6 months baby food chart along with baby food recipes. The best time to start solids for babies is from or after 6 months. There are many sources suggesting introduction of solids from 3 to 4 months. But an early introduction of solids can lead to more colic, digestive troubles and allergies. A baby develops digestive enzymes in between 4 to 6 months which are crucial for digestion of foods. It is a good choice to wait until the baby develops these enzymes completely.
A baby typically begins to develop head control from 3 to 4 months and gains strong head to neck muscles by 6 months. A strong head to neck control helps the baby to accept solids well and can easily swallow. So by 6 months a baby has a better digestive system and good head control which are needed before the introduction of solids.
Breast milk is the best bet for the overall growth of a baby. It is recommended to exclusively breast feed a baby for the first 6 months. As an exception, formula milk is an alternate for women who cannot breast feed baby due to professional, personal or medical reasons.
If you have a baby older than 7 months, you can follow this complete
baby food chart for 8 months old and above
How do you know your baby is ready for solids?
1. The baby’s head & neck are stable. This means baby can accept food and swallow.
2. Baby must be able to sit stable with or without support.
3. Shows interest in food when others are eating.
4. Baby must be able to open the mouth when food is offered.
5. Baby is still hungry after breastfeeding or formula.
Tips on how to start solids for baby
1. Always start with a single food. Either a fruit, vegetable or grain. Avoid a mixture of foods. You can start with mashed fruit first. The presence of digestive enzymes in fruits helps the baby to digest them better. After a week, while you continue feeding fruit, you can start rice water (kanji), after a week clear dal soup or boiled vegetable water. You can also try feeding ragi milk extracted from soaked ragi / finger millet.
2. Always follow the 3 day test rule for every food you introduce. Wait for the results until the 4th day.
3. Introduce new foods to your baby during breakfast or lunch. Avoid trying new foods during the later time of the day.
4. A 6 month old baby can eat only a tsp of mashed food initially, slowly increase the quantity to a tbsp and then more.
5. Use stainless steel or glass bowls and cups for preparation of baby foods. Avoid plastic ware even made of any superior material, including virgin plastic or graded as BPA free. Any kind of plastic ware consists of plasticizers that are used to make the containers flexible. Plasticizers are similar to BPA and are an endocrine disruptor. Even BPA free plastic and virgin plastic ware have chemical plasticizers. Please use google search for more info.
6. Always feed the baby in a calm, quite environment and in a steady place like on the lap or in a high chair or on the floor.
7. While feeding, refrain the baby from activities like watching a TV show, playing with a hand held gadget like mobile, and tablet or game devices. Some of these emit radiation that is not good for the baby.
8. Meal time has to be a learning for the baby, speaking to your baby about the food – its texture, taste and color helps the baby to develop a liking for the food. Or narrate a good story to the baby, do not encourage the baby to talk while eating. This may seem to be over disciplined but this is the only way i have found to grow fuss free kids. They will begin to love any food that is served.
9. Introduce water from a steel cup or a glass not from a feeding bottle or sipper. A 90 ml cup is best suited. This makes the transition from teat to cup easy when the baby grows up.
6 months baby food chart
A baby usually consumes milk every 2 to 3 hours. Solids should be served in between the feeds. Use plain boiled and cooled water to puree the fruits if needed. Avoid mixing milk or any other ingredient with fruit.
The combination of fruit and milk products results in indigestion, loss of appetite, no weight gain and accumulation of toxins.
Clear soups can be used to make pureed rice, oats or ragi cereal. Feeding only clear soups regularly is not a good idea as they lack the nutrition that is provided by a semi solid food or milk.
I have shared a sample baby food chart below which shows the quantities of fruits and vegetables. From the chart (day 13 to day 20), you can replace potato with rice porridge (kanji) or dal soup or ragi porridge.
You can download the below 6 months Baby food chart here
This is an alternate table which you can follow if your baby is in between 6 and 7 months.
| Wake up |
| Breastfeed or formula milk. What ever time your baby wakes up. |
| breakfast 7.30 to 8 am fruit puree |
| One of the following: (only after 1½ to 2 hours of milk). You can use boiled cooled water to thin down the puree. 1. Banana- mash with a fork or run in a blender. 2. Apple- peel,core,steam for about 5 to 6 minutes. Puree in a blender 3. Chickoo (sapota)- mash with a fork and spoon 4. Pear- peel and core, steam for 5 to 6 minutes 5. Papaya – mash with a fork or blend 6. Ripe avocado – add it to a blender and puree |
| lunch 11.30 to 12.30 pm |
| After introducing fruits, you can try these. Continue to feed fruits for breakfast. first 1 week – rice cereal 2nd week apple rice or rice cereal with boiled carrot 3rd week ragi porridge Or apple ragi or oats porridge Or apple oats Or clear moong dal soup 4th week – Repeat the foods mentioned above. You can also introduce soupy khichdi. You will have to make it following the same method I mentioned for rice cereal above. |
| rest of the day |
| Breast feed or formula (only after 1.5 to 2 hours of lunch) |
Baby food recipes for 6 months old along with ingredients and instructions to prepare
These are the quantities i followed for my kids i got from the Health Promotion Board,Singapore.Use any one
Quantity of fruits for 6 months to 9 months
½ small apple
½ small pear
½ cup sapota
½ cup papaya
½ medium banana
How many times can the same fruit be given in a week?
