Introducing Solids

First Vegetable

1. Chop your chosen vegetable into small pieces. Examples include carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin or potato.
2. Cook in a steamer set over boiling water for about 15 minutes or until tender.
3. Finely mash the vegetable using boiled water or breastmilk.
4. Spoon some into a small heatproof plastic bowl and serve lukewarm. You may wish to freeze the remainders.

Variation: mix together with some baby rice cereal according to the package instructions, until smooth.

 TIP: Use a fork when mashing small amounts of soft food.

First Fruit

1. Chop your chosen fruit into small pieces. Examples include pear, apple, peach or melon.
2. Simmer fruit in a saucepan with a very small amount of water. Cook over a low heat for 5-10 minutes or until tender.
3. Finely mash the fruit using the cooking liquid.
4. Spoon some into a small heatproof plastic bowl and serve lukewarm. You may wish to freeze the remainders.

Variation: mix together with some baby rice cereal according to the package instructions, until smooth.

Instant No-Cook Fruit

Banana and peach: Remove the skin and stone from half a small ripe peach then mash with the flesh of half a small ripe banana.

Creamy avocado: mash a quarter of a small avocado with 1-2 tablespoon (tbsp) of breastmilk or plain yoghurt.

Paw-paw and yoghurt: mash the flesh of some ripe paw-paw with 1 tbsp of plain yoghurt.

Minced Meat with Sweet Potato

1. Heat oil in a frying pan; add mince (beef, lamb or chicken) and sauté till softened, stirring occasionally till browned.
2. Add some skinned, deseeded and finely chopped tomato and bring to boil. Blend to desired consistency if necessary or serve as it is.
3. Prepare a small amount of mashed sweet potato.
4. Spoon a little serving into a small heatproof plastic bowl and serve lukewarm.

Lentil and Vegetable Soup

1. Peel and finely chop a selection of vegetables. For example include one carrot, half a zucchini and one potato/sweet potato.
2. Heat oil in saucepan; add chopped vegetables and 2 tablespoons of red lentils. Stir for a few minutes.
3. Add 1-2 cups of water.
4. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer of 30-45 minutes until lentils and vegetables are tender.
5. Blend to desired consistency if necessary or serve as it is.
6. Spoon a little serving into a small heatproof plastic bowl and serve lukewarm.

 NOTE: You may wish to freeze any uneaten remainders in small freezer safe containers or ice-cube trays (which can then be packaged into freezer bags once frozen).

Homemade rusks

1. Cut up thick slices of day old bread into 2 cm strips.
2. Bake in slow oven for 30-45 mins or until dry.

3. Cool then store in airtight container.

A daily guide to feeding your 6 month old

Breastfeed for at least a year, preferably longer.

*If breastmilk is not an option, use infant formula for the first year. As babies get older, they will gradually eat more solids throughout the day and adjust the amount of breastmilk they need.

Food Textures Timeline Guide

Download the Introducing Solids Guide.

Puree Photography reproduced with the kind permission of Australian’s Women’s Weekly.  Food Texture Photography reproduced with the kind permission of Golden Circle.

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