Introducing solids

Most babies are ready to start solids around six months of age. Watch for the cues below which may suggest your baby is ready for solid complementary food (solids):

• seems hungry after breast or formula feeds
• can hold their head up well, and can sit upright when supported
• are interested in watching you eat - they reach out, open their mouth when you're eating, and put their hands and toys in their mouth
• make chewing movements
• easily open their mouth when you bring food to it
• move food to the back of their mouth and swwallow, and their tongue doesn't push the food out.

Unless advised by your baby's primary care provider (GP or nurse practitioner) or paediatrician, solids should be started no earlier than four months and no later than seven months of age. Some of the reasons not to introduce solids too early are:  

• your baby may feel full and not drink enough milk to grow well 
• they can’t coordinate their swallowing to cope with solid food 
• their kidneys and digestion aren’t well-enough developed to cope with solid foods 
• they may be more likely to get eczema, asthma, food allergies, respiratory infections.

If your baby is nearing seven months and isn't showing signs that they may be ready for solids, please reach out to your Plunket nurse, GP/nurse practitioner, or call PlunketLine free on 0800 933 922.

Healthy eating habits start early. Foods young children receive and are exposed to in their first two years of life form the basis of eating patterns, behaviours, and food preferences.  

A positive eating experience with repeated exposure to a range of nutritious foods helps children learn to like a variety of healthy foods and increases food acceptance.  

Tips to encourage healthy eating in babies and toddlers: 

Make it a positive eating experience

Sit with baby and include them at mealtimes. Feed slowly and patiently, talking to and praising baby as they try new foods. From a young age encourage them to feed themselves. 

Practice responsive feeding looking for hunger and fullness cues

First introduce solids when baby is most relaxed and happy, it doesn’t have to be at a specific time of day. Most babies will start with ½ a teaspoon to 2 teaspoon of pureed food once a day and gradually work up to 3-4 teaspoons each meal, with the aim of 2-3 meals and 1-2 healthy snacks per day by 9 months. Let baby guide how much they eat – feed baby when showing hunger cues and stop when showing fullness cues. 

Signs your baby might be hungry include:

• getting excited when they see you getting food ready
• leaning towards you while sitting in the highchair
• opening their mouth as you're about to feed them
• asking for or pointing at foods.

Signs your baby might be full include:

• turning their head away
• shutting their mouth when you offer food
• spitting out food
• losing interest or getting distracted
• pushing the spoon away
• using words like 'all done' or 'get down'.

Using screen distractions (like a TV or tablet) when eating can make it difficult for babies and toddlers to recognise that they are full, and make these cues harder to read.

What is responsive feeding?

Responsive feeding is when a parent or caregiver feeds their child in response to the child's hunger and fullness cues. It involves paying close attention to the baby or toddler, only feeding when they are hungry and stopping as soon as they indicate they are full.

Responsive feeding is important during all stages of feeding: when breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, spoon-feeding and self-feeding.

Responsive feeding means only offering food because a child is hungry and not for other reasons, such as comfort, entertainment, reward, or to control behaviour.

Offer a variety of healthy foods, including common allergy-causing foods.

There is no need to offer one food at a time unless it is a common allergy-causing food. Introduce common allergy-causing food before one year of age.

When introducing common allergy-causing food such as nuts (finely ground peanuts or nuts, smooth peanut butter thinly spread), cooked eggs, dairy (yogurt, cheese) and wheat (bread, noodles, pasta) products, introduce only one allergy-causing food per meal to monitor for any reaction. This includes infants at high risk of allergies. Unless you observe an allergic reaction, continue to give the food regularly (about 2 times per week) to avoid a food allergy developing.

Babies may prefer certain foods, but don’t give up after the first try. It can take up to 15 times for a baby to start to ‘like’ a certain food. Try offering it in smaller amounts or alongside other food they prefer. 

Choose healthy food preparations and nutritious foods

It is recommended to start with pureed iron-rich foods (meat, chicken, fish, tofu, lentils, eggs, iron fortified cereals) when starting solids. Serving iron-rich foods with Vitamin C rich food (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kiwifruit, strawberries) helps babies to absorb the iron important for growth and development.   

• Home-prepared foods: Babies prefer plain food and do not need additional salt, sugar, butter, or sweeteners added to their food. When using canned fruit or vegetables, select ones that have no or low sodium (salt) and fruit in natural juice rather than syrup (and drain before serving). 
• Commercially prepared baby foods: Choose age appropriate, baby specific food that does not contain added sugar. If using food pouches, squirt onto a spoon before serving to encourage baby to see, smell, and touch the food.

