Question: is it better to start a baby on solids than the mashed stuff?

Simon Langley-Evans answered on 11 Nov 2013:

Good question.
At the moment the advice is that babies shouldn’t be given solids until they are 6 months old. I think that advice is too strict and that they are often ready at 4 or 5 months, but not before.

When babies first switch from milk they cannot chew and swallow well so they have to have mashed up food to stop them from choking. They can have pretty much anything as long as it is mashed up, except for cows milk, nuts and anything that hasn’t been pasteurised and might carry bugs such as soft cheeses or pate. When they are about 7 months they are ready for foods we call finger foods. These could be carrot sticks or rusks or such like and they help the baby learn to handle food and conquer the skill of putting it in their mouth instead of in their eye or up their nose.