Are you excited that your paediatrician has given the green signal to start solids for your baby? But you are clueless as how to introduce solids to baby?
After reading the “When to Wean“article, I think you are ready to start the baby’s first food.
There are different schools of thought on starting solids, these are my recommendations, it is the choice of the mother to decide what is good for her baby.
Remember your baby will not be able to digest a variety of foods, so don’t be over enthusiastic, please slowly introduce the food varieties.
Rules for starting solids
- 3 Day Rule – Introduce new foods slowly so that any allergic reaction or intolerance to food can be detected (# see below for reference)
- Start 1 tablespoon one time a day on the first day.
- Make it 2 tablespoon twice a day on the second day.
- Make it 3 tablespoon twice a day on the third day.
1 tablespoon approximately equals to 15 ml, so by the end of 3 days you will be giving 90 ml.
UPDATE 2015 – Paediatricians are now of opinion that you don’t have to wait for 3 days before introducing new food and variety of foods can be introduced simultaneously if there is no history of allergy in the family. It is being observed that introducing many foods simultaneously will help the baby to try different varieties of food and make him less of a fussy eater. Please consult your paediatrician before skipping the 3 day rule.
- Always check for any allergy or tummy upset, it is a sign that your little one is not tolerating the food, stop it immediately, give a day’s time before introducing another new food. You can reintroduce the same food after 4 to 6 weeks.
- Initially give the food a little runny by mixing breast milk or formula feed, then slowly increase the consistency.
- Always check the temperature of the food before feeding.
- Sterilize all the utensils and equipment’s used for feeding. Commercially availableSterilizerscan also be used.A new mixer jar is ideal for blending because in most of the Indian households lot of spices are blended in the mixer, which can contaminate the baby food if not cleaned properly. See this Video to know As How to sterilize your Baby utensils.
- The recommended timings for giving the solid food will be around 11 am to 12 pm in mornings and 4 to 6 pm in the evenings. The morning timings will coincide with the lunch time as the baby grows, and she will be ready for a heavy lunch later.
- Do not feed through feeding bottle, use Cup and spoon or beaker.
- You can give 2 tried food together but never with 2 new food since we will not know for which food the baby is having allergy or stomach upset.
- Do not fret if the baby does not like the food, try another variety, don’t get agitated that she does not complete the meal, for it will take another couple of months.
- Do not add salt, sugar or honey to your baby’s food. Do not worry about the taste, your baby’s taste buds are virgin and so she will love any new food. Read ” Why No Salt and Sugar for Babies until 1 year? “
Click Here to know what all items you need to introduce solids for your little one.
How to Introduce Solids for Baby?
First foods can be either juice, soup or purees.
Week 1
Day 1 – Start with 1 tablespoon once a day (Best choice for the first food is Apple puree (as it is sweet), make it runny by adding breast milk or formula feed).
Day 2 – Increase to 2 tablespoon of Apple puree twice a day.
Day 3 – Increase to 3 tablespoon of Apple puree twice a day.
Day 4 – Next solid can be a vegetable, can start with carrot, Give 1 tablespoon of either Carrot Juice or Carrot Puree once a day.
Day 5 – Increase to 2 tablespoon of Carrot juice/puree twice a day.
Day 6 – Increase to 3 tablespoon of Carrot juice/puree twice a day.
Day 7 – Morning Apple puree, evening Carrot juice/puree.
Week 2
Day 1 – 1 tablespoon of chawal ka paani (Rice gruel) once a day.
Day 2 – 2 tablespoon of chawal ka paani once in morning and afternoon Apple or Carrot Puree (any previously tried food).
Day 3 – 3 tablespoon of chawal ka paani once a day in morning and afternoon Apple or Carrot Puree (any previously tried food).
Day 4 – 1 tablespoon of Pear Puree once a day once a day in morning and afternoon Apple or Carrot Puree (any previously tried food).
Day 5 – 2 tablespoon of Pear puree once a day in morning and afternoon Apple or Carrot Puree (any previously tried food).
Day 6 – 3 tablespoon of Pear puree once a day in morning and afternoon Apple or Carrot Puree (any previously tried food).
Day 7 – Can give any of the tried combination.
