🥣 First foods kit: starting solids at 6 months
Starting solids needs far less than the baby aisle suggests: somewhere safe to sit, a bowl that stays put, a soft spoon, a cup, and a way to mash and store food. Most Indian kitchens already have the mashing part. Tap any item to see today's price on Amazon. Ask your paediatrician before starting, and start one food at a time.
Sitting safely
A baby who sits upright and strapped in eats better and chokes less than one on a lap.
📖 Read our guide →Goes under the chair. Most of the first month's food ends up on the floor.
📖 Read our guide →Bowls, spoons and bibs
Sticks to the tray so the bowl stays when the baby swipes at it.
📖 Read our guide →Silicone tips are gentle on gums; a long handle helps you, a short one helps the baby.
📖 Read our guide →Wipe clean in seconds. The pocket catches more than you'd expect.
📖 Read our guide →Water and milk
Water starts with solids at 6 months. A straw cup is the usual next step after a sippy.
📖 Read our guide →Many Indian families go straight to an open steel glass with help. Cheap and unbreakable.
📖 Read our guide →Making and storing food
A pressure cooker, a sieve and a spoon do most of this already.
Smooth purees in the first weeks; useful in the kitchen long after.
Freeze purees in portions so you cook once for the week.
📖 Read our guide →For carrying a meal out. Steel is easy to sterilise and lasts years.
📖 Read our guide →For soft fruit the baby can gnaw on safely while learning to chew.
📖 Read our guide →Clean-up
Face and hands after every meal. Softer than wipes and reusable.
📖 Read our guide →Suction bowls and straw cups have corners a sponge can't reach.
📖 Read our guide →Keep it simple
- Start with one food at a time and wait two or three days before adding the next, so a reaction is easy to spot.
- Mashed dal-rice, ragi, banana and sweet potato are common Indian first foods; you don't need packaged cereals.
- No honey before one year, and no whole nuts, grapes or hard pieces that can block the airway.
- Milk (breast or formula) is still the main food until one year; solids are practice.
Questions parents ask
What do I need to start solids?
A safe upright seat, a bowl and soft spoon, a bib, a cup for water and a way to mash food. Everything else is optional.
Sippy cup or straw cup?
Either works to begin with. Many families start with a sippy at 6 months and move to a straw or open cup over the next few months. The aim is an open cup by about one year.
Do I need a baby food maker?
No. A pressure cooker, a sieve, a masher or a hand blender does the same job, and those stay useful after the puree stage ends.
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Some links on this page earn us a small commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we list. We don't print prices because they change daily; the button opens the live price. Items are general suggestions, not medical advice; ask your paediatrician about anything that goes in or on your baby.