Your first month of weaning, week by week
A calm week-by-week guide to your baby's first month of solid food: first tastes, textures, iron-rich foods, gagging versus choking, and foods to avoid.
By PreggieLover 4 min read
The high chair is ready, the bib is on, and a single soft piece of steamed carrot sits on the tray. Your baby picks it up, studies it, squashes it, and finally pops it in, with a face of total astonishment. Welcome to weaning. Here is a gentle guide to the first month, broken into weeks, so you can move forward at your baby's pace.
Before you begin
Most babies are ready around six months, when they can sit up holding their head steady, pick up food and bring it to their mouth, and swallow rather than push food out. Ask your health visitor or doctor first if your baby was born prematurely, has a medical condition, has eczema or a known allergy, or if there is a strong family history of food allergy.
Whether you use spoon-feeding, finger foods (often called baby-led weaning) or a mix of both is up to you. Many families do a bit of each.
Week one: first tastes
- Offer food once a day, at a time when your baby is alert and not too hungry or tired. Some parents give a little milk first.
- Start with single vegetables and fruits: soft cooked carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, butternut squash, banana, avocado or pear.
- Offer smooth or mashed food on a spoon, or soft finger-sized sticks your baby can hold.
- Expect only a few tastes. Much will end up on the floor, and that is fine.
Week two: more variety
- Introduce a wider range of vegetables, including bitter ones like spinach and cauliflower. Babies may need many tries before they accept a new taste.
- Begin introducing foods that can cause allergies, one at a time, in small amounts, and watch for any reaction: well-cooked egg, smooth peanut butter mixed into food, milk in cooking, wheat, fish and sesame.
- Offer sips of water from an open or free-flow cup with meals.
Week three: iron and protein
By around six months, babies need iron from food as well as milk. Include iron-rich foods every day:
- Well-cooked meat, chicken and fish with all bones removed
- Beans, lentils and chickpeas
- Well-cooked eggs
- Iron-fortified cereals, and dark green vegetables
Pair them with vegetables or fruit, which help the body absorb iron. Many families build up to two meals a day around now.
Week four: texture and independence
- Move from smooth to mashed and lumpy textures. Babies need to learn to manage lumps, and leaving it too long can make it harder.
- Offer more finger foods, such as soft toast fingers, pieces of ripe fruit and cooked pasta.
- Let your baby touch, squish and explore. Mess is part of learning.
Over the following months, most babies build up to three meals a day by around 10 to 12 months, with milk still an important part of their diet.
Gagging versus choking
Gagging is common and is a safety reflex. Your baby's face may go red, their eyes may water, and they may cough or push food forward. Stay calm and let them work it out.
Choking is different and is often silent. Your baby may be unable to cough, cry or breathe, and may look panicked or turn blue. If your baby is choking, act immediately using baby first aid, and shout for someone to call emergency services. Learning baby first aid before you start weaning is one of the most useful things you can do.
Keeping mealtimes safe
- Always sit your baby upright in a high chair and stay with them while they eat.
- Cut small round foods like grapes and cherry tomatoes lengthways into quarters.
- Do not give whole nuts, popcorn, hard raw vegetables or whole chunks of hard fruit.
- No honey before 12 months, and no added salt or sugar.
- Avoid giving cows' milk as a main drink before 12 months, though it can be used in cooking.
- Avoid raw or lightly cooked eggs unless they are produced to a recognised safety standard where you live.
If your baby develops swelling of the face, lips or tongue, wheezing, or breathing difficulty after eating, call emergency services straight away. For a mild rash or tummy upset after a new food, stop that food and talk to your doctor.
Taste and see
There is something holy about a family table, even a messy one. Every new taste is a small adventure for your baby, and every meal is a chance to give thanks together. The psalmist uses the very language of tasting:
"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." (Psalm 34:8, KJV)
As your baby discovers that food is good, you can begin, in simple words, to tell them where every good thing comes from.
A grace for little mouths
Lord, thank You for this food and for this little one learning to eat. Keep my baby safe at the table. Give me patience with the mess and joy in the discoveries. Let our home be a place where we taste and see that You are good. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
What are good first foods for a baby?
Soft cooked vegetables and soft fruits are good first foods, followed soon by iron-rich foods such as well-cooked meat, fish, eggs, beans and lentils.
How can I tell gagging from choking?
Gagging is noisy, with coughing and a red face, and babies usually clear it themselves. Choking is often silent, with no crying or coughing, and needs immediate first aid and emergency help.
When can my baby have cows' milk?
Cows' milk can be used in cooking from around six months, but should not be the main drink until 12 months.
This article is for general information and encouragement, not medical advice. Please talk to your doctor or midwife about your own health and your baby's.
