Introducing solid foods to your baby is a new experience for them. They are experiencing the tastes and textures for the first time as well as getting used to taking something from a spoon and swallowing it.
How you know your baby is ready
There are a few different ways to tell if your baby is ready to move onto solid foods, some of these signs can be:
- Taking an interest in what you’re eating
- Reaching out to grab and taste foods
- Be more hungry after normal intake of milk
- Waking up during the night after sleeping through
- Chewing on fingers or knuckles
**Some of these could just be due to a growth spurt and doesn’t necessarily mean they are ready for solid foods.
Introducing foods
Some things to consider when preparing solids for your baby:
- Try a variety of foods to expand the tastes they experience
- At first puree need to be more like liquid, you can add a little milk or water to thin out the puree
- Try feeding this in between milk feeds so your baby isn’t really hungry
Foods that are good for starting to introduce solids:
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Sweet Potatoes
- Parsnips
- Swede
- Apple
- Pear
- Banana
It is important that you make sure the fruits that you pick are ripe and have good flavour