--- title: "Starting Solids: A Complete, Evidence-Based Guide | Dalo Baby" description: "When to start, why the method matters less than you think, the three things that actually carry risk, and what the first year of meals looks like stage by stage." canonical: https://dalofamilyapps.com/learn/solids/starting-solids --- [Home](/)/[Knowledge Hub](/learn)/[Solids](/learn/solids) # Starting solids: the complete guide [Dalo Baby Editorial](/learn/editorial-policy)Published September 4, 2026Last reviewed September 4, 20265 min read Start at around six months when your baby can sit steadily, coordinate hand to mouth and swallow rather than push food out, though national guidance on timing genuinely differs. The method matters less than most parents think: the BLISS trial found no BMI difference and no difference in choking. Shape, allergen timing and what you leave off the plate matter more. ![Starting solids: the complete guide](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2Ff010a6f880fec190772c5ea12828e8288a6c13ec-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D176%2C0%2C1024%2C768%26w%3D800%26h%3D600%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ## Key takeaways - The method barely matters. The BLISS trial found no BMI difference between baby-led and spoon-fed infants at 12 or 24 months. - 35% of all infants in that trial choked at least once between six and eight months — in both groups, with no significant difference. - Round and firm is the dangerous combination. Break either property and choking risk drops sharply. - Introduce common allergens deliberately once solids are established. Delaying peanut and egg does not protect and may raise risk. - When to start genuinely differs by country. Follow your own health service, not the loudest advice online. In this article 1. [When to start](#when-to-start) 2. [Method matters less than the marketing suggests](#method-matters-less-than-the-marketing-suggests) 3. [The three things that actually carry risk](#the-three-things-that-actually-carry-risk) 4. [Choking](#choking) 5. [Allergens](#allergens) 6. [What stays off the plate entirely](#what-stays-off-the-plate-entirely) 7. [What the first year looks like](#what-the-first-year-looks-like) 8. [When eating gets difficult](#when-eating-gets-difficult) 9. [Per-ingredient questions belong in the database](#per-ingredient-questions-belong-in-the-database) 10. [What this guide deliberately does not do](#what-this-guide-deliberately-does-not-do) Starting solids generates more anxiety than almost anything else in the first year, and most of that anxiety is spent on the wrong question. Purée or baby-led weaning is the decision parents agonise over; the evidence says it barely matters. Choking risk, allergen timing and what you leave off the plate entirely are the decisions that do. This page is the map of our solids section, and it puts the weight where the evidence puts it. ## When to start In the UK, the NHS advises starting at around six months, when three signs are there together: your baby can stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady, can coordinate eyes, hands and mouth well enough to look at food, pick it up and put it in their mouth, and can swallow food rather than pushing it back out.[\[1\]](#ref-start) Age alone is not the signal — plenty of babies hit six months without all three, and a few have them earlier. If you want to check them one at a time, our [solids readiness quiz](/tools/solids-readiness-quiz) walks through them. This is the part that genuinely differs by country National guidance on when to start is not the same everywhere, and this is not a translation quirk — the recommendations really diverge. Follow your own health service's version, because it is the one your paediatrician or health visitor is working from, and it is the one written for the health system you are actually in. ## Method matters less than the marketing suggests The BLISS trial in New Zealand set out to test the central claim made for baby-led weaning — that self-feeding improves energy self-regulation and lowers obesity risk. It did not find it. Mean BMI z-scores were not significantly different at twelve months or at twenty-four.[\[2\]](#ref-bliss) That result is worth knowing before you commit to a camp, in either direction. 35% of all infants in the trial choked at least once between six and eight months — in both groups, with no significant difference between them[\[3\]](#ref-fang) That number is the one that reframes the whole argument. Choking during weaning is common, it is not caused by the method, and baby-led infants gagged more at six months and less at eight — which is what learning to manage texture looks like from the outside.[\[3\]](#ref-fang) The honest comparison, including where the observational literature disagrees with the trial and why the trial is the better guide, is in [baby-led weaning vs purées](/learn/solids/baby-led-weaning-vs-purees). ## The three things that actually carry risk ### Choking Round and firm is the dangerous combination, and breaking either property drops the risk sharply.[\[5\]](#ref-aapchoke) Telling gagging from choking is the single most useful skill to have before the first meal, because they look completely different and only one of them is an emergency: [gagging vs choking](/learn/solids/gagging-vs-choking) covers that, and [how to cut food by age](/learn/solids/how-to-cut-food-by-age) covers the shapes and sizes that follow from it.