Reviewed by The Mom Store editorial team, October 2026. See our editorial policy.
Most babies are ready for their first solid food at around 6 months. Until then, breast milk or first infant formula gives them all the energy and nutrients they need, and after that milk stays their main drink while they slowly learn to eat. The NHS guide on how to start weaning advises waiting until your baby is around 6 months old. If you feel your baby needs solids earlier, talk to your paediatrician first.
Signs your baby is ready
Age is only part of it. The NHS lists three signs that show up together:
- Your baby can stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady.
- They can look at food, pick it up and bring it to their mouth by themselves.
- They swallow food rather than pushing it back out.
The first few weeks
Start with one small meal a day, at a time when neither of you is tired or rushed. Breast milk or formula feeds carry on as before. The NHS page on what to feed your baby from around 6 months suggests beginning with vegetables, including less sweet ones such as broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, then adding fruit and starchy foods like baby rice, oats or potato. In an Indian kitchen that could be mashed pumpkin, bottle gourd (lauki), carrot or potato, and soft cooked rice or moong dal mashed until smooth.
There is no set amount. The NHS advises letting your baby guide you on how much they need and never forcing them to eat. Some days they will open their mouth for every spoonful, other days they will turn away after two. Both are normal, and the milk feeds make up the difference while they learn.
Moving on to lumps and finger foods
Around 6 to 7 months, the NHS suggests moving from smooth purees to mashed and lumpy textures, and offering finger foods. Many families start with thin dal water or rice water, but you do not need to stay on liquids for long: thicker mashed dal, khichdi and vegetables are the next step. Good finger foods are soft and easy to hold, such as a piece of ripe banana, a soft cooked carrot stick, a strip of chapati or a piece of idli. You can spoon feed, let your baby feed themselves, or mix the two. Let cooked food cool fully before serving.
Introducing common allergens
Foods that more often cause allergies can be introduced from around 6 months, one at a time and in very small amounts, so a reaction is easy to spot. The NHS list includes cows' milk used in cooking, eggs, foods containing gluten such as wheat, nuts and peanuts, seeds, soya, fish and shellfish. Nuts should always be crushed or ground. Once your baby has had a food without a problem, keep offering it as part of normal meals.
Foods and drinks to avoid in the first year
- Honey: not until after the first birthday. The NHS list of foods to avoid giving babies and young children explains that honey can occasionally contain bacteria that cause infant botulism, a very serious illness.
- Salt and sugar: do not add them to your baby's food or cooking water, and avoid stock cubes. Salt is not good for a baby's kidneys, and sugar causes tooth decay. Take your baby's portion out before you add salt for the rest of the family.
- Whole nuts: these can cause choking. Give nuts finely ground, or spread a smooth nut butter thinly on other food.
- Undercooked eggs: cook eggs until both the white and the yolk are solid.
- Cows' milk as a drink: not before 12 months, though it can be used in cooking.
- Juice and other sweet drinks: offer sips of water from an open or free flow cup with meals instead.
- Ready made baby food every day: the NHS advises against relying on pouches and jars as everyday food, and against snacks before 12 months. Offer an extra milk feed if your baby is hungry between meals.
Gagging, choking and staying close
Always stay with your baby while they eat so you can watch them swallow. Gagging is a normal reflex while babies learn to chew and swallow, and it is noisy: watery eyes, the tongue pushing forward, retching or even vomiting. Choking is quiet. The NHS advice on choking and gagging explains that a choking baby may turn blue, which on brown skin shows on the gums, the inside of the lips or the fingernails. If your baby is choking and cannot breathe properly, shout for help, take them out of the high chair, support their chest and chin with one hand and give 5 sharp blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your other hand. A baby first aid class before you start solids is worth the time.
When to get medical help
Stop a new food and speak to your paediatrician if your baby gets a rash, hives, vomiting, diarrhoea or other symptoms after eating it. Symptoms of a food allergy can appear straight after eating or days later. Call an ambulance (108 or 112) or go to the nearest emergency department straight away if your baby's lips, mouth, tongue or throat suddenly swell, they are struggling to breathe or breathing very fast, their skin or lips turn blue, grey or pale, or they become limp, floppy or unresponsive. These are the warning signs listed on the NHS page on food allergy.
Talk to your paediatrician too if your baby still refuses most solids after a few weeks of trying, or if you have any worry about their weight or growth, rather than changing their milk or food on your own.
This article is general information and does not replace advice from your doctor.
