When your baby is eating a range of smooth foods, it is very important to move them onto thicker and lumpier textures.
This helps with the development of feeding and speaking. Even without teeth, your baby will gradually learn to chew and progress to eating lumps and small chunks. How quickly they progress with solids is quite varied.
Gagging is a normal part of learning to eat and just like developing a new skill, your baby needs more practice. At this age, solids can be offered before the breast/bottle feed and babies can cope with three ‘solid’ meals and three to four breast/ infant formula feeds a day.
New foods to introduce:
- Meat, chicken, fish – cooked and chopped finely, minced or in the case of fish, flaked without bones (visible fat and skin removed)
- Tofu – cooked and mashed
- Egg – Well-cooked (e.g. scrambled or hard boiled and mashed)
- Legumes – such as mashed baked beans, kidney beans, chick peas and lentils
- Cereals and grains – such as iron fortified baby cereals (made to a thicker texture), oats, baby rusks, rice, couscous and quinoa
- Dairy – yoghurt with soft lumps, grated cheese
- Fruits and vegetables – increase variety and texture such as chopped or mashed fruits (e.g. banana, avocado, peach) and cooked, mashed or diced vegetables.
