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How do I know if my 6 month old is ready to eat solid food and drink water?

2,496 views · Published 29 May 2015 · 3:13 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: IntermountainParents · 2015 · Education

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You have some questions about your baby girl and solid food. You mentioned that she's 6 months old, and she's tried solid food and, most of the time, likes it, but doesn't like everything. Most babies are ready for solids by 6 months of age, and there are a few signs that you can look for to know if your baby is ready. Number 1, they need to be able to hold their own head up. That's usually not a problem at this point. They need to have at least doubled their birthweight or weigh at least 13 pounds. They need to get excited about food, like when you bring something towards their mouth, if they open, then that's a good sign. If you stick it in and they bring it to the back of their tongue instead of just spitting it all out, that's another good sign. So if your baby is doing all of these things, then she's probably ready for solid food.

You can introduce lots of different things. You can introduce single grains, fruits, veggies, but just make sure you do it one at a time, because you need to watch for signs of an allergy. These commonly include rashes, upset stomach like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. So lets say you fed your baby peaches, and then she had a reaction. You wouldn't want to give those to her again. And talk with your pediatrician before giving them to her again. They can help you determine if it was really an allergy, or if maybe it was a coincidence, or had to do with something else entirely.

Now you asked a specific question about whether or not you can give your baby what's on your plate. It sounds like she's interested in it. The other night you pureed what you were eating and gave it to her, and she really liked it. And that's not a bad idea, but just make sure that you give her one food at a time, and stick with that for 2 to 5 days so that you can, again, watch for signs of allergies. Let's say that you gave her 2 different things and then she reacted. You would have a harder time figuring out what she reacted to.

At this point, while you're introducing solids, you only need to give her solids for one meal a day. And once she's got that one down and done it for at least several days, then move on to the next meal. And slowly introduce solids so that by 8 months of age, she's eating solids at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Then at this point, she's probably also going to be more ready for finger foods. You can try things like puffs (like you mentioned), you can even try diced meats, cheeses, those sorts of things. There's a variety of foods that you could give her. This is also when you could start cutting up smaller pieces of what's on your plate and giving it to her.

Now you also had some questions about fluids. You mentioned that you gave her some water and a sippy cup, and she liked it and did well. And that's totally fine, once she's well-established on solids, to give her sips of water in between meals, but just make sure that her main source of hydration is either formula or breast milk until her first birthday. So you should feed her a solid food feeding and then follow it up with 4 to 6 ounces of either breast milk or formula, and then, like I said, just sips of water in between here and there, especially if you're out and about, it's hot, and you worry about her staying well-hydrated. It's appropriate to give sips of water at that time.

Good luck with everything, and if you have any other questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/IntermountainMoms, and recommend us to your friends and family too.

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