Introducing solid foods

From around six months of age, babies need more nutrients, like iron, zinc, and B vitamins, to support their rapid growth and development. 

Breastmilk or formula alone is no longer enough at this stage, which is where solid foods come in.

This phase is the complementary feeding period and continues until around 24 months.

Why Solid Foods Are Important

  • Nutritional needs change: Babies need more iron and other nutrients than breastmilk or formula alone can provide.
     
  • Developmental growth: Eating solids helps babies develop chewing, swallowing, and motor skills.
     
  • Taste exploration: Early exposure to different foods supports lifelong healthy eating habits.

When to Start

Solid foods can be introduced gradually from around six months but not before four months. It's important to wait until your baby shows signs of readiness.

Is my baby ready for solids?

Your baby may be ready if they are between four-six months old and can:

  • sit upright with support
  • hold their head steady
  • show interest in food
  • open their mouth when food is offered.

See Development in babies for more information.

What to Feed Your Baby

A healthy diet from 6 to 24 months should include 5 to 8 food groups daily:

  • breastmilk or formula
  • animal proteins: beef, chicken, fish
  • vitamin A-rich produce: spinach, carrots, pumpkin, tomato, papaya
  • other fruit & vegetables: banana, broccoli, cucumber, green beans, orange
  • roots & tubers: sweet potato, yam, cassava
  • legumes, nuts (in paste form) & seeds: chickpeas, lentils, almonds, peanuts, sesame, pumpkin seeds
  • dairy: yoghurt, cheese, milk
  • grains: oats, wheat, rice

Food Textures: What to Expect

Start with smooth purees, then move to lumpy textures and finally, finger foods as your baby grows and develops. Texture changes should follow your baby’s development, not just age.

Food textures

Foods to avoid

Until 12 months of age

  • Honey - can cause infant botulism, a rare but serious illness that can lead to paralysis.
     
  • Cow’s Milk (as a drink or meal replacement) - too high in protein and salt for immature kidneys and can upset digestion.
     
  • Runny or Raw Eggs - risk of Salmonella, which can cause severe food poisoning.

For as long as possible (12+ months)

  • Added Sugar and sugary foods can increase the risk of poor diet and dental issues and shape lifelong taste preferences.
     
  • Added Salt / Salty Foods - tiny kidneys can only handle small amounts of salt in foods, and early salt exposure can shape lifelong taste preferences.
     
  • Caffeine (tea, coffee, energy drinks, soft drinks) – cannot be processed by babies and toddlers as fast as adults, causing it to stay in their system and affect sleep, mood, and development.
     
  • Raw or fresh juice – can contain harbour harmful bacteria if contaminated or not properly stored.
     
  • Squeeze Pouches (when sucked from the spout): while convenient, regular sucking from a pouch can affect oral motor development and increase tooth decay risk. 

TIP: try using a spoon or spoon attachment with pouches or squeezing into a bowl to let your baby experiment with self-feeding

Visit Child Development for more information on oral-motor skills.

Avoid at any age

  • Raw or Unpasteurised Milk: Raw, fresh, or unpasteurised milk and dairy products are known to carry harmful and disease-carrying bacteria. The sale of raw cow's milk for human consumption is illegal in Australia and is not recommended at any age.

 

Did you know?

Pasteurisation is a process that heats milk to kill harmful bacteria without changing its nutrition.

Feeding Guide by Age

6–9 Months

  • Main nutrition still comes from breastmilk or formula
  • Offer a few teaspoons once a day, gradually increasing
  • Focus on iron-rich foods such as:
    • Iron-fortified baby cereal
    • Minced meat, chicken or fish (no bones)
    • Cooked egg (no runny parts)
    • Pureed or mashed legumes, tofu and spinach
  • Add soft fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains
  • Experiment with different foods, flavours and textures
  • Offer breast/formula feeds before solids.

9–12 Months

  • Offer solids before breastmilk or formula
  • Introduce more textures and family meals
  • Continue offering:
    • Iron-rich foods
    • Finger foods
    • A variety of textures and mixed meals
  • Build up to ½ cup of food 2–3 times a day, plus a small snack
  • Continue breastmilk or formula.

12 months and beyond

Solids now provide most of your child’s nutrition and energy needs

  • Offer three small meals a day, plus 2–3 healthy snacks
  • Infant formula no longer needed
  • Breastfeeding can continue for as long as desired by parent and child
  • Continue offering:
    • Family meals with soft textures and small pieces
    • A variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, meat and alternatives
    • Iron-rich foods like meat, eggs, legumes and fortified cereals
    • Nut pastes or nut flours (no whole nuts)
  • Encourage self-feeding with finger foods and family-style eating
  • Offer water as the main drink
  • Limit full-fat pasteurised cow’s milk to a maximum of 500ml daily.

