Ask the Expert: Is Your Baby Ready for Solid Food?

Is there anything so eventful as a baby’s first year? One month, they sleep the day away; the next, they shoot along the floor. One day, they’re glued to the bottle or breast; the next, they’re grabbing for the food on your plate.

If your baby seems ready for that first bite of solid food, Travis Satnarine, M.D., a third-year pediatric resident at the University of Miami Health System, has guidelines to make the transition easier.

From a developmental standpoint, what should parents know about a baby’s ability to swallow, chew, and digest solid foods?

Dr. Satnarine: An infant’s digestive system is still maturing, but by six months of age they can tolerate simple, bland, easy-to-digest foods that don’t require chewing. These include iron-fortified, single-grain infant cereals, pureed or strained vegetables such as potatoes or squash, avocadoes, and bland, pureed meat. Before starting solid food, babies must also have good head and neck control and the ability to hold their heads upright.

What signs indicate an infant’s readiness for solid food?

Dr. Satnarine: The World Health Organization advocates exclusive breast or formula feeding, with no water, juices, or solid foods until six months of age. It is important that parents consider the signs of readiness for solid foods starting around six months. Again, signs of readiness include good head and neck control. A baby should be able to sit with minimal support and show interest in food, such as watching when adults eat or reaching for a plate of food.

Do you recommend introducing one food at a time, over a week or so?

Dr. Satnarine: Yes, introduce one food at a time, every five to seven days. Using this method, if your baby does have a food allergy, you will know exactly which food is causing the allergy. Also, babies may initially reject certain foods; by consistently offering the food, the baby may eventually accept the food.

Pediatricians recommend starting with bland foods like mashed potatoes, pureed vegetables, and baby cereals. Later, you can progress to sweeter foods like mashed bananas or pureed fruits. If sweet or savory foods are introduced early, your baby may start to reject the more bland foods.

What else can parents do to limit food allergies? Is it better to introduce certain foods earlier or later?

Dr. Satnarine: As a pediatrician who will be undergoing allergy and immunology fellowship training, I strongly advocate for the early introduction of foods that tend to be allergenic. These include peanuts and tree nuts (as peanut or nut butters to avoid choking hazards), wheat, eggs (start with eggs in baked goods, followed by eggs in pancakes, then move on to boiled or scrambled eggs), soy, fish, and shellfish. Once the baby starts eating a particular food, parents should continue offering that food. This ensures that their baby will continue tolerating that food and avoid developing an allergy.

Should parents avoid feeding babies from their own plate since “adult” foods may contain more salt, spices, and textures than an infant’s digestion can handle? At what age is it okay to expand your baby’s palate from a bland diet to one with more variety?

Dr. Satnarine: Early on, you should definitely avoid feeding from your family’s plate. When your child is about one year of age, you may offer a more varied diet.

What feeding habits should parents stay away from, and what habits do you encourage?

Dr. Satnarine: Do not feed babies honey if they are less than one year old. Feeding honey to babies may lead to botulism which can be deadly. Also, do not use food as a reward or punishment, and do not scold or punish the child for not eating all of the food on their plate. Encourage mealtimes as a family activity and do not allow children to watch screens while eating. With babies and small children, it’s especially important to prevent choking. For this reason, cut whole fruits like grapes into bite-size pieces. Do not offer hard vegetables such as carrots and celery to them. Offer nut butter instead of peanuts and nuts. As your child’s baby teeth come in, it is okay to feed mild-flavored meats, as long as they are cut into very small pieces to avoid a choking hazard.

Written by Nancy Moreland, a regular contributor to the UHealth Collective. She has written for several major health care systems and the CDC. Her writing also appears in the Chicago Tribune and U.S. News & World Report.

Tags: Baby's first solid food, Dr. Travis Satnarine, Infant feeding guidelines, Transitioning from breast/formula to solid food