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By Karen · Kiddo Kitchen · 7 min read

First foods for babies: what to serve at 4, 5, 6 and 7 months

A month-by-month guide to first foods for babies: what to offer, how much, and how to actually enjoy these early weeks without the overwhelm.

Theo (3 years old) is currently our resident chaos agent, but when he was around five months old he was the most focused human I had ever met. He would sit in his bouncer at dinnertime and track every forkful from my plate to my mouth with the intense, unblinking concentration of a wildlife documentarian. He was not hungry. He was just extremely interested in the concept of food.

That look is the one. If your baby is doing that, you are probably here at the right time.

Navigating first foods for babies does not have to be complicated. The range of what babies can eat at different stages is actually pretty broad, and most babies are much more forgiving about new flavours than we expect. The hard part is usually the noise: the conflicting advice, the online forums, the well-meaning relatives with strong opinions about rice cereal.

So here is a straight-talking month-by-month guide: what first foods for babies look like from 4 to 7 months, how much to offer, when to introduce allergens, and what is actually worth worrying about versus what you can ignore entirely. Whether you are introducing solids for the first time or just trying to figure out what comes next, this covers it.

Quick reference: first foods for babies by month

Use this as a fast reference guide. Each section below goes into full detail.

Signs your baby is ready for solids: what to look for

Australian guidelines from eatforhealth.gov.au recommend starting solids at around 6 months and not before 4 months. But the date on the calendar is only part of the picture. The readiness signs are what actually tell you your baby is ready.

According to raisingchildren.net.au, the three readiness signs to look for together are these. First, your baby can sit upright with support and hold their head steady. Not propped up with cushions. Genuinely stable. Second, the tongue thrust reflex has faded. When it fades, food can actually travel backwards and be swallowed. Third, your baby is genuinely interested in food. Watching you eat, reaching for your plate, opening their mouth when a spoon comes near.

All three together. Not just one or two.

If you have already read our guide on when to start solids, you know all of this. If not, it is worth a look before you dive in.

What to feed your baby at 4 months

At 4 months, stick to single-ingredient vegetable purees at a runny yoghurt consistency. Start with one teaspoon once a day. The goal at this stage is experience, not nutrition. Breast milk or formula still covers everything your baby needs.

If your GP or maternal and child health nurse has given you the all-clear at 4 months, there is one thing to hold onto: the goal right now is not nutrition. Breast milk or formula is still providing everything your baby needs. This stage is entirely about experience. Getting them used to a spoon. Getting them used to the idea that food comes in textures and temperatures. Getting them used to sitting in a highchair for a few minutes without immediately dissolving. You are basically just showing them that eating is a thing humans do. The bar is genuinely that low.

Keep it very simple. Single vegetable purees are the best starting point. Pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and parsnip are mild, naturally sweet and blend beautifully smooth. Pear and apple puree work well too. You are aiming for a consistency like runny yoghurt. No lumps, no chunks, no texture at all yet.

Start with a teaspoon or two once a day. That is genuinely enough. Some babies take to it immediately. Others make a face like you have personally offended them and push the whole lot straight back out with their tongue. That is completely normal. The tongue thrust reflex is still fading at this stage, so some of this is just biology, not rejection. Keep offering without pressure and most babies start to get it within a week or two.

A soft silicone spoon makes this whole stage a lot more manageable. Our MashMunch Spoons have a shallow, flexible tip that is gentle on new gums and small enough for a baby mouth, which sounds basic until you have tried feeding a four month old with a regular spoon and ended up wearing most of it.

What to feed your baby at 5 months

At 5 months, broaden into green vegetables, more fruits, and start building a batch cooking routine. Portions can increase to two to four teaspoons once or twice a day. Milk feeds stay exactly as they are.

If your baby has been eating for a few weeks, they are probably getting more comfortable with the whole concept. The face of deep personal betrayal when a spoon appears has likely reduced to mild suspicion. Progress.

This is a good time to broaden what you are offering. Zucchini, peas, broccoli and cauliflower all work well as purees, and it is genuinely worth introducing green vegetables now before babies get firmly attached to the sweeter flavours. A teaspoon of pea or broccoli puree stirred through sweet potato is a low-drama way to ease them in. Banana, mango and peach are popular at this stage and tend to get a very enthusiastic reception. Do not let this fool you into thinking mango is the benchmark by which all other foods will be judged. Stay the course on the greens.

Portions can creep up slightly. Two to four teaspoons once or twice a day is reasonable. Milk feeds should stay exactly as they are.

This is also the stage where getting a batch cooking rhythm going pays off enormously. A little weekend prep means weeknight dinners are sorted without any extra thinking on a Wednesday night when everyone is tired and someone is crying and you cannot remember if you already added salt. The KiddoKook Pro steams and blends in a single bowl with no transferring, no extra washing up, and a self clean function that takes about two minutes. It sounds like a small thing until it is 5:30pm and you are grateful for every single minute it saves.

What to feed your baby at 6 months

At 6 months, the priority shifts to iron-rich foods: pureed meat, lentils, cooked egg yolk and iron-fortified baby cereals. Keep offering vegetables and fruit alongside them, and start introducing common allergens one at a time.

Six months is when most babies are developmentally ready and the range of what you can offer opens up considerably. If your baby is just starting now, that is completely normal. You have not missed anything. Starting at 6 months is what the guidelines recommend. Starting earlier is the thing that needs a reason. You have not been lapped by other parents whose babies are on puree number fourteen. You are exactly on time.

