The Stages of Solids: Is Your Baby Ready?

Babies all start out on breast milk or formula because both are easily digestible and provide the necessary vitamins and minerals needed to develop and grow. However, as your baby gets older, you’ll be able to start introducing solid foods into their diet, exposing them to different tastes and textures.

Numerous studies have shown that exposing your baby to a variety of new tastes and textures can help reduce the chances of your baby developing picky eating habits. Babies naturally gravitate towards sweeter fruits as opposed to bland/bitter vegetables but it’s important to expose your baby to different flavors.

Is Your Baby Ready for Solid Foods?

Each baby is different, so it’s important to talk to your pediatrician to see if your baby is developmentally ready to start eating solid foods. However, here are some of the signs your baby may be ready for solids:

• If they're 4-6 months in age
• Can sit upright without needing support
• Can hold and control head stability for long periods of time
• Still hungry after eating 32 oz of breastmilk or formula
• Seems interested in what people are eating around them 
• Spoon feeds like a pro 

The Stages of Solids

Stage 1: Around 4 to 6 months

In this stage, parents can begin to introduce fruit and veggie purees in addition to breastmilk, formula, or rice formulas. This stage is primarily intended to help start your baby on a new variety of foods, detect allergies, and assess how your baby’s digestive system handles solids.

Our quinoa cereals are a perfect first snack for your baby’s stage 1 of solid foods. Just mix with breastmilk or formula to create a puree. Our quinoa cereals are the only quinoa-based cereals for infants with 100% naturally occurring plant-based nutrients, which aid in digestion, nutrient absorption, and support baby’s natural growth pattern!

Stage 2: Around 6 to 9 months

In stage 2, you will be able to feed your baby solids with a thicker consistency. Stage 2 is intended to add different textures to your baby’s diet. At this stage, your baby will be able to use a spoon with more control.

For this stage, NurturMe offers puree pouches with all organic fruits and veggies. Free of common allergens including gluten, dairy, soy, and egg, our super immunity, and ancient grains pouches will help create healthier eating habits from the start with exotic new superfood combos that delight curious taste buds and support baby’s growth naturally.

Stage 3: Around 10 to 12 months

In this stage, you will be able to feed your baby softer, chewable chunks of finger foods. Common finger foods include shredded meat, well-cooked veggies, and mashed up fruit chunks. At this stage, your baby will be able to hold small chunks of food between their fingers.

Tips for Introducing Solid Foods into Your Baby’s Diet

Pediatricians recommend trying one new solid food at a time for about 4-5 days. The slow introduction will give you the opportunity to see if they have any allergies to certain foods. The most common allergies in children are soybeans, eggs, fish, nuts, and gluten.

Here are some additional solid food prepping tips from the CDC:

• Mix cereals and mashed cooked grains with breast milk, formula, or water to make it smooth and easy for your baby to swallow.
• Mash or puree vegetables, fruits, and other foods until they are smooth.
• Hard fruits and vegetables, like apples and carrots, usually need to be cooked so they can be easily mashed or pureed.
• Cook food until it is soft enough to easily mash with a fork.
• Remove all fat, skin, and bones from poultry, meat, and fish, before cooking.
• Remove seeds and hard pits from fruit and then cut the fruit into small pieces.
• Cut soft food into small pieces or thin slices
• Cut cylindrical foods like hot dogs, sausage, and string cheese into short thin strips instead of round pieces that could get stuck in the airway.
• Cut small spherical foods like grapes, cherries, berries, and tomatoes into small pieces.
• Cook and finely grind or mash whole-grain kernels of wheat, barley, rice, and other grains.