Starting solids: first tastes and safer meals
Starting solids is a gradual introduction to new tastes and textures. Focus on readiness, calm mealtimes and safe preparation.
Readiness comes first
Around six months, look for the ability to hold the head upright and sit with support, interest in food, and the ability to manage food in the mouth. Ask your baby's clinician if swallowing is difficult or you are unsure about readiness.
Begin small and build variety
Offer a small taste and increase gradually. Continue breast milk or infant formula alongside solids. Include iron-rich choices, such as iron-fortified infant cereal or suitably prepared meat, alongside vegetables and other foods. Adapt texture to your baby's skills and do not force them to finish.
See HealthHub: getting started on solids.
Make meals safer
- Keep your baby seated upright in a safe place and watch them throughout the meal.
- Prepare food to a suitable softness, shape and size. Whole grapes, hard raw vegetables, nuts and thick spoonfuls of nut butter can be choking hazards.
- Check for bones. Avoid eating in a moving car or stroller, and keep mealtimes calm.
- Ask a healthcare professional about learning infant choking first aid.
See the CDC choking-prevention guide.
Preparing a first meal
Choose a calm time when you can sit with your baby. Cook foods until soft and adapt the texture to their skills. For example, mash cooked pumpkin or blend well-cooked, boneless meat with water to a suitable consistency. Avoid adding salt, sugar or soy sauce. Offer a little, watch your baby's cues and let them stop when they have had enough.
Preparation examples: HealthHub. Responsive mealtimes: NHS: helping your baby enjoy new foods.
Introducing foods that can cause allergy
From around six months, introduce foods such as egg, peanut, wheat, fish and milk-containing foods one at a time, in small amounts, so a reaction is easier to identify. Use an age-appropriate, safe texture: never offer whole nuts or a thick spoonful of nut butter. Once a food is tolerated, include it in the usual diet.
If your baby has eczema, a known food allergy or a family history of allergic conditions, speak with their clinician before introducing allergenic foods. Do not test a known allergen at home or remove a major food group without professional advice. See NHS: food allergies in babies.
Gagging, choking and urgent help
Gagging can be a noisy reflex while a baby learns to manage food. Choking can be quiet and prevent normal breathing. If your baby cannot breathe properly, has an ineffective or silent cough, becomes unresponsive, or develops breathing difficulty with swelling of the tongue or throat, seek emergency help immediately.
In Singapore, call 995 for a medical emergency and follow the call-handler's instructions. Do not wait for an email reply. Learn infant choking first aid before mealtimes; this page is not a first-aid course.
Sources: NHS: choking and gagging, NHS: choking first aid and SCDF emergency medical services.
Questions to share with caregivers
- Which foods and textures have already been tried?
- Are any allergies diagnosed, and is there a clinician-provided action plan?
- Who will supervise the meal, and who should be contacted if there is a concern?
Bring recurring feeding concerns to your baby's clinician. Use the clinic-visit planner to collect questions and the caregiver handover planner to share agreed instructions.
Can I add honey, juice or salty seasoning?
HealthHub advises against honey, sugary drinks and juice for babies, as well as foods high in salt. Foods to avoid.
What if there is a reaction after a new food?
Seek medical advice promptly for a suspected reaction. Breathing difficulty or fainting requires emergency help. HealthHub: food allergy signs.
Record the date, food, texture and any reaction you notice. Bring questions to your child's next appointment; a food diary is not a diagnosis.