Feed your baby only breast milk or formula for the first six months. After six months, introduce solid foods, even if he doesn't have any teeth yet. If you start your baby on solids too early, your baby doesn't receive the protein, fat and nutrients he needs from formula or breast milk. Babies can eat meat during the first six to eight months but usually only after other foods are introduced.
Readiness for Solids
After your baby is about 6 months, evaluate if she is ready for solids. Signs your baby is mature enough include she can hold her head up herself and sit in a high chair. Mimic feeding your baby with a spoon. A baby ready to eat solids can open her mouth to the spoon and close her lips over it. She can keep food in her mouth and swallow, instead of spitting it all out. And she is able to turn away when she becomes uninterested in eating.
Introducing Solids
Pick a time when your baby is alert and moderately hungry. Mix iron-fortified infant rice cereal with breast milk or formula to a very watery consistency. Allow your baby to smell and taste the food. Try a little at first and build up gradually over time. Introduce one new iron-fortified cereal a week. Continue feeding formula or breast milk, but only from 28 to 32 oz. to avoid excess weight gain.
Bread and Crackers
Once the baby is readily accepting cereal, many mothers introduce bread and crackers. Your baby might eat a quarter of a slice of bread or two crackers up until about 8 months. Introduce each food by allowing your baby to smell and taste it and not pressing the issue if he does not seem hungry. Over time, his appetite and interest in solids will grow.
Fruit, Vegetables and Fruit Juice
After your baby is comfortable with the cereal and crackers, introduce fruit, fruit juice and vegetables. Start with only strained vegetables and fruits. Gradually introduce mashed or finely chopped vegetables and fruits. Introduce new foods gradually, at the rate of about one per week. Use only 100 percent fruit juice in a cup as some mothers find that bottled juice causes tooth decay.
Meat
Many parents find introducing meat last to be helpful, as it is the hardest of all early foods to digest. Following this order strictly is not mandatory, however, and many babies do well with a less rigid system. When your baby is ready for meat, start with strained meat and then introduce finally chopped or pureed meat. Introduce meat slowly and allow your baby's interest to dictate the amount. Try about one new meat a week.
