Your baby is fed and you finally can settle down to enjoy your meal. As you bring your first mouthful towards you, your baby successfully squeals for your attention and points at your food.  Could they be hungry still? Surely not! They just had their milk so what is your little one saying?

Bub has been more curious about their surroundings lately so could they be interested in what you’re eating? They continue to bounce and point and looks at you imploringly with those wide shiny irresistible eyes. There’s no doubt your bub wants what you’re having!  But they’re only 5 months old. Can they even take solid food yet?

When to start your baby on solids

The current guidelines recommend introducing solids to babies at 6 months of age. This is because at this stage they need more nutrients than what can be provided from breast milk or formula. They have also reached a stage of development where they are ready to try new foods, textures and modes of feeding.

However, all babies develop at different rates so when your baby is ready for solids, he will let you know in his own baby language. This could include showing interest in what you’re eating or trying to grab your food.

Usually by this stage your baby can sit upright without any difficulty and has lost the tongue-thrust reflex that pushes food back out of their mouth. This allows them to manipulate food before swallowing and means they can manage thicker foods beside milk.

What solid foods should you start your baby with?

Take advantage of this period of intense curiosity and introduce a wide variety of solid foods of different tastes to your baby. This will ensure their nutritional needs are met and help them accept a wide range of flavours.

Also keep in mind to introduce a variety of textures of food suitable for your baby’s stage of development. This usually progresses from pureed to lumpy to normal textures during the 6-12 month period. Increasing and varying food textures also helps develop their oral movement and encourages them to chew.

Importantly, your baby’s first solid foods must be rich in iron and zinc. Eat for Health suggests foods including iron-fortified cereals, pureed meat, poultry and fish, or cooked plain tofu, legumes, soybeans and lentils.  Vegetables, fruits and dairy products such as full-fat yoghurt, cheese and custard can also be introduced. Continual breast or formula feeding is recommended during this time, regardless of your baby’s age.

You can keep it simple by using the foods you’re having but make sure not to add extra fats, sugars or salt, and that the food can be modified to the texture your baby can manage. Using your own food has the added benefit of satiating your baby’s curiosity of your food but it means you are their role model in what they eat!

Remember, variety is the secret ingredient to ensure enough energy and nutrient supply and continual acceptance of new foods!

What solid foods shouldn’t be introduced to your baby?

Don’t use salt or sugar

If you are using your own food for you baby’s first foods, there are a few things you must avoid adding to your cooking. Salt should not be added to your baby’s food as their kidneys are still unable to remove excess salt.  Also don’t add sugar as this increases their risk of dental cavities. Importantly, infants given salty or very sweet foods may take a liking to these flavours, leading to a tendency for these flavours later in life.

Small, hard foods are choking hazards

Avoid small, hard pieces of food that can cause choking such as whole nuts, seeds, raw carrot and apple chunks. If these foods are given, ensure they have been modified to pastes to suit your baby’s stage of development. In fact, it is now recommended to treat peanuts the same as any other foods and to introduce them at around 6 months of age, provided they are not given as the whole nut.

No cow milk or fruit juice

Drinks that may interfere with breast milk or formula should not be given whilst your baby is moving from liquid to solid food. These include cow’s milk, fruit juice and sugar-sweetened drinks. Milk from animal sources including cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk is not recommended due to differences in protein and electrolyte concentrations. However, small amounts can be given as part of solid foods such as in custards or cereal. The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends not giving fruit juice to infants and must not be considered a replacement for fruit.  If additional liquid is needed, cooled boiled tap water is recommended.

When to seek help

Always seek the advice of a dietician or appropriate health professional if food choices are restricted due to medical reasons such as allergies. They will be able to provide you the advice necessary to ensure that your baby’s dietary intake meets their nutritional and energy requirements.

3 recipes for your baby’s first solid food

The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends the below food patterns for infants aged 7-12 months. As your baby needs time to transition from liquid to solid food, it may take around a month from when they started solids before they are able to consume the serving sizes recommended below. You may find these recommendations useful in determining how much of each ingredient to use when preparing your baby’s first solids.

1.  Sweet vegetable puree

Ingredients:

You can use any of these vegetables to puree:

- Potato
- Sweet potato
- Carrot
- Corn cob
- Broccoli
- Zucchini

Steps:

1. Steam vegetables until soft

2. Puree vegetables

Tips: Boiling vegetables may remove some nutrients and flavour. Use naturally sweet vegetables to ensure puree is flavoursome and additional sugar or salt is not required 

2. Berry Yoghurt

Ingredients:

You can use any of these berries:

- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries

Steps:

1. Place yoghurt in a small bowl

2. Push berries through a sieve into a second small bowl. Discard seeds

3. Mix berry puree into yoghurt

3. Beef Stew

Ingredients:

- Lean beef

You can use any of these vegetables:

- Onions
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Celery

And any of these herbs to flavour the stew. (Remember not to add any salt or sugar)

- Fresh basil leaves
- Fresh parsley
- Rosemary leaves 

Steps:

1. Place lean beef and vegetables into a pot and cover with just enough water

2. Boil until beef is tender and vegetables are soft

3. Remove some of the soup into a bowl

4. Puree the stew

5. Add more soup if necessary