When do babies switch to baby food

When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods | Nutrition

For more information about how to know if your baby is ready to starting eating foods, what first foods to offer, and what to expect, watch these videos from 1,000 Days.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend children be introduced to foods other than breast milk or infant formula when they are about 6 months old. Introducing foods before 4 months old is not recommended. Every child is different. How do you know if your child is ready for foods other than breast milk or infant formula? You can look for these signs that your child is developmentally ready.

Your child:

Sits up alone or with support.
Is able to control head and neck.
Opens the mouth when food is offered.
Swallows food rather than pushes it back out onto the chin.
Brings objects to the mouth.
Tries to grasp small objects, such as toys or food.
Transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue to swallow.

What Foods Should I Introduce to My Child First?

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that for most children, you do not need to give foods in a certain order. Your child can begin eating solid foods at about 6 months old. By the time he or she is 7 or 8 months old, your child can eat a variety of foods from different food groups. These foods include infant cereals, meat or other proteins, fruits, vegetables, grains, yogurts and cheeses, and more.

If your child is eating infant cereals, it is important to offer a variety of fortifiedalert icon infant cereals such as oat, barley, and multi-grain instead of only rice cereal. Only providing infant rice cereal is not recommended by the Food and Drug Administration because there is a risk for children to be exposed to arsenic. Visit the U.S. Food & Drug Administrationexternal icon to learn more.

How Should I Introduce My Child to Foods?

Your child needs certain vitamins and minerals to grow healthy and strong.

Now that your child is starting to eat food, be sure to choose foods that give your child all the vitamins and minerals they need.

Click here to learn more about some of these vitamins & minerals.

Let your child try one single-ingredient food at a time at first. This helps you see if your child has any problems with that food, such as food allergies. Wait 3 to 5 days between each new food. Before you know it, your child will be on his or her way to eating and enjoying lots of new foods.

Introduce potentially allergenic foods when other foods are introduced.

Potentially allergenic foods include cow’s milk products, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame. Drinking cow’s milk or fortified soy beverages is not recommended until your child is older than 12 months, but other cow’s milk products, such as yogurt, can be introduced before 12 months. If your child has severe eczema and/or egg allergy, talk with your child’s doctor or nurse about when and how to safely introduce foods with peanuts.

How Should I Prepare Food for My Child to Eat?

At first, it’s easier for your child to eat foods that are mashed, pureed, or strained and very smooth in texture. It can take time for your child to adjust to new food textures. Your child might cough, gag, or spit up. As your baby’s oral skills develop, thicker and lumpier foods can be introduced.

Some foods are potential choking hazards, so it is important to feed your child foods that are the right texture for his or her development. To help prevent choking, prepare foods that can be easily dissolved with saliva and do not require chewing. Feed small portions and encourage your baby to eat slowly. Always watch your child while he or she is eating.

Here are some tips for preparing foods:

Mix cereals and mashed cooked grains with breast milk, formula, or water to make it smooth and easy for your baby to swallow.
Mash or puree vegetables, fruits and other foods until they are smooth.
Hard fruits and vegetables, like apples and carrots, usually need to be cooked so they can be easily mashed or pureed.
Cook food until it is soft enough to easily mash with a fork.
Remove all fat, skin, and bones from poultry, meat, and fish, before cooking.
Remove seeds and hard pits from fruit, and then cut the fruit into small pieces.
Cut soft food into small pieces or thin slices.
Cut cylindrical foods like hot dogs, sausage and string cheese into short thin strips instead of round pieces that could get stuck in the airway.
Cut small spherical foods like grapes, cherries, berries and tomatoes into small pieces.
Cook and finely grind or mash whole-grain kernels of wheat, barley, rice, and other grains.

Learn more about potential choking hazards and how to prevent your child from choking.

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Formula Feeding FAQs: Starting Solids and Milk (for Parents)

Whether you plan to formula feed your baby from the start, want to supplement your breast milk with formula, or are switching from breast milk to formula, you probably have questions.

Here are answers to some common questions about formula feeding.

When Can My Baby Try Solid Foods?

Doctors recommend waiting until your baby is about 6 months old to start solid foods. Some babies may be ready for solids sooner than 6 months, but wait until your baby is at least 4 months old.

Babies who are ready to eat solids foods:

are interested in foods (for example, they may watch others eat, reach for food, and open their mouths when food is near)
hold up their heads well, and sit up with little or no help
don't push food of their mouth (which is a natural tongue reflex that disappears when babies are 4–6 months old)
usually weigh twice their birth weight, or close to it

Talk to your doctor about the right time to start solid foods.

