Babies are typically ready to start solids between 4 and 6 months, as long as they show signs of readiness like being able to sit in an upright position with good head control. You should always talk to your baby’s doctor about which foods to introduce if you are worried about the risk of an allergy. In general, infant cereal and pureed, one-ingredient veggies, fruits, and meats are great first foods. Try spoon-feeding or baby-led weaning, and keep up the breast milk or formula until your baby's first birthday.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), breastfeeding is recommended exclusively for the first six months of your baby’s life and introducing solids at 6 months old.

There are several signs that your baby will give you when they are ready for the solids. Some of them are:

• Sitting well when supported. Your baby needs to sit in an upright position in a baby seat or on a high chair to swallow well.
• Curiosity about food. your baby might start showing interest in the food that you are eating by reaching out to you whenever you eat something or opening their mouth when you are eating.
• Head control. Your baby needs to keep their head straight and steady.
• Losing the “extrusion reflex”. Your baby’s mouth and tongue should develop in sync with its digestive system. To start with the solids, the baby should be able to swallow the food to the back of their mouth, instead of using their tongue to directly push the food into the stomach.

Solid foods can provide specific nutrients to the baby’s body, such as iron and zinc. You can start by giving your baby any pureed, single-ingredient food. some of the good first baby foods include mashed bananas, applesauce, mashed avocado, pureed pears, pureed peaches, pureed squash, whole-grain, iron-enriched baby cereal such as oatmeal, etc.

The traditional way to start solids is by spoon-feeding your baby cereals or purees, but some parents use a different method called baby-led weaning.

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