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Why Transitioning from Baby Food to Table Food Can Be Challenging for Parents and Baby…

As a mom, each time I had to transition my boys onto table foods, I was frustrated and overwhelmed even though I’m a feeding therapist that had helped many families through it before. It’s different when you’re the mom living it day in and day out.

Experiencing that as a mom showed me how challenging it can be. The little baby food routine you had starts to shift, as they are also beginning to wean from breast or bottle and learn to drink from some type of cup (ideally a straw cup).

As parents, we worry, “Are they eating enough?”

With jarred food, you can know exactly how much they’ve eaten, but it gets a little blurry when half of the diced up food you give them is on the floor.

 It’s tempting to stop serving table foods and to focus on baby food because you know how much they’re eating – but there’s a problem with that as you’ll learn shortly. 

This process does require some patience because your baby is learning a new skill, something I had to remind myself of quite often. 

My best advice as a mom and OT is to take heart and know it’s all part of the process. Remember that until 1 year of age, their milk source (breast milk or formula) is their main source of nutrition.

This is why people say, “food before one is just for fun.”  

We want to teach our babies how to eat table and finger foods so they have the skill, but not get stuck on how much they are actually eating. 

Keep in mind that some babies and toddlers won’t eat finger or table foods for various underlying causes such as:  

• sensory processing
• oral motor delays
• some underlying medical diagnosis like reflux, food allergies, etc.  

To explore the signs of these underlying causes head to Why Won’t My Baby Eat?

This is an exciting time, and it’s absolutely adorable when your chubby little baby is gnawing on a breadstick or getting puffs stuck on their face!

Now that you’re in the right frame of mind, let’s dive into the details of when and how to introduce table foods to your baby!

When Do Babies Start Eating Table Food?

Generally speaking, a good time to start introducing table foods for most babies is around 8-9 months. However, it may be later for your child, especially if they were a preemie. You will know they aren’t quite ready if they refuse, gag, or cough a lot when you try. 

That’s okay, don’t be discouraged, this just means you will need to take it slower and consistently offer safe foods they won’t choke on.

If you’re nervous about how to handle gagging or your baby is gagging a lot on foods, check out Everything You Need to Know About Baby Gagging.

For other babies, they may start eating table foods even earlier, sometimes at 7 months. As a feeding therapist, I can’t recommend starting table foods for baby too much earlier, but of course, it is your choice if you feel they are ready. It is likely that they will be mostly swallowing (not chewing) most of the food though.

One critical word of caution is to NOT wait too long to start transitioning to table foods. Babies will instinctively chew from 7-8 months to around 11 months old, which means the transition will come easier. 

Waiting past 10 months, unless your child has developmental delays, a diagnosis, swallowing difficulties, or was born prematurely, can make transitioning to table foods even harder when they’re a toddler. See the chart above as a quick reference.

Step #1: Make Sure Baby is Ready for Table Foods

Some signs your baby is ready for this transition are:

• Looking at or grabbing your food
• Making a chewing motion with their mouth when they watch you eat
• Picking up small objects
• Are 8-9 months old. See 9 Month Old Baby Food + Table Food Ideas.
• Brings hands to mouth
• Can sit safely with or without support

Remember, you want to start this by 10 months even if you aren’t seeing some of these signs, as long as they don’t have any of the reasons listed in the previous section to delay the start of table foods.

A week or two before you begin to introduce solids, start to thicken their baby food. Thicker foods require more movement of the tongue and muscles in the mouth, which helps lay a good foundation for moving a solid piece of food around in their mouth.

If you’re making your own baby food (get the DIY here), then add less water or liquid when pureeing. Use stage 2 baby food if you’re buying premade baby food.

Beware that some stage 3 type foods are great because they are thicker, but many of the jarred varieties have whole pieces of food mixed in with the puree, don’t go there – yet. That is putting the cart before the horse. 

For now, it’s crucial to stick with smooth purees, gradually increasing their thickness, as your baby tolerates it. NO CHUNKS.

The mixed in chunks can cause gagging and a negative experience. It’s actually harder for babies to eat than table foods. Babies that eat chunks in their baby food well are just swallowing it all without chewing. 

I’d also recommend increasing the thickness of store bought baby food by adding cereal (this is one of my favorites) or freshly pureed foods into jarred baby foods.

Step #2: Demonstrating

Once you start thickening their baby food, it would also be great to start eating at the same time you feed your baby, if you aren’t already. Your baby will watch what you do and learn a lot from it.

When you see that you have their attention, begin to dramatically chew for them, even with your mouth open. Show them how you put a small piece of food into your mouth using your hand.

