Starting Solids & Highchair Guide

Starting Solids: A Guide for Kiwi Parents

Starting solids is a big milestone in your baby’s first year and one many parents look forward to with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. Whether you're wondering when to start solids, how to safely introduce new textures, or what baby feeding essentials you’ll need, we’re here to help.

It’s an exciting stage but there’s no rush. Every baby is different, and each will be ready in their own time. Most babies show signs of readiness around 6 months, which is when it becomes harder for them to get all the nutrients they need from milk alone—especially iron, which is essential for healthy growth and development. Solids should not be introduced before 4 months, as a baby’s digestive system and oral motor skills (like swallowing and moving food safely in the mouth) are not yet developed enough to manage food.

This guide will walk you through how to know your baby is ready, different feeding approaches (like purées and baby-led weaning), tips on safe feeding for babies, and how to continue breastfeeding or bottle feeding during this time.

You’ll also find practical recommendations for baby feeding products like bibs, spoons, bowls, and the right baby highchair NZ parents love, all available at Baby On The Move in-store or online.

All of our advice follows the latest New Zealand Ministry of Health recommendations, so you can feel confident and supported as you and your baby begin this new chapter together.

Let’s make feeding your baby feel exciting, not overwhelming and something you both look forward to each day. Because mealtimes aren't just about food, it's also about discovery, connection, and celebrating all the little wins together.

At Baby On The Move, we’re here to support you because this is a journey where little things matter

Is My Baby Ready to Start Solids?

Starting solids is an exciting step, but there’s no need to rush. Until your baby is ready for solids, continue with exclusive breastfeeding or formula feeding. Every baby develops at their own pace, and the best time to start is when they are developmentally ready, at around 6 months of age. Avoid giving food before 4 months as your baby’s digestive system is still developing, and they may not yet have the coordination needed to manage food safely.

By around 6 months, babies need more nutrients, especially iron, which is essential for brain development and healthy growth. Did you know a 6-month-old baby needs more iron per day than a grown man? (That’s around 11mg!)

While food becomes more important from this age, breast milk or infant formula still provides most of your baby’s energy and nutrients. Solids in the early months are all about learning, play, and exploration, not replacing milk. Think of it as an introduction to flavours, textures, and the fun social side of mealtimes.

Signs your baby is ready to start solids:

• Can hold their head up steadily.
• Can sit with less support.
• Shows interest in food, watching you eat or reaching for your food.
• Opens their mouth when food is offered.
• Starting to bite or chew, and begins to move food around in their mouth.
• Has lost the tongue-thrust reflex (no longer automatically pushes food out).

If your baby isn’t showing all of these signs just yet, give it a little more time and try again in a week or two.

Note for premature babies: If your baby was born before 37 weeks, current recommendations suggest starting solids around 6 months of actual age, not corrected age. Some preterm babies may benefit from support from a speech-language therapist or dietitian. If unsure, check with your GP, Paediatrician, or Plunket nurse.

A quick word on sleep...

You may have heard that starting solids can help babies sleep through the night, but unfortunately, this isn’t guaranteed. Waking overnight is still very normal at this age, and food alone won’t fix that. It is common for babies to continue waking for milk feeds overnight until they are around 12 months of age.

For help with sleep, visit our Sleeping Aids or take our Sleep Course.

Embrace the mess

Learning to eat is a full-body experience, and yes, it will be messy! Mess is not only normal, it’s important. Letting babies touch, squish and explore food at their own pace helps build confident, curious eaters for life.

Tip: A quality bib, suction bowl, and a wipe-clean mess mat can make clean-up easier. Explore our range of baby feeding accessories online or visit your local Baby On The Move store.

What You’ll Need to Start Solids

Starting solids doesn’t mean you need to buy everything at once, but having a few well-chosen essentials on hand will help you feel more prepared (and keep things a little less messy!). A supportive highchair is one of the most important investments you’ll need, and we’ve included a dedicated section later in the guide to help you choose the right one for your family.