Week 3
Day 1 – 1 tablespoon of Dal ka paani (Mashed Lentil soup) once a day and afternoon any previously tried food.
Day 2 – 2 tablespoon of Dal ka paani (Mashed Lentil soup) once a day in morning and afternoon any previously tried food.
Day 3 – 3 tablespoon of Dal ka paani (Mashed Lentil soup) once a day in morning and afternoon any previously tried food.
Day 4 – 1 tablespoon of new fruit/veggie puree once a day in morning and afternoon any previously tried food.
Day 5 – 2 tablespoon of new fruit/veggie puree once a day in morning and afternoon any previously tried food.
Day 6 – 3 tablespoon of new fruit/veggie puree once a day in morning and afternoon any previously tried food.
Day 7 – Can give any of the tried combination.
Week 4
You can try any of the combination above with rice gruel in the morning and fruit/veggie in the afternoon for this week.Or you can introduce new food with the 3-day rule.
The above varieties are my choices, you can vary the fruit/veggie combination with the following foods.
Fruit
Vegetable
- Carrot juice
- Carrot puree
- Potato puree
- Pumpkin Puree
- Sweet potato puree
- Lauki puree
- Beetroot puree
- Carrot Beet soup
Cereals
For more recipes, please check out RecipeIndex
For food charts/ diet charts of other months, check this link Baby Food Charts
Need help deciding on a baby feeding chair? Check out our detailed post – High Chair or Booster Seat? Your ultimate guide to buying a feeding chair.
Updated on 10/8/2015
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This article is based on the views of the author, and it is at the sole discretion of the reader to implement the methods, the author does not take any responsibility for it.
Reference
Selected Complementary Feeding Practices and Their Association With Maternal Education
PhD
photo credit: Ambernectar 13 via photopin cc
Hello,
My baby will complete 6 months on 19 th April
As I have to resume my work soon. I have started with solids following your recipe.
My pediatrician has confirmed that I can start with solids for the baby.
My concern is I have giving him Daal ka pani, first day he liked it and 2nd time when tried giving he did not like it.
So I changed to Apple purée. He had once and again he is not having apple purée as well.
My breast milk is also less so m mostly dependent on formula milk.
Kindly advice how I can manage feeding for the baby.
Hi,
Try giving dal mash dear. You can start introducing foods one by one. Kindly stop feeding when your baby denies food and feed after some time. Let that be one or two spoons. It’s perfectly fine. Baby is getting introduced to different tastes so he might refuse few foods. But slowly he will cope up. Don’t worry.
hi my baby JIANNA S 18 MONTHS OLD CAN U PLS suggest me the food i should go with
the most imp.she s lill fussy in eating food
Hi Avleen,
Please click on the link for complete details on feeding your fussy toddler 🙂
Mam I gave this saathumaavu kanji for my son who is 10 months old , but his part of stools colour looks in the same sathu maavu colour. Should I stop giving him this food? But baby is comfortable no stomach upset
Hi Laskhmi,
If your baby is well and isn’t showing any sign of discomfort then there is nothing to worry about your child’s tummy is getting adjusted to the new food.
Hi dr i have dome doubts about starting solids,
In week 1, day 4 why is baby given food only once, baby is used to eat for 2 times for oast 2 days, so will the baby wont be hungry if we reduce feeding.
In week 2 day 1 also why food only once.
Thank you
Anu
Hi Anu,
The feeding method is about 3 day rule (introducing) dear. When you feed anything new to your baby, kindly give little in the first day and gradually increase the quantity. Quantity of each feed (food already introduced) depends on the baby.
Hi.. my baby is 9 months running. She is around 7 kg. Her birth weight is 3 kg. She is not gaining weight. She has cold continously. So refuse to eat food. What is her daily requirements of food.
Hi Archana,
Don’t worry of weight, if baby is active and healthy dear. Babies refuse food because of the uncomfortability caused by cold and cough. Please find link below with food ideas for babies with cold and cough. Link is also provided for cold and cough home remedies (please use according to baby’s age). Hope this helps.
