4-6

Months 6-8 Months 8-12 Months Remember:

Follows food with eyes Positions food between jaws Moves food from side-to-side Each baby develops at a
Draws in upper or lower lip as for chewing in mouth different rate, so do not
spoon is removed from mouth Up-and-down munching Begins to chew in rotary
force solid foods until
Up-and-down munching movement pattern (diagonal movement of
your baby shows signs of
movement Begins to experiment with the jaw as food is moved to the
Signs of Can transfer food from the

spoon, but prefers to feed self side or center of the mouth) readiness
Readiness front to the back of the with hands Sits alone easily A babys weight or age
tongue to swallow
Begins to sit alone Transfers objects from hand to alone does not determine
Tongue thrust begins to
unsupported mouth his or her readiness
disappear
Begins to use thumb and Begins to eat ground or finely Introduce one new food
Opens mouth when sees
index finger to pick up objects chopped food
spoon approaching at a time
Sits with support Begins to eat mashed foods Begins self-spoon feeding with

help Wait at least five days
Good head control
Good eye-hand-mouth until having your baby try
Uses whole hand to grasp
objects coordination another food item to give
them time to adjust and
Pureed foods only (e.g. Pureed foods Mashed or diced soft fruit to wait and see if that
squash, sweat peas, green Mashed foods (e.g. soft Mashed or soft cooked
vegetables
food causes an allergic
beans, plain meats, banana) cooked vegetables, soft
reaction
Appropriate Iron-fortified infant cereal meats, soft fruit, avocado) Mashed egg yolk
Iron-fortified infant cereal Mashed cooked beans or peas During the first 4-6
Solid Foods
Cottage cheese, yogurt or cut months, a baby requires
soft cheese
only breast milk or iron-
Pieces of soft bread
Soft/rounded crackers fortified infant formula
Diced soft plain meat (poultry) until solid foods are
introduced

Babies swallowing and
digestive systems are not
developmentally ready to
handle solid foods until
they are between 4-6
months of age

Alyson Fromm and Brenna Alvarez USDA Food and Nutrition Service http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/feeding_infants.pdf