Drinks 

Breastmilk or infant formula is still the most important food. Offer your baby breastmilk or formula before solid foods until they are 8-9 months old.

Once you introduce your little one to solids, you can start to offer water from an open cup for additional hydration. After the age of 6 months, only water from a tank or bore needs to be boiled and cooled before offering (until age 18 months).

Between six and 12 months, breastmilk, infant formula or water are the only liquids your little one needs.  

Foods 

At around six months (but no earlier than four months) when baby shows signs of readiness, start by offering runny purees and gradually thicken to a smooth, thicker consistency as baby tolerates. Pureed food texture can be adjusted by adding expressed breastmilk or infant formula.

From six months babies can have increasingly thicker purees, mashed, and soft foods (those that can be easily squashed between your fingers or on the roof of the mouth with tongue). Some good options include: 

Iron-rich foods 

• Cooked pureed beef, lamb, pork, chicken 
• Cooked, deboned, and pureed fish (common allergen-causing food) 
• Cooked pureed legumes, lentils 
• Cooked egg (common allergen-causing food) 
• Iron fortified baby rice cereal 

Vitamin C-rich foods (when served alongside iron-rich food, helps with iron absorption) 

• Cooked pureed vegetables without skins, like pumpkin, kumara, cassava, kamokamo, taro, spinach, bok choy, yam, parsnip 
• Cooked pureed fruit without skins or seeds, like pears, apricots, peaches 

Raw fruit and vegetables 

• Smoothly mashed banana, avocado 

Pre-packaged baby foods  

• Check the age range printed on the label to ensure it is appropriate for 6-month-olds 

Tips 

• Offer 1-2 teaspoons of slightly warm solid foods 
• Offer a variety of foods with different tastes and flavours 
• If your baby refuses a food, try again the following day in a smaller amount or alongside a food they prefer. Continue to offer it daily for 8-10 days.
• Gradually increase how much and how often you offer solids; let your baby’s appetite guide you 
• Do not add salt, sugar, or sweeteners into the food 

For more Stage 1 food ideas and helpful feeding tips, check out the Wattie’s Guide to Baby Feeding (PDF, 5.2MB), a collaborative Wattie’s and Plunket publication.  

For those raising a vegan or vegetarian baby, the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Plant-based nutrition guide for babies aged 0-12 months (PDF, 782 KB) offers practical advice and key nutrition tips to support a healthy and nourishing plant-based food journey.   

What about baby-led weaning? 

Baby-led weaning is an approach to introducing solids where first foods are provided as finger foods rather than purees, and babies feed themselves by selecting and picking up their food of choice from what is on offer, instead of being fed by someone else with a spoon. 

Currently, in line with the Ministry of Health, Whānau Āwhina Plunket does not recommend baby-led weaning. More research is required to establish if it is a developmentally and nutritionally safe practice.  

• If you choose to practice baby-led weaning with your pēpi, we recommend that: 
• Baby should be able to sit unassisted, pick-up food and bring it to their mouth 
• Foods in the first month or two should be soft and able to be squashed on the roof of the mouth with the tongue 
• Advice to reduce choking risk is followed 
• Iron-rich foods are offered daily. 

Drinks 

Breastmilk or formula is still the most important food. Offer your pēpi breastmilk or formula before solid foods auntil they are 8-9 months old. Offer water from an open cup after snack and mealtimes. Water from a tank or bore should be boiled and cooled before offering until 18 months of age.

Between six and 12 months, breastmilk, infant formula or water are the only liquids your child needs.

Foods

Once your baby is eating a good variety of Stage One solids, continue to gradually increase the lumpiness and texture of the food to include more mashed foods and small lumps.  

Stage Two solids you may wish to add to your baby’s diet: 

• Soy-based foods (common allergen-causing) like edamame, tofu and tempeh  
• Dairy-based foods (common allergen-causing) like cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese 
• Wheat-based foods (common allergen-causing) like plain crackers, bread, cooked pasta or noodles 
• Pre-packaged baby foods (labelled for 7+ months) 

Tips 

• Signs baby is ready for mashed food include sitting without support, picking up food and bringing it to their mouth, may have some teeth, and can keep thick puree in their mouth 
• If your baby refuses a food, try mixing it into a food your baby likes 
• Gradually increase how much and how often you offer solids aiming for 3 meals per day; let your baby’s appetite guide you 
• Do not add salt, sugar, or sweeteners into the food 

For more Stage 2 food ideas and helpful feeding tips, check out the Wattie’s Guide to Baby Feeding (PDF, 5.2MB), a collaborative Wattie’s and Plunket publication.  

