Your baby’s first year of life is filled with so many exciting milestones. Perhaps one of the most exciting ones is approaching: feeding your baby solid foods.

Watching your baby try new foods is fun, but the process can seem a little daunting. Joia Henson, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, explains how to know when your baby is ready for solid foods and tips for safely and successfully introducing them.

When is your baby ready for solid foods?

At around five to six months, your baby may start to show interest in solid foods.

“Sometimes they’ll start opening their mouth when food comes near them or when you’re taking a bite of something,” says Henson. “They also may track the food and try to take a bite themselves.”

Your baby is also getting stronger and may start sitting up on their own or with minimal support. Once your baby can do these skills and sit in a high chair, you can introduce baby foods or other simple foods, such as infant cereals, unsweetened applesauce, yogurts, and mashed potatoes, to your little one.

Some babies reach nine months before holding themselves up or showing interest in food. Henson says this is no cause for concern; it’s completely normal.

“It really just depends on the baby and their physical development as far as whether they have the posture in place to really sit up and eat food safely.”

Introducing solid foods

Although introducing your baby to new textures and flavors is important, it can be tricky. Henson offers this advice when starting:

• Keep it simple. If you aren’t using commercial baby food, use smooth or blended single-ingredient food. Start with one new food at a time, introducing new foods no fewer than three to five days in between.

• Start with a small amount. Your baby is still developing their mouth muscles, so eating off a spoon for the first time can be difficult. When introducing new foods, give them no more than a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the food.

• Keep using breast milk or formula. Henson says, “You want to give them the same amount of formula or breast milk and consider this solid food introduction to be on top of what they would normally be taking.”

If your baby gets a rash around their face when trying new foods, they could be having a topical allergic reaction. Henson recommends stopping that food until you can speak with your healthcare provider.

Introducing new foods can help lower the risk of developing food allergies later in life, but that doesn’t mean they won’t occur.

Don’t get discouraged

Introducing new foods to your baby can be trial and error.

“It’s very important to understand that just because they reject it doesn’t mean they don’t like it,” says Henson. “It takes several introductions of any type of food in order for your baby to really get used to it.”

However, if you feel you and your baby are struggling with the process, don’t hesitate to talk with your healthcare provider.