Introducing Solid Foods

Breast milk is all the nutrition your baby needs for the first 6 months of life. At around 6 months, your baby should start to do 3 things which indicates they are ready for solid foods.

1. Stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady.
2. Co-ordinate their eyes, hand, and mouth so that they can look at the food, pick it up, and put it in their mouth all by themselves.
3. Swallow food

Babies who are not ready will push their food back out, so they get more around their face than they do in their mouths. NHS England now recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for at least six months and that breastfeeding is continued, with the addition of appropriate first foods, for as long as the mother and baby want. Please see this leaflet for more information.

How to start weaning – Start for Life – NHS