Introducing your baby to solid foods

• Do take the edge off his hunger with a part-feed first, then give him tasters of soft purees on the tip of a weaning spoon.
• Do let him finish his milk feed when he has either lost interest in the food or had his quota.
• Do keep going if he grabs at the spoon eagerly and looks for more food, but only offer tiny amounts of one or two foods at first and keep up his milk feeds.
• Do look for cues that he's ready for more substantial amounts of solids: he'll probably reduce his milk intake of his own accord, and this is time to introduce him to a wider variety of flavours.
• Don't offer more than a teaspoonful or two at first.
• Don't persist if your baby pokes his tongue out as soon as it makes contact with the food: it means that a reflex which helps stop him choking is still active and he's not ready yet. Leave it a couple of weeks before trying again.
• Don't buy fortified baby cereals at this stage: he's still getting all the nutrients he needs from breast- or formula milk, so all he needs from solid foods is extra calories.

What to offer
Many baby manuals advise starting your baby off with plain baby rice, which is fine if your baby enjoys it. However, it's very bland, and there's no harm in letting your baby try more flavoursome foods - as long as they are salt-free and don't contain any foods he should avoid at first.

It's easy to make purees by mashing foods up with a little breast- or formula milk, then pass them through a fine sieve or blast them in a liquidiser or food processor. Once you know what your baby likes, it's a good idea to make up a batch of his favourites, then freeze them in ice-cube trays. This way you can defrost as many cubes as you think he'll eat at a time.

Combinations to try:

• steamed broccoli and mashed potato
• mashed swede and potato
• broccoli, courgette and mashed potato
• boiled carrots and mashed potato
• parsnip and mashed sweet potato
• any combination of the above

For pudding, make purees from just stewed fruit, or add a little breast- or formula milk or baby rice if you like. Don't add sugar! Try:

• apple
• pear
• apple and pear
• pear and mashed banana