Starting Solids with Confidence: A Practical Guide for Parents
Presented by Rebecca from Nourish Therapy | 19 August 2026
A huge thank you to Rebecca from Nourish Therapy for joining us for our fifth Buy Kiwi Mums & Bubs Club webinar!
Rebecca is a paediatric feeding specialist, occupational therapist, and Founder & Co-Director of Nourish Therapy. She joined us to share practical advice on one of the biggest milestones in your baby's first year: starting solids.
From knowing when your baby is ready to understanding textures, baby-led weaning, allergens, gagging, choking and mealtime mess, Rebecca shared plenty of helpful advice for making the transition to solids feel a little less overwhelming.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the webinar.
When Is Your Baby Ready to Start Solids?
Rebecca explained that around six months is generally the ideal time to begin introducing solids, unless you've been advised otherwise by a health professional.
Rather than focusing on age alone, parents can also look for developmental signs that their baby may be ready.
These can include:
- Showing interest in the food you're eating
- Watching or tracking food as you eat
- Reaching or grabbing for food
- Opening their mouth when they see food
- Bringing objects to their mouth
- Developing good head and neck control
- Being able to sit with some independence
These signs can help indicate that your baby is developmentally becoming ready to explore food.
Baby-Led Weaning or Spoon Feeding?
One of the biggest questions parents face is whether to choose traditional spoon feeding or baby-led weaning.
The good news? Rebecca explained that there isn't one single "right" approach.
Traditional spoon feeding generally involves offering pureed foods on a spoon. One benefit is that parents can have a clearer idea of how much their baby is consuming, including important nutrients such as iron.
Baby-led weaning involves offering appropriately prepared foods in a form that babies can pick up and explore themselves. This can help develop self-feeding skills, independence and sensory exploration.
Rebecca's preferred approach is actually a combination of the two.
Purees can help provide nutrition, while appropriately prepared finger foods give babies opportunities to practise the oral and self-feeding skills they'll need as they grow.
Try Responsive Feeding From the Beginning
Another important concept Rebecca introduced was responsive feeding.
The basic idea is that parents and children each have a role at mealtimes.
The parent's job is to decide:
- What food is offered
- When food is offered
- Where the meal takes place
Your baby's job is to decide:
- Whether they eat
- What they eat from the foods offered
- How much they eat
This means learning to recognise and respect your baby's hunger and fullness cues.
Signs your baby may have had enough can include turning their head away, closing their mouth, pushing the spoon away or becoming more interested in playing with their food than eating it.
It can be tempting to squeeze in "just one more spoonful", especially when there's food left in the bowl, but responsive feeding encourages parents to trust those fullness cues rather than focusing on finishing a particular quantity.
What Are Good First Foods?
Starting solids doesn't need to mean preparing completely separate meals for your baby.
Rebecca's advice was to think about the foods your family is already eating and how they could be modified for your baby.
For example, vegetables you're having with dinner might be pureed or cooked until they're soft enough for your baby to safely explore.
Some first foods Rebecca suggested included:
- Avocado
- KÅ«mara
- Carrot
- Pumpkin
- Banana
- Pureed or appropriately prepared meats
- Beans and lentils
- Fish
- Yoghurt
- Cheese
- Pasta
- Soft fruits
Rebecca also recommended introducing plenty of savoury flavours early on.
Babies are already accustomed to the sweetness of milk, so flavours that are savoury, sour or tart may initially result in some interesting facial expressions! Introducing a variety of flavours early gives babies an opportunity to experience a broader range of tastes.
"Food Before One Is Just for Fun" Isn't the Whole Story
You may have heard the phrase "food before one is just for fun."
While exploring food should absolutely be enjoyable, Rebecca explained that there's more happening during this period.
Food before one is also about developing skills, exploring textures and beginning to meet nutritional needs.
The first months of eating are an important opportunity for babies to develop oral skills and learn how different foods feel and behave inside their mouths.
Don't Get Stuck on Purees
Purees can be a great place to start, but Rebecca emphasised the importance of gradually progressing through textures.
After initially introducing smooth foods, parents can begin offering foods with more texture, such as soft lumps, minced foods and soft pieces.
As babies develop, foods can gradually become more textured and require a little more chewing.
