Solid Baby Food Time?

I had heard the stories about babies making all kinds of funny faces when trying solid baby food the first time. So we loaded the camera, invited our families and served a small amount of potato mixed with breast milk.

Our daughter gaped, swallowed and gaped again. End of story.

Not much action, but the start of a fairly uncomplicated transition from breastfeeding to solid food.

Our youngest boy was harder to convince of the benefits of solid food. Or actually of anything but breast milk. He made faces and spat it all out in the beginning.

People are different.

All babies are not impressed by solid baby food.

They might be suspicious to all new tasted and weird consistencies. They might have difficulties swallowing anything but liquid. Then there are allergies.

Below you'll find tips to get a good start in the transition to solid baby food.

If you plan to cook some food yourself, make sure to check our list of foods to avoid when feeding infants.

For some instructions on how make food for your baby, click here.

And when you are ready to start cooking, click here for some baby food recipes to start with.

Or for some recipes for a bit older babies (8 months and up), click here.

Finger foods for babies can be found here.

And finally, if you're not sure how to compose a healthy meal for your baby, check our useful baby vitamin guide.

Now to the baby food tips. I've tried all of these tips, although not all of them with all my kids. Pick and choose depending on your situation. So, here we go:

Tips for an Easy Baby Food Start

• Load the camera
• Start at around six months
• Start with a simple taste
• Start with a small amount
• Additional liquid or not
• When to feed your baby
• How do I know if my baby is full?
• Don't force it!
• Equipment advice

Load the camera

It doesn't really matter if the baby spits it all out or swallows and asks for more, it is still a memorable moment. So load your camera or video camera!

If you need some tips on how to take great baby pictures, click here.

Start at around six months

Why the change?

WHO has reviewed all the benefits of breastfeeding. There are a lot of benefits from breastfeeding. However, many babies become interested in what their parents put in their mouths at some point when they are 4-6 months old. Older than 6 moths, it may be harder to start with solid baby food.

Another landmark is that your baby should at least have doubled his birth weight.

So start at around six months. Check with your baby's healthcare provider for your specific situation.

Start when the baby seems to be interested.

How can you know if your baby is interested? Well, one way is to try...

Another one is to study your baby's reactions when he is sitting on your lap when the rest of the family eats. If he follows what you do, maybe tries to grab the fork or the food, he might be open to try this strange habit himself.

To make life easier, wait with introducing solid food until your baby can hold his head steadily and sit well on your lap. He doesn't have to be able to sit by himself, though.

Another indication that your baby is ready for solid food is that he seems hungry! He might be gaining weight as he should, but wants to eat more often or is less content.

Start with a simple taste

Start with something easy. Either buy a can of baby food for his appropriate age, make baby cereals or cook a potato that you mash and mix with breast milk or formula. There should be no lumps at all in the food. More recipes for the absolute beginner can be found here.

Don't use any salt at all when you prepare your baby's food! His kidneys are not enough developed handle salt.

Also wait with serving meat and fish until your baby is older than six months. Fruit, vegetables and cereals are good choices in the beginning. Whatever meal you start to choose with, make it semi-liquid.

Start with a small amount

If your baby likes what he gets you can increase the amount slowly during the next few days until he eats around 3 table spoons. Then start with another kind of food if you like.

Additional liquid or not

I tried giving him water but he refused. I then rushed to the drugstore to buy some baby juice.

What nonsense!

In the beginning your baby will still get almost all his food in liquid form. Absolutely no reason to introduce expensive baby juice or other liquid.

Offer water, nothing else (except for breastfeeding or formula, of course).

When to feed your baby

It may seem very tempting to serve the solid food in the evening to maybe help your baby sleep longer without getting hungry.

That's just fine, but you might want to start earlier in the day the first few times, just to make sure that baby food doesn't give your baby stomach pain.

So if the evening is your goal, start feeding him baby food in the afternoon and then move to the evening after a few days.

Just a tip, though - lunch is usually a good time of the day for cooked solid foods. For a possible feeding schedule for the 6-8 month-old baby, click here.

Or if your baby is older than 8 months, check this feeding schedule.

Don't try to feed him when he is very tired, that will only cause problems!

Also, don't wait until your baby is starving, he will be very focused then on getting his usual breast milk or formula. In such case, first feed him his usual food and then give him some solid baby food afterwards.

How do I know if my baby is full?

For breastfeeding mothers, this might be the first time you actually notice how much your baby eats. When breastfeeding there is no way to know without pumping.

So just relax. Your baby will eat as much as he likes. Offer him one more spoon a few times. If he continues to reject it, respect his choice.

If your baby doesn't want any, try again the next day. And the next. To learn some more about children's eating habits, click here.

Don't force it!

Eating is natural and fun should be your message. Let him take his time and never force your baby to eat. If he is ready, he will be interested in a day or two.

If your baby continues to make faces and spit, consider trying another taste. For example cereal instead of potatoes.

If your baby gets upset or refuses to taste the food, don't force it. Wait a week or two and try again.

There is no hurry.

Have you ever seen an adult who lives on formula? No? Well you see, it's just a matter of time before your baby eats only solid food!

For some tips on how to avoid power struggles at meal time, click here.

Remember that it is a lot more fun to try to encourage a picky eater, than to force him.

Equipment advice

If your baby can sit steady enough, a high chair is convenient.

For high chairs, Danish design Tripp Trapp is very good, and practically can't be worn out.

Check out some of the current deals on baby feeding gear below.

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Do you still need help with your baby's eating habits? You'll find a large number of baby feeding questions already answered here.

Also, don't hesitate to use our Baby Help Line if you can't find what you're looking for among the baby feeding questions aswered.