When your baby reaches that point, between four and six months of age, when she is ready to start eating some solid foods, the best food to start her with is simple rice cereal. Some parents even mix a little rice cereal into a bottle of formula to start baby out. If you do this, be careful, because the rice cereal can cause bottle nipples to clog, which can be frustrating to baby. Also, it’s better not to give baby a bottle mixed with rice cereal while she is going to sleep, especially when she is just starting to eat some solid foods.

Most parents find it best to give baby her first taste of solid food after she has had a bottle or been breast fed. Trying to make baby eat solid foods when she is hungry, oddly enough, is not the best way to introduce her to solid foods. When a baby is hungry, she wants to feed, and she wants to do so the way she’s grown accustomed to. It’s better to present solid foods more as something she should be curious about.

Offer he the first taste of solid food by putting a little bit of thin rice cereal on a spoon. If baby resists the spoon, don’t push it. You can try again another day. Alternately, you can put a little of the rice cereal on your finger, offering baby something she is more familiar with. Again, if she’s not interested, shelve it for another day. She’ll be eating solid foods for the next eighty years or so, there’s no hurry to start today.

Baby should become well accustomed to rice cereal before adding other foods. Resist the temptation to try out every can of yummy looking dessert baby food. There will be time for that later. Here are some of the best foods to start baby on after she has grown accustomed to rice cereal:

• Pears
• Applesauce
• Sweet Potatoes
• Squash
• Bananas
• Carrots
• Peaches

Of course, all of these foods should be mushy and thoroughly strained. Introduce new foods one at a time and wait about three days between new foods. This is so you can watch for any allergic reactions. Baby will undoubtedly like some foods and not others. There’s nothing wrong with it, and no need to push baby to eat foods she doesn’t like.

If baby becomes constipated (hard stools or has trouble with bowel movements) switch the foods you are offering her. Many fruits can help with constipation, as can juices, but bananas and applesauce often cause constipation.

Do your best to introduce a variety of foods, leading the way for your baby to eat a balanced diet. Make sure you are still breast feeding or bottle feeding baby until at least her first birthday.

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