Fussy eating

Toddlers often eat more on some days and less or skip meals on others. They can also be picky or hesitant to try new foods. See Fussy Eating for more strategies to help.

Key Nutrients for Growth

Iron

Essential for developing haemoglobin – a protein that carries oxygen around the body in red blood cells.

Babies’ iron stores last 4–6 months from birth, with breastmilk providing only a small amount.

Start iron-rich solids at 6 months.

Zinc

Important for growth and development, babies need dietary zinc once their large stores start to decrease around 4 months from birth.

Vitamin D

Helps build strong bones. In Australia, vitamin D levels are usually built up through incidental sun exposure during the day, and babies typically get enough Vitamin D from breast milk or fortified infant formula. 

It can also be found in:

  • Eggs
  • Mushrooms
  • Oily fish
  • Fortified margarine.

Infants under 6 months old have sensitive skin and should not be exposed to direct sunlight, as they burn easily. If needed, speak to your local doctor about vitamin D supplements.

Vitamin B12

Supports brain and red blood cell development. Babies use their B12 stores built during pregnancy in the first few months and get additional B12 from breast milk.

Infants have vitamin B12 stores that have been collected and stored during pregnancy. These stores, with additional vitamin B12 from breastmilk, are used for the first few months of life. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding and have a B12 deficiency, speak to your local doctor about a supplement.

A note on allergens

To lower the risk of developing allergies, high-risk allergen foods should be introduced in age-appropriate textures by 12 months old. Visit Introducing allergens for guidance.

Meal ideas

Introduce foods in soft, safe textures like pureed, mashed, or finely chopped, depending on your baby’s stage of development. Mix and match to create nourishing, balanced meals:

  • Vegetables – pumpkin, spinach, carrot, taro
  • Fruit – pear, banana, apple, pawpaw, avocado
  • Dairy – full-fat yoghurt, a small amount of cow’s milk mixed into cereal
  • Nuts – smooth nut pastes (e.g. peanut butter, tahini), nut flours in cooking
  • Grains – well-cooked rice, congee, sago
  • Carbohydrates – soft bread, pasta, mashed potato.

As your baby gets older, try making recipes like:

  • Minced meat and veggie pasta
  • Flaky fish with mashed veg
  • Omelette with soft vegetables
  • Tofu and udon noodles
  • Ground meat with stewed spinach and rice.

 

Solids and safety

Safe Texture progression

Before starting solids, it’s important to understand the difference between gagging and choking.

  • Gagging is a normal reflex where the back of the throat or mouth tenses up to push food or objects away
  • Choking is when food blocks or gets stuck in the windpipe and can be life-threatening.

Why safe texture progression is important

An infant’s windpipe is only about the width of a drinking straw. Anything that could block or get stuck in a straw is a choking risk.

Texture progression helps your baby develop the skills to eat solids safely. 

See Child Development for information on infant reflexes and developmental stages.

Foods with a Higher Risk of Choking

Foods that are common choking hazards include:

  • Hard, raw fruit or vegetables – apple pieces, carrot sticks or slices
  • Round items – grapes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, pomegranate arils, peas, corn kernels
  • Nuts, legumes and seeds – peanuts, hazelnuts, chickpeas
  • Fish bones
  • Processed meats – frankfurts, twiggy sticks
  • Popcorn and small, hard lollies.

Safer Ways to Prepare High-Risk Foods

You don’t need to avoid all these foods entirely. Many can be safely offered with age-appropriate preparation:

  • Hard fruit and vegetables
    Cook until soft, then mash or cut into thin strips.
  • Round foods
    Cut lengthwise into quarters, mash, smash, or puree.
  • Nuts and seeds
    Never give whole nuts to children under 5. Instead, use nut or seed pastes or grind them into powder and mix them with soft foods.
  • Legumes
    Cook lentils, chickpeas and other legumes until soft enough to smash or puree.
  • Fish
    Always check for bones. Tinned salmon often contains soft, edible bones high in calcium. These can be pureed or removed before serving.
  • Processed meats
    These are high in sodium and are not recommended for infants or toddlers. If given, sausages should be cut lengthwise into quarters.

Warning: Popcorn and hard small lollies are not recommended for infants or toddlers because they can be high in salt and sugar, are a high choking risk and can easily be inhaled.