Introducing solid foods to your 6-month-old baby is an exciting milestone. This comprehensive guide provides sample meals, snacks, and menus tailored for babies aged 6 to 12 months, focusing on food safety, appropriate portions, and nutritional balance. Remember that breast milk or formula remains the primary source of nutrition during the first year, so continue to offer it as you were before starting solids. Your little one will begin to reduce how much formula or breastmilk they take as they get closer to 1 year.
Introduction to Solid Foods
Around 6 months, infants typically show signs of readiness for solid foods. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend introducing solid foods around this age. These signs include the ability to sit with minimal support, good head and neck control, the ability to bring objects to their mouth, and an interest in food. It's important to consult with your pediatrician to determine the best time to start solids for your baby.
Food Safety
Ensuring food is safely prepared is crucial to prevent choking and food poisoning. Here are essential tips:
- Wash produce: Thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables. Peel skin as needed.
- Remove seeds and pits: Ensure fruits like cherries and grapes are pitted.
- Cut into appropriate sizes: Cut grapes, cherry tomatoes, and large berries into quarters.
- Cook thoroughly: Grate or cook firm vegetables and fruits (e.g., carrots, apples) until they’re soft enough to be squished with your fingers. Soft vegetables and fruits like ripe bananas, melons, and avocados do not need to be cooked.
- Finely chop stringy foods: Celery and pineapple should be finely chopped.
- Cook protein foods: Cook eggs until the yolk is firm. Cook tofu. Remove skin and bones from fish and poultry. Ensure fish, shellfish, poultry, and meat are fully cooked to safe cooking temperatures.
- Avoid certain forms of nut butters and whole nuts: Do not offer nut or seed butters alone on a spoon. Instead, thinly spread smooth nut or seed butters on foods like toast or crackers, or mix them into infant cereal. Do not offer whole peanuts, nuts, or seeds.
- Grate hard cheeses: Cheddar and other hard cheeses should be grated.
- Avoid risky grains: Avoid grains mixed with foods that are common choking risks. Do not offer foods that are round, hard, sticky, and difficult to swallow. This includes popcorn, marshmallows, dried fruit like raisins, and gummies or hard candies.
Textures
Your baby will be able to eat soft textures, even before they have teeth. This includes foods that are:
- Lumpy: Offer foods with lumpy textures by no later than 9 months.
- Tender-cooked and finely minced, pureed, mashed, or ground
- Safe finger foods: Such as strips or pieces of soft-cooked vegetables, soft fruits, and toast.
By around 8 to 12 months of age, your baby will be able to bite and chew chopped foods.
Read also: Carnivore Diet for Beginners
Portion Sizes
The amount of food a baby needs varies based on their appetite. Initially, a baby might only eat 2 to 3 tablespoons of food a day. Start by offering one to 2 teaspoons at a time and increase as their appetite grows. Always watch for your baby’s hunger and fullness cues.
Signs of Hunger:
- Reaching for or pointing to food
- Opening their mouth, leaning forward, or getting excited for food
- Getting upset if food is taken away
Signs of Fullness:
- Closing their mouth when food is offered
- Pushing food away
- Refusing to eat or turning their head away
Sample Portion Sizes:
- 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 mL) of cooked vegetables, grains, meats, poultry, fish, beans, lentils, or tofu
- Half a medium egg
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of shredded cheese or yogurt
- 3 to 5 tablespoons (45 to 75 mL) of soft fruit
- A quarter to a half cup (60 to 125 mL) of prepared hot or cold cereal
- Half a piece of toast or muffin
- A quarter of a pita or other flatbread
Feeding Frequency
The frequency of solid food offerings depends on the baby’s age and appetite.
- By 8 months: 2 to 3 meals and 1 to 2 snacks
- By 12 months: 3 meals and 2 to 3 snacks
Try to align your baby’s meals with family meal times to encourage food skills, healthy eating patterns, and a willingness to try new foods.
What to Feed Your Baby
Babies can eat many of the same nutritious foods as the family, adjusted in size and texture as needed.
Guidelines for Preparing Meals and Snacks:
- Offer iron-rich foods: At least 2 times each day. For example, at 6 months stored iron begins to diminish. Since breast milk is not a good source of iron, including some iron-rich foods, such as fortified cereals and pureed meats, will help your little one get enough.
- Limit salt and sugar: Use little to no added salt or sugar.
- Include healthy fats: Incorporate sources of fat such as vegetable oil, nut or seed butters, soft margarine, cheese, fatty fish, and avocado. Nutritious sources of fat are important for your growing child.
- Introduce new foods: You may need to offer a new food more than 10 times before your child accepts it. Pairing new foods with familiar ones can help.
