Lump size guide for solid foods
Use this guide to learn more about the different food textures you can offer your baby and toddler at each stage of their journey of food discovery.
Stage One: First Tastes (4 to 6
months)
When you first start the weaning adventure, begin by offering
smooth purées.
Purées help your baby get used to a non-liquid texture and help
them learn to move food around in their mouth.
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.
Examples of foods that make good smooth purées
include:
Stage Two: Introducing soft lumps (7 to 9
months)
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.
Examples of lumpier foods include:
- Mashed banana
- Mashed ripe avocado
- Rice pudding
- Mashed-up jelly
- Lentil dhal or lentil casserole
- Fish pie (take care to remove any bones)
- Minced chicken and sweet potato
- Small pasta stars in cheese sauce
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. These are difficult for babies because the
lumps need to be held in the mouth while the liquid is swallowed.
Whole peas and large pieces of pasta in a sauce, for example, will
probably be too difficult for your baby to manage.
Stage Three: Chopped Foods and Finger Foods (10 to 12
months)
Bigger lumps and finger food encourage
true chewing and will help develop your baby's speech muscles.
Initially offer finger foods that will dissolve relatively quickly
in your baby's mouth once they have taken a bite, such as
breadsticks or rusks. This makes them easier for your baby to
manage.
Most babies will 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.
Examples of chopped-up foods include:
- Chopped up cauliflower cheese
- Minced chicken and vegetable casserole with mashed potato
- Chopped-up baked apple in custard
- Flaked salmon with couscous and peas
- Fish pie (take care to remove any bones)
- Cottage pie
Examples of finger foods include:
- Bread sticks
- Rice cakes
- Rusks
- Melon slices
- Cooked carrot pieces
- Small cubes of cheese
- Pitta bread or chapatti cut into strips
- Strips of toast
- Home-made potato wedges
Stage Four: Self Feeding and Eating with the Family (12
months plus)
You can offer your toddler most adult food in much the same way as
for the rest of the family. But 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.
Your toddler will learn by copying you, other children and
adults, so try to eat together as often as possible and try to eat
the foods you want your toddler to eat.
Whole nuts should be avoided until your child is five because of
the risk of choking.
