- What's happening
- Your baby is learning to eat — taste, texture, skill. Milk is still the main nutrition.
- What helps
- Familiar food alongside new, eat together, iron-rich foods often, sit upright, stay neutral.
- When to get help
- Allergy signs, choking episodes, feeding aversion, or growth worries.
- One tiny next step
- Plan tomorrow's first food and sit down to eat with them.
What's going on?
Around 6 months, most babies are developmentally ready to start solids. The key signs are: good head and trunk control, sitting with little or no support, loss of the tongue-thrust reflex (so food goes in rather than straight back out), and a clear interest in food.
Solids in the first months of weaning are largely about taste, texture and skill — not about replacing milk. Milk remains the main source of nutrition for the whole first year. The phrase 'food before one is just for fun' undersells the learning, but rightly de-stresses the calories.
There is no perfect first food. Iron-rich foods (meat, beans, lentils, eggs, iron-fortified cereals) are especially valuable from 6 months onwards as your baby's iron stores from birth begin to run down.
Common signs and symptoms
Very common
- Lots of touching, smelling, mouthing and dropping.
- Tiny amounts actually swallowed at first.
- Gagging — different from choking — as they learn textures.
- Days of huge enthusiasm, days of total refusal.
- Changes in nappies.
Less common
- Persistent vomiting after specific foods.
- Rashes, swelling or breathing changes shortly after eating.
- Choking episodes (silent or weak cough, blue lips).
Gagging is loud, eyes watering, tongue forward. Choking is silent. Knowing the difference helps you stay calm.
Is this normal?
Most babies eat very little for the first weeks of weaning. The volume picks up gradually.
Refusing today, loving tomorrow, and back to refusing the day after is completely normal.
Gagging happens often as babies learn to manage food in their mouths. It is a protective reflex.
Practical things that help
Offer one or two foods alongside something familiar
Reduces overwhelm and lets curiosity lead.
Eat with them when you can
Babies learn how to eat by watching the people they love.
Let them touch, smell and play
Tasting is the last step. Don't skip the earlier ones.
Stay neutral whether they eat or not
Pressure is the fastest route to refusal.
Always sit them upright in a supported seat
Reduces the risk of choking and helps them feel in control.
Offer iron-rich foods most days
Iron stores from birth start to deplete from 6 months. Building iron in is more important than variety in the first weeks.
What can accidentally make it harder?
Distracting with screens or toys to get a spoon in
Disconnects them from the feeling of hunger and fullness.
Force-feeding 'one more spoon'
Teaches the baby to fight back at the table.
Only offering smooth purees with no texture exposure
Texture skill is learnt early. Long-term purees can make texture progression harder later.
Treating refusal as failure
Refusal is information, not a verdict.
These are gentle observations, not blame. None of us avoid all of them all of the time.
What should I say?
- “This is yours to explore.”
- “It's okay not to eat. Mummy/Daddy is.”
Red flags and when to seek help
Worth an assessment
- Persistent reflux or feeding aversion alongside solids starting.
- Faltering growth.
- Significant developmental concerns about readiness.
Urgent — same day
- Hives, swelling of lips/face or vomiting shortly after a specific food.
- Choking episode where the baby couldn't recover on their own.
Emergency — call 999
- Any breathing difficulty, swelling of the tongue, or unresponsiveness — call 999.
- Silent or weak cough with inability to breathe — start back blows and chest thrusts and call 999.
Health visitors, GPs, paediatric dietitians, and paediatric speech and language therapists (for feeding skills) can all help. A paediatric first-aid course pays you back many times over.
If your child is seriously unwell or in danger, get help now.
Common myths
- Babies don't need teeth to eat solids.
- Starting solids earlier does not help babies sleep.
- Baby-led weaning and purees can coexist — it doesn't have to be one or the other.
One tiny next step
Plan tomorrow's first food and sit down to eat with them.
Note what you triedTalk this through
Ask Little Humans about introducing solids