Links – Foods to be given during cold – https://goo.gl/YhEB9i
Home remedies for cough and cold – https://goo.gl/SMQQoQ
Hello Mam
My son has completed one year this month and still his weight is only 7.3 kg.His mother has been struggled from the very beginning to feed him.Every time his doctor check him found good and ask to not given any serial foods.
But last one month he suddenly got sick and after recovering from cold then he attacked fever and he look like very week.
Now his doctor is suggesting to admit him to hospital and feeding artificially to gain weight.
I am very much tense about it,can you please give me any suggestion to recover this problem.
For your kind information I am very much happy about his mental growth and he achieving every milestone what can achieve a one year normal baby.
Only concerning fact is his weight.Please share your valuable advise with me.
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks very much.
Mahbub
Hi,
Thanks for reaching us. Please don’t worry about weight as the baby is active and healthy. However if you wish to increase his weight you can try offering avocado, peas, pear, peach, dry fruits powder,sathumaavu mix, ghee, oats, ragi, olive oil, bananas, raw kerala bananas, potatoes, sweet potato etc. You can also try weight gaining health mixes. Please check the link below with product details. Denying food is just a phase of development. Whenever you get time, try eating together, let him see the other children of the family eat, encourage your child by talking about the food’s color, shape, aroma, texture and taste, make the food appealing by adding some extras which your baby likes.If your child hates vegetables in one form like mashed, try steamed or roasted.Hope this works. Link – https://goo.gl/wsfNak
Hi my daughter is 5 and a half months old whether I can mix cow milk in apple puree instead of formula milk.After a feed whether I can give some water to my baby.
Thank u
Hi Valarmathi,
Please don’t add cow’s milk in baby’s diet until the age of 1. Water present in the breast milk is enough for babies til 6 months. You can give water ( as required) after baby is introduced to solid foods.
my son is 6months old he refuses to drink milk in feeding bottle
plz help me
You can try with spoon, however has to be monitored and given by you to ensure the baby can have. Also start with 6 months food chart to ensure complete nutrition.
Hello mam mera beta 5month complete Ho gya hai, vo bresfeeding hi krta hai bt 2din se Mai usko dal ka pani de rhi hu, ab Mai usko next kya De skti hu food Mai plz reply,,,,
Please exclusively breastfeed for first 6 months.
Hello mam mera boy 5month complete Ho gya hai ,vo brestfeding hi krta hai, bt Maine usko dal ka pani diya continue 3days ab Mai usko kya New food de skti hu plz reply
Dear, we prefer exclusive breast feed until 6 months. After that you can check food chart and first food for babies on the site.
Hell Dr.Hema,
My son is 7 mnths old n he doesnt like to eat anything except mangoes.I have tried sooji,khichdi,ragi porridge ,oats porridge but he is just not ready t o open his mouth.I have tried your health mix powder but he denys to eat anything
Plz suggest.
Hi Jigna, you should introduce him to a variety of tastes and textures apart from mangoes. You can initially try by mixing mangoe puree with the porridges to introduce him to textures.
My Baby is into 6 th month,I just started giving her apple and banana mash.can I give her orange juice?
I give formula every 3 hours day and night.should I continue feeding her formula at night every 3 hours after her 6 th month?
Thanking you.
We recommend that you try fruits and purees post completion of 6 months and always follow a 3 day rule to ensure that baby is not allergic to any food. Check this https://www.mylittlemoppet.com/10-nutritious-fruit-puree-recipe-for-babies. If the baby is demanding milk every few hours, you can continue. Eventually as you introduce solids and other foods you will observe a change in this.
Hi Dr.Hema,
While searching for how to make apple puree for my 5 month old came across this wonderful site of yours. Really appreciate what you are doing here and since yesterday I am glued to ur site going through all articles. Very useful stuff. Unlike other baby forums where just clueless moms like me discuss, and you don’t know whose advice to take from the endless list of conflicting ones, knowing that the advise is coming from an actual doctor who is also a mom gives a sense of trust for me.
I have a doubt about sterilizing baby vessels. I heard from many ppl that only plastic needs to be sterilized. Silver and stainless steel vessels can be washed well and used directly. Is this not true ? In your video of sterilizing I saw u sterilized stainless steel bowl as well. Can u pls explain?
