Signs they are ready
Sitting with support, steady head control, watching food with interest, reaching and opening the mouth. Age is a guide, readiness is the decision, and your paediatrician settles the close calls, especially for premature babies.
What variety means in practice
A little of everything the family eats, made safe: soft-cooked vegetables, fruits, starchy staples, lentils and beans, eggs, fish and meat as they fit your household, plus dairy or alternatives in child portions. UNICEF's feeding guidance stresses the same point: diverse foods, offered repeatedly and without force, build acceptance far better than a single perfect puree. Offer new foods in tiny amounts, repeat across days, and let appetite lead. UNICEF: Parenting and feeding resources
Responsive from bite one
Follow their cues: leaning in and opening means more, turning away and clamping shut means done. No coaxing the spoon in, no celebrating clean bowls. Babies who control the ending learn to trust hunger, and that trust pays off for years at the toddler table.
What to skip early
No added salt or sugar, no honey in the first year, no whole nuts, no round hard foods left whole. Serve family food with no added salt in child portions, keep textures moving from smooth to lumpy to finger foods, and keep water alongside milk as they approach one.
Further reading
On this shelf
- 10 Ingredients, 30 Meals: the full book
- Read this first: allergies and choking hazards
- Judge the week, not the plate
- The Twinkens shelf: all titles
From paediatricians
Sources: WHO Infant and young child feeding fact sheet (who.int); UNICEF Parenting resources (unicef.org). Original Twinkens text.