Foods rich in iron for babies: why 6 months is the turning point

This is the one thing I wish someone had told me more clearly before Luca started solids. Babies are born with iron stores that start to deplete at around 6 months. Breast milk is low in iron, and by 6 months those birth stores can no longer meet the growing demand on their own. Formula is iron-fortified, but either way the advice from eatforhealth.gov.au is clear: iron-rich solid foods need to come in from around 6 months. Not as the occasional side dish. As a genuine priority. Nobody leads with this at the parent groups, but it is probably the most important single food decision of the whole starting solids phase.

Good sources for this age include pureed chicken or beef, well-cooked lentils, iron-fortified baby cereals, and cooked egg yolk. You do not need to overhaul everything at once. Just start weaving them in alongside the fruit and vegetable purees you are already doing. Pairing iron-rich foods with a source of vitamin C, like a little pear or mashed sweet potato alongside the chicken, helps with absorption.

Texture can shift a little

Smooth is still completely fine at 6 months and for many weeks beyond. But if your baby is handling things well, you can start making purees slightly thicker. Think the consistency of mashed potato rather than soup. Soft and smooth but with a bit more body. Follow their lead rather than pushing it.

Introducing allergens at 6 months

ASCIA (the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy) updated their guidelines in January 2026. Current evidence shows that early introduction of common allergens reduces the risk of developing a food allergy. This guidance has shifted significantly in recent years and a lot of parents are still working from the old advice, which was the opposite. If your own parents are confidently telling you to delay allergens, they are not wrong on purpose. The science just moved on.

The common allergens to introduce in the first year are egg, peanut, cow’s milk, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame and tree nuts such as cashew and walnut. Smooth peanut butter and well-cooked egg are worth prioritising early. Introduce one allergen at a time with a few days in between so you can watch for any reaction. Do it during the day, not right before bed, so you have time to observe your baby over the following hours. Once introduced and tolerated, continue offering that food at least once a week. Stopping after introduction can increase the risk of an allergy developing.

A practical 6 month first foods list

A solid starting list for 6 months covers all the bases: iron-rich foods, vegetables, fruit, and protein.

• Pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and peas
• Broccoli and zucchini
• Apple or pear puree, banana
• Pureed chicken or beef
• Thoroughly cooked lentils
• Scrambled egg, cooked through
• Iron-fortified baby cereal, mixed with breast milk or formula

Nobody leads with iron at the parent groups. By 6 months it is the most important single food decision of the whole starting solids phase.

What to feed your baby at 7 months

At 7 months, move toward two to three small meals a day. Soft finger foods can come in alongside purees, dairy broadens to include yoghurt and soft cheese, and batch cooking becomes essential to keep up with the volume.

By 7 months, solids are becoming a real part of the day. Most babies are having two or three small meals. They are starting to develop opinions. Theo, at this age, had a very clear preference for anything orange and a deep suspicion of anything leafy. He would eat an entire bowl of pumpkin with the enthusiasm of someone who had been waiting for this his whole life, then look at a piece of broccoli like I had placed a small threat in front of him. This is normal. Keep offering. It can take ten or more exposures before a new food gets accepted, and that number is not a sign you are doing something wrong. It is just how taste development works.

Soft finger foods can come in now

If your baby is showing interest in feeding themselves, soft finger foods are a natural next step. Soft-cooked vegetables like steamed carrot sticks or broccoli florets, ripe banana pieces, avocado chunks, and small pieces of well-cooked chicken or fish are good starting options. Keep pieces large enough that they cannot be swallowed whole and always supervise closely. Gagging is normal and is a safety mechanism. Choking is different. If you are not sure of the difference, the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne has a clear guide that is worth reading before you start finger foods.

Some babies love finger foods immediately and want nothing to do with a spoon. This is sometimes called baby-led weaning, and it is a completely valid approach. Others are happy with purees for months longer. Both are completely fine, and there is genuine value in keeping purees in the rotation regardless of what other textures are on offer. Smooth food is not a regression. It is just another texture.

Dairy broadens out at 7 months

Full-fat yoghurt and soft cheese are appropriate from around 6 to 7 months. Full-fat cow’s milk as a main drink does not come in until 12 months, but it is fine as an ingredient in cooking from now. Aim for full-fat dairy across the board at this age. Babies and toddlers need the fat.

Batch cooking becomes non-negotiable

At 7 months, the volume of food your baby needs starts to add up. Trying to cook fresh every single day is a lovely idea that does not survive contact with reality. Batch cooking on the weekend and portioning into the freezer is what actually makes this sustainable long-term.

The PureePops Tray is designed exactly for this. Individual portions freeze flat, pop out cleanly, and mean you can pull exactly one serve from the freezer at 5:30pm without any guesswork or waste. We use ours every single week. Our full guide to batch cooking baby food walks through exactly how to set this up if you want the detail.

A few things to keep off the menu for now

Most foods are fair game from 6 months with appropriate texture. But a few are worth knowing upfront so you are not second guessing labels at 5pm on a Wednesday.

That is genuinely the list. It is shorter than most people expect.

A final word: it is messier than the photos suggest

Theo’s first taste of sweet potato, at the kitchen bench here in Brisbane, went largely on his bib, some on the highchair tray, and a meaningful amount on me. He looked at the spoon like it was a foreign object. He looked at me like I had betrayed him. Then, about a week later, he opened his mouth before the spoon was anywhere near him.

That is the timeline. Not a single dramatic breakthrough, just a gradual accumulation of exposures until one day it clicks. Some foods take longer than others. Some get accepted and then rejected for no apparent reason. All of it is normal.

The month-by-month guide above is a framework, not a strict schedule. Your baby might sprint ahead in some areas and take their time in others. Follow their lead, keep offering a wide variety, and try not to read too much into any single meal. One rejected puree is not a pattern. Ten rejected purees is also not a pattern. It is just how this goes.

You have got this. And if you want to see everything we use at home for this stage, it is all at Kiddo Kitchen.