Getting your baby used to more challenging food textures helps them become a confident eater. Find out which foods to offer and how and when to introduce them.
As the weaning adventure progresses, introducing lumps and
increasingly challenging textures to your baby's diet will help
them learn to chew. It also plays a role in speech development and
can even help them grow up to become a confident eater and enjoy a
varied diet.
Purées and first tastes (4 to 6 months)
Your baby's first foods will be baby rice and smooth purées. They
need to learn to eat these by first getting used to taking the food
from the spoon, then moving it from side to side in their mouth
before swallowing.
Take your time when you start weaning and do not worry if your
baby does not take much to begin with. The idea is to get them used
to a new texture that is different from milk.
Introducing lumps and learning to chew (7 to 9
months)
Once your baby is used to taking their food from a spoon, any time
from around seven months, you can introduce slightly more
challenging mashed textures.
This helps to encourage your baby's tongue flexibility and
movement.
This is the time when chewing skills are beginning to develop
and your baby is learning to push the food to the roof of their
mouth. Most babies can learn to chew soft lumps, even if their
teeth have not come through yet. If they experience foods with
lumps now, it will make them less likely to reject lumpy food later
on1.
Introduce a mashed texture of soft lumps in a fairly thick purée.
Hard lumps in a runny sauce will be difficult for your baby to cope
with. This is because your baby will find it difficult to separate
the lumps from the liquid and will probably try and swallow both,
which may make them gag.
Whole peas in a sauce, for example, are likely to be too tricky
for your baby at this stage, whereas a mashed-up banana that
contains some soft lumps is a texture and consistency your baby
will probably find easier.
Chopped-up textures and starting to chew (10 to 12
months)
Once your baby is used to lumpier textures, and as their teeth
start to come through, you can move on to bigger lumps and tender
pieces in a more chopped-up
texture that your baby can start to chew. Examples
include pasta pieces and rice.
The arrival of your baby's teeth means you can introduce an even
wider range of flavour and texture combinations. It also helps
encourage tongue flexibility and the development of your baby's
speech muscles.
Even if your baby has no teeth yet, you can encourage them to
chew by giving them finger foods. Finger foods provide chewing
practice which helps develop your baby's speech muscles. They can
also help to develop hand-eye co-ordination.
1 2008 ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. Complementary
Feeding: A Commentary by the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition,
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 46:99-110