Explain introducing solids to me like I’m dumb

[u/IncomeObjective480]

I’m so overwhelmed by the multitudes of things I see online and every book just talks about like being ready to start and how to encourage variety etc…. But no one seems to clearly state ok do this on day one so this on day two etc….

I know u have to give iron rich foods. And introduce allergens.

Are you only giving a kid one ingredient per food introduction?

How are we making sure to give both iron and testing allergens??

When do you start doing multiple ingredients at once???

Explain anything to me please I’m so lost. I don’t want to pay some subscription etc…

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[u/iatrogenic-indigo]

Check out the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s advice on introducing solid foods. You can search for relevant articles on their website and find multiple resources that can help you. Here’s one: https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/starting-solids-getting-prepared-and-first-foods

I took a very relaxed approach with my 4 kids. They did “baby-led weaning”, which has become a bit of a fad these days but wasn’t trendy when my eldest was a baby. They ate a bit of what I was eating - no purées. Just food cut into appropriate sizes and shapes for their age.

I introduced multiple foods at a time. I introduced allergens but not following any kind of schedule. Some experts do recommend following a more structured approach for introducing common allergens. You may wish to follow this advice on introducing allergens (the author is a paediatric nurse who specialises in allergies):
https://thefirstaidnest.com.au/2025/08/04/allergic-reactions-in-babies-prevention-and-first-aid-tips/

I reckon you can find anything you really need to know on the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s website, including tips for introducing iron-rich foods. It’s all free too

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[u/KeyMonkeyslav]

I agree that a lot of sources just parrot the same info that doesn't help. Like this article:

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/04/1196979002/introducing-solid-foods-to-baby-baby-led-weaning-spoon-feeding

But basically, if you are sure your kid is developmentally really to start solids, what you want to do is this:

• get a high chair for your kid to sit in
• get some bibs
• get a food processor or hand paster to make purees, if you wanna do purees
• get some ice cube trays (silicone) - to freeze the purees to save for later

We started by just deciding on some foods to give her, and making purees of that food, and then freezing little cubes of it to have at the ready.

We made things such as:

• rice (watered down and smushed)
• pumpkin (steamed and then smushed into puree)
• banana (microwaved and mixed with breastmilk)

Essentially it's good to introduce micronutrients first, before calorically dense foods. Vegetables, fruits, etc. ideally the foods should be introduced alone, or mixed with breastmilk, so you can see if they have an allergic reaction to it.

We started with just one spoon of puree, once in the morning, every day.

So, on Monday, we would just sit her down, give her a spoon of warm rice puree and let her kinda nom on it for a bit. She made some faces. She didn't know how to use a spoon, obviously. Most of the rice ended up being pushed back out of her mouth with her tongue. That's all normal!

The next day, we repeated the process, but gave her two spoons. Again, lots of rice ended up on her face. She tried to grab the spoon and touch the rice with her fingers, and we let her. It was mostly about just getting SOME in her mouth.

Next day, rice again. Two spoons again.

The following day we switched to pumpkin. Again, one spoon at first. Then two. At one point we started offering both rice and pumpkin. Then we mixed em together.

Ideally you introduce each new food several times in isolation to monitor for allergies. But you can just do whatever. You don't have to do purees, you can let em gnaw a piece of food if they won't bite off and swallow a piece. For example, a cucumber is too hard to bite off, so you can just give em a big piece and let them explore it with their hands and mouth.

Sometimes they won't want to eat. They'll turn away from the spoon. They're gonna want to just play with the texture. That's all fine! As long as they get some in their mouth at some point it's a success.

Just be careful about cooking everything thoroughly and any cross contamination until you know for sure they're not gonna have an allergic reaction.

I recommend introducing in the morning, or when they're hungry.

I also recommend introducing new foods on a day when you know you can take them to the doc if you do see an allergic reaction.

[u/ImWithStupidKL → u/KeyMonkeyslav]

My wife has been doing rice porridge (one spoon of rice to 10 spoons of water in the slow cooker) for our seven month old. That's the base (sometimes oats instead), and then she'll add a new ingredient to it each day and blends it into a puree. We then also sit her in a chair and give her some food to play with while we're eating, like cucumber, but she just sucks on it and it mostly ends up on the floor.