It may take finding the right moment to get their attention, but this will help pique their interest in table foods, as well as teach them what they should do when you hold that piece of food up to them for the first time.

The Best First Table Food for Babies

Before we move on, you need to know what table food to offer your baby. A great place to start, and the best choice for a lot of babies’ first table food is a meltable puff.

 I’ve used Gerber puffs many times, but there are so many brands, just test whatever type of puff you buy by letting it sit in your mouth and seeing how quickly it dissolves.

The dissolving factor is important because if your baby doesn’t chew the puff, it will dissolve in their saliva.

Puffs are perfect because they are hard and crunchy initially, which helps babies realize there is something in their mouth. That crunchy texture also helps them find it and maneuver it around in their mouth. 

It may seem to make sense to start with a soft table food like eggs or banana. Not bad logic, but because those foods are so soft, babies have a hard time feeling exactly where it is in their mouth. 

For some babies, this means they will refuse table foods and for others, it means they aren’t chewing and just swallowing.

The wonderful thing about puffs is that they dissolve in saliva in just a few seconds. So, if your baby doesn’t chew while they are learning to eat and they swallow, they aren’t going to choke on it. That is peace of mind.

Puffs are also great because they can be broken into really small pieces for those first attempts, if needed. And, babies can pick them up easily! Read more in when can babies eat cheerios and puffs? (Cheerios are much later, they don’t dissolve)

Step #3: Introducing Table Foods to Your Baby

The very first time you give your baby an actual table food, you’ll want to try and pick a time with little distractions so that you can give them your full attention. 

Make sure they are seated in their high chair because this keeps them in a safe position and will help prevent choking. Read about how to make sure your baby is seated safely for eating.

Place the table food on their tray and allow them to touch and explore it for a few minutes. Some babies will pick it up and put it right into their mouth, depending on their age. While that is certainly ideal, your baby may need some more help.

If they aren’t putting the table food into their mouth, demonstrate picking it up and putting it into your mouth. Then, pick up a piece and put it into their mouth, right where their molars will be. Or, if they’re holding the food, gently guide their hand towards their mouth for them as you smile reassuringly.

If they munch up and down and swallow, you can offer more bites.

However, on the first attempt, some babies cough or gag. Other babies will spit it out. Be encouraging, peaceful (they will sense your stress, fake it if you have to), and know when to call it quits. Often, it may take a few meals over a few days before babies get the hang of it. 

If your baby turns their head or pushes your arm away when you try to put the food in their mouth, then respect that and don’t force it. They may need some more exploration with the food first.

Step #4: Transitioning Baby to Table Foods

Continue to offer puffs for a few days to a week at every meal alongside their pureed food, until you can see them munching up and down with their jaw most of the time.

Ideally, they should be feeding themselves the puffs, too, but don’t let that be a deal breaker on moving forward. You can help them put the puffs in their mouth as long as they’re willingly opening their mouth. 

Puffs have next to no calories. They are great to use when they are just starting on table foods, but as you pull away from baby food they don’t offer enough to fill their little bellies.

Find baby feeding schedules for 8, 9, and 10 month olds here and 11-14 months here.

Once your baby is enjoying puffs, you’ll want to try small pieces of other foods that dissolve really quickly. Some examples are: Town House Crackers (not Ritz, this texture actually requires more chewing), Graham Crackers, Teething Wafers, Baby Cheese Puffs,  rice husks, and other stage 1 table foods you find in the baby aisle at the grocery store.

Trader Joe’s Social crackers are another option if you live by one. 

Encourage your baby to feed themselves these finger foods, but certainly give help as needed. If they are eating these types of food well, it is time to move onto some softer foods that require a little more chewing, which we will address here in a minute. 

If you aren’t sure if finger food is safe, do a taste test yourself. How quickly does it dissolve compared to a puff? How much do you need to chew it?

How do you know your child is eating foods well and ready to move on?  When they are chewing it with little to no coughing, choking, or  gagging, and swallowing easily (not hard gulps), consistently, for a week or two.

At this point you can also try pairing crackers and other crunchy foods with spreads like jelly, hummus, and cream cheese to maximize exposure to table foods and different textures. 

Spread right on the cracker or show them how to dip it into a glob on their tray. Then, start giving them these foods first, before the baby food, at a meal and allow them to eat as much as they want or will.

Step #5: Getting Your Baby or Toddler to Only Eat Table Food

As your child eats a variety of crunchy but melt-able foods well, then you can start with soft foods like bananas, avocado, noodles, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, muffins, deli meat, cheese, breads, and overly cooked veggies in a cube shape.

You can also try these cubed “jellies” or little frittatas, that are perfect for this stage too. It may take a few days or weeks before you’re ready to move onto these soft foods.

