How to Encourage Baby to Eat More Solids

October 22, 2025 •

3 min read

Approximately 50% of parents report their toddler is a picky eater at some point, but this behavior often starts during the introduction of solids. Learning how to encourage baby to eat more solids involves patience, understanding their cues, and making mealtimes a positive experience for both of you.

Quick Summary

This guide provides practical strategies for parents on how to increase their baby's solid food intake. It covers creating a positive mealtime environment, managing food refusal, and gradually introducing different textures and flavors to promote healthy eating habits.

Key Points

Practice Responsive Feeding: Pay close attention to your baby's hunger and fullness cues to build a trusting relationship with food.
Prioritize a Positive Environment: Avoid pressure, threats, or distractions like screens during mealtimes to keep the experience calm and happy.
Offer a Variety of Foods and Textures: Introduce many different flavors and textures, including savory vegetables, as repeated exposure builds acceptance.
Let Your Baby Get Messy: Allowing exploration with hands and fingers helps babies learn about different foods and textures through their senses.
Be Patient with Food Refusal: It is normal for babies to reject new foods initially. Take a break and try again another day without pressure.
Establish Consistent Meal and Snack Times: Regular routines help regulate appetite and signal to your baby when it's time to eat.
Encourage Self-Feeding: As your baby shows interest, offer soft finger foods to help them develop fine motor skills and independence.
Don't Overload Portions: Start with small amounts of food to avoid overwhelming your baby and follow their lead for how much they want to eat.

Making Mealtimes a Positive Experience

Creating a relaxed and happy atmosphere is crucial for a baby's relationship with food. Forcing or pressuring a child to eat can create negative associations and lead to feeding struggles. Instead, focus on making meals an engaging and pressure-free time.

Involve Your Baby in the Process

Babies learn about food through all their senses, so let them get messy! Allow your baby to touch, hold, and explore food with their hands. For older infants, using child-friendly cutlery or helping with simple meal prep, like washing vegetables, can increase their interest.

Establish a Consistent Mealtime Routine

Babies thrive on routine. Regular meal and snack times help regulate their appetite and prepare them for food. Aim for three meals a day by 10-12 months and offer healthy snacks in between. Serving meals around the same time daily helps your baby learn when to expect to eat.

Mastering the Art of Responsive Feeding

Responsive feeding is a technique where you pay close attention to your baby's hunger and fullness cues. This builds trust and teaches them to listen to their own body's signals.

Recognising Hunger and Fullness Cues

It's important to differentiate between genuine hunger and late-stage crying. Early hunger signs for solids include leaning forward, reaching for food, and opening their mouth when food is presented. Signs of fullness include turning their head away, pushing the spoon away, or becoming easily distracted. Respecting these cues is more important than the amount of food consumed in one sitting.

The Importance of Variety and Repeated Exposure

Babies are often wary of new foods (a phenomenon known as food neophobia), and it can take multiple attempts—sometimes 10 or more—before they accept a new taste. Don't be discouraged by a grimace; this might simply be a reaction to an unfamiliar flavor or texture. Continue offering a variety of foods and textures, including less sweet vegetables, to broaden their palate.

Gradually Increasing Food Textures

Moving beyond smooth purees is essential for developing chewing skills, which aids in speech development. As your baby progresses, introduce more mashed and lumpy foods, then move towards soft finger foods.

Commonly Offered First Foods vs. Progressive Texture Foods


Feature	Pureed First Foods	Progressive Finger Foods
Texture	Smooth and runny	Soft, mashed, or bite-sized lumps
Preparation	Blended with breastmilk or formula	Steamed, roasted, or naturally soft
Developmental Goal	Introducing new flavors and swallowing	Developing chewing and self-feeding skills
Examples	Pureed sweet potato, banana, avocado	Soft-cooked broccoli florets, ripe melon slices, small pasta pieces
Mess Level	Minimal	Significant and intentional

Troubleshooting Common Feeding Challenges

Even with the best intentions, you may encounter obstacles. Here are strategies for addressing common issues:

Food Refusal: If your baby refuses a food, calmly remove it and try again in a few days. Mixing a small amount of the new food with a familiar favorite can also help.
Distractions: Keep mealtimes focused by removing toys, phones, and screens. A calm environment helps your baby concentrate on eating.
Small Portions: Avoid overwhelming your baby with large portions. Start with a teaspoon or two and let them indicate if they want more. Overfeeding is as problematic as underfeeding.
Timing Feeds: Offer solids when your baby is not overly hungry or tired. You can give a small amount of milk first to take the edge off their hunger, making them more receptive to trying something new.

Conclusion: Building a Foundation for Healthy Eating

Encouraging your baby to eat more solids is a journey of exploration and patience, not a race. By creating a positive, low-pressure mealtime environment and practicing responsive feeding, you are nurturing a healthy, lifelong relationship with food. Focus on variety, texture progression, and most importantly, on your baby's cues. Remember that some variation in appetite is normal and what matters most is the overall nutritional intake over time, not every single meal. If concerns about your baby's growth or feeding difficulties persist, consult with your pediatrician. The American Academy of Pediatrics provides additional guidance for parents navigating the transition to solid foods.

Safe Finger Food Ideas

Soft Vegetables: Cooked and soft-steamed broccoli florets, carrot sticks, sweet potato chunks.
Fruits: Small, ripe pieces of banana, melon, or avocado. Stewed apples or pears.
Proteins: Shredded chicken, small pieces of cooked fish (boneless), finely mashed lentils or beans.
Grains: Small squares of toast, soft pasta, or iron-fortified cereals.
Dairy: Soft, pasteurized cheese sticks and full-fat plain yogurt (age 6+ months).

Frequently Asked Questions

This is a common sign of fullness or disinterest. Don't force-feed. Simply end the meal and try again later. Forcing them can create negative associations with food.

Yes, in the beginning, the goal is exposure to new flavors and textures, not consuming a specific amount of food. Breast milk or formula will still be their primary source of nutrition for the first year.

When first starting solids, you can offer them after a milk feed so your baby isn't too hungry and frustrated. As they get older (around 8-9 months), you can offer solids before milk.

Not necessarily. Grimacing is a normal reaction to an unfamiliar taste or texture. Continue to offer the food calmly over multiple attempts; it can take many tries before they accept a new food.

Once your baby is comfortable with smooth purees, typically after a few weeks, you can gradually introduce mashed or lumpy textures. This helps them develop chewing skills.

Let them play! Messy exploration is how babies learn about food. Keep the atmosphere light and focus on the interaction, not just the intake. You can also minimize distractions to help them focus.

Gagging is a normal reflex that helps prevent choking. A gagging baby is noisy and often coughs and gags to bring the food forward. A choking baby will be silent and unable to breathe. Always supervise your baby while they are eating.