Here’s a checklist of helpful items to support you and your baby through those first meals:

A Safe, Supportive Highchair

A good highchair is one of the most important investments when starting solids, and don’t worry, we’ve got more details on how to choose the right highchair later in the guide. Look for:

• A 5-point safety harness to keep your baby secure
• Footrest support for stability and posture (and one that can be altered as they grow bigger)
• An upright seat that encourages safe swallowing
• Easy-to-clean materials and a removable tray so that they can join you at the dining table

Tip: Come in-store to test out our highchairs, we’re happy to help you find one that suits your space and grows with your baby.

Feeding Essentials

These tools make mealtimes smoother and more fun for everyone:

• Soft, baby-safe spoons for first tastes. You may also like to have some self-feeding spoons to help your baby learn to use a spoon
• Suction bowls or plates to stay put on the tray
• Silicone bibs or long-sleeve smocks for easy clean-up
• Open cups, sippy cups, or straw cups for small sips of water
• Mess mats, splash mats or splat mats to protect your floors (and your sanity!)

Food Storage & Freezer Trays

Planning to batch-prep baby food, or store leftovers from dinner? Freezer-safe containers or silicone food trays make it easy to portion, store, and serve meals later, perfect for those busy days. We love the Melii range for simple, practical storage solutions that make life a little easier.

Optional Extras

Not essential, but many parents love:

• Silicone feeders for offering soft fruits/vegetables or cooked meat safely
• Blender for making purees
• Kitchen scissors to cut meals into bite-sized pieces
• First cutlery sets as baby learns to self-feed
• Specific feeding accessories, like florks, for ease of picking up slippery foods.

Explore Our Feeding Range

At Baby On The Move, we stock a carefully selected range of high-quality baby feeding products both in-store and online to support you through every stage of starting solids. From soft-tipped spoons, suction plates and bowls, to easy-clean bibs, mess mats, and supportive highchairs, we’ve got everything you need to make mealtimes easier (and more enjoyable!). Our trusted brands are loved by Kiwi families, and our team is always here to help you choose the right options for your baby, because it’s the little things that matter. 🛒 Shop our full range of baby feeding products, including highchairs, feeding accessories, and baby tableware, online or visit your local Baby On The Move store for expert advice and hands-on support.

Choosing the Right Highchair

A safe, supportive highchair is one of the most important investments you’ll make in your solid journey. It’s not just about somewhere to sit, it’s about posture, safety, confidence, and connection. From first tastes to family mealtimes, your highchair helps set the stage for positive, relaxed eating habits.

At Baby On The Move, we’re here to help you find the right fit for your baby and your lifestyle, whether online or in-store.

What to Look for in a Highchair

Here are the key features we recommend looking for and why they matter:

Safety First

A five-point harness, supportive seat design, and stable footrest are essential for safe, upright positioning while eating. Proper posture reduces choking risk and helps your baby focus on chewing and swallowing effectively.

Falls from highchairs are one of the most common causes of injury in young children, but they’re also one of the most preventable. A secure 5-point harness keeps your baby safely seated and helps stop them from standing or wriggling out, especially as they become more mobile and curious.

Proper Posture

A well-designed highchair with an adjustable seat and footplate helps support a healthy sitting position, commonly known as the "90/90/90" posture. In this setup, the child’s hips, knees, and ankles are all bent at 90-degree angles, promoting stability and overall comfort. When adjusted correctly, this ergonomic alignment supports better focus during meals, reduces fidgeting, and encourages healthy digestion. Paediatric experts recommend the 90/90/90 position as it fosters good posture and helps make mealtimes more comfortable, productive, and more enjoyable (for everyone!).

Longevity & Adjustability

Look for highchairs with adjustable footrests, multiple height settings, and convertible designs that grow with your child. A quality highchair should be durable enough to handle daily use for several years; many little ones use theirs right up to age 3 (and sometimes beyond). These grow-with-me features not only support your child’s changing needs but also offer great value for your family.