I have been mostly focusing on actual cubed food that babies can easily feed themselves, but as they eat those softer foods and the spreads well, you can start to slowly experiment with mixed textures like soups and casseroles. 

Again, you will want to keep this slow, maybe starting off with macaroni and cheese, and then moving to spaghetti and meatballs and then chicken noodle soup. The latter has a lot more changes in consistency in one bite of food. 

You can give baby a couple of pieces on the tray of these types of food, but will probably be mostly feeding by spoon.

When your baby is eating several cracker like foods and several soft foods, you can pull back from giving as much baby food and perhaps skip the baby food at some meals. 

As they eat more and more of the table foods, you’ll serve less and less baby food, skipping it more and more until you no longer need it.

If you feel they haven’t eaten enough of the actual table food then give them some of the baby food. Keep in mind that babies need to eat actually very little and a tablespoon or two of finger foods may be plenty for them.

If you’re nervous about how much your baby should be eating, check out toddler portion sizes, the info is great for babies too!

And if it feels like you’re lacking inspiration for what to serve, see my Mega List of Table Foods.

Important Tips for Transitioning Baby to Table Foods Easily

• Once you begin introducing table foods, offer one table food at each meal. Then, slowly increase the variety of foods they are eating as they are managing more foods.

The Big Picture: Introducing Table Foods to Baby Cheat Sheet

Let’s sum up everything we’ve talked about in transitioning your baby from purees to finger foods and solid foods  with a list that you can use as a quick guide. 

1. Give baby puffs as their very first table food. 
2. Give other food that have a crunch but melt easily, like cheese curls and graham crackers. 
3. Give crunchy/meltable foods layered with another texture like spread, dip, etc.
4. Give soft foods that you’ve cut into a small cube.
5. Give soft foods with irregular shapes like scrambled eggs, noodles, and ground meat crumbles.
6. Give crunchy foods that don’t melt as quickly like cheerios, toast (add toppings like hummus, avocado, etc.)
7. Give mixed foods like casseroles and soups (start off with foods that don’t have a lot of chunks in theme and monitor closely)

Important Tips for Transitioning Baby to Table Foods Easily

• Once you begin introducing table foods, offer one table food at each meal. Then, slowly increase the variety of foods they are eating as they are managing more foods.

• Continue to steadily increase the thickness of baby foods as you progress with table foods. If you aren’t making your own baby foods, try pureeing what you are eating for dinner or mix this into the jarred baby food. This will help get your child used to more textures and tastes. I love using a magic bullet for this!

• Hot dogs, grapes, marshmallows, large dollops of nut-butters, nuts, lettuce, popcorn, hard candy are all potential choking hazards. Hot dogs, grapes, and marshmallows can be cut into small pieces. Spread nut-butters thinly on foods. Food larger than a pea could get lodged in the airway.
• Carefully monitor all new foods. Some coughing and an occasional gag is normal. If you are seeing this frequently, the texture you are giving them may be too difficult for them. Wait a week or so before introducing it again and then proceed slowly. Discuss persistent gagging and choking with your doctor.
• Remember to ONLY move onto the next step once your baby is safely and consistently eating the previous step for a few days to a week or so, depending on your comfort level and the time it takes your baby to learn, which varies widely.

Help, My Baby or Toddler Won’t Eat Table Food! 

Some children have a hard time moving onto table foods. Often these babies were pros at baby food, but turn their noses up and refuse many or all table foods. 

It’s not uncommon for parents to even experience situations where their 10, 11-month, and even 1-year-olds and toddlers won’t eat solids.

As we discussed in the first section of this article, in this case, it’s critical to consider that there’s an underlying difficulty affecting your child’s ability and willingness to eat. 

To figure out what you can do to start helping your baby and figure out the underlying cause I highly recommend our free workshop on easy changes to make when feeding your baby table food to help them get the hang of it.

If you continue to struggle with moving forward with this process, consider feeding therapy. If you are in the states you may qualify for free help from Early Intervention.

Free Printable: Learn How to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet!!

Want to have all these steps in your hands so you can reference them in a heartbeat? We’ve got you covered you’ll find all the steps for transitioning your baby or toddler to table foods in this handy free printable: 

Click here to get the free Learn How to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet

The Ultimate List of Baby/Toddler Meal Ideas

The Best High Calorie Foods for Babies

Getting Picky Eaters to Eat New Foods

A Weekly Meal Plan of Table Foods For Your Baby or Toddler: So You Can Save Your Sanity

Alisha Grogan is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Your Kid’s Table. She has over 19 years experience with expertise in sensory processing and feeding development in babies, toddlers, and children. Alisha also has 3 boys of her own at home. Learn more about her here.