Starting solids: How much should my baby eat?

• Start with just a teaspoon of the chosen food at a time of day when baby is not hungry for milk, overly tired or ratty. A typical time would be mid-morning or mid-afternoon, but take into consideration that digestion peaks over the midday hours and you might have most success trying between 10am and 2pm.
• Do not increase the amount or variety for the next three days to a week. Only offer a different food if your baby plainly does not like what is on offer, although this might be an indication that she is not ready for solids at all yet, so try and interpret her body language.
• Then increase by one half to one teaspoon the amount of this food every two to three days. If two weeks pass without any adverse reactions, introduce one new food, either at the same mealtime or in the afternoon if you have been giving in the morning (or the other way around).
• Every week or so, another new food is in order, but babies will often be most happy sticking to only about three or four varieties at any one stage.
• Be guided by your baby’s appetite, but stay on two meals of not more than about a small baby food jar each, until about seven to eight months.

• Prepare a few (about four) cubed pieces of the veggie or fruit that seems to have caught your baby’s eye, or choose a brightly coloured, naturally sweet-tasting food to offer. Place these in front of your baby and watch to see if they find favour, and for possible choking. You might have to help your baby to negotiate the pathway to the mouth in the beginning but remember this is all part of the learning process.
• While baby experiments you can offer a mashed version of the same food by spoon if you wish, to see what baby prefers, but stick to about three teaspoonfuls initially.
• It is quite okay for baby to take food from your plate at this stage, even a few times a day, so long as the food is not spicy, processed or unhealthy.
• Milk should not be relegated to second place, although its importance as the first food will very slowly decline between now and the first birthday. This means they can eat solids before a milk feed now, unlike when solids are introduced before six months.
• Quantities will vary from baby to baby once meals are established and you must be led by your child and your common sense. Do not offer any form of non-food or ‘junk food’, do not prepare foods with oils, butter or margarine or sugar and you need not fear weight problems. Also do not fob your child off with food if he really needs love and some of your time. Remember that milk is still providing many of the nutrients needed by your growing baby.
• It is still wise to only introduce one new food at a time so that you can more easily identify the cause of any adverse reactions.

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