weaning

From 9 months, food texture becomes important for your baby's fine motor control. Introduce finger foods around this time and encourage him to feed himself. If baby is sitting well without support and has the co-ordination to hold objects and bring them to his mouth, this is also a sign that finger foods can be introduced.

Introduce finger foods such as raw fruit and vegetables, pieces of cooked chicken, rice cakes and oat fingers. Keep an eye on your baby while he is eating to ensure that he does not choke on any small bits.
  • Teething biscuits (gluten/wheat free)
  • Cut and cooked vegetable pieces, such as potatoes, green beans, peas and carrots (or grated fresh carrot)
  • Chunks of soft fresh fruit, such as banana, strawberries, peeled peach and ripe pear
  • Pieces of white fish
  • Soft pieces of meat
  • Tofu pieces
  • Cooked dry beans
  • Chickpeas
  • Small pieces of cheddar cheese from about 12 months
  • Chunks of bread with crusts cut off (non-wheat before one year)
  • Dried fruit pieces from about 12 months, try less sweet varieties like apple rings and apricots
  • Cooked pasta shapes (non-wheat before one year)

Home-made food is best. However, there
will probably be occasions when you will not
be able to make fresh food and will need to
purchase ready prepared food.

Baby food may not contain any chemical preservatives, flavourants or colourants of any kind. What you want to avoid is foods that have any additives. Additives include seemingly harmless things like sugar, salt, starch and added fats. See more.

You need to remember that baby's taste buds are very different to adults. He has very sensitive taste receptors. Natural, whole food has a lot of natural sugar and salt in it and no additional flavouring is needed - regardless of how bland you may think baby food tastes!


The ideal is for the baby food to be produced from
organic produce. This will ensure that there are no
chemicals in the food which can add a toxic load to
your baby's young, developing immune system.
Organic farmers rely on healthy soils to produce
healthy plants. These healthy soils help
ensure that the foods produced contain
good amounts of essential nutrients,
which we require to maintain
healthy bodies.