Easy to Clean

Mealtimes with little ones are wonderfully messy, but that doesn’t mean clean-up has to be hard. Choose a highchair with a wipeable surface, removable tray, and minimal fabric to make post-meal clean-ups quick and stress-free. The easier it is to clean, the more time you’ll have for the fun stuff.

Style & Footprint

From sleek Scandi designs to foldable compact models, your highchair should suit your home and your space. Whether it’s your kitchen hub or tucked in the corner of the lounge, there’s a style for every setting.

Try Before You Buy

We recommend visiting your local Baby On The Move to test highchairs in person. Bring your baby along (if you can!) to check for fit, comfort, and stability and don’t be afraid to really try it out.

Practice adjusting the footrest, removing and reattaching the tray, and buckling the harness. These are features you’ll use daily, so it’s important they feel practical and easy to use in your routine. Our friendly team is always on hand to guide you through the options and help you find the best fit for your family.

You can also browse our full range of trusted brands and styles online:

Feeding Approaches: Purées, Baby-Led Weaning, or a Bit of Both?

There’s more than one way to start solids, and the “right” approach is the one that works for you and your baby. The two most common methods are spoon feeding and baby-led weaning (BLW). Some families choose one approach, while others do a bit of both.

Whichever path you take, the goal is the same: to help your baby explore food safely, develop a healthy relationship with eating, enjoy a range of flavours and textures, and get the nutrients they need, especially iron.

Spoon Feeding (Traditional Approach)

Spoon feeding is a gentle and popular way to begin solids and can start from around 4 months when your baby is ready to start on solids. It typically starts with smooth purées like puréed vegetables or iron-fortified cereals and gradually moves towards thicker and lumpier textures and starting with finger foods after around 6-7 months.

In the early stages, babies are offered small spoonfuls of soft food fed by the parent/care giver. Over time, they’re introduced to more texture and variety, including mashed foods, small lumps, and soft versions of family meals. Finger foods are often added once your baby shows signs of readiness after 6-7 months.

This approach gives you more control over what your baby eats, which some parents find reassuring especially when offering iron-rich foods like meat, legumes, or cereals.

Baby-Led Weaning (BLW)

Baby-led weaning skips purées and allows your baby to feed themselves from the very beginning. It is important to wait until your baby is 6 months before starting baby-led weaning, as they need to be developmentally strong enough for finger foods. You offer safe, soft foods in shapes they can easily pick up like steamed vegetable sticks, soft fruit wedges, soft meatballs, or toast fingers with mashed toppings of iron foods, such as meat puree.

With BLW, babies explore food at their own pace, and they are fully in control of the feeding. It supports hand-eye coordination, chewing skills, and independence, and it can make shared family mealtimes easier too.

Safety is key, especially early on. Choose foods that are soft enough to squish between your fingers and big enough for baby to hold with their whole hand. As your baby develops more coordination (like a pincer grip), you can gradually offer smaller pieces and firmer textures.

Tip: If you’re nervous about choking, mesh or silicone feeders are a great way to introduce tougher textures like cooked meat or fruit safely.

A Combination of Both

Many families take a blended approach, offering purées by spoon while also letting baby try finger foods they can explore themselves. That’s totally okay!

Research shows that when safe, nutritious foods are offered (especially iron-rich ones), there’s no major difference in growth, nutrition, or choking risk between spoon feeding and BLW.

Sometimes, your baby will let you know what they prefer, some love to grab the spoon, others are happy being fed, and this could change throughout your solid journey.

The most important thing is creating a relaxed, positive mealtime environment where your baby can enjoy food and feel included.

Textures and Progression: From First Tastes to Family Foods

Introducing solids isn’t just about what your baby eats; it's also about how they eat. As your baby grows more confident with food, they’ll move from soft, simple textures to a variety of consistencies that help build important skills like chewing, swallowing, and oral coordination. These are the foundations for confident eating and even speech development later on.

There’s no single “right” way to introduce textures. Whether you’re spoon feeding, offering finger foods from the start, or doing a bit of both, the goal is to expose your baby to safe, age-appropriate textures and let them learn at their own pace.

