Starting solids and toddler food

📅When to start

The WHO and AAP recommend starting solids at around 6 months. From about this age, breast milk or formula alone cannot meet needs such as iron. Do not start before 4 months. Whether your baby is ready matters more than the exact month.

• Holds head steady and can sit with support
• Shows interest in food and opens their mouth
• The tongue-thrust reflex fades so food can be swallowed
• Signals fullness, such as turning the head away

🪜Stages (approximate ranges)

In Korea, baby food is commonly described in four stages: early, middle, late and completion. These are rough guides, not strict rules. When your baby eats and swallows well, move to the next texture; if they struggle, go a bit slower. Keeping food smooth for too long can delay chewing practice.

• Early (around 6 months): smooth rice porridge or purées once a day, starting with a spoonful or two, adding meat and vegetables one at a time.
• Middle (around 7 to 8 months): soft, lumpy porridge that can be mashed with the tongue, about twice a day.
• Late (around 9 to 11 months): soft rice and finely chopped foods that can be mashed with the gums, three meals plus snacks, with more finger foods.
• Completion (around 12 months and up): soft rice and family meals with little seasoning, three meals and 1 to 2 snacks a day.

🥩What to feed: iron and variety

• Iron: meat such as beef, egg yolk, iron-fortified cereals, legumes. Korean baby food often includes beef from the early stage.
• Offer vegetables, fruits, grains and protein. Babies may accept a food after many tries, sometimes 10 or more.
• Do not add salt or sugar. No fruit juice before the first birthday (AAP).
• From about 6 months, babies can practice drinking small sips of water from a cup.
• Until the first birthday, breast milk or formula is still the main source of nutrition.

🥜Common allergens

Parents used to be told to delay foods like egg and peanut, but current guidance is that there is no need to delay them without a specific reason once solids have started. Introducing them early and regularly may help prevent allergy.

Introducing one new food at a time, a few days apart, makes it easier to find the cause of a reaction. Offer a small amount the first time, during the day when your baby is well. Never give whole peanuts; use a choke-safe form such as thinned peanut butter.

Babies with severe eczema or egg allergy may be at higher risk of peanut allergy, so talk with a doctor before introducing peanut.

⚠️Foods to avoid and choking hazards

• No honey before 12 months, including cooked honey or honey in baked goods (risk of infant botulism).
• Choking hazards: whole nuts, whole grapes and cherry tomatoes (cut into quarters), popcorn, hard candy, rice cakes, round slices of sausage, chunks of raw carrot and other hard, round foods.
• Do not give cow's milk as a main drink before 12 months. After 12 months it can become the main drink, but too much can crowd out food and lead to low iron.
• Avoid raw or undercooked meat, eggs and fish, and unpasteurized dairy.
• Do not feed while your child walks around, lies down or rides in the car.

🍚Moving to toddler meals

After the first birthday, it helps to eat at the same time and table as the family. Serve adult food with less seasoning, not spicy, in pieces your child can chew. Start moving from bottles to cups around the first birthday.

Toddler appetite swings and picky eating are common. A division of responsibility helps: parents decide what, when and where; the child decides how much. Do not force food or use treats as rewards.

💬FAQ