Week 24 · The First Year, Day by Day

Days 162 to 168 · 23 weeks 0 days to 23 weeks 6 days old · about 5½ months Your baby is now, on average, about 66 cm (26 in) long and weighs around 7.4 kg (16.2 lb). Babies vary widely, so look at your own baby's curve rather than these numbers. Many babies are getting steadier when propped up, grabbing anything within reach and bringing it straight to their mouth, which is exactly the kind of practice eating needs. For you, this may be a week of reading labels, watching other people eat with new eyes and wondering how it will all go. This week is about the food itself: why iron comes first, the choice between purees and baby-led weaning, the difference between gagging and choking, what a first meal looks like, which foods to leave until after the first birthday and how to prepare food safely.

Day 162 · 23 weeks 0 days old

Iron comes first on the menu

Babies are born with a store of iron, built up during the last months of pregnancy. Breast milk contains only a small amount, although it is very well absorbed, and by around 6 months those stores begin to run low. Iron is essential for healthy blood and for the rapid growth of your baby's brain, so it is the nutrient to think about first.

That is why the first foods should include iron-rich choices, offered at least once or twice a day. Good options include:

iron-fortified infant cereal, mixed with breast milk, formula or water well-cooked meat, poultry and fish, finely minced, mashed or in soft strips

well-cooked egg
lentils, beans and chickpeas, mashed or blended
tofu

Iron from plant foods is absorbed better when it is eaten with vitamin C, so pair lentils or cereal with a little mashed fruit or vegetables such as broccoli, peppers, strawberries or kiwi.

You may have heard that first foods should always be bland cereal, or vegetables before fruit, or a strict order of foods. None of that is needed. After the first iron-rich foods, any healthy family food prepared in a safe texture can follow. Formula is fortified with iron, but formula-fed babies still benefit from iron-rich foods as they learn to eat.

Try this: Choose two iron-rich foods your family already eats and think about how you could make a soft, baby-safe version of each.

Figure 9. Feeding through the first year.

Day 163 · 23 weeks 1 day old

Purees, finger foods or a bit of both

There are two broad ways to start solids, and both can work well. The traditional approach starts with smooth purees on a spoon, then moves fairly quickly to mashed and lumpy textures and soft finger foods. It suits families who like a gradual start. The key is not to stay on smooth purees for too long. Babies who move on to lumpier textures by around 8 or 9 months tend to accept a wider range of foods later.

Baby-led weaning skips purees. From the start, your baby feeds themselves soft pieces of food, such as a strip of steamed sweet potato or a soft-cooked broccoli floret, about the size and shape of an adult finger, so they can hold it in their fist with some sticking out. It lets your baby control the pace and join family meals early. It does need a baby who sits well with support, careful food preparation and patience with mess, and you need to make sure iron-rich foods are part of every day. Many families mix the two: a spoon of iron-fortified cereal or mashed lentils in the morning, soft finger foods at dinner. When food is prepared safely, baby-led weaning has not been shown to raise the risk of choking. Choose whatever fits your baby and your household.

Try this: Talk over with your partner or support person which approach appeals to you, and agree that you can change course whenever you like.

Day 164 · 23 weeks 2 days old

Gagging is noisy, choking is silent

The first time your baby gags on food, it can frighten you. They may cough, splutter, push their tongue forward and go red in the face, and the food may come back out. This is gagging, and it is a normal, protective reflex. In young babies, the gag reflex is triggered much further forward on the tongue than in adults. It keeps pieces that are too big away from the airway while your baby learns to move food around their mouth. When your baby gags, stay calm, stay close and let them work it out. Do not put your fingers in their mouth to fish out food, as that can push it further back. Choking is different. A choking baby is often silent or makes a high-pitched squeak, cannot cough, cry or breathe properly, and may look panicked or turn blue or pale around the lips.

Get help right away if your baby cannot cough, cry or breathe: start choking first aid and have someone call your local emergency number. Choking first aid for babies is covered in detail early in Part Four A hands-on infant first aid course is very reassuring.

To lower the risk, always seat your baby upright, stay with them for every bite and offer food in safe shapes and textures.

Try this: Look up an infant first aid or CPR course near you and book a spot, ideally for yourself and anyone else who will feed your baby.

Day 165 · 23 weeks 3 days old

The first meal is small, short and messy

When your baby is sitting up with good head control, showing interest in food and no longer pushing everything out with their tongue, you can offer a first taste. For many babies this happens at around 6 months, a little before or after.