- Offer variety: Provide different food combinations, tastes, and textures.
Food Group Examples:
- Vegetables and Fruits:
- Ripe soft avocados, bananas, blackberries, kiwi, mangos, melons, oranges, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes
- Cooked broccoli, green beans, asparagus, carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, bell peppers
- Grated raw apples, carrots
- Cut into quarters: cherry tomatoes, grapes, large blueberries
- Canned or frozen fruits and vegetables with no added salt, sugar, or sugar substitutes
- Protein Foods:
- Iron-rich protein foods: Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas (if canned, choose those with no added salt)
- Nut butters added to baby cereal or thinly spread on crackers or toast
- Other protein foods: Full-fat plain yogurt, unsalted cottage cheese, grated or small pieces of hard cheese, like cheddar
- Whole Grain Foods:
- Iron-fortified infant cereal
- Unsweetened O-shaped cereal
- Toast, bread, pita, roti, Bannock, tortilla
- Rice, pasta, quinoa, couscous, barley
- Unsalted crackers
Sample Menus
Here are sample one-day menus for 6 to 9 and 9 to 12-month-old babies. Solid foods can be offered before or after breast milk or formula, depending on what works best for you and your baby.
Read also: Securing Your SPA: A Guide
6- to 9-Month-Olds
Breakfast:
- Option 1: Whole Ancient Grain Baby Cereal
- Option 2: Mashed avocado
- Option 3: Avocado and Pea Puree
- Option 4: Apple and acorn squash mash (pureed apples and squash mixed)
- Option 5: Pureed peaches or soft cooked pears
Lunch:
- Option 1: Root Vegetable Puree
- Option 2: Unsweetened whole milk yogurt
- Option 3: Avocado and Pea Puree
- Option 4: Pureed apples
- Option 5: Quinoa cereal
Dinner:
- Option 1: Mashed “Banacado” (banana and avocado mashed together)
- Option 2: Baby Muesli with Peach Yogurt
- Option 3: Tropical medley (mashed papaya and mango)
- Option 4: Garden veggie and fruit combo (mix mashed/pureed apples, spinach and peas)
- Option 5: Beet and Cantaloupe Puree
7- to 9-Month-Olds: Advancing Textures
Breakfast:
- Option 1: Unsweetened yogurt with mashed peaches
- Option 2: Oatmeal cereal
- Option 3: Whole grain waffle strips
- Option 4: Orange Sunny Soup
- Option 5: Soft scrambled egg
Lunch:
- Option 1: Soft cooked whole grain pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese
- Option 2: Slivers of turkey with peas
- Option 3: Unsweetened applesauce and shredded or cubed cheese
- Option 4: Chickpea and Carrot Spread
- Option 5: Cottage Cheese with Cinnamon and Diced Strawberries
Dinner:
- Option 1: Soft cooked slivers of chicken, with steamed carrots
- Option 2: Ginger Carrot & Sweet Potato Mash + Lean Beef
- Option 3: Small chunks of low mercury fish, like cod
- Option 4: Soft steamed chunks of broccoli or green beans
- Option 5: Lumpy, mashed kidney or black beans
Sample 6-Month-Old Feeding Schedule
Your baby’s schedule may vary based on their individual needs as well as the needs of your family. The following schedule is meant as a sample guide, not a strict plan.
- 6:30 AM: Nurse or bottle (wake up)
- 8:00 AM: Solid meal
- 10:00 AM: Nurse or bottle
- 1:30 PM: Nurse or bottle
- 4:30 PM: Nurse or bottle
- 6:30/7:00 PM: Nurse or bottle (before bed)
Baby-Led Weaning Sample:
- Wake-up: Breast milk or formula
- Breakfast: Breast milk or formula
- Mid-morning: Breast milk or formula
- Lunch: Chicken breast (served in strips), avocado strips, and banana strips
- Mid-afternoon: Breast milk or formula
- Dinner: Breast milk or formula
- Before bed: Breast milk or formula
Purees Sample:
- Wake-up: Breast milk or formula
- Breakfast: Breast milk or formula
- Mid-morning: Breast milk or formula
- Lunch: Black bean, avocado, or banana puree
- Mid-afternoon: Breast milk or formula
- Dinner: Breast milk or formula
- Before bed: Breast milk or formula
Tips for Feeding a 6-Month-Old
- Keep liquid feeds consistent: Breast milk and formula remain the main sources of nutrition at this age. Small amounts of water can be introduced around 6 months.
- Follow hunger and fullness cues: Feed your baby according to their hunger and fullness cues for both milk and solids. Feeding patterns may temporarily shift during teething or illness.
- Check for signs of readiness before beginning solids: Your baby should be able to sit with minimal support, bring objects to their mouth, have good head and neck control as well as show an interest in food before beginning solid foods.