Including a variety of fruits will provide different kinds of nutrients to the baby.
Banana – 3 to 4 times
Apple – daily
Chickoo- daily
Pear- 3 to 4 times
Papaya – 4 to 5 times
Avocado- 3 to 4 times or daily
Do read the complete post before you attempt any of these recipes
More tips on preparing Lunch
first 7 days -Single grain with milk (formula or breast milk). You can also use gluten free or baby oats or ragi to make porridge.
next 7 days – Rice with a single veggie or apple. You can use steamed or boiled carrots.
from 3 rd week – Rice, ragi or oats. Clear dal soup with veggie.
GRAINS to prefer
unpolished rice
ragi / finger millet
oats after 6 months. You can use baby oats if the baby has just turned 6 months.
VEGETABLES to prefer
1. carrots
2. pumpkin
LENTIL/ DAL to prefer
1. moong dal
2. toor dal
maddy says
nice information
sunitha says
hi dr,
i am an ardent follower of ur blog and a word of thanks for being my saviour in my wifehood journey and now the ultimate motherhood…..:) i love to read the way you explain recipes and each words emits your sincerity and passion….
just a doubt on the present recipe….can u pls explain the way of making ordinary ragi flour at home without sprouting…
cheers
Ashwini M. Shetty says
Hi,I am happy to have found your blog at the right time.Being a ftm I am about to start solids for my 6 mth old daughter. Having read about the section on feeding utensils here I had a query.Is it safe to use silicone feeding spoons for babies as using a steel one would not be comfortable for the little one?
swasthi says
Hi Ashwini
You can find steel & silver spoons that are very thick and really do not hurt the mouth. Stainless spoons made of grades – 18/8, 18/10 or 300 series are quite thick and are comfortable. I haven’t used silicon spoons for my babies any time as they are not healthy.
Kofo says
It so relaxing after reading all,you really make my day,thanks to u ma’am
mom b says
tomorrow my baby will start her first meal..ur my saviour
Summi says
Its so relaxing after reading ur vlog .maam I need to knw if my baby has a different slp pattern like she wakes up at 10.am is tat proper time.to start break fast well of course btw tat if she wakes up she has my bf..nw.she us 6n half mnths and I live in middle.east
swasthi says
Hi Summi
Thanks.
Yes its absolutely fine, you can give breakfast at 10 am.
Adesanmi says
You are too much, you really make me a good mom
swasthi says
Thanks
🙂
Ashwini says
Hi
Mam ,
Ur information help me a lot
Thanks
pksahoo says
very very helpful.
Maya saikia says
Hello mam,i have a baby and she has just complete 5monts.now i want to know extra food is necessary at this time
swasthi says
Hi Maya
You can start with fruit puree, then vegetable puree
Teja says
Mi blog chala bagundi. It is very helpful for new moms..
Asiya says
Hi swathi I really like ur recipes and ideas for babies ..my baby has just turned 6 months old what would you recommend for her solids ..I have started with 1 tbsp of rice cereals with pear purée and apple purée once a day in morning plz let me know what next I can start her with thanks
Vibhavari says
Hi, is there any substitute for formula milk ….. my baby doesnot like it at all
He is 6 and 1/2 months old
I feed him
Formula in morning
Rice and moong dal watery paste in afternoon
Formula in evening
Rice moong dal watery paste in night
Along with breestmilk
Zuha says
Thank u so much
I want to ask that how much boiled water should be given for the baby after the food my baby is 6 and half months
swasthi says
Welcome Zuha
Just 2 to 3 tsps of luke warm water after 15 to 30 mins of solids prevents colic in babies. Do not give a lot.
Kavitha says
Hi my baby is 6 months 17 days old I have started to give solid foods but I have small confusion that how many times solid food can be given to her.. I’m hearing advices such solid foods have to be given only once a day and the rest of the day breastfeeding whether it is correct or not.whether she can have the nutrients by exclusively breastmilk..pls reply
swasthi says
Hi Kavitha
yes you are right, it has to be only once a day. As the baby grows when your baby completes 7 months, you can start twice – 1 fruit or vegetable feed & 1 grain, lentil & veggie feed.
Actually babies at 6 months wil not be able to eat much, they eat just about a tsp to tbsp. So milk is very important.
If there is not enough breastmilk, then you can use formula.
Monisha says
Hi swasti…thank u so much for the above details….i got few question which i didnt find im other people’s comment…
1. When will my baby start to show thats its gaining weight.
2. I feed my baby moon dhal kichadi so is it safe to give milk after feeding the kichadi seperatly.
swasthi says
Hi Monisha, you are welcome
You haven’t mentioned the age of your baby
saranyadeepikajoe says
Thank you so much. It’s very useful for the modern mom. But I have a doubt how Many times I should feed formula milk a day to my 6th month baby. Because just I started to give in this month only till now I had given breast milk. So I don’t know pls help me
swasthi says
Hi Saranya
You can give every 2 and a 1/2 to 3 hours. If you haven’t stopped breast feeding completely, then you can keep your baby on formula during the day and breastfeed in the nights.