First Foods

My big sister Fran has just started weaning my nephew Matthew so I thought I would pop down a list of foods that you can give your baby to start out with.

Cucumber slices
Ricecakes
Breadsticks dunked in cream cheese or hummus
Avocado on toast
Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
Grapes sliced in half (to stop being a choking hazard)
Mango slices
Crusty bread
Pasta (slightly al dente makes it easier for baby to handle)
Eggy Bread
Broccoli/Carrot/Cauliflower/Parsnip/Pear & Apple slices steamed slightly
Pineapple
Minced meat (like beef in bolognase sauce with no salt or cottage/shepherds pie etc)
Slow cooked meat (like casserole, hotpot etc)
Rice (normal rice cooked a bit longer or risotto rice is a bit easier to begin with)
Cous cous
Banana pieces
Avocado
Orange Slices


Basically anything you're having minus the salt.  Once babies develop their pincer grip you can give them stuff like peas, sweetcorn and raisins and sultanas.

Always feed baby supervised sitting upright in a highchair or on your lap and don't panic if you hear coughing and gagging noises sometimes - that usually means baby has overfilled their mouth and are dealing with the problem by coughing it all up again.  Babies gag reflex is further forward in their mouth to start with for this purpose!  Don't ever put your fingers blindly in a babies mouth as you may push a blockage further down.   If a baby is really choking you won't hear any noise.