Yes stainless steel vessels also should be sterilized , will it not have contamination while cleaning etc. Its always good to sterilize for the safety of the baby, in fact some plastic will get denatured while sterilising with hot water and it is dangerous. Thank you for your appreciation, it sure feels nice to know.
Hi Doctor,
My daughter is 3months old now.4th month will be starting in another 2days. she is 4.2kgs weight now She is a preterm baby @35th week with birth weight 2.2kgs. She is on formula feed right from birth as I had no milk ( I had even consulted doctor ). My daughter is not taking the required quantity of milk currently as she takes only 50 to 60ml milk for every 3 to 4hrs. Can you please suggest when can I start semi solids along with this formula milk.
Dear Deepa,
Please wait till 6 months completion to start solids, and try changing the formula, check with your paed about it
Hi, my baby is 7months now. She was having fever at night and sometimes shes fine. Please let me know what foods can we give in this time?Also apple juice and cerelac is fine if baby has fever,cold cough.pls explain.
hello, Dr hema this nazima
my baby is primature she’s nw 9 months old her wait is sti’ll around 4kg please tell me what food I give to my baby for wait gain.
Hi Hema, V.informative site :)..I want to start feeding my 5 month baby with apple puree so i wanted to know if i can make it once in the morning and feed the same preparation again in evening or do i have to prepare it fresh for every feed?
Dear Huma,
You have to prepare fresh for every serving
Hi,
I want to know, when introducing new food in the morning by 1,2,3 table spoon in 3 days…. Then what would be the amount of the evening food?? Is it always 3table spoon of previously tried food every day???
Hi sadia,
The maximum amount is 3 tablespoon and you can feed according to your baby’s cues
Thank you.
Hi I have started solids for my 5 month old boy can I give morning dal pani n evening mosambi or Apple juice??
Hi Pooja,
Whenever you start a new food, please introduce them in morning
Hello Hema,
Glad to come across your wonderful site. Hema plz do a topic on wen to give water to babies, how much to give n how often. It would be great if you discuss all relevant tips on water
Hi Jyothi, will definitely write about water requirements for babies and toddlers, thank you for the suggestion 🙂
Hi hema I start my bay on solids from tomorrow but a little confused of Wht do I first feed him.the apple purre once a day or the doctor has give me a home made cereal mix with ragi, chnna dal etc,but when do I start giving this. My baby turns 6 months on the 7 of may. Thanks in advance
Hi Neha, Start with apple puree or dal ka paani, start with homemade cereal after your baby has adapted to solids after a month or so
Thanks so much… Ur post is indeed very helpful and I am going to follow it for my baby… Have a question though… U mentioned 1tbspn… How will that be measured to a baby spoon?
Rajpura, 1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, if you haven’t already subscribed, you can subscribe to our newsletters where every month you will receive food charts and recipes to your mail inbox
happy Weaning !!
Hi, jhashar, plz help me, im gng thru ur diet chart n im on day 5 n realised carrot puree is not suiting my 5 mnth old daughter. I skipped a day. She is better. Can I skip carrots and give her rice water or dal water? Plz reply. Tia.
Hai Nilambari, Yeah you can surely skip carrot and start with the other foods, each baby is different, a food that suits one baby may not be acceptable to another, please follow the 3 day rule before introducing any new food
V helpful, you have covered up every tiny miny detail which a new mom wud b wanting to knw hv had a failed attempt this week ,wil start again following d rules thanks a lot
Glad to be of help Shweta, Happy Weaning
Thanks a lot��
thanks a lot
how to make apple puree.. im new, first time, should wean next week hopefully… what gadgets to buy pl guide
Check out this link, https://www.mylittlemoppet.com/2014/04/apple-puree.html, no gadgets needed, just click on the links in the article, it will show you wat to buy
please recommend a spoon/ cup/ beaker. im new and would be strting next week.
There are lot of brands, farlin, mee mee, nuby, buy a soft tipped spoon so that it wont hurt your baby's tender gums.
You have summed up mostly everything..great blog..do check out mine as well :):<br /><br />http://babyblog.wiseshe.com
Thank you anamika, will surely do……