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Most babies get started on solids without too many problems. It is a baby’s nature to chew on everything in his hands – and many things that are not, such as the top rail of the cot. This means that they simply put the food that is in their hands into their mouths and chew on it. When it tastes good they find that eating food is a pleasant experience.

Problems might arise though with accepting new tastes. Sometimes mothers tend to give their baby the same few things over and over because they are easy to prepare and mash. Then when a new food is offered, baby really notices the different taste. He may screw up his face and spit it out. This doesn’t mean that the food should not be offered again. It doesn’t even always mean that he doesn’t like it and will never eat it.

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Most babies do not need solids until they are six months old, though some can start at five months. The first solids usually consist of a powdered cereal product with formula, water or breast milk added until it is of a creamy consistency. The first few weeks it should be of a thin consistency and then gradually made thicker once baby is happy to accept it.

The cereal chosen can be rice, barley or oats or whatever is available. While the first few months of solids will mostly be specially made for babies, the idea is to get baby to quickly accept the same food as the rest of the family eats. Of course, it will need to be mashed finely at first, but baby may be offered food with soft, small lumps in it before too long.
Baby’s first food will need to be thoroughly mashed to avoid lumps that can cause choking.  This can be done more easily by forcing mashed food through a sieve with the back of a spoon. A variety of fruit as well as vegetables can be cooked and sieved in this way. But some fruit can be given raw. Soft fruit like bananas, mangos, and even avocado can be mashed to a fine consistency while raw.

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