Baby Weaning Made Simple: A Month-by-Month Guide to Your Baby’s First Foods

Baby-Led weaning or the process of gradually introducing a baby to solid foods and liquids other than breast milk and baby formula, is a conscious step towards their nourishment and development. It typically starts when your baby is 6 months old, as by that time the digestive system is developed enough to handle soft, solid food items, including smooth purees. 

However, introducing solid foods to your baby is not a one-size-fits-all. Starting too early may overwhelm an immature digestive system and increase the risk of infections, gut issues or allergies. Every baby has his/her own timeline for solid food introduction, depending upon their physical and cognitive growth.

Therefore, we have developed a blueprint that offers a month-by-month guide to your baby’s first foods, which aligns with their physical growth, sensory development and oral motor skills. 

What is Baby-Led Weaning?

Weaning means gradually replacing breast milk or infant formula with solid foods and baby-safe liquids. In India, this process is often called complementary feeding, and is a vital part of baby nutrition after 6 months.

Ideal Age to Start Weaning:

• Aim to start around 6 months, when your baby's ability to sit up, swallow and show interest in food naturally.
• Before six months, breast milk or formula meets all nutritional needs—and delaying solids too long can affect growth and learning. 

Baby-Led Weaning Food Chart: Month-by-Month Guide

Month 1 (6-7 Months): Meet Solids

• Start small: Begin with gentle, single-ingredient purees, rice cereal, mashed banana, suji kheer, steamed apple or moong dal water.
• Try 1–2 teaspoons once a day, increasing gradually if your baby is comfortable.
• Follow the “one new food at a time” rule, waiting 2–3 days between new foods to watch for reactions.

Food ideas: Apple or banana purée, steamed carrots, rice water.

Month 2 (7-8 Months): Increasing Variety

• Add mashed veggies: carrot, pumpkin and sweet potato and fruit purées like mango and pear.
• Introduce soft finger foods as motor skills develop, like grated apple, roti or dosa pieces, murmura or makhana.

Continue breast milk or formula. Offer solids 2–3 times a day, as the baby shows interest. 

Month 3 (8-9 Months): Embracing Textures

• Transition to more lumpy foods. Try khichdi (rice & dal), mashed vegetables, or soft lentil dishes.
• Begin offering finely chopped soft meats or pouched legumes if they are part of your diet. 

Introduce more variety and aim for 3 solid meals a day. 

Month 4 (9-12 Months): Exploring Finger Foods

• Let your baby explore textures through soft finger foods like small vegetable pieces, idli halves, or soaked dosa pieces.
• Offer balanced meals combining cereals + pulses + vegetables, with mild use of ghee or oil for taste and energy.

Continue encouraging self-feeding and participation in family meals.

Month 5 (12 Months+): Almost a Mini-Mealtime

• Gradually transition to family-style meals—with softer versions of what you’re eating.
• Replace bottles with a small cup. Focus on balanced meals and diverse textures.
• Avoid sugary or processed snacks and follow healthy Indian meal traditions modeled on khichdi, dal, vegetables and rotis.

Baby-Led Weaning Tips to Keep in Mind

Weaning is a journey, not a race, so follow your baby’s pace.

• Hygiene matters; serve freshly cooked food, and keep feeding areas and utensils clean.
• Respect baby’s cues; pushback doesn’t mean dislike, but discovery.
• Mix spoon-feeding with baby-led weaning methods as desired.

Indian Weaning Menu for Your Baby

Your baby’s first food should be about nourishment and connection to their habits, not in a forceful way, but in a creative manner. They should enjoy every meal one spoon, one texture, and one shared moment at a time. This way it is more likely for your bundle of joy to enjoy the journey of food introduction, making it a unique experience for them. So stay gentle, let them have fun with the new tastes, and trust the process of baby weaning. 

Summary: Your Baby’s Weaning Journey Made Simple

Starting solids around 6 months marks a vital stage in your baby's development. This Indian baby weaning chart offers a month-by-month roadmap to introduce your baby to a variety of textures, flavours, and nutrients:

• Begin with smooth purees and liquids like mashed banana, rice cereal, and dal water.
• Gradually move to mashed vegetables, fruit purees, and soft finger foods by 7–8 months.
• At 8–9 months, introduce lumpy textures such as khichdi and soft lentils.
• From 9–12 months, encourage self-feeding with soft family meals like idli, dosa and roti with sabzi.
• After 12 months, transition to full family meals with balanced nutrition and diverse ingredients.

Every baby’s journey is unique, so it’s important to move at their pace, pay attention to their cues, and keep the experience joyful and stress-free. Embracing wholesome, traditional Indian foods helps your little one develop healthy eating habits while enjoying familiar flavours.

At Kiddolicious, we make this journey easier with our thoughtfully crafted porridge mixes for babies, including ragi porridge, jowar porridge and bajra porridge—all made from nutrient-rich millets that are gentle on tiny tummies. These millet-based weaning foods are perfect for introducing iron, fiber, and natural energy into your baby’s diet, especially in the early stages of solids.

Explore our millet-based baby food range to support your little one’s first bites with clean, wholesome nutrition—because every spoonful should be filled with goodness, love, and trust.

Together, let’s make those first bites moments of nourishment, discovery and love.