First foods list for babies

How to use this list

The AAP says that for most babies, foods don’t need to be given in a particular order, and the CDC says that by 7 or 8 months your baby can eat a variety of foods from different groups. So this isn’t a ranking or a schedule. It’s a pantry list: pick a few foods from each group and build from there.

Start at about 6 months, when your baby shows the readiness signs. Breast milk or formula is still the main source of nutrition at first, so a teaspoon or two, or a few pieces, is plenty.

Every first food should be soft enough to squash between your thumb and finger. Serve it mashed, or as finger-sized pieces about 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in). Each food page below shows the safe shape for each age.

Iron-rich foods: offer from the start

Around 6 months, babies need more iron than milk alone provides. The AAP says to include foods that provide iron and zinc, such as baby food made with meat, or iron-fortified cereal. Offer one at most meals.

• Red meat: beef or lamb, cooked until very tender, then minced into a mash or shredded into soft strands
• Poultry: chicken or turkey, finely chopped or shredded and moist. These have less iron than red meat, but it’s the kind the body absorbs more easily.
• Beans and lentils: lentils, chickpeas, black beans or white beans, cooked soft and mashed or flattened
• Tofu: soft tofu in strips or mashed
• Iron-fortified cereal: infant cereal mixed with breast milk, formula or water. The CDC suggests a variety (oat, barley, multigrain) rather than only rice cereal, because of arsenic. Don’t put cereal in a bottle: the AAP says your baby could choke. Only do it if your doctor recommends it for reflux.
• Eggs: well-cooked egg has some iron, and is also a common allergen (see below)

For how much iron babies need and how to help them absorb it, see iron-rich first foods.

Vegetables

Cook until soft, then mash, or serve as soft sticks. The NHS suggests including vegetables that aren’t sweet, such as broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, to get your baby used to a range of flavors.

• broccoli and cauliflower florets with a stalk to hold
• spinach or kale, cooked and finely chopped into a mash
• sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot or parsnip, cooked soft (never raw carrot)
• zucchini, green beans and asparagus, cooked soft
• peas, mashed or flattened

Fruit

• banana, mashed or as a long strip
• avocado, mashed or in grabbable strips
• soft ripe mango spears, peach wedges or cantaloupe sticks, or mashed
• apple and pear, cooked until soft (never raw chunks)
• blueberries and raspberries squashed flat or mashed, and strawberries mashed or sliced thin from top to bottom

Starchy foods

• oatmeal or porridge, made thick enough to stick to a spoon
• well-cooked pasta shapes
• soft rice or quinoa, mashed into other foods
• potato, mashed or as soft wedges
• bread, as lightly toasted fingers

Dairy

From around 6 months, the NHS says pasteurized full-fat dairy foods like plain yogurt and cheese are suitable. Cow’s milk can go into cooking, but not as a main drink until 12 months (US advice differs: see the end of this page).

• plain, full-fat, unsweetened yogurt
• pasteurized hard cheese, finely grated and melted into food (lower-salt options)
• cottage cheese

Common allergens: early, one at a time

The NHS says foods that can trigger allergies can be introduced from around 6 months, one at a time and in small amounts, and that delaying peanut and egg beyond 6 to 12 months may increase the risk of allergy to them. The AAP suggests starting with a few low-allergy foods first, so you know your baby is managing solids.

Good first forms:

• Egg: well-cooked egg, hard-boiled and mashed, or omelet strips
• Peanut: a little smooth peanut butter thinned into infant cereal, fruit purée or yogurt, or dissolved in breast milk or formula (AAP). The NHS also suggests spreading it onto a food such as toast (we suggest spreading it thinly). Never whole nuts, and never nut butter on its own.
• Milk: yogurt or cheese
• Wheat: pasta, toast fingers or wheat-based cereal
• Soy: tofu
• Sesame: tahini thinned or stirred into food
• Fish: flaked, boneless salmon or cod, fully cooked
• Shellfish: fully cooked shrimp, finely minced into soft food
• Tree nuts: smooth almond butter, thinned, or finely ground nuts stirred into food

Once a food is tolerated, keep it in your baby’s diet regularly (NHS, AAP). See allergens for each food’s safe first form, and how to introduce allergens.

