How to introduce textures

But here at Heinz we've worked with child psychology experts and nutritionists to develop just the right progressive texture for your baby at every stage of weaning to help them learn to chew and feed themselves.

Starting to wean

When you first start the weaning adventure, begin by offering smooth purees. Purées help your baby get used to a non-liquid texture and help them learn to move food around in their mouth using their tongue. Remember that your baby has only ever been used to milk and so solid foods may be quite a challenge at first.

To see how Samantha from Mill Hill introduced textures to ten-month-old Louis watch our video to the right of the page.

All our 4-6 month+ products are extra-smooth purees. Why not try Heinz Baby Rice or  Heinz 100% Fruit Pots as a first food. Then move onto more flavours like our first  Sunday chicken dinner.

Introducing lumps

At around 7 months, try introducing small,  soft lumps. Getting your baby used to mashed food with soft lumps encourages tongue flexibility and will help them develop their ability to chew food. Babies who are given lumpy foods at this stage have fewer feeding difficulties and are more likely to be eating a larger range of foods later in childhood. 

At this stage any lumps should be in a fairly thick sauce which your baby can mush in their mouth. Avoid giving your baby hard lumps in a thin sauce.

We have a range of recipes available to help you introduce new textures to your little one at each stage of their weaning adventure. Visit Recipe Corner to view the recipes featured below plus many more.

Perfectly mashed ingredients in our 7 months+ products mean that lumps are soft, small and manageable for your baby. With mashed textures and an assortment of flavours, the Heinz 7+ month range encourages your baby's tongue flexibility and helps to develop their palate. Our  savoury meals and  cereals also provide added iron which is especially important when babies' own iron stores start to become depleted after 6 months of age.

Starting to chew

Bigger lumps encourage true chewing at around 10 months+ and will help develop your baby's speech muscles.

Heinz ingredients are carefully chopped to a larger size and cooked until tender at 10 months+ - just right for learning to chew.

Finger foods give your baby independence and can help develop hand-eye co-ordination. Our finger foods such as  biscotti and  rusks have a texture that easily dissolves in the mouth, just right for little mouths.

Most babies will now have some teeth which will help with starting to chew. This means there is even more opportunity for you to offer new and more challenging textures.

You can offer your toddler most adult food in much the same way as for the rest of the family.

Make sure it is cut into manageable pieces and always be on hand to supervise snacks and meals. You may also need to modify some recipes for your toddler, such as avoiding adding salt and using low salt alternatives, such as Heinz very low salt  stock cubes. 

The Department of Health recommends exclusive breast feeding for the first six months of your baby's life. All babies are different and develop at different rates. Your baby may start to show signs they are ready for weaning earlier than six months. If this is the case and you think your baby may be ready to start solids, speak to your healthcare professional who will be able to advise you. Babies under 17 weeks should not be given solid foods.

Here are some other articles you may find helpful:

• Lump size guide for solid foods
• The importance of offering your baby new food textures as weaning progresses
• Encouraging self feeding