How Do I Introduce Solid Foods?

When the time is right, start with a single-grain, iron-fortified baby cereal. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with breast milk, formula, or water. Feed your baby with a small baby spoon. Don’t add cereal to a baby's bottle unless your doctor recommends it.

When your baby gets the hang of eating the first food, introduce other foods from all food groups, such as puréed meats, fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and yogurt. Wait a few days between introducing new foods to make sure your baby doesn't have an allergic reaction.

You can include foods that are more likely to cause allergies — such as peanuts, eggs, cow’s milk, seafood, nuts, wheat, and soy — among the foods you introduce to your infant. Waiting to start these foods does not prevent food allergies.

Talk to your doctor before giving foods that contain peanuts if your baby has severe eczema or an egg allergy, as these conditions make an allergy to peanuts more likely. Eating peanut-containing foods early on may lower a child’s chances of developing a peanut allergy. But your doctor will need to decide if you can give peanuts to your baby, and the safest way to do it. Usually, this requires allergy tests.

Should We Avoid Some Foods?

Yes, don’t give your baby:

foods with added sugars or no-calorie sweeteners
high-sodium foods
honey until after the first birthday. It can cause botulism in babies.
unpasteurized juice, milk, yogurt, or cheese
regular cow's milk or soy beverages instead of breast milk or formula before 12 months. It’s OK to offer pasteurized yogurt and cheese.
foods that may cause choking, such as hot dogs, raw carrots, grapes, popcorn, and nuts

Always supervise your child when eating. Make sure your child is sitting up in high chair or other safe place.

When Can My Baby Have Cow's Milk?

Before their first birthday, babies still need the nutrients in breast milk or formula. But after that, they’re ready to switch to cow's milk.

Most kids under age 2 should drink whole milk. If a toddler is overweight or there is a family history of obesity, high cholesterol, or heart problems, your doctor might recommend switching to reduced fat (2%) milk.

If your child can’t drink cow’s milk, choose an unsweetened soy beverage fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Other milk alternatives, like almond, oat, rice, or coconut milk, have less protein and may not be fortified.

How Do We Switch to Cow’s Milk?

You can switch your baby from formula to whole milk by replace bottles of formula with bottles — or sippy cups — of milk. By 1 year old, your baby should be eating a variety of solid foods and drinking about 16 to 24 ounces (480–720 milliliters) of milk per day.

When Can I Start Giving My Baby Water and Other Drinks?

In their first 6 months, healthy babies drinking enough formula usually don't need extra water. Once your baby is eating solid foods, you can offer a small amount of water between feedings, up to 4–8 ounces a day.

Water that has fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. If your water does not have fluoride, talk to your doctor or dentist about fluoride drops.

Do not give juice to babies younger than 12 months. After your child’s first birthday, limit 100% fruit juice to no more than 4 ounces a day. Always serve juice in a cup, not in a bottle. Don’t give your child sugar-sweetened beverages, including soda, juice drinks, sports drinks, and flavored milks.

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

Date reviewed: November 2021

Rules for transferring a child from complementary foods to a common table

COMMON TABLE FOR A CHILD

— Polina Aleksandrovna, what is a common table?

- At the common table, the child eats together with the whole family - with parents, older sisters, brothers. Parents are relieved of the obligation to cook one or more separate meals for the youngest family member, use products from the “baby food” category. Everyone eats the same thing - this is the basic principle of a common table.

— When should the baby be transferred to the common table?

— As with many other matters relating to nutrition, there are no clear boundaries. But there is a rough understanding of when you can feed a child from a common table and how this should happen. Transfer to the family table depends on two main factors.

The general table of the baby does not depend on the type of feeding, because you can eat an adult dish and still receive breast milk or milk formula. In order for weaning from milk nutrition and adaptation to an adult diet to be comfortable, during the period of breastfeeding and artificial feeding, it is initially better for mothers not to develop in the child the association for falling asleep (and calming down) “breast - sleep” or “bottle - sleep”.

— Until what age can a child not be introduced to the common table without harm to the body?

— If the mother is comfortable with the individual menu of the child at the common table, and at the same time the baby eats varied, eats not only mashed food, but also pieces, then you can cook it separately for up to five years.

