Bayside City Council’s lovely maternal and child health nurses have been unable to host their regular face-to-face consultations and workshops due to COVID-19. In order to continue to support the community, we have filmed Val and Rose sharing their expertise in order to educate and guide new parents and carers who are introducing solid food to their babies.
How do you know when your baby is ready for solids?
- They are watching and tracking you eat
- The tongue is moving in and out and they are dribbling
- They are performing mouthing and chewing actions
- They are holding their head in midline
- They are reaching out and grabbing your food, being opportunistic
Safety tips
- Always stay with your child when they are eating
- Babies can gag while they are eating – this is not the same as choking
- Ensure they are well secured when in a high chair
- Acknowledge your child when they have had enough
- No honey in diet till after 12 months
Introduce different textures
- Smooth
- Lumpy
- Squishy finger foods
- Let baby lead
What food should I offer?
- Most start with pureed vegetables and fruit and baby rice cereal
- They will need iron in their diet from 6 months
- You can then start to introduce family food like pasta, meat, rice, yoghurt
- Introduce high allergy foods in small amounts a couple of times per week: egg, peanut butter, dairy, wheat
- Cows milk in cooking only
When is baby ready for solids?
- Anywhere between four to eight months
- You offer the food but they choose what to eat and how much
- The timing to eat is usually 15 mins after milk
- One meal can be up to three tablespoons
- Opportunistic times
- Iron can be served three times a week from 6 months
After nine months of age
- Offer the food first (family foods) followed by milk.
- By 12 month they can be down to 2-3 milk feeds a day
- At 12 months you can change to full cream cows milk but no more than 500mls in 24hrs
- Move from a bottle to sippy cup
Additional information
- High chair from 6 months plus
- They don’t need teeth to chew
- Include water to drink with meals
- Brush teeth with a cloth
- Don’t have added salt at the table
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