Talk to your doctor first if your baby has severe eczema, an egg allergy or has had a reaction to a food. US guidelines suggest these babies may need allergy testing before peanut, and benefit from starting peanut early, as early as 4 to 6 months, once they’ve had other solid foods (NIAID). In the UK, the NHS also suggests talking to your GP or health visitor first if your baby has eczema or there’s a family history of allergies.

Signs of an allergic reaction

Reactions usually start within a few minutes, but can take up to 2 hours (NHS).

Mild to moderate: a few hives or a red, itchy rash, especially around the mouth; mild puffiness of the face or around the eyes; vomiting once, tummy pain or diarrhea. If it’s only one of these, stop the food, stay with your baby and watch them closely for the next couple of hours, and call your doctor before trying it again.

Severe (anaphylaxis): trouble breathing, wheezing, or a cough that won’t stop; lips or mouth that suddenly swell, or swelling of the tongue or throat; a baby who turns pale, floppy or unresponsive; or signs in more than one part of the body at once, such as hives with repeated vomiting. This is an emergency. If your baby has an epinephrine (adrenaline) auto-injector, use it first, then call. Call 911.Call 999.Call your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia). Keep your baby lying down, never standing or walking (on their side if they’re vomiting, head and shoulders a little raised if breathing is hard), and go to hospital even if they seem better. See signs of anaphylaxis.

Delayed vomiting (FPIES): vomiting that starts a few hours after a food, without hives, can be FPIES. ACAAI lists dairy, soy, grains such as rice and oats, chicken, turkey and fish as common triggers. If your baby vomits once or twice and is alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. Call 911 or go to the emergency room if your baby is vomiting again and again, or is pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake.Call 999 or go to A&E if your baby is vomiting again and again, or is pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake.Call your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) or go to the emergency department if your baby is vomiting again and again, or is pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake. See FPIES.

What to skip in the first year

• Honey: none before 12 months, because of the risk of infant botulism (NHS). See honey and botulism.
• Added salt and sugar: the NHS says babies don’t need either, including stock cubes and gravy. See salt and sugar for babies.
• Cow’s milk as a drink: not before 12 months (NHS, AAP).
• Juice: none before 12 months (AAP). The NHS says to avoid fruit juice for children aged 4 and under.
• Choking hazards: whole nuts, raw carrot or apple, whole grapes or cherry tomatoes (quarter them lengthwise), chunks of meat or cheese, popcorn and hot dogs. See the choking hazards list and foods to avoid.

Going through the list

• One new food at a time. The CDC suggests waiting 3 to 5 days between new foods, so you can spot a problem.
• Repeat. The NHS says it can take 10 tries or more before a baby accepts a new food. Keep offering foods your baby has turned down.
• Mix them up. Once foods are tolerated, combine them: lentils with carrot, oatmeal with mashed banana.
• Build texture. Move from smooth to mashed, lumpy and finger foods over the first few months. See how babies learn to chew.
• Let your baby decide how much to eat. The WHO calls this responsive feeding. See hunger and fullness cues.

Where US and UK advice differs

• Fruit and vegetables first. The NHS suggests starting with vegetables that aren’t sweet, such as broccoli, cauliflower and spinach. The AAP says there’s no evidence your baby will develop a dislike for vegetables if fruit is given first.
• Raw fruit. For babies under 1, the AAP says that apart from mashed banana, most fruits should be cooked until soft. The NHS lists slices of soft fruit such as peach, melon and banana as finger foods from 6 months, and says to cook harder fruits like apple and pear. If you follow US advice, cook or mash the fruit.
• Cow’s milk in food. The NHS says cow’s milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from around 6 months, but not as a main drink until 12 months. The CDC says not to give cow’s milk before 12 months. If you follow US advice, use breast milk or formula instead.
• Baby rice and cereals. US advice leans on iron-fortified infant cereals. The NHS says babies don’t need baby rice to move to solid foods, and lists oats, porridge and other starchy foods instead.
• Waiting between foods. The CDC suggests 3 to 5 days between new foods. The NHS says to introduce allergens one at a time but doesn’t set a number of days.