If the child is only on baby puree and breast milk, and the period of acquaintance with the pieces is delayed (normally they are tried for about 8 months), then it will be more difficult for him to join adult food, food refusal will begin. In addition, even if the child receives all the necessary substances from puree, eating only homogeneous foods will have a bad effect on the development of his jaw system. Babies who don't chew develop slower jaw development, which can become a serious problem later on.

HOW TO TRANSFER A BABY TO A COMMON DISH

— How to understand that a child is ready for a catering?

- There are no contraindications for transfer to the general table if the child:

eats sufficiently large and hard pieces;
got acquainted with the products that the family usually consumes;
shows activity and interest in adult food, especially when parents eat with him.

— How to transfer a child to a common table if he refuses food?

- If the child does not eat from the common table, it is not necessary to force-feed him: parental pressure always leads to a negative perception of food. You can stimulate children's interest a little, but you should not insist, this will cause more problems.

— Polina Alexandrovna, besides food refusal, what else can parents face?

- Foods from the general table may have unwanted reactions if you offer a child food that he is not familiar with. Therefore, it is advisable to introduce into the child’s diet what they will be fed at an older age even during complementary feeding. The family and the baby should have one set of products.

In addition, the shape of the food may seem strange to the child. If he eats mashed potatoes all the time, and he is suddenly transplanted to a common table and offered a large cutlet, this will be unusual. Therefore, it is better to transfer the baby to the adult menu gradually and alternately introduce him to something new. Also, the child may be afraid of a large amount of food on the plate. The portion should not be excessive, it is always better to add an additive if necessary.

Read also

What "adult" food can be given to a child under one year old.

- Let's say the child only eats pasta or potatoes. Why is it dangerous?

- Single products are not able to fully cover all children's needs. Each of the foods in the diet has its own set of nutrients, but none is a 100% substitute for everything we need. The child's body grows, bones grow, muscles strengthen, internal organs form and develop, and he needs even more intense and varied nutrition than adults.

Parents themselves indulge in feeding one type of product - they know that the child eats potatoes well, and they constantly give him this dish. In pursuit of the fact that the child was full, parents are ready to feed him anything.

A child may not eat one thing - this is normal, the product can be replaced. But if a child eats one thing, this is a big problem. It needs to be solved and still offer different types of products: the baby will like something.

- Is it possible to distract the child with games or cartoons during feeding?

- Entertainment helps to physically feed, fill the baby's stomach, but does not form an interest in food. Between food and cartoons, the child will always choose the latter. For him, food will be secondary: there is a cartoon - I will sit down to eat, but if there is no cartoon, food is not needed. Then, without entertainment, the baby will be difficult to seat at the table. In addition, he will not have the understanding that food is good in itself. But this is a physiological need, and it must be satisfied without the help of entertainment.

Are formula, complementary foods and food from the general table compatible?

- You can combine them, since the transition to a common table never occurs on the same day. A child can consume 500 ml of breast milk or a mixture of the desired formula per year, as well as receive homogeneous purees and family food. When transferring to a common table, it is not necessary to immediately introduce the child to all family meals; you can offer something from your table as a trial option.

— What cereals and purees are suitable for this period?

- All complementary foods are preparation for the transition to the common table. The weaning phase is short, but very important. Baby purees or cereals introduce the baby to the dishes that he will receive at the common table. For example, MAMAKO ^® puree with cottage cheese prepares for adult cottage cheese, cottage cheese with fruit. Such a preparatory stage allows the child to adapt and then accept adult products as familiar, they will no longer be something new and strange for him.

The transition to a common table takes about a year and a half - for someone earlier, for someone a little later. In order to transfer a child to a common table, a full-fledged varied diet in the family and readiness for adult dishes are necessary. The kid will be more willing to join the family meal if, by his example, show him how to eat at the table, and do not put pressure on him if he is not ready for family food yet.

* Breast milk is the best food for babies. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life and continued breastfeeding after complementary feeding until age 2 years. Before introducing new products into the baby's diet, you should consult with a specialist. The material is for informational purposes and cannot replace the advice of a healthcare professional. For nutrition of children from 6+ months. The product is certified.

Up to what age can a child be fed formula milk

— Polina Aleksandrovna, up to what age can a child be given powdered milk formula?

— If breastfeeding is not possible, then formula is the best feeding option for your baby. Often mothers are worried that the mixture is not useful enough, it can be harmful or dangerous. Of course, breast milk is the best food for a baby, but if it is not possible, then there is nothing wrong with the mixture, you should not worry.

