What foods to introduce first
At 6 months it is important to offer iron-rich foods such as:
- Iron-fortified baby cereals
- Pureed meats such as beef, chicken, turkey, lamb
- Pureed tofu
- Pureed egg
- Well-cooked, pureed legumes such as beans, lentils and chickpeas
Most parents begin with iron-fortified baby cereals, but there is no physiological reason to suggest that babies can't tolerate meat or alternatives at 6 months of age.
Infant cereal
- Start with iron-fortified, single grain infant cereal, such as rice. Gradually try other single grain cereals, such as oat, barley and wheat.
- Use mixed grain cereals only after your baby has tried each of the single grain cereals
- Make the cereal thin at first. As your baby becomes better at eating, add less liquid to make the cereal thicker.
- Always feed cereal from a spoon. Never add cereal to a bottle