- Start slow with solids: Babies at this age will want to explore and play with their food - this helps them learn! There’s no rush for them to eat large amounts of solid food at this age, so take it slow and offer about one solid meal per day.
- Ensure baby is safe when eating: Babies should be fed in a well-supported high chair and never be left alone. Food should be served in the right size and consistency.
- Focus on priority nutrients: Priority nutrients for this age group include iron, zinc, protein, and other essential nutrients. Be sure to include solid foods with these nutrients in their diet.
- Introduce allergens early and often: The latest research shows introducing high-risk allergen foods such as peanuts, eggs, and dairy may help lower the occurrence of food allergies. Unless advised otherwise by your pediatrician, introduce these foods early and often.
Introducing Allergens
Introduce one "single-ingredient" new food from any food group every 3 to 5 days. Studies suggest that introducing allergenic foods, such as fish, beyond 4 to 6 months of age prevents food allergy. Early introduction of peanut products is recommended for babies with severe eczema and/or egg allergy. Check with your child's doctor about how and when to give peanut products.
Foods most often associated with allergies are eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts and seeds, wheat, fish, shellfish, and cow’s milk (drinking cow’s milk is not recommended before 12 months, but milk can be used in small amounts in baked or cooked foods, and baby can also eat yogurt and cheese as long as there is no allergy or intolerance).
Advancing Textures
It’s important to advance texture once your baby is comfortable. Start with thin, pureed foods, thickening them a bit as baby gets used to eating. By 9 months of age, your baby should be eating foods from all food groups, and should have been introduced to lumpy purees. Some little ones may be able to handle small, soft pieces of finger foods by this age as well. Pay attention to your baby’s cues, have fun, and let your baby set the pace while offering your baby healthy foods that contain important nutrients to set the standard for healthy eating patterns.
Finger Foods
Once your baby can sit up and bring their hands or other objects to their mouth, you can give them finger foods to help them learn to feed themselves. To prevent choking, make sure anything you give your baby is soft, easy to swallow, and cut into small pieces. Some examples include small pieces of banana, wafer-type cookies or crackers; scrambled eggs; well-cooked pasta; well-cooked, finely chopped chicken; and well-cooked, cut-up potatoes or peas.
Read also: Preserving Muscle on a Cut
Foods to Avoid
Do not give your baby any food that requires chewing at this age, or any food that can be a choking hazard. Foods to avoid under 1 year of age include hot dogs (including meat sticks, or baby food "hot dogs"); nuts and seeds; chunks of meat or cheese; whole grapes; popcorn; chunks of peanut butter; raw vegetables; fruit chunks, such as apple chunks; and hard, gooey or sticky candy.
Drinks
During meal times, offer your baby sips of water from an open or free-flow cup. Healthy babies do not need extra water. Breast milk, formula, or both provide all the fluids they need. However, you can offer a small amount of water when you begin to give your baby solid foods. Use an open, sippy or strawed cup and limit water to no more than 1 cup (8 ounces) each day. Also, a small amount of water may be needed in very hot weather. If your water is fluoridated, drinking water will also help prevent future tooth decay.
Babies younger than 12 months should not be given juice. After 12 months of age (up to 3 years of age), give only 100% fruit juice and no more than 4 ounces a day. Offer it only in a cup, not in a bottle. To prevent tooth decay, do not put your child to bed with a bottle. If you do, make sure it contains only water. Juice reduces the appetite for other, more nutritious, foods, including breast milk, formula, or both. Too much juice can also cause diaper rash, diarrhea or excessive weight gain.
Is it OK to make my own baby food?
If you choose to make your own baby food from fresh food, use a blender or food processor, or just mash softer foods with a fork. All fresh foods should be cooked with no added salt or seasoning. Although you can feed your baby raw bananas (mashed), most other fruits and vegetables should be cooked until they are soft. Refrigerate any food you do not use, and look for any signs of spoilage before giving it to your baby. Fresh foods are not bacteria-free, so they will spoil more quickly than food from a can or jar.
Changes to Expect
When your baby starts eating solid foods, their stools will become more solid and variable in color. Because of the added sugars and fats, they will have a much stronger odor, too. Peas and other green vegetables may turn the stool a deep-green color; beets may make it red. (Beets sometimes make urine red as well.) If your baby's meals are not strained, their stools may contain undigested pieces of food, especially hulls of peas or corn, and the skin of tomatoes or other vegetables. All of this is normal. Your baby's digestive system is still immature and needs time before it can fully process these new foods. If the stools are extremely loose, watery, or full of mucus, however, it may mean the digestive tract is irritated. In this case, reduce the amount of solids and introduce them more slowly.