First of all, I would like to say that there is no point in finishing formula feeding as soon as possible. There is no such clear boundary after which it is impossible to feed the baby with a mixture. Usually, the transition from the mixture occurs smoothly, each baby is different. The minimum age up to which it is desirable to feed with an adapted milk formula is 1 year, and then we look at the child.

— How should complementary foods be combined with formula feeding? For example, if a baby at seven months refuses the formula and at the same time eats complementary foods? Is this normal or should I try to keep formula feeding?

- I can't say this is normal. If you take a seven-month-old baby, then no matter what time they begin to introduce complementary foods, by this age he still receives a fairly limited set of products. Therefore, it is impossible to fill all the needs of the child's body with the help of complementary foods. Complementary foods are an intermediate step in the transition to the "adult" table, and the baby still has to receive a huge amount of nutrients from breast milk or from formula. Therefore, I do not recommend removing formula from the child's diet at such an early age.

— Polina Alexandrovna, when can I switch from formula to kefir and yogurt and how will this affect the child's digestion?

- By and large, this is not a transition. When we introduce fermented milk products - yogurt or kefir - into complementary foods, the baby usually still receives enough nutrition in the form of a mixture (2-3 feedings). And replacing them with yogurt or kefir would be completely wrong. Despite the fact that these are fermented milk products and some of the proteins in them have already been broken down by the bacteria that are contained there, the protein load remains quite large. And at this age (they are introduced at about 8 months), it would be wrong to consider a fermented milk product several times a day as a complete source of nutrition. It is better to introduce dairy products into the child's diet as one of the additional types of complementary foods along with the milk mixture, which remains in the baby's diet for up to a year. And it is advisable to start not with kefir, but with yogurt - its acidity and composition will be more gentle for a small child. Kefir is better to enter by 9-10 months.

- Let's move on to the older kids. Why is it better for children from one year to use a mixture of the third formula, and not whole cow or goat milk?

The protein composition of cow's and goat's milk differs significantly from that of breast milk and adapted formulas based on cow's or goat's milk.

When a child consumes whole milk, there is a risk of getting an excess of proteins and microelements, which is not a very good factor - the child's body begins to intensively remove excess substances. A very large load falls on the kidneys, there is a violation of their function. Microelements are also excreted, which are few, but the child still needs them.
Whole cow's and goat's milk is rich in some elements and proteins, but contains quite little in others.

For example, cow's milk is not very rich in iron and goat's milk is not very rich in folic acid. There is an imbalance - the child receives an excess of some substances and at the same time does not receive others. Therefore, adapted milk mixtures are more relevant.
When buying whole cow's or goat's milk, you can't always be sure of the quality of the product.

Even when buying on the market in "trusted places", no one will give you a guarantee that this milk is really good. No one will talk about how goats and cows are kept, how milk was stored. But when you buy formula milk, you can be sure of its quality - baby food is produced under very strict control.
Proper use of the mixture reduces the risk of bacterial growth.

The undoubted convenience of mixtures is that they are usually sold in dry form and diluted immediately before use. Due to this, the risk of reproduction in the product of pathogenic bacteria, which lead to various problems of the baby's gastrointestinal tract, is reduced.

— And when can a switch to pure cow's or goat's milk be recommended? It is believed that up to 3 years the child's digestive system does not tolerate them well.

- Yes, indeed, there is such an opinion. I completely agree with him and do not recommend transferring babies under three years old to adult goat or cow milk for the reasons indicated above. It must be understood that if proteins undigested by the baby are retained in the gastrointestinal tract, they remain in the intestinal lumen. And if these are proteins of the casein fraction, they can negatively affect it - irritate the intestinal walls and lead to discomfort. And large molecules that are not crushed by enzymes, but enter the bloodstream, can cause allergic reactions.

It is better not to take risks and use those products that are recommended for babies up to three years old, namely, special milk formulas. They are adapted to this age, fortified and contain the optimal ratio of proteins and microelements so that the baby gets what he needs, and at the same time does not eat anything extra.

- Is it true that “normal milk is not found now” and the mixture will be healthier for the baby?

— Yes, indeed, when we buy whole milk, it is not always possible to be sure that the milk is produced as they say. Infant formulas are produced under strict control, according to certain technologies. Therefore, of course, there is much more confidence in such products.

— Polina Aleksandrovna, there is a myth that if you feed a child with milk formula for a long time, he will not learn to chew properly. Is this true?