[\[4\]](#ref-choke) ### Allergens Once solids are established, introduce the common allergens deliberately rather than avoiding them — delaying peanut and egg does not protect against allergy and may raise the risk.[\[6\]](#ref-allerg) US guidance goes further for the highest-risk group, recommending early peanut introduction with medical assessment first for infants with severe eczema or existing egg allergy.[\[7\]](#ref-niaid) [Allergen introduction](/learn/solids/allergen-introduction) covers the order, the timing and the one situation where you should speak to a doctor before starting at home. ### What stays off the plate entirely Some things are not a matter of texture or readiness: no added salt or sugar, no honey before one, no whole nuts before five, and no unpasteurised or raw foods.[\[8\]](#ref-avoid) This is a short list and it is worth knowing it exactly, because it is the part of weaning where an ordinary kitchen habit — seasoning the family food before serving the baby's portion — is the actual hazard. ## What the first year looks like Stage Meals a day Textures Milk From around 6 months 1, at whatever time suits you both Smooth or mashed, plus soft finger foods Breast milk or first infant formula on demand — still the main source of nutrition 7–9 months Building to 3 Mashed and lumpy, more finger foods Still every day, while iron starts coming from food rather than milk 10–12 months 3, established, with a pudding at lunch and tea Mashed, lumpy, chopped and finger foods Still alongside meals The NHS pattern, stage by stage The stages come from the NHS guidance for each band.[\[9\]](#ref-n6)[\[10\]](#ref-n79)[\[11\]](#ref-n1012) The most common mistake across all three is keeping food smoother for longer than a baby needs, because it feels safer — it is not, and the comfortable window for meeting lumps and finger foods is in the second half of the first year. [Baby food schedule: 6, 9 and 12 months](/learn/solids/baby-food-schedule-6-9-12-months) has the detail, meal by meal. ## When eating gets difficult It usually does, somewhere in the second year, and it is usually normal. Two pages cover the pair of things that actually help: [Division of Responsibility](/learn/solids/division-of-responsibility-feeding) sets the conditions — you decide what, when and where; your child decides whether and how much — and [food chaining](/learn/solids/food-chaining) is the technique for widening the list of accepted foods inside those conditions. They work as a pair, and neither works well alone. ![](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fsmart-solids-icon.webp&w=256&q=75&dpl=dpl_HDQuuA58EiAncPne4fumhEvNhdFC) Dalo Solids One less thing to look up mid-meal Dalo Solids carries the food database in your pocket — allergen ratings, choking risk and how to prepare each ingredient at your baby's age, without opening a browser with one hand. [Dalo Solids](/apps/dalo-solids) ## Per-ingredient questions belong in the database Whether broccoli goes in as florets or stalks at seven months, how to serve banana so it can actually be held, when oats work as a finger food — those are questions for our [food database](/learn/food), which covers hundreds of ingredients with allergen ratings, choking-risk ratings and age-appropriate preparation for each. The articles in this section cover principles; the database covers your Tuesday. And if you want the developmental context around all of it, the [milestones section](/learn/milestones) runs on the same age bands. ## What this guide deliberately does not do It does not reproduce choking first aid. That is a taught physical skill and a page cannot deliver it — a short accredited course can, and it is worth doing before you start solids rather than after. It also does not cover the milk ladder or the egg ladder. Those are reintroduction protocols for a child with a diagnosed allergy, they belong under specialist supervision, and they are a different thing from introducing allergens to a baby who has never reacted to anything. Everything in this section cites its sources, and where national guidance genuinely differs — the timing of the first spoonful being the clearest case — each version of the page follows its own market's authority rather than translating somebody else's.[\[1\]](#ref-start) In this article 1. [When to start](#when-to-start) 2. [Method matters less than the marketing suggests](#method-matters-less-than-the-marketing-suggests) 3. [The three things that actually carry risk](#the-three-things-that-actually-carry-risk) 4. [Choking](#choking) 5. [Allergens](#allergens) 6. [What stays off the plate entirely](#what-stays-off-the-plate-entirely) 7. [What the first year looks like](#what-the-first-year-looks-like) 8. [When eating gets difficult](#when-eating-gets-difficult) 9. [Per-ingredient questions belong in the database](#per-ingredient-questions-belong-in-the-database) 10. [What this guide deliberately does not do](#what-this-guide-deliberately-does-not-do) ## References & disclaimer We link every source we used. Where guidance differs by country, we cite the authority that applies where you are. 1. 1. [How to start weaning your baby](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/how-to-start-weaning-your-baby/) NHS · Guideline 2. 2. [Effect of a Baby-Led Approach to Complementary Feeding on Infant Growth and Overweight: A Randomized Clinical Trial](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5710413/) JAMA Pediatrics · 2017 · Study 3. 3. [A Baby-Led Approach to Eating Solids and Risk of Choking](https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/4/e20160772/52372/A-Baby-Led-Approach-to-Eating-Solids-and-Risk-of) Pediatrics (AAP) · 2016 · Study 4. 