Introduce solid foods no earlier than 4 to 6 months of age, once your baby shows signs of interest in food or when he is not satisfied with only breast milk or formula. Introduce solid foods slowly, starting with single ingredient foods, one at a time, to make sure that your baby is not allergic to them. When you are confident that the foods are well tolerated by your infant you can then feed mixed or combination foods. Give your baby a good supplementary source of iron by about four to six months. One good source is an iron-fortified infant cereal.
Rice is a good cereal to start with because it is the least allergenic.
This can be followed by barley or oats before the mixed cereals. Once your baby is familiar with cereals, it is time to introduce strained, pureed or mashed foods, either homemade or commercially prepared. It is commonly recommended that you feed vegetables before fruits. Add strained meats, fish, poultry and legumes to baby's diet, as a source of protein in addition to that of breast milk or formula, to support the fast rate of growth. You are now laying the foundation for a nutritionally balanced diet and the beginning of good eating habits for your baby.