— There is some truth in this. If we feed a child only formula and nothing else, then, of course, he will not learn to chew, because we do not offer him the kind of food that can be chewed. The baby will not learn to chew on its own without your help.

While formula feeding, we start complementary foods with a homogeneous puree without lumps. There is nothing to chew there, but when the baby gets used to it, we gradually introduce food with small and soft pieces, then the pieces become larger and harder. And it is thanks to this that the child learns to chew. If, along with this food, the baby receives a milk formula, then, of course, he will not forget how to chew from what he eats from a bottle. Therefore, it is fundamentally important here not how long you feed the formula, but whether you offer the child pieces that he can learn to chew.

Read also

about what foods to start feeding your baby with and how to combine complementary foods and artificial feeding

— If a child of more than two years old eats formula with pleasure, is it necessary to worry and limit it? Or will he eventually give up on her?

- There is definitely no need to worry, there is nothing wrong with that. If a child receives a mixture adapted to his age (for two years this is the third stage), then, of course, this should not bother you. But you need to regulate the consumption of the mixture.

It is important to be aware that the mixture, although liquid, is a source of a huge amount of nutrients, it has a fairly high calorie content. So this is not a drink that can be consumed up to five times a day. Such a mixture can be equated with a meal and, accordingly, left or introduced into the child's diet adequately to his needs and age norms. A two-year-old child can be given formula for an afternoon snack instead of a dairy product. In this case, this is adequate nutrition adapted to the age of the baby, and he will only benefit from it. There will be harm if this product is abused.

— How many times a day should the child be fed the 3rd formula?

- Everything depends not only on the age of the child, but also on how much complementary foods he receives.

The child receives a sufficiently large amount of complementary foods.

He receives the main part of his food during the day from complementary foods, there is one milk feeding at night. In this case, we leave the mixture for night feeding.
The child is accustomed to getting formula for the afternoon snack.

It will not be a problem at all if he gets the mixture both day and night.

Always start from the needs of the child. For example, if the baby is one year old and he still has two or three milk feedings, then you do not need to strive to quickly get away from the mixture and reduce such feedings to a minimum. Do this when the child is comfortable. That is, there is no such thing that the mixture can be given only at night or only during the day.

— When is it time to completely transfer the child to the "adult" table? How can a mother understand that the child’s body no longer needs the mixture and that he receives all the nutrients from other foods?

— You need to pay attention to a few things:

consult a pediatrician who can take into account the characteristics of the child and focus on his opinion;
it would be nice to count calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates, although it is unlikely that mom will do this;
analyze how the baby eats, how much food and nutrients he receives with complementary foods.

Based on this, we look at when to move away from milk formula. But if a 2.5-year-old child uses formula once a day and this is not another extra meal, but the same afternoon snack with fruit or cookies, then everything is quite adequate.

— Polina Alexandrovna, and at the end of the conversation: what is the use of MAMAKO ^® Premium mixtures for children and up to what age should they be given?

Range 0 to 3 years

— First, I would like to note that MAMAKO ^® has a specially adapted formula for each age. For babies in the first six months of life - 1, from six months to a year - 2, and for babies older than 1 year - adapted milk drinks marked 3. This, of course, is a big plus, because babies get what they need at each specific age.
Saturation of mixtures with useful components

- Secondly, the rich composition of the mixtures is a big plus. Every age child has different needs. Dry infant formulas MAMAKO ^® contain both a complex that supports the development of the nervous system, a complex that protects the eyes, and pre- and probiotics that promote comfortable digestion. Thanks to this enrichment, of course, this mixture is quite useful for the baby.
Adequate protein composition

- Thirdly, the protein composition of the mixtures is adapted to the specific age of the baby, which means that there is no protein load on the kidneys.
Benefits of goat milk

- If we are talking about the basis of the mixture MAMAKO ^® Premium - goat's milk, then, of course, it is more preferable for feeding babies than cow's milk. Goat milk proteins have a composition closer to breast milk proteins, and it is easier for a child to digest them than cow milk proteins.

There is no clear boundary when you need to remove the mixture from the child's diet. The minimum is one year, the age when the baby still needs milk feeding. From 1 year to 3 years is the period when you can focus on the desires and needs of the baby, on what is more comfortable for you, and at this time you can continue or complete feeding with the mixture. Most importantly, formula feeding must be adequate so that the baby does not overdo the calories and nutrients.