Introducing solids to babies Solids are an important milestone for babies. Some will love it, some will be a bit reticent at the beginning. So there are 50-50 chances to have a successful food diversification start. Having 2 kids, I can tell you that we experienced both situations: Bianca gave us signs that she’s ready to eat around 6 months of age, but she wasn’t so thrilled: With Giulia it was totally different: she sat in an upright position at 5 months of age and was reaching for our food even earlier. She gave us many signs that she’s ready to eat. We started diversification with her a few days after she celebrated her 5 months birthday: HOW? You have to know that there are 2 main ways to give baby food: baby-led weaning (BLW): solids are introduced as finger food; it is recommended to start with this method when babies are 6 months old or older; puree (Note: I participate in the affiliate amazon program. This post may contain affiliate links from Amazon or other publishers I trust (at no extra cost to you). I may receive a small commission when you buy using my links, this helps to keep the blog alive! See disclosure for details.) Of course, you can do a mix of the two. This is what I did. I used a pressure cooker to soften the food and if I decided to give purees, I used a fork to smash the food until soft with no or small lumps. If you don’t have a pressure cooker yet, I recommend this one, we’re using it on a daily basis. WHEN? Different countries have different recommendations related to when to start giving food to your baby. My Data Science intuition tell me that the 4-6 months milestone is positively correlated with how much maternity leave a parent can take. For example, when we were based in Ireland, the general advise was to give food to babies starting with the 4 months of age (I believe that this is related to parents going back to work earlier). Now we’re in Romania and here you can have a long maternity leave (it’s paid by the Government and you can take up to 2 years). So here, the paediatricians advise to start with solids at 6 months of age. HOW MUCH? I followed a super easy rule for both Bianca and Giulia: gradual increase of food: started with a spoon and reached a cup at each meal; number of meals by age: 4-6 Months old: 1 meal / day; 7 Months old: 2 meals / day; 8-9 Months old: 3 meals / day; 10-12 Months old: 3 meals + 1 snack / day; 1 Year+ : 3 meals + 2 snacks / day; WHAT? I’ll start this section with what NOT to give the baby: salts, sugar and honey are forbidden in the first 12 months. 4-6 Months old – 1 meal / day : LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins Vegetables: sweet potato, parsley, zucchini, carrot, parsnip, green beans, pumpkin, bell pepper, onion, garlic, leek; Proteins: homemade cheese, chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, beef, egg (hard boiled); Others: Olive oil, parsley leaves, lovage, dill; 7 Months old – 2 meals / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins Fruits: apple, pear, avocado, apricot, peach, nectarine, plum, banana, blueberries, watermelon; Vegetables: same as month above; Proteins: same as month above; Others: caraway, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, thyme, oregano,inactive yeast 8-9 Months old – 3 meals / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products Fruits: same as months above plus grapes, cherries, sour cherries, papaya, dehydrated dates, raisins, kaki, mango, cranberries Vegetables: same as months above plus red beets, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, red lentil, green lentil, celery, lettuce, endive; Proteins: same as month above plus yogurt, butter, sour cream, liver, white fish (trout, cod, perch, hake, gray mullet, dorada); Cereals/ Pseudocereals: millet, rice, bulgur, couscous, oat, barley; 10-12 Months old – 3 meals + 1 snack / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins SNACK: Fruits DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products Fruits: same as months above plus quince, figs, kiwi, chestnuts, pineapple, strawberries, raspberry, blackberries, orange, lemon, grapefruit, pomelo, pomegranate in a smoothie, goji, olives, nuts – peanuts – cashew – pistachio- almond crushed; Vegetables: same as months above plus tomato, aubergine, spinach, mushroom, wild garlic, turnips, white potato, asparagus, cucumber; Proteins: same as month above plus ricotta, mozzarella, mascarpone, kefir, pork, mutton, goose, duck, lamb; Cereals/ Pseudocereals: same as month above ; 1 Year – 3 meals + 2 snacks / day : BREAKFAST: Fruits LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins SNACK: Fruits DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products SNACK: Vegetables Fruits: everything ; Vegetables: same as months above radishes, peas, artichoke, sorrel, cabbage, nettles; Proteins: same as month above plus fish, cheese, cream cheese, cheddar, parmesan, edam, gouda, svaiter, grana padano, emmental, pecorino, goats cheese; Cereals/ Pseudocereals: everything ; WHAT? I’ll start this section with what NOT to give the baby: salts, sugar and honey are forbidden in the first 12 months. Get a long bib that attaches to the highchair and let the baby explore the food, it will be fun! This is a personal blog. My opinion on what I share with you is that “All models are wrong, but some are useful”. Improve the accuracy of any model I present and make it useful!