4 to 6 months

Starting solids: first tastes and first giggles

Milk is still the main meal. This is when solid food starts, your baby laughs out loud, rolls over, reaches for everything and begins to know their own name.

Is my baby ready?

Readiness matters more than the calendar. Look for most of these signs together.

Ready signs

  • Holds their head up steadily.
  • Sits upright with a little help.
  • Swallows well. Less food falls back out of the mouth.
  • Seems hungrier: wakes at night for an extra feed, or wants more milk.
  • Has stopped pushing food out with the tongue. Early on, pushing it out is normal.
  • Watches your food, reaches for it and tries to bring it to their mouth.
  • Has reached about double their birth weight.

Not too early, not too late

Too early. Before four months your baby needs nothing but milk. Their digestive system can’t yet digest and absorb food.

Too late. Waiting long after your baby is ready can mean missing out on iron and other nutrients.

Your doctor can decide the timing from your baby’s growth.

The first foods, step by step

  1. Start with a smooth grain

    Rice is the usual first choice, thinned with a little breast milk so it is easy to accept. Use a small plastic spoon so you don’t hurt their mouth.

  2. Expect spitting

    At first your baby will push the food out again and again. With encouragement, they learn to accept it and enjoy it.

  3. One new food at a time

    Give each new food for several days before adding another, so you can spot an allergy or a food they dislike.

  4. Build slowly

    Work up to two or three spoonfuls of grain a day. Breast milk is still the main food, and solids are extra.

  5. Add fruit and vegetables

    Boiled apple, mashed banana, carrot, plum, sweet potato. Cook until soft and purée smoothly, thinning with boiled and cooled water or milk.

  6. At five and six months

    Add ripe pears, apples, bananas and plums, then a teaspoon of puréed vegetable, building up gradually. Try one vegetable at a time.

Good habits

  • Choose fresh food, not canned or ready-made.
  • Wash your hands and the bowls and spoons.
  • Feed when they are hungry and in a good mood.
  • Let them take the food from the spoon.
  • Smile, talk and play while they eat.
  • Refused it? Offer something else, and try again in a while.
  • Throw away leftovers kept in the fridge after a day.
  • Choose the natural sweetness of fruit, not added sugar.

Not yet

  • Honey, sugar, salt and spices.
  • Cow’s milk as a drink until 12 months. In small amounts it can go into food from about six months.
  • Fried or fatty foods.
  • Whole nuts and hard chunks. They can cause choking.
  • Lumpy food. Keep everything smooth for now.

Signs of a food allergy

Rash or hives, itchy skin, nausea, stomach pain, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling of the airways.

Stop that food, note it down, and tell your doctor. Trouble breathing or swelling of the face is an emergency: call for help straight away.

Changes in the nappy

Stools change colour and smell when solids start. That is normal. If they become so hard they hurt your baby, tell your doctor and offer more fruit and vegetables, plus sips of cooled boiled water.

Month by month

Month 44 months old
Body
  • Lifts head and chest on their forearms when on their tummy.
  • Can roll over. Sits with help, head steady, for a few minutes.
  • Grasps firmly, looks briefly, then puts things in the mouth.
  • Tries to touch their toes.
Talk
Already knows the basic sounds of your language. Copies a short sound like “ma”. Kicks and waves at your voice.
Connect
Laughs out loud, loves colour and movement, and may smile at the mirror. Starts to entertain themselves for a few minutes.
Month 55 months old
Body
  • Lifts head and chest high on their tummy. Holds a bottle with both hands.
  • Picks up and turns objects over, and often drops them.
  • Recognises an object from a part of it. This is the start of peek-a-boo.
Talk
New sounds, and tries m and b. Turns towards a new sound. Knows their name.
Connect
Copies your expressions. Raises their arms to be picked up, cries when you leave and starts to hug and kiss you.
Month 66 months old
Body
  • Holds small toys with one hand and passes them to the other.
  • Moves in every direction on their tummy or back.
  • Sits with a little help and stays balanced for a while.
Talk
Repeats short syllables they have invented and copies sounds clearly. Pays attention to their name.
Connect
Knows who is a stranger and may cry if a stranger touches them. Strongly attached to you. Prefers one toy over another.

Helping them sleep

A warm bath and a little gentle play help babies settle. When they won’t sleep, ask yourself:

  • Are they hungry?
  • Is the nappy or something else uncomfortable?
  • Are noise or bright light bothering them?
  • Are they in a light, active stage of sleep?

Play and talk

  • Repeat the sounds they make. They love it.
  • Shake a keychain out of sight so they turn to find it.
  • Give them a rattle, and a mirror to smile at.
  • Give a new face time to get used to. Babies watch strangers before they warm up.

Some babies grow calm when they hear Qur’an recitation.

Quran reciters

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Starting solids

Every day

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