Start Soft

Most babies begin with soft, easy-to-manage foods around 6 months. These could be:

• Smooth purées (like pumpkin or kūmara)
• Puréed legumes or soft-cooked/pureed meats
• Mashed fruit (banana, pear, avocado)
• Iron-fortified cereals mixed with breastmilk or formula
• Unsweetened, full-fat yoghurt or dairy-free alternatives (like soy or coconut)

If your baby is feeding themselves, offer larger pieces they can easily grasp in their fist, about the size of their hand and soft enough to squish between your fingers.

Building Up Textures Gradually

From 6 to 12 months, you can gradually increase the complexity of textures once your baby is confidently handling smooth foods. Whether you're offering purées, finger foods, or both, take your lead from your baby and go at their pace:

• 6–7 months: Begin to thicken purées and try soft mashed foods (like mashed potato or lentils), but only once baby is comfortable with smoother textures. You might also start offering soft finger foods like steamed vegetable sticks or toast with smooth toppings if baby shows signs of readiness.
• 7–8 months: Add soft lumps and small grains (like quinoa, couscous, or finely chopped veg). Babies may start showing a pincer grip, so you can offer smaller soft pieces.
• 8–10 months: Begin introducing more textured meals like risotto, flaked fish, soft pasta, and more adventurous finger foods. Strips of cooked lamb or beef are great for sucking (a silicone feeder can help if you're apprehensive about larger pieces), or cut up into small pieces.

• By 12 months: Your baby will likely be eating a variety of chopped family foods and feeding themselves more confidently. Remember that foods still need to be altered in texture to reduce choking risk.

Did you know? Introducing lumpy foods and soft finger foods by around 8–10 months supports chewing skills and oral motor development, essential for both eating and speech.

Follow Your Baby’s Lead

Some babies are eager to self-feed and explore from day one, while others are more comfortable with spoon feeding. Many do a mix and some need a mix over the day! You’ll know your baby is ready to move on when they handle current textures with ease, show interest in new foods, or start mimicking your eating habits.

If your baby is gagging often, pushing food back out with their tongue, spitting food out, or getting upset during meals, they might not be quite ready for the next texture just yet. That’s totally okay, simply go back a step and try again in a week or two.

If by 10 months your baby is still not tolerating lumpy foods or soft finger foods, it’s worth checking in with your Well Child nurse, GP, Dietitian, or a paediatric feeding specialist for guidance.

Tip: Embrace the mess! Whether your baby is spoon-fed, self-feeding, or tossing broccoli like a tiny food critic, it’s all part of the fun. Exploring food with their hands, face, and even hair helps build confidence and curiosity, while supporting important sensory and motor skills.

Solids and Milk Feeds: Finding the Balance

Starting solids doesn’t mean giving up breastmilk or formula. In fact, milk will remain your baby’s main source of nutrition for quite a while yet. Solids are introduced to complement milk feeds, not replace them. It's all about gradually finding the balance that works best for your baby.

Milk First (To Begin With)

In the early months of starting solids—typically around 6 months—it’s recommended to offer breastmilk or formula before solids. A milk feed can help settle your baby, ensure they’re still getting the nutrients they need, and support digestion as their tummy adjusts to new foods.

As your baby becomes more confident with eating and starts consuming more food, you can gradually shift to offering solids first, followed by milk. This often happens around 8–9 months, but every baby will transition at their own pace. By around 12 months, most babies are enjoying three meals, with milk feeds offered after food or in between meals. After around 12 months, you may bring in morning and afternoon tea snacks.

How Much and How Often to Feed

When you first start solids, offer once a day, and let your baby guide you on how much they are comfortable eating, but this is likely to be only 1-2 teaspoons initially. Great first foods are vegetables, especially starchy vegetables, such as kumara/pumpkin, as they are easy to puree or make into soft finger foods, then soon after, offer iron foods, such as meat. You do not have to introduce foods slowly or over 3 days apart from allergen foods (this is explained later). Introduce parts of your family meal from the start, as this gets them used to family flavours from the get-go (just be careful not to give salt, additional sugars or honey in their foods). Most of all, focus on creating a relaxed, positive experience where your baby can explore and enjoy food without pressure

Once they’re showing interest and managing small amounts of food easily, you can gradually increase to two meals a day, and eventually three. There’s no need to rush; follow your baby’s cues. As a general guide, once they are enjoying food at a meal and eating around 2 tablespoons of volume, then they can have another meal added.