4. [Choking and gagging on food](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/safe-weaning/choking-and-gagging-on-food/) NHS · Guideline 5. 5. [Choking Prevention for Babies & Children](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/injuries-emergencies/Pages/Choking-Prevention.aspx) American Academy of Pediatrics · Organisation 6. 6. [Baby food allergies: introducing foods that could trigger a reaction](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/safe-weaning/food-allergies/) NHS · Guideline 7. 7. [Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the United States](https://www.niaid.nih.gov/sites/default/files/addendum-peanut-allergy-prevention-guidelines.pdf) NIAID (NIH) · 2017 · Guideline 8. 8. [Food and drinks to avoid](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/safe-weaning/food-and-drinks-to-avoid/) NHS · Guideline 9. 9. [Feeding your baby: from around 6 months](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/what-to-feed-your-baby/from-around-6-months/) NHS · Guideline 10. 10. [Feeding your baby: 7 to 9 months](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/what-to-feed-your-baby/7-to-9-months/) NHS · Guideline 11. 11. [Feeding your baby: 10 to 12 months](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/what-to-feed-your-baby/10-to-12-months/) NHS · Guideline * * * Before you act on this This guide is general information about healthy, full-term babies. It does not replace advice from your paediatrician, health visitor, midwife or dietitian, who know your baby. If you are worried about your baby's feeding, growth, breathing or sleep, contact a health professional. ## Questions, answered Is baby-led weaning safer or riskier than purées? Neither, on the choking question. In the BLISS trial, 35% of all infants choked at least once between six and eight months, with no significant difference between baby-led and spoon-fed groups at any time point. Baby-led infants gagged more at six months and less at eight. What matters far more than the method is the shape and firmness of what you offer. When should I introduce allergens like peanut and egg? Once solids are established, and deliberately rather than by avoidance — delaying them does not protect against allergy and may raise the risk. One allergen at a time, earlier in the day, then kept in the diet regularly. The exception matters: if your baby has severe eczema or an existing food allergy, speak to a doctor before introducing peanut at home. How many meals a day should a baby have? One to start with, at whatever time suits you both, building to three by around nine months and settled at three by ten to twelve, with a pudding at lunch and tea. Milk continues alongside throughout the first year and is still the main source of nutrition at the start. The textures matter as much as the count — mashed, lumpy and finger foods should arrive in the second half of the first year, not later. Where do I look up a specific food? In our food database, not in these articles. It covers hundreds of ingredients with an allergen rating, a choking-risk rating and age-appropriate preparation for each — how to cut it, when it works as a finger food, what to watch for. The articles here deliberately stick to principles so the two do not contradict each other. ![Dalo Solids](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fsmart-solids-icon.webp&w=128&q=75&dpl=dpl_HDQuuA58EiAncPne4fumhEvNhdFC) Get it on your phone Dalo Solids [Dalo Solids](/apps/dalo-solids) ## Keep reading [ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2Fba27f81e6ab5f9f3aa94a2c4dbd4ea5753ca1e3c-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Gagging vs choking: how to tell the difference Gagging is loud and normal. Choking is silent and an emergency. How to tell them apart, what actually causes choking, and when frequent gagging is worth raising with a professional. ](/learn/solids/gagging-vs-choking)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F3cc74a688f1c3dbf8618c469daf594b946325154-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### How to cut food by age: sizes, shapes and safety Two principles cover almost every food: cut round shapes lengthways, and soften firm ones until they squash between your fingers. How the cut changes from 6 months to 18 months and beyond. ](/learn/solids/how-to-cut-food-by-age)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F751face49b8398ea9bf080cede7b005a9bd8fcc5-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Allergen introduction: when and how to start Guidance reversed: allergens now go in early rather than being delayed. When to start, how to offer each one safely, what a reaction looks like, and why this is not the milk ladder. ](/learn/solids/allergen-introduction)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2Fbcb161c8f66326873818f7984f7abc51ee07a6c0-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Baby food schedule: 6, 9 and 12 months How many meals a day at each stage, how textures should move, why babies under one do not need snacks, and where national guidance genuinely differs. ](/learn/solids/baby-food-schedule-6-9-12-months) ## Try the free tools - [Is your baby ready for solids?](/tools/solids-readiness-quiz) ## Development milestones - [6-9 months](/learn/milestones/6-9-months) - [9-12 months](/learn/milestones/9-12-months) - [12-18 months](/learn/milestones/12-18-months) [← All solids guides](/learn/solids) [Read as Markdown](/api/markdown?path=%2Flearn%2Fsolids%2Fstarting-solids)