Choose a time when your baby is awake, content and not too hungry. Sit your baby upright in the high chair, strapped in, and sit facing them so you can see each other. Offer a teaspoon or two of a smooth or mashed iron-rich food, or place a soft finger food on the tray. Let your baby touch it, smear it and taste it. Bring the spoon to their lips and wait for them to open, rather than pushing it in.

Expect most of it to end up on the bib, the tray and the floor. Faces may look shocked or disgusted. That is your baby meeting a brand-new sensation, not necessarily dislike. A few minutes is plenty.

Start with one meal a day for the first week or two, then move to two, and gradually build towards three meals a day over the following months. Offer small sips of water from an open cup with meals, which you will read more about in week 25.

Try this: Take a photo or a short video of your baby's first taste when it happens. The expressions are worth keeping.

Day 166 · 23 weeks 4 days old

Your feelings about food come to the table too

Few parts of parenting stir up as many feelings as feeding. You may be excited, nervous about choking, worried about allergies, or carrying memories of your own childhood meals, good or hard. If you have had a difficult relationship with food or your body, starting solids can bring some of that back to the surface.

It helps to know your job and your baby's job. Your job is to decide what food is offered, when and where. Your baby's job is to decide whether to eat and how much. This simple split, used by many feeding specialists, takes a great deal of pressure off. You do not have to get a certain amount into your baby. You only have to offer good food in a calm setting.

Comparison is another trap. Another baby may eat a whole bowl while yours licks a spoon and shudders. Both are normal. Appetite varies from day to day, and babies learn at different speeds.

If mealtimes make you feel very anxious, or if your own eating is becoming restricted or out of control, talk to your midwife, doctor or public health nurse. Support for eating difficulties after birth is available, and asking early helps.

For your partner: Take on one meal a day once solids start, so feeding becomes a shared task and the parent who has done most of the milk feeds gets a break from being the only one at the table.

Day 167 · 23 weeks 5 days old

A short list of foods to save for later

Most healthy foods your family eats can be shared with your baby, prepared in a soft, safe texture. A few are best avoided in the first year. Honey, including in baked goods and cereals, should wait until after 12 months, because it can carry spores that cause infant botulism, a rare but serious illness. Cow's milk should not be your baby's main drink before 12 months, although small amounts in cooking, and pasteurized yogurt and cheese, are fine from the start of solids.

Some foods are choking hazards. Never give whole nuts, whole grapes, whole cherry tomatoes, popcorn, hard candies, chunks of raw apple or carrot, or round slices of hot dog. Quarter grapes and small tomatoes lengthwise, grate or cook hard fruits and vegetables until soft, and spread nut butters thinly or mix them into food rather than offering a spoonful.

Skip added salt and sugar, including salty processed foods, stock cubes, sweet drinks and juice. Avoid raw or undercooked eggs, meat, fish and shellfish, and unpasteurized milk and cheese. Choose low-mercury fish, such as salmon, trout, sardines and cod, and avoid shark, swordfish and marlin. Rice drinks are not suitable as a milk replacement for young children. This list does not need to be memorized. A copy on the fridge will do. Try this: Write the list of foods to avoid on a card and stick it to the fridge, where everyone who feeds your baby can see it.

Day 168 · 23 weeks 6 days old

Clean hands and cool food keep meals safe

Babies' immune systems are still developing, so a little care in the kitchen goes a long way. Wash your hands, and your baby's, before preparing and eating food. Keep raw meat away from foods that will not be cooked, and use a separate board or wash it well in hot, soapy water.

Cook meat, poultry, fish and eggs all the way through. Let hot food cool, stir it well, and test the temperature on your own lip or wrist before serving. If you use a microwave, stir thoroughly and let it stand, as microwaves heat unevenly and leave hot spots.

Cooking in batches can save time. Blend or mash food, spoon it into an ice cube tray, cover and freeze. Most homemade baby food keeps in the fridge for up to two days and in the freezer for one to two months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight or in the microwave, and use it within a day. Do not refreeze food that has already been thawed.

Serve your baby's portion in a separate bowl rather than feeding from the jar or container. Saliva from the spoon can spoil the rest. Throw away whatever is left in the bowl at the end of the meal.

Try this: Make one batch of a simple iron-rich food, such as mashed lentils or minced chicken, and freeze it in small portions for the weeks ahead.