At 6 months, your baby is ready to start solid foods alongside breast milk or formula, which remains their primary source of nutrition through the first year. The best first foods are iron-rich: think pureed meat, mashed beans, and iron-fortified infant cereal. From there, you can gradually introduce vegetables, fruits, cheese, yogurt, and more. Here’s how to do it safely and confidently.
Why Iron-Rich Foods Come First
By 6 months, the iron stores your baby was born with are running low, and breast milk alone can’t keep up with demand. That makes iron the single most important nutrient to prioritize when starting solids. The best sources include pureed or finely minced beef, chicken, turkey, and fish, as well as mashed lentils, beans, and iron-fortified baby cereal. Aim to offer iron-rich foods at least twice a day between 6 and 12 months.
Meat contains a form of iron that’s easier for your baby’s body to absorb. It also boosts absorption of the iron found in plant foods by about 150% when the two are eaten together. Pairing iron-rich foods with fruits or vegetables high in vitamin C (like mashed sweet potato, pureed broccoli, or a bit of mashed strawberry) helps even more.
Good First Foods to Try
Beyond iron-rich options, you can introduce a wide variety of foods between 6 and 9 months. There’s no required order, but here are reliable choices organized by category:
- Vegetables: sweet potato, squash, peas, carrots, broccoli, and zucchini, all cooked until very soft and mashed or pureed
- Fruits: banana, avocado, pear, peach, mango, and cooked apple, mashed or pureed to a smooth texture
- Grains: iron-fortified infant cereal (rice, oat, or barley), soft-cooked pasta, and bread crusts or toast strips
- Protein: finely minced or pureed meat, deboned fish, mashed beans, lentils, and smooth nut butters (thinned, never a glob)
- Dairy: plain whole-milk yogurt and grated cheese (but no cow’s milk as a drink until 12 months)
You can offer purees, mashed textures, or soft finger foods, depending on what works for your baby. Many families do a combination. If you’re offering finger foods, cut them into long, thin strips your baby can grip in a fist, and make sure they’re soft enough to squish between your fingers.
How Much and How Often
Start with just one small meal a day at whatever time works for both of you. Your baby might eat only a spoonful or two at first, and that’s completely normal. Over the next few weeks, you can gradually work up to two or three small meals plus a couple of snacks, offering something to eat or drink roughly every 2 to 3 hours.
Keep in mind that your baby’s stomach is tiny and fills up fast. Breast milk or formula is still providing the bulk of their calories and nutrition, so continue offering milk on demand. A good general approach is to offer the solid food first, then follow with a milk feed, so your baby has a chance to explore food while they’re hungry.
Introducing Common Allergens Early
Current guidelines encourage introducing allergenic foods early, not delaying them. Peanut, egg, cow’s milk (as yogurt or cheese), wheat, soy, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish can all be introduced starting around 6 months. Giving these foods early and regularly may actually reduce the risk of developing food allergies.
For peanut specifically, the evidence is strong. The FDA notes that for babies at higher risk of peanut allergy (those with severe eczema, egg allergy, or both), introducing peanut-containing foods as early as 4 to 6 months can reduce the chance of developing a peanut allergy. For these higher-risk babies, a blood test or skin prick test may be recommended first. For babies without these risk factors, you can mix a small amount of smooth peanut butter into a puree or infant cereal and offer it at home.
When introducing any new allergen, offer a small amount and wait a few minutes before giving more. Introduce one new allergenic food at a time, with a couple of days between new ones, so you can identify the source if a reaction occurs.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
A few items are off-limits at this age:
- Honey: Do not give honey in any form before 12 months. It can contain spores that cause infant botulism, a serious type of food poisoning. This includes honey mixed into food, water, or formula.
- Cow’s milk as a drink: Cow’s milk is low in iron, can displace iron-rich foods, and inhibits iron absorption. It shouldn’t be offered as a drink until 12 months. Small amounts in cooking or as yogurt and cheese are fine.
- Fruit juice: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no fruit juice before age 1. Breast milk, formula, and small amounts of water are sufficient. Specialty juice products marketed for infants offer no benefit.
- Choking hazards: Whole grapes, whole nuts, popcorn, raw carrot sticks, chunks of cheese, hot dog rounds, and sticky foods like large spoonfuls of nut butter. Always cut round foods lengthwise and make sure pieces are soft.
- Added salt and sugar: Your baby doesn’t need either. Skip processed foods and sweetened snacks.
Water and Other Drinks
Between 6 and 12 months, you can offer small sips of water with meals. The recommended range is 4 to 8 ounces per day total. An open cup or a small sippy cup works well and helps your baby practice drinking. Breast milk or formula should remain their main drink throughout the first year.
Reading Your Baby’s Hunger Cues
Your baby will tell you when they want more and when they’ve had enough. Hungry signs include reaching for food, opening their mouth when a spoon approaches, getting excited at the sight of food, and using hand motions or sounds to ask for more. When they’re full, they’ll push food away, close their mouth, turn their head, or signal with their hands that they’re done.
Resist the urge to coax your baby into finishing a portion. Letting them control how much they eat builds healthy eating habits from the start. Some meals they’ll eat enthusiastically, others they’ll barely touch. Both are normal. The goal at 6 months isn’t to hit a calorie target. It’s to let your baby explore new tastes and textures while their milk feeds continue doing the heavy nutritional lifting.