Starting solids: a complete weaning guide from 6 months

Weaning, or complementary feeding, does not replace milk overnight. In the first months, your baby learns new tastes, textures, gestures and rhythms while breast milk or formula remains an important part of their nutrition.

This page brings together the complete NoiBimbo path: when to start, what to offer, safety, allergens, recipes and practical tools.

The complete path

Use these guides in order, or jump straight to the question you need to solve:

• Weaning: the first tastes to understand when to start and how to organize the first weeks.
• Foods to avoid in the first year for honey, salt, sugar, cow's milk as a drink and choking risks.
• First baby food recipes for simple ideas with no added salt or sugar.
• Baby Led Weaning if you want to use safe cuts and soft finger foods.
• Introducing allergenic foods for egg, peanut, fish, milk and other allergens.
• First baby meal checklist to prepare the high chair, bibs, spoons and eating space.
• Feeding calculator to orient yourself around milk, meals and frequency by age.

When to start

Most babies start around 6 months, when milk alone no longer covers all nutritional needs and the baby shows the right developmental signs.

The most useful signs are:

• they can sit with little support and keep head and trunk fairly stable;
• they bring objects to their mouth in a coordinated way;
• they show interest in adult food;
• they no longer automatically push food out with the tongue;
• they are alert and engaged during meals.

Looking at your plate or waking more often at night is not enough on its own. If your baby was premature, is not gaining well, has swallowing issues, significant reflux, moderate-to-severe eczema or known allergies, agree timing and approach with your pediatrician.

How to begin simply

You can start with spoon-fed purees, soft foods your baby can hold, or a mixed approach. The best choice is the one that lets you be consistent, careful with safety and responsive to your baby's cues.

A simple start:

1. choose a calm time, often lunch or snack time;
2. offer milk as usual and then a small taste, or the other way around if your pediatrician recommends it;
3. use one simple, well-cooked food with no added salt;
4. start with 1-2 teaspoons or one soft, safely prepared piece;
5. watch reactions, appetite, stools and acceptance over the following days.

If your baby refuses, turns away or closes their mouth, stop. Weaning works better without pressure: the same food may need many tries.

What to offer first

There is no single mandatory order. Many family foods are suitable when prepared simply:

• cooked vegetables such as zucchini, squash, carrot, potato and broccoli;
• grains such as rice, corn, oats, semolina or suitable tiny pasta;
• hulled or well-mashed legumes such as red lentils and peas;
• well-cooked meat, fish and egg;
• soft or cooked fruit such as pear, cooked apple, banana and avocado;
• plain full-fat yogurt with no added sugar, if tolerated and in line with your pediatrician's guidance.

For quantities and combinations, start with the first baby food recipes. If you want to use soft finger foods, check the cuts first in the Baby Led Weaning guide.

What to avoid

In the first year, some foods are not suitable or need very specific preparation:

• honey until 12 months, even cooked or mixed into drinks;
• added salt, stock cubes, ready-made broths and very salty foods;
• added sugar, juices, sweets and sweetened yogurts;
• cow's milk as the main drink before 12 months;
• whole grapes, whole cherry tomatoes, olives, raw carrot, raw apple pieces, popcorn, whole nuts and other hard or round foods;
• spoonfuls of peanut butter: thin or dilute it instead;
• risky raw or undercooked foods, such as undercooked egg, raw fish, raw meat, unpasteurized milk and unsafe cheeses.

The full list is in foods to avoid in the first year.

Allergens: do not delay without a reason

Egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish, milk, wheat, soy and sesame do not need to be automatically delayed. Once your baby is ready for solids, they can be introduced in tiny amounts and safe forms, one at a time.

Caution still matters:

• offer the new allergen in the morning or at lunch;
• start with a very small amount;
• avoid introducing more than one new allergen on the same day;
• keep offering tolerated allergens regularly;
• ask your pediatrician if there is significant eczema, a diagnosed allergy or any previous reaction.

For practical examples and symptoms to watch for, read how to introduce allergenic foods.

Practical warnings

Ask for medical advice if your baby:

• cannot sit with support;
• coughs often during every meal or seems to struggle swallowing;
• vomits repeatedly after new foods;
• develops hives, swelling of lips or eyes, breathing difficulty or sudden paleness after eating;
• refuses almost all solids for weeks or is not gaining well.

Weaning does not have to be perfect. It has to be safe, gradual and adapted to the real baby in front of you.