By around 9–12 months, Rebecca suggested beginning to move towards appropriately sized pieces with progressively more texture and resistance, while still ensuring they're suitable for your baby's abilities.
The goal isn't to race through each stage. It's simply to keep giving your baby opportunities to experience different flavours, shapes and textures as their skills develop.
Why Learning to Chew Matters
Eating is a skill, and like any other skill, babies need opportunities to practise.
Rebecca discussed using what she calls "hard munchables" to help babies practise chewing movements and develop tongue movement.
These are long, firm foods intended primarily for practising oral skills rather than being consumed as a meal. Examples Rebecca discussed included appropriately prepared meat bones or drumsticks, well-cooked steak, celery and firm sourdough crusts.
Because appropriate preparation and supervision are important, parents should make sure they understand how to safely offer foods for their baby's developmental stage.
Introducing Allergens
Rebecca recommended introducing common allergens early and one at a time, with a couple of days between new allergens where possible.
Offering them separately can make it easier to identify which food may have caused a reaction.
You don't necessarily need to offer a large amount when introducing an allergen. Rebecca explained that parents can also watch for changes beyond immediate allergic reactions, such as changes in bowel movements, reflux or eczema.
If you suspect your baby has reacted to a food, seek appropriate medical advice. Any reaction involving breathing difficulties requires urgent medical attention.
If your baby has known allergies, medical conditions or other individual risk factors, speak with your healthcare professional about the safest approach to introducing foods.
Gagging vs Choking
Understandably, choking is one of the biggest concerns parents have when starting solids.
Rebecca explained that gagging is a normal part of learning to eat.
Gagging tends to be noisy. Your baby may cough, go red in the face or develop watery eyes as they work to bring the food forward.
Choking, on the other hand, can be silent and may involve a change in colour.
Rebecca strongly recommended that parents complete baby or child first aid training. Knowing how to recognise and respond to choking can provide valuable knowledge and confidence when starting solids.
Embrace the Mess!
There's really no getting around it: starting solids can be very messy.
But that mess serves a purpose.
Touching, squishing and playing with food allows babies to explore its sensory properties before it even reaches their mouths.
When babies touch a food, they're learning whether it's soft, sticky, wet, firm or easy to squash. This sensory exploration helps prepare them for what to expect when they eventually taste it.
So while cleaning food off the high chair, floor, clothes and possibly the walls isn't necessarily the highlight of starting solids, giving your baby permission to explore can be an important part of learning to eat.
Eat Together Where You Can
Food isn't only about nutrition — it's also social.
Babies learn by watching the people around them, so eating together gives your baby an opportunity to watch how you chew and interact with food.
Rebecca suggested sitting in front of your baby and even exaggerating your chewing movements during those early months.
Your baby can watch how your mouth and tongue move and begin learning through imitation.
It doesn't need to happen at every single meal. The aim is simply to create positive opportunities for your baby to experience food as something social and enjoyable.
Don't Forget the High Chair Setup
Something as simple as your baby's seating position can make a difference at mealtimes.
Rebecca recommended choosing a high chair with good back and foot support or adding a suitable footrest where possible.
Having stable support means your baby's body doesn't have to work as hard to maintain its position, allowing them to focus more of their attention on eating and developing their feeding skills.
How Much Should Your Baby Eat?
There's no single perfect quantity your baby needs to consume at every meal.
Instead, Rebecca encouraged parents to return to the principles of responsive feeding.
Some days your baby may eat more, while other days they may eat very little.
Rather than becoming overly focused on quantities, offer appropriate foods and allow your baby to communicate when they've had enough.
Learning to trust those cues early can also make the transition into toddlerhood easier, when appetite can fluctuate considerably.
Starting Solids Is About Learning, Not Perfection
Perhaps one of the most reassuring messages from Rebecca's webinar was that starting solids doesn't have to be complicated.
You don't need to prepare elaborate baby meals or follow one perfect feeding method.
Offer suitable versions of the foods your family already enjoys, introduce different flavours and textures, allow your baby to get messy, give them opportunities to practise their skills and pay attention to their hunger and fullness cues.
Most importantly, remember that learning to eat is exactly that — learning.
It's a new experience for your baby, and they're developing an incredibly complex set of skills along the way.
Watch the Webinar Recording
If you missed the session — or would like to rewatch it — you can access the webinar recording here: