Master List! 30+ Starter Baby Led Weaning Foods For 6 Month Old - Low Stress Motherhood

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Master List: 30+ Baby Led Weaning Foods For 6 Month Old

Baby Led Weaning From The Start

Here in the US, the typical recommended age to start solids is 6 months old. When offering solids with baby led weaning, you are allowing your baby to practice motor skills, move freely, follow their hunger and full cues, and explore flavors and textures, all at once.

Many experts and studies will claim that this form of self-feeding creates a better understanding of satiation (fostering intuitive eating) and leads to less fussy eating in toddlerhood and beyond. This has been my personal and professional experience as well.

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As the owner of a Montessori-inspired daycare & preschool, all but 4 of the 20+ toddlers I have cared for have been picky eaters. And of those 4 non-picky eaters, all started solids with baby led weaning. This to me, is significant.

As a feeding method, baby led weaning only began gaining mainstream popularity about a decade ago, when Gill Rapley coined the term and wrote her book – Baby Led Weaning The Essential Guide – How To Introduce Solids Foods And Help Your Baby Grow Up A Happy And Confident Eater

Now, more and more families are learning about the benefits this feeding method has to offer, and how to safely do it, giving them a secondary option to puree feeding or allowing them to do a hybrid approach. After all, puree is a texture, no? 😉

First Foods With Baby Led Weaning

With the exception of choking hazards, allergens (specifically if you have a family history of allergies – always consult our pediatrian in this case, first), and dangerous foods to avoid (see full list here), you really have a lot of flexibility with first foods for you baby.

Yet there is no need to follow any recipes right now. When just starting out, baby led weaning foods for 6 month old are really just super simply prepared foods (steamed, roasted, boiled until soft enough – more on food preparation later).

You will be doing one food at a time. Then, layering in another and another, until you begin to see your baby handling foods better and feel more confident in their eating skills.

In the beginning, foods are typically prepared without much seasoning and meals are deconstructed versions of the main meal you’re making for the rest of the family.

When serving solid foods with baby led weaning, the key to always remember is – make sure all foods are prepared to a safe softness (soft as a banana is a great rule of thumb) and a safe size (size of an adult pointer finger is the traditional size recommendation), you can safely and happily serve your baby solid foods.

It’s also helpful to know that babies’ gag reflex is strong at 6 months and will help protect them from choking, by pushing the food forward and out.

Gagging is not the same as choking. And although gagging can be quite shocking to witness and experience, it may very likely be a regular part of their learning for the first month or so due to new textures, flavors and getting used to the sensation of swallowing pieces of food vs milk. (I talk more about what studies say about choking risk with blw and how to prepare yourself.)

Another important thing to note is that iron-deficiency is a concern and is common in babies, therefore the American Academy of Pediatrics highly encourages focusing on iron-rich or iron-fortified foods when starting solids.

Here is a master list of some excellent baby led weaning foods for 6 month old:

Of these, here are some iron-rich foods:

Beef
Pork
Dark turkey
Winter squash
Sweet potatoes
Egg yolks
Beans
Lentils
Oatmeal
Tuna
Kale
Spinach
Broccoli
Fortified products

tips for serving foods

Always ensure that fresh fruit is very ripe/very soft so your baby can easily gum at or chew up and swallow safely.

For all fruit, a good rule of thumb is to have everything be as soft as a banana.

For cooked foods, use the same rule – as soft as a banana. Steam, sautee, roast, however you prefer to prepare it.

How often to serve a new food: the most recent recommendation is one food per day OR per every few days, depending on your comfort level and baby’s abilities. As you see them handle a food well, and as you start to feel more comfortable and confident, you can begin to add another or switch to another.

Keep salt and sodium-dense products to a minimum, as your baby’s kidneys aren’t quite developed enough to process it properly. The same goes for spicy seasonings – avoid those until baby is more accustom to flavors, and you can decipher what they are able to tolerate.

Strongly consider taking an infant CPR class. Although studies have found that baby led weaning does not pose a greater choking risk than feeding pureed food does, the likelihood that you have choking fears is high. And, the reality is, choking can be a risk up until age 5-6 years old, so if you actually know what to do in case of a choking emergency, you are likely to feel far more at ease when serving foods.

—> Get my complete Low Stress Baby Led Weaning Starter Guide here.

For a more comprehensive blog post about getting started with baby led weaning – signs of readiness, examples of how to serve foods, gagging vs choking, feeding schedule example and more. You can go here – EVERYTHING You Need To Know Before Starting Solids With Baby Led Weaning

Berries can be cut in half and/or squished.

Things like pasta, ground beef and peas can be placed in front of them a few at a time, so that baby doesn’t use their palmar grasp and overload their mouth with too much food. As I mentioned, their gag reflex is strong at 6 months and will help protect them from choking, by pushing the food forward and out. Gagging can also occur as they are getting used to so much newness – texture, flavor and swallowing pieces of food versus just milk.

Cottage cheese can be strained and then served, this way they can pick at the curds easier and with less mess.

Yogurt and oatmeal can be pre-scooped onto a baby-appropriate spoon for them, then either hand the spoon to them or lay it on their tray for them to grab. If you’re looking for the best spoon, these utensils are the easiest ones for 6-9 month olds to actually use correctly.

Rice can be gently pressed onto a chunk of avocado or sprinkled into scrambled eggs for a less messy meal.

Important note on acidic foods: It’s helpful to know also, that acidic foods such as berries, tomatoes and citrus, can cause or worsen diaper rash and skin redness on the hands or face. This is different from a true allergy, but it still can be uncomfortable for baby.

If you notice this sensitivity with your baby when starting solids, you can simply steer clear of foods that cause the irritation until your baby’s digestive system is a little more mature (say, 11 months+) and reintroduce again.

And if you want to see some alternative sizes you can serve foods in, depending on your baby’s age and abilities, go to this blog post – 21 Picture Examples Of How To Serve Solids With Baby Led Weaning

preparing your mind before starting

This feeding method has been known to bring many moms added stress due to mess and meal time anxiety due to choking fears, at the beginning of their journey.

While it is undeniably scary to watch your baby gag, if you know that:

this can be a normal part of the learning process (even with purees)
you are serving safe softness and size of foods
you know what to do in case of a choking incident

it’s likely that you will be able to get past these initial fears and anxious reactions by facing your fears, adjusting meals according to your baby’s needs and giving them time to learn and grow out of the gagging phase.

You will be able to work past these fears as you see your baby growing into a more experienced and happy eater. And always remember, you can adjust these baby led weaning ‘standards’ as needed, so that you feel more comfortable and calm when feeding your baby.

It’s really incredible to see what a different eater a 10 month old is than a 6 month is, especially with babies who have been exposed to a vast food variety and self-feeding practices with baby led weaning.

On average, babies begin to gag less and less as they age. Typically by 9-12 months, the gagging phase is over. Sometimes, if it continues, this may be an indication that you want to speak with a specialist about your baby’s throat and feeding habits, to see if there is something more going on.

Because choking fears are one of the main concerns for most moms, I highly recommend taking an infant CPR class. Get trained for an emergency and feel more prepared and in-the-know when starting solids with baby led weaning.

If your baby is gagging during a meal, the most current recommendation, according to The American Red Cross, is to model coughing and encourage your baby to cough. While things like smacking them on the back or having them drink water, is highly discouraged because those could actually lodge food in their throat, creating a choking hazard. This video shows you how to help your baby if they are choking.

As for the mess, yes there is more. You are letting your baby move freely and interact how they will with foods, at a time when they are still only in limited control of their movements and limbs, so naturally things will get messier than if you were to airplane vroom vroom the food perfectly into their mouths.

There are some tools that will help you minimize both mess and the stress that comes with it, which I’ll talk about in the next segment. But as for mindset on mess, I believe focusing in on the advantages this feeding method enables, you will be less affected by the disadvantages, like added mess.

Some of the said advantages you can focus on are:

letting your baby practice motor skills

enabling your baby to experience textures AND flavors at the same time

fostering a setting where they are empowered to choose and act independently

exposing them to a wholesome variety that can foster less picky eating through toddlerhood and beyond

helping them eat intuitively

keeping meal times pleasant for all

only having to make ONE meal for the whole family

Preparing your space for less stress and more success

Let’s talk about the tools that will make baby led weaning less stressful for you and more comfortable for your baby.

I wrote another, more extensive blog post, that goes deeper into product comparisons of helpful highly-rated baby led weaning supplies that you can see here – Top Rated Baby Led Weaning Supplies That Other Moms Swear By. But for now, what I’m sharing below is an ‘essentials’ list of what you will want to have asap. These are the items I have used for almost a decade of feeding babies:

An easy to wipe down high chair is a must – no extra padding, no extra material, just a simple chair with a surface that you can clean in a couple swipes. There will be mess on the tray and in the seat at most every meal, so look for options with no liner so you have less work when cleaning. OXO Tot, Abiie and HM-Tech all have easily wipeable ones.

A bib that catches food dropping and liquid spillage is also a must. Not a bib that covers sleeves (sleeves and be pushed up) and not one that restricts natural movements (we want baby to be comfortable and not fussy) but one that has a dependable reservoir that will have you sitting back, not worrying about every little drop or that you will have to change their clothes after each meal. Too much work. Baby Bjorn has been my go-to for almost a decade.

Utensils that can actually be used properly: Grabease has utensils that are wonderfully designed so that little tiny baby hands can grip and use them correctly on the first try. Incredible.

Open cup for drinking practice: Not going to lie here, I used a ramekin and then a take and toss silicone straw toddler cup when we started practicing with an ‘open cup’. All the babies did just fine with this. However, if you’re not like me (ok using what you already have around) or maybe you don’t have anything like this around, here are two options that many other moms and feeding therapists love – eZpZ has a soft silicone cup designed for baby hands. It has a weighted bottom to minimize tipping and has an inner curve that helps to slow the water flow for baby. eZtotZ has an open cup with ridges on the outside that help with grip.

For the cups, I would say, get one or a couple that also are covered and spill-proof. With an open cup, you will be helping a lot for the first several months. On days you don’t want to have to help, you can use your spill-proof cup.

final thoughts

Keep it simple!

Really just focus on safely serving foods and just taking a few months to get used to seeing and letting your baby interact with solids. Remember, they still get majority of the nutrition they require from their milk, so don’t stress about intake. Let them learn their solids.

Maybe you’re super nervous so you just stick with banana for a whole week. Ok, no worries!

Maybe your baby is proving to be a big gagger, so you just give them a few tiny pieces of food at a time like 3 peas or a sprinkle of shredded carrot – that’s fine! THIS is still baby led weaning and it’s still wonderful exposure AND they will outgrow gagging and graduate to more complex meals with time.

Keep baby led weaning foods for 6 month old simple and in no time, they will be happily eating what you’re eating and meal times will be a true pleasure for the whole family!

Watching your precious little baby do baby led weaning is an amazing experience, and there are moms all around the world who will say the same 😉

You’ve got this! They’ve got this! 😉

In case you need it, I’ve put some additional resources for you below, including my FREE Baby Led Weaning Starter Guide Cheat Sheet: