Our video is presented by Melissa Little, Paediatric Dietitian

You want to be introducing your baby to solids at around 6 months alongside their milk.

Being ready for solids depends on:

The maturity of your baby’s gut. Research shows that the best way to reduce the risk of allergies and other health risks is to wait until around 6 months.

The physical development of your baby.

• There are three clear signs, which when they appear together at about 6 months of age, show that a baby is ready for solid foods alongside breastmilk or first infant formula. These are;
• they can stay in a sitting position holding their head steady
• they can coordinate their eyes hand and mouth so they can look at their food, pick it up and put it in their mouth
• they can swallow food (rather than spitting it back out).

• They can’t sit up in the highchair – slumps and can’t hold their head up.
• They push the food you give them on a spoon straight back out.
• They might close her mouth and not be interested.

The most important thing to remember is all babies develop at different rates and so you really have to look at your baby and assess whether she is ready.

If the signs are there, go ahead, and if they’re not, just wait a few days and try again.

If your baby was born prematurely or she has a diagnosed developmental delay, speak to her doctor or child development team about the best time and way to introduce solids.

If your baby is six months old you will be able to offer her a range of foods: vegetables, eggs, meat, fish, pulses, dairy foods, starchy foods such as potato, rice, pasta and foods made from other grains and seeds and fruits.

Some traditional good first foods for babies include:

• Plain yoghurt, fork mashed eggs, beans and lentils, potato, carrot and squash, avocado, fish (check for no bones)
• Soft cooked vegetables such as carrot sticks and broccoli spears to hold.

When your baby is first introduced to solid foods, she may take very little food, and that’s OK. Give her whatever she wants, and offer a breastfeed or a bottle of infant formula after and allow her to take the amount she needs (milk will be her main source of calories when you first introduce solids).

Don’t worry if at first, your baby takes only a little bit at first, but don’t be put off if a food is rejected, just try it again another day. She is just learning how to take food in a completely new way and it may take a while for her to get the hang of it! As her food intake increases, she will decrease her milk intake.

Once you’ve decided to start, take it slowly, make it fun and remember not to rely on the solid food for your baby’s nutrition, to begin with. Keep offering breastmilk or infant formula after meals and see trying new foods as a time for fun and exploring textures and tastes.

Choose a time when you are not in a hurry…. and your baby’s alert and relaxed.

When you’ve chosen the right time to start and it about the time your baby would take a milk feed, offer some solid foods, and when she has had enough offer the milk feed. You can then slowly build up the number of solid food meals you give throughout the day until you reach 3 meals a day at 7-9 months.

• Start around 6 months old.
• Look for physical signs that your baby is ready such as good head and neck control, being able to sit up and not pushing food out with her tongue.
• Your baby may not eat a lot at the beginning. That’s fine, take it slowly and try to make it fun.
• Offer food before a normal milk feed at one meal to start with and as baby gets used to eating solid foods aim to offer food at 3 meals a day at 7-9 months
• It is recommended that you continue breastfeeding for as long as you and your baby wish. If you are giving your baby infant formula, you can switch to giving them full fat cow’s milk after 12 months as infant formula is no longer necessary.