lentils, and some vegetables). Combining these foods with vitamin C rich foods can increase your baby’s iron absorption up to 50%!

Ready to get started? Starting solids can be overwhelming and it’s certainly very messy at times. But is also so exciting and can be so fun! Remember to give yourself grace in the process, trust your baby and let them lead the way. You’ve got this!

Want more support?

If you’re ready to learn more about starting solids with your baby, join my interactive First Bites Class at Be Hive Wellness in Tysons, VA! Looking for more individualized support, contact me today to book an in-home starting solids consultation!