Here’s a general idea of what solids might look like over time:

• 6 months: One small meal a day, like mid-morning or early afternoon, with milk feeds alongside
• 7–8 months: Two small meals a day moving to three, e.g. breakfast and lunch, with milk feeds alongside
• 9–12 months: Three meals a day with milk feeds alongside

Tip: Choose a time when you and your baby are relaxed and unhurried—avoiding busy times like the daycare drop-off rush or the late afternoon fussy period.

Let Baby Take the Lead

All babies are different, and they’ll let you know when they’ve had enough. You might notice them turning their head away, pushing food or the spoon aside, spitting food out, or clamping their mouth shut. Sometimes they might even get upset or become fussy at the table. These are all clear signs it’s time to stop. Forcing food can create a negative association with mealtimes, so instead, trust your baby’s natural appetite and try again another time.

What to Feed Baby

In the first 12 months, babies are often open to trying a wide range of foods—making this a great time to introduce them to the flavours and whole food groups your family enjoys. Research shows that if you are able to offer a diverse range of flavours and textures in the first year of life, that selective eating behaviours are less likely to become a significant issue in the toddler years. The gut is also developing a lot in that first year of life, so offering a variety of foods can help build a diverse colony of healthy gut microbes.

Aim to offer a colourful mix of whole foods, including:

• A rainbow of vegetables, don’t be shy about the bitter ones like broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower.
• Iron-rich proteins, such as meat, chicken, lentils, fish, nut butters, and eggs to help keep your baby growing strong.
• Grains like oats, rice, quinoa, and couscous for energy and texture variety. Some baby cereals may also have iron-fortification.
• Healthy fats and oils, think olive oil, avocado, fatty fish, nut butters, and full-fat dairy to support brain development.
• Plenty of fruit, dairy, and plant-based options as well.

And don’t hesitate to add flavour with herbs and mild spices, just avoid the added salt, honey, and sugar.

Offering a variety of flavours, especially savoury ones, can help prevent fussiness later and support your baby’s developing palate.

Iron and Nutrition: What Babies Need in Their First Year

At around 6 months of age, your baby’s iron stores build up during pregnancy start to run low. While breastmilk or formula still provides many essential nutrients, they no longer supply enough iron, which is vital for your baby’s brain development, energy, and growth.

That’s why iron-rich foods are an important focus when starting solids.

Why Iron Matters

Babies aged 6–12 months need around 11 mg of iron per day. While that might sound like a lot, small amounts of iron-rich foods offered regularly can meet their needs.

Great sources of iron for babies include:

• Red meat (beef, lamb, venison)
• Poultry and fish
• Iron-fortified baby cereals
• Lentils, chickpeas, and other legumes
• Tofu and well-cooked eggs
• Dark leafy greens like spinach or silverbeet (served with vitamin C–rich foods to help absorption)

Tip: Iron from animal sources (heme iron) is more easily absorbed by the body, but plant-based sources (non-heme iron) are still great additions to your baby’s diet. To help your baby absorb both types of iron more effectively, try pairing iron-rich foods with those high in vitamin C, like fruit, broccoli, or capsicum.

Other Important Nutrients

Alongside iron, babies also need:

• Good fats – for brain development and energy. Offer avocado, olive oil, nut butters, full-fat dairy, and oily fish.
• Protein – for growth and repair. Found in meat, fish, legumes, eggs, tofu, and dairy.
• Zinc, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and D – found across a variety of whole foods, including fruit, vegetables, grains, and dairy products.

Aim for variety over volume. Small amounts of wholesome, real foods offered regularly are enough to meet most babies' needs.

