Introducing Solid Foods

Baby’s First Foods

At 6 months, it is important to offer iron-rich foods (PDF) such as:²

• Meat, chicken, turkey
• Fish
• Cooked eggs (poached, boiled, scrambled)
• Tofu
• Well-cooked legumes such as beans, lentils, and chick peas
• Iron fortified infant cereal

After baby has started eating iron-rich foods and is offered them twice a day, offer other foods like vegetables and fruits, food made with whole grains, and milk products like yogurt and cheese.² No particular order is recommended. Wait until 9-12 months when your baby is eating a variety of iron-rich foods before introducing homogenized milk (3.25% milk fats). Offer homogenized milk in an open cup.

Homemade baby food can be a healthy choice. Choose nutritious ingredients, cook and store foods properly and be extra careful about cleanliness. The Health Unit's Baby Food Basics videos provide step-by-step guides on how to make your own baby food (PDF).

Include your baby in family meals. Family meals help to teach babies better eating habits. Enjoying meals as a family may also help encourage babies and children to try new foods. Do not get discouraged if your baby does not seem to like a food. They often need to try a new food multiple times before they will eat it regularly.

Introducing solid foods to your baby may change their bowel habits. It is important to remember that different babies will have different bowel habits. Some babies may have more than one bowel movement a day, while other babies might skip a day or two. Many parents become concerned that their baby might become constipated after introducing solid foods. Constipation can cause stomach pain, bloating, gas, poor appetite and crankiness. Luckily, true constipation is rare. For more information, check out the Bowel Habits (PDF) handout. 

Texture

Offer a variety of soft textures such as finely minced, mashed, ground, lumpy foods and finger foods to your baby starting at 6 months of age.² This helps your baby develop chewing and swallowing skills. By one year of age, very few puréed foods should be offered.²

Family foods can be mashed with a fork and served on a spoon, cut into pieces the size of a green pea or cut into soft “strips”. Most babies will not learn to use a fork or spoon well until after 1 year of age.

Food Allergies²

An allergy is an abnormal reaction of the immune system to a protein in food. Food allergies are more common if a baby’s sibling or parent have allergies, asthma or eczema. Symptoms of food allergies may include diarrhea, vomiting, skin rash, hives and breathing problems. 

Some foods are more likely to cause allergies than others. It is still recommended that you offer these foods to your baby at 6 months.The only foods your baby should not have are honey before one year and homogenized milk to drink before 9-12 months.²

Introduce only one of the allergenic foods (listed below) every two days:

• whole eggs, milk, mustard, fish and shellfish, sesame, soy, tree nut butters (e.g., almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter), wheat products, including wheat-based infant cereals.

During this two-day waiting period, look for signs of a food allergy in your baby. If there is a reaction, it will likely appear within 48 hours. If you think your baby has an allergy, contact your doctor. When introducing foods not found in the list above, you do not need to wait before introducing another new food.

Feeding Your Vegetarian Baby 

A vegetarian diet (PDF) that includes foods from the four food groups of Canada’s Food Guide will help your baby grow well and be healthy. However, a vegetarian diet that lacks too many nutrients may put your baby’s growth and health at risk. 

Starting at 6 months, you can introduce iron rich infant cereal and pureed meat alternatives, such as tofu, dried peas, beans and lentils or whole cooked eggs.² Once your baby is eating iron-rich foods twice a day, offer vegetables, fruit, whole grains and milk or soy products.²

If you have questions or concerns about introducing solid foods to your baby, talk to a Registered Dietitian or your doctor.

*If you have made an informed decision to offer infant formula to your baby, the recommendations for offering complementary (or solid) foods are the same as for babies who are breastfed.