Your baby’s food needs change throughout the first year. Milk feeds come first; later, solid foods add nutrients and help your baby learn to eat. There is no single portion size or feeding timetable that suits every baby.

Milk feeds in the early months

Breastmilk or an age-appropriate infant formula provides a young baby’s main nutrition. If your baby is mixed-fed, their care team can help you balance feeds. Newborns do not need cereal, juice or solid food. Do not dilute formula or add extra powder or cereal to a bottle: follow the product’s preparation instructions exactly.

Watch for feeding cues and allow pauses rather than making your baby finish a bottle. Babies born early, those with medical conditions and babies who are not growing as expected may need a specific feeding plan. Ask your midwife or child health nurse for help early if feeding is painful, difficult or worrying.

When is a baby ready for solids?

Start complementary foods at around 6 months, when your baby is developmentally ready, and never before 4 months. Readiness includes good head control, sitting upright with support, interest in food and being able to take food into the mouth and swallow it. Waking more at night or reaching a particular weight is not enough on its own.

Continue breastmilk or infant formula while solids increase gradually. Solids should not rapidly replace milk feeds. If your baby was premature or has difficulty sitting, swallowing or coordinating feeds, ask their health professional how to assess readiness.

Build variety, with iron-rich foods from the start

Offer small amounts of soft food and build up as your baby learns. Useful choices include well-cooked minced meat or poultry, boneless fish, mashed lentils or beans, tofu and iron-fortified infant cereal. Add vegetables, fruit, grains and pasteurised full-fat yoghurt or cheese for variety.

Move from smooth or mashed foods towards thicker, lumpier textures and suitable soft finger foods as skills develop. Spoon-feeding and self-feeding can be combined. Sit together, allow mess and stop when your baby turns away, closes their mouth or loses interest. Offer a refused food again another day without pressure.

Introduce common allergens safely

ASCIA’s 2026 guidance recommends well-cooked egg and peanut in a suitable form soon after solids begin. Introduce other common allergens during the first year, including dairy, wheat, soy, sesame, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Only introduce one new allergen in a meal so a reaction is easier to identify.

Use smooth nut paste thinned into familiar food, rather than whole nuts or a sticky spoonful. Cook egg thoroughly. Once an allergen is tolerated, keep offering it at least once a week in an age-appropriate form. Do not rub food on the skin as an allergy test.

If your baby has significant eczema, a known food allergy or a previous reaction, ask their doctor for an individual introduction plan. Do not retry a food that caused a suspected allergic reaction without medical advice.

Stop the food and seek medical advice for hives, swelling or vomiting after eating. Call 000 immediately for difficult or noisy breathing, tongue or throat swelling, collapse, or a baby who becomes pale and floppy. If prescribed an adrenaline injector, use it according to the baby’s ASCIA action plan. A severe reaction can occur without a rash.

Reduce choking risks at every meal

• Have your baby awake and sitting upright, with an adult watching closely throughout the meal. Do not feed while they are lying down, moving around or crying.
• Cook hard fruit and vegetables until soft, or grate or mash them. Remove bones, stones and pips. Cut round foods such as grapes lengthways into quarters and adapt the size further to your baby’s skills.
• Avoid whole nuts, popcorn, hard lollies, raw carrot chunks and other hard foods. Do not offer large sticky mouthfuls of nut butter.
• Never prop a bottle or leave a baby with a bottle in bed.

Gagging can occur as babies learn, but choking may be quiet. If your baby cannot breathe, cry or cough effectively, call 000 and start infant choking first aid. Follow the emergency operator’s instructions. An infant first-aid course can help you prepare; see Healthdirect’s choking first aid.

Drinks and foods to avoid

From around 6 months, offer small amounts of cooled, boiled tap water in a cup while continuing milk feeds. Cow’s milk can be used in small amounts in food, but should not replace breastmilk or formula as the main drink before 12 months. Plant drinks are not substitutes for infant formula. After the first birthday, discuss an appropriate milk alternative if your child cannot have dairy.

Do not give honey before 12 months, including in cooked food. Avoid raw or runny eggs, unpasteurised dairy, and undercooked meat or fish. Babies do not need added salt, sugar, juice, tea, coffee or sweet drinks.

Keep food preparation simple and safe

Wash hands, utensils and preparation surfaces. Cook food thoroughly, keep raw ingredients separate from ready-to-eat food, and refrigerate prepared food promptly in clean, covered containers. Follow product storage and use-by instructions. Serve a small portion in a separate bowl rather than feeding from a jar you intend to store.

For homemade baby food, Raising Children Network advises up to 2 days in the fridge or 30 days in the freezer. Label portions with the cooking date. Stir warmed food well, check its temperature before serving and discard leftovers from your baby’s bowl. Storage advice for breastmilk and formula is different from advice for solid food.

After 12 months and when to get help

Family foods gradually take a larger role. Breastfeeding can continue for as long as you and your child want. Most healthy children do not need toddler formula. Keep adapting texture and supervising meals; avoid whole nuts and similar hard foods until at least age 4, and longer if chewing skills require it.

Speak to your child health nurse, GP or dietitian about poor growth, persistent food refusal, a very restricted diet, coughing or choking during feeds, or suspected allergy. A vegan diet or a medical condition may need a specific nutrient and supplement plan; do not start supplements without advice.

Seek urgent medical help if your baby is feeding much less, has fewer wet nappies, is unusually sleepy or repeatedly vomits. A baby under 3 months with a temperature of 38°C or higher needs urgent medical assessment; take a newborn to an emergency department. Call 000 for breathing difficulty, blue or grey colour, collapse or difficulty waking. Do not assume a very unwell baby is safe because they have no fever.

This is general information. Your baby’s health professionals can help you make a feeding plan that fits their age, growth and health.

Sources and further reading

• Raising Children Network: introducing solids
• ASCIA: 2026 infant feeding guideline
• ASCIA: anaphylaxis
• Raising Children Network: choking prevention
• NSW Food Authority: food safety for infants
• Raising Children Network: homemade baby food
• Raising Children Network: practical tips for solids
• Raising Children Network: learning to drink from a cup
• Raising Children Network: formula preparation
• Royal Children’s Hospital: unwell newborns and young infants
• NHMRC: infant feeding guidelines

Information checked against these sources on 1 October 2026.