solid foods

During the first four months of life, breastfeeding and formula feeding provide all the calories, water, and nutrients your baby needs. We generally recommend introducing solid foods between four to six months of age, once your child is physically ready to swallow them. Solids contain fewer calories per unit volume than both breast milk and formula. Some babies might need to begin solids earlier for specific medical reasons, such as reflux or excessive spitting up.

The goal of introducing solid foods is to gradually transition your baby to a more mature diet. Your baby’s first solid food should be an iron-fortified infant cereal. There are three types readily available: rice, barley, and oatmeal. Initially, mix one tablespoon of cereal with breast milk, formula, or water for feeding. The long-term goal is to offer four tablespoons per serving, two to three times per day, increasing the amount gradually.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has raised some concerns about small amounts of arsenic naturally found in rice, which are also present in infant rice cereal. This concern does not mean you should avoid rice cereal entirely, but the FDA advises against using rice cereal exclusively. Instead, they recommend including a variety of cereals—such as rice, oatmeal, and barley—to limit exposure to arsenic found in rice. Multi-grain mixed cereals can be an option to adhere to the FDA’s recommendations.

Vegetables can also be introduced between four to six months of age, and they can be offered in any order. Some options to consider are carrots, squash, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and avocados. It’s often recommended to introduce vegetables before fruits to help your child develop a taste for them and avoid a “sweet tooth.”

When introducing a new food to your child’s diet, wait two to three days before trying another new food. This interval helps monitor your child for potential food allergies. Symptoms of a food allergy can include vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stools, rash, colic, irritability, and insomnia. If any of these occur after introducing a new food, discontinue it and inform us during your next office visit.

After each feeding of solid foods, continue to provide breast milk or formula. The amount of solid food your child eats should depend on their appetite. Offer as much as your child wants, but do not force them to eat when they are no longer interested. 

The next food to introduce in your child’s diet once he or she is eating a variety of vegetables is fruit. You can introduce a new fruit every two to three days. You should initially use individual fruits and not mixed fruits because of the need to identify which food your child might react to. We recommend starting vegetables first before fruits. Fruits are much sweeter and your child may prefer these over vegetables if you start them first. 

Juice is not encouraged because it causes cavities and may be associated with poor eating habits, poor weight gain and sometimes obesity. You can use up to 4 ounces of fruit juice daily to treat constipation however.

Meats  are the last foods that you should introduce into your baby’s diet. They have the highest protein content and are the most difficult for the infant to digest. We generally recommend delaying meats until the child is about seven months old. You can try chicken, lamb, veal, turkey, beef, liver, pork and fish.