Special Considerations for Vegetarian and Vegan Families

If your family follows a vegetarian or vegan diet, extra care is needed to ensure your baby gets enough iron, protein, zinc, and calcium, as these nutrients are most easily absorbed from animal products. Good plant-based sources include:

• Iron: Lentils, chickpeas, tofu, cooked beans, dark leafy greens, iron-fortified cereals (paired with vitamin C–rich foods to boost absorption)
• Protein: Tofu, legumes, nut butters (thinly spread to avoid choking risk), quinoa, and grains
• Calcium: Fortified plant milks (offered in cooking, not as a main drink before 12 months), tofu made with calcium sulfate, green leafy vegetables
• Zinc: Beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and whole grains

You might consider chatting with a dietitian to tailor a nutrient-rich feeding plan that works best for your baby and family.

Foods to Avoid in the First 12 Months

While introducing a wide variety of tastes and textures is encouraged, there are a few foods to hold off on until after your baby’s first birthday. Here’s what to avoid—and why:

Food	Why to Avoid
Added salt	Babies’ kidneys are still developing and can’t process high levels of salt. Avoid salting food or offering processed foods high in sodium.
Added sugars	Sugar offers no nutritional value and may impact healthy weight gain and dental development. Let your baby develop a love for natural flavours first.
Honey (raw or cooked)	Can contain spores that cause infant botulism, a rare but serious illness. Safe after 12 months.
Raw or undercooked eggs	May carry a risk of salmonella. Eggs should be well-cooked (both yolk and white) until 12 months.
Raw or undercooked meat	Poses a risk of foodborne illness. Ensure all meat is cooked thoroughly.
Unpasteurised milk or cheese	May contain harmful bacteria. Choose pasteurised dairy products only.
Homemade fermented foods (like kimchi or kombucha)	May contain live bacteria that aren’t suitable for developing tummies. Best introduced after 12 months.
Milk or plant milks as a drink	Cow’s milk or alternatives shouldn't replace breastmilk/formula before 12 months as they lack key nutrients like iron. Fine to use in cooking.
Bone broth as a drink	While nourishing, it shouldn't replace milk feeds and may interfere with appetite. Great as a cooking liquid or flavour booster.

Use ingredients like cow’s milk, plant milks, and bone broth in cooking but not as standalone drinks.

Allergies and Intolerances

Introducing new foods to your baby can be exciting but it’s normal to feel a little nervous, especially when it comes to allergies. The good news is that most babies tolerate new foods well, and food allergy affects only 10% of infants under 1 year.

Understanding the difference between food allergies and intolerances can help you feel more confident during this part of your solid journey.

 

What is a Food Intolerance?

Food intolerances is an enzymatic issue causing a delayed response up to 24-48 hours after eating.  Unlike allergies, intolerances do not involve the immune system. Food intolerance is less common in babies and occurs more often in older children and adults.

Signs of a possible food intolerance may include:

• Unsettled crying or irritability
• Vomiting, bloating, or abdominal discomfort
• Diarrhoea or constipation

Common food intolerances are lactose, fructose and a group of foods called FODMAPs.

If you suspect your child has a food intolerance, then keep a food and symptoms diary and discuss this with your GP, Wellchild nurse or Dietitian. There are no valid tests for food intolerance, and diagnosis is with discussion of clinical symptoms, elimination and re-trial of the food.

Did you know that breastmilk is high in lactose, and it is extremely rare for an infant to react to lactose. More commonly, infants have issues with the protein part of cow’s milk if they have food reactions.

Preventing Food Allergy and Introducing Allergenic Foods

Worldwide consensus from studies across the globe has shown that introducing allergen foods from 6 months and before 12 months can help reduce the risk of allergy. All babies, even those without a family history of allergies/asthma/hay fever, should be introduced to common allergenic foods from 6 months and before 12 months.

The most common allergenic foods are:

• Egg
• Cow’s milk protein
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts (e.g. almonds, cashews, hazelnuts)
• Wheat
• Soy
• Fish
• Sesame
• Shellfish

How to introduce them:

Introduce one allergenic food at a time (e.g. a small amount of well-cooked egg or smooth peanut butter) given to the baby in their mouth. Wait 30 minutes and give them more.

