There comes a moment when your little adventurer starts to need other foods in addition to breast milk or formula. This is known as complementary feeding, and it involves offering your baby healthy foods, solid or liquid, that complete the nutrients provided by breastfeeding or, if that isn’t possible, by formula feeding. Your baby is growing up!

You may have noticed that, little by little, your baby is interested in what you're eating and watches you with curiosity as you bring the fork to your mouth. But it’s true that this step raises many questions for families: when should you start offering complementary feeding? How do you get started? Purée or BLW? How do you know they’re eating enough? What if they’re not interested in food? We answer all these questions in this article to help you support your baby’s nutrition.

When to start with complementary feeding?

Recommendations on baby feeding have changed a lot over time. That’s normal: nutrition science keeps advancing, and thanks to this, we know much more. To define what the term "complementary feeding" means today, we can turn to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP). In its guide to Recommendations on complementary feeding the association reminds us that it consists of offering the infant healthy solid or liquid foods different from breast milk or formula as a supplement, not as a replacement.

Pediatricians recommend starting complementary feeding at six months , which coincides with an increase in babies’ energy and nutrient needs. At this developmental stage, your baby is often especially receptive to new sensory discoveries, and food becomes an important part of these new interests. Six months also coincide with another factor: the digestive system is ready to receive other foods. Additionally, from this moment on, your little adventurer's nutritional needs change and, to meet them, it’s necessary to offer a varied diet alongside breastfeeding or formula feeding.

In some cases, complementary feeding can start a little earlier, around four or five months, but never before. Currently, it’s very common for a mother to return to work before the baby turns six months old. If the baby is breastfed and there is no desire to supplement with formula or continue with expressed breast milk, the person caring for the baby can offer other foods until the mother arrives. In these cases, pediatricians consider it important to individualize the recommendation and assess what is best in each situation.

How do I know if he is ready?

It's normal to have doubts about this important step, when you start preparing food for your baby. To feel more confident, look for some signs that reveal if your little adventurer is ready to explore new flavors: they can remain seated, support their head, bring food to their mouth with their hand, show interest in what’s on the plate, and the extrusion reflex has disappeared (the reflex where the baby pushes non-liquid foods out of the mouth with the tongue). Every baby is unique, so comparing your baby's development to others is of little use. Sometimes your little one may need a little more time to start complementary feeding. Other times, they might be ahead of other babies around you. Don’t worry!

What foods to offer?

Breast milk, or formula, remains the main source of nutrition at six months, and at least until one year, so complementary feeding will be just one more learning experience. And as such, its introduction will be gradual, with quantities increasing very slowly . What complementary foods do experts recommend offering? The AEP indicates a schedule in which, from six months, you can offer fruits, vegetables, legumes, egg, meat, chicken, fish, cereals, and olive oil . There is no set order for introducing these foods; you don’t have to start with cereals or meat. You can begin with what is easiest for you to prepare or what your baby shows the most interest in. However, during this period, you should avoid using salt and sugar and, in general, unhealthy foods. Childhood is a great time to establish healthy eating habits—not only for your baby, but also because choosing healthier foods can help the whole family make positive changes.

Between one and two years old, they can add dairy to the diet : sugar-free yogurts, cow's milk, unsalted cheeses… And from three years old, whole nuts. Before that, and from six months old, they can also be offered if ground or crushed into recipes, but never whole due to the risk of choking. As you can see, complementary feeding isn’t a mystery, but it’s normal to have doubts when you start thinking about food for your baby. Enjoy this period of discovery because, as you may have heard, it *flies by*!

And the allergenic foods?

As we have mentioned before, recommendations regarding complementary feeding have evolved significantly. While it was once advised to start with certain foods and avoid "potentially" allergenic foods, the truth is that today the AEP considers that there is no evidence that delaying the introduction of allergenic foods beyond six months prevents the development of allergy to these foods. In fact, according to experts, current scientific evidence has shown that introducing some of these allergenic foods early, in small amounts, can reduce the risk of allergies.

How to start offering complementary feeding?

To prepare food for your baby, you can choose mashed foods, such as purées or porridges, or solid or semi-solid foods adapted for babies. While the first option requires an adult to feed the baby, the second focuses more on the baby feeding themselves. The baby directs the process based on their interest and feeling of fullness: with food within reach, your little one decides what to eat and how much. This is what is known as Baby led weaning , a way to approach complementary feeding that offers a good number of advantages over traditional purées.

That said, each family should choose the approach that best suits their circumstances and needs. BLW has advantages in terms of nutrition, as it makes the feeding process more gradual, encourages dietary variety, and adapts to the baby's needs , but it also requires more organization and greater family involvement. The important thing is that the foods you offer when starting complementary feeding are healthy, safe, and varied . And always after breastfeeding or formula feeding. It is also essential that by the age of one year, the baby can eat the same types of foods as the rest of the family, with the exception of foods that pose a choking hazard (nuts, raw carrots, etc.), which should be avoided until at least three years old.

Food should be another learning milestone and a pleasant moment, so it’s very important that you don't force your little adventurer to eat. “Forcing, pressuring, or rewarding are strategies that interfere with the child's perception of their own fullness and can increase the risk of overweight, problems related to food, and limited variety during mealtime, contrary to what is expected,” states the AEP. This stage of offering foods to your baby requires a lot of patience and trust on your part.

Lastly but not least, make sure you have the essential items for this stage, such as suitable tableware for your baby, utensils made from soft materials, and a safe high chair that adapts to your little adventurer's growth like those from , among others.

Now, enjoy watching your baby explore and try new foods! 🥦