For those raising a vegan or vegetarian baby, the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Plant-based nutrition guide for babies aged 0-12 months (PDF, 782 KB) offers practical advice and key nutrition tips to support a healthy and nourishing plant-based food journey.

Drinks 

At around eight months, your baby can have solid foods before their breast or formula feeds. Offer water throughout the day and after meals and snacks. Water from a tank or bore should be boiled and cooled before offering until 18 months of age.  

Water helps keep: 

• babies hydrated 
• poo soft (avoiding constipation), and 
• teeth and gums nice and healthy.

Between six and 12 months, breastmilk, infant formula or water are the only liquids your child needs.

Foods

Your baby may now be interested in lots of different foods and textures. It is important for their development to offer increasingly lumpy and textured foods. Try minced, mashed, grated, and finely chopped foods. 

In addition to Stage One and Two solids, try adding in:

• ripe, soft fruit as finger foods, like oranges, mandarins, kiwifruit, pineapple and berries
• cooked and chopped watercress, silverbeet, choy sum, capsicum, mushroom, eggplant
• finely chopped salad vegetables and tomatoes
• chopped kai moana/shellfish (common allergen-causing food)
• smooth nut butters (common allergen-causing food) spread in a thin layer on toast, bread or crackers
• iron-fortified infant muesli, porridge, wheat biscuits
• grated cheese
• cooked soft pieces of meat

Tips 

• Encourage finger foods which babies tend to enjoy at this age

• Be vigilant of choking hazards; avoid small, round, hard foods; encourage sitting down when eating; and ensure babies are always supervised when eating

• Gradually increase how much and how often you offer solids, aiming for three meals per day plus 1-2 snacks; let your baby’s appetite guide you

• You can start to add cooked onions, garlic, ginger, and small amounts of mild herbs to your baby’s food for additional flavour

• Do not add salt, sugar, or sweeteners into the food.

For more Stage 3 food ideas and helpful feeding tips, check out the Wattie’s Guide to Baby Feeding (PDF, 5.2MB) and Wattie's Finger Food Snack Ideas (PDF, 4.5MB), collaborative Wattie’s and Plunket publications.  

For those raising a vegan or vegetarian baby, the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Plant-based nutrition guide for babies aged 0-12 months (PDF, 782KB) offers practical advice and key nutrition tips to support a healthy and nourishing plant-based food journey.   

Drinks  

Breastfeeding is encouraged until age 2 years or longer. Babies drinking infant formula can switch to whole-fat cow’s milk from a cup from 12 months old (toddlers recommended to have approximately 350ml per day). Soy milk fortified with calcium and vitamin B12 is recommended for those needing an alternative to cow’s milk. Offer milk or water after food.  

Continue to offer water throughout the day and after meals and snacks. Water from a tank or bore should be boiled and cooled before offering until 18 months of age. 

From 12 months, breastmilk, cow’s milk (or alternative) or water are the only liquids your little one needs.   

Foods 

Your toddler is now ready for a wider variety of whānau food and finger foods. In addition to Stages 1-3 foods, offer healthy whānau food during shared mealtimes.  

Tips 

• Continue to be vigilant of choking hazards:
  • avoid small, round, hard foods
  • encourage sitting down when eating
  • make sure babies are always supervised when eating. 

For more Stage 4 food ideas and helpful feeding tips, check out the Wattie’s Guide to Baby Feeding (PDF, 5.2MB), Wattie's Lunchbox and Snack Ideas guide (PDF, 4.5MB) as well as the Wattie's Essential Guide to Feeding your Toddler (PDF, 5.2MB), which contains practical tips for creating positive mealtime experiences with fussy eaters. These are all collaborative Wattie’s and Plunket publications.  

For those raising a vegan or vegetarian toddler or child, the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Plant-based nutrition for tamariki 1-3 years (PDF, 3.4MB) and Plant-based nutrition for tamariki 4-8 years (PDF, 1.3MB) guides offer practical advice and key nutrition tips to support a healthy and nourishing plant-based food journey.

Wattie’s and Plunket have worked together to create a series of guides to feeding your child, from their very first solids through to the toddler stage:

• The Wattie’s Guide to Baby Feeding helps you and your baby through the exciting adventure of starting solids, from food examples and textures for different age stages through to helpful feeding tips.
• The Wattie’s Finger Food Ideas from 9 months provides soft textured finger food examples which are cut into shapes that are easy for baby to pick up with little hands and bring to their mouth. The reverse Lunchbox & Snack Ideas guide provides food suggestions for little ones from 12 months onwards.
• The Wattie’s Feeding Toddlers guides provide nutritious meal and snack ideas, along with practical tips for creating positive mealtime experiences with your toddler to help foster a healthy relationship with food.