Introduce the new allergen food over 2-3 days with increasing amounts.

Once the allergen food is introduced, give this regularly, i.e. twice weekly, until the age of 2 years of age, to maintain tolerance.

Move on to the next allergen food

Other ways to Prevent Food Allergy

This is an area of emerging research, and here are some things to consider:

Exclusively breastfeed your infant and continue to breastfeed while introducing foods into the diet

While pregnant and breastfeeding, Mum should eat a diverse diet full of wholegrains, fruit, vegetables and some omega-3 fatty acids. Mum should not exclude any foods from her diet and ideally eat allergen foods regularly.

Keep your baby’s skin well moisturised, but do not use products that contain food allergens, such as baby products containing almond/peanut oils. Skin sensitisation to the food allergens can occur if foods are rubbed into the skin especially for those with eczema.

Vitamin D supplements may be useful during pregnancy and given to baby during the first year of life to help prevent food allergy, but more research in this area is needed.

Safe Feeding: Gagging vs Choking

Watching your baby eat solid food for the first time can feel a little nerve-wracking especially when they start to gag. But gagging is actually a normal, protective reflex, and part of learning how to eat safely.

Understanding the difference between gagging and choking can help ease anxiety and support safer mealtimes.

What is Gagging?

Gagging is your baby’s way of protecting their airway as they learn to chew and move food around their mouth. It can look and sound dramatic, but it’s usually nothing to worry about.

Gagging signs:

• Coughing or spluttering
• Going red in the face
• Tears in their eyes
• Noisy breathing
• Tongue thrusting or pushing food out
• Recovery without distress

Babies have a more sensitive gag reflex than adults; it’s triggered further forward in the mouth and becomes less sensitive with age and practice.

What is Choking?

Choking occurs when something blocks the airway, and your baby is unable to breathe properly. It is silent and requires immediate action.

Choking signs:

• Unable to cough or make noise
• Silent or gasping
• Skin turning blue or pale
• Panicked or floppy appearance

What to Do if Baby is Choking

Always stay close while your baby is eating, supervision is the best way to keep mealtimes safe. And while we hope you’ll never need it, knowing what to do in an emergency can make all the difference. We highly recommend attending a baby and child first aid course through Plunket, St John, or your local health provider.

In a choking emergency:

1. Stay calm and act quickly.
2. Call 111.
3. Administer appropriate first aid (back blows and chest thrusts) if trained.

Feeding Safety Tips

• Always supervise your baby while they eat, sit with them at eye level.
• Make sure your baby is sitting upright in a well-supported highchair.
• Offer textures that are age-appropriate and soft enough to squash between your fingers.
• Avoid giving high-risk choking foods like:
• Whole nuts
• Hard, raw fruits or vegetables (e.g. raw apple, raw carrot)
• Whole grapes or cherry tomatoes (always cut into quarters lengthwise)
• Tough or chewy meats
• Popcorn, lollies, or marshmallows

Not sure what’s safe? Try the finger-squish test if you can’t easily mash it between your fingers, your baby likely can’t manage it with their gums. Offering food that’s too firm too soon can increase the risk of gagging or choking, so when in doubt, keep it soft.

Final Thoughts

Starting solids is a big milestone for both you and your baby. There’s a lot to learn, but you don’t need to have it all figured out on day one. Whether you’re spoon feeding, trying baby-led weaning, or blending both approaches, what matters most is creating a safe, relaxed space where your baby can enjoy the adventure of food. Always remember to supervise your baby during meals, ensure they’re sitting upright and securely in their highchair, introduce new foods slowly, watch for their signs of readiness, and trust your instincts along the way.

And most importantly, enjoy the journey! There will be plenty of mess, lots of funny faces, and maybe even a broccoli-flavored kiss or two. At Baby On The Move, we believe in supporting you every step of the way because this is a place where little things matter.