As an occupational therapist that specializes in feeding, I often get asked how to transition a baby or toddler from baby food to table foods. These questions usually come from parents who are struggling through the process with a baby (under 12 months old) or from parents that now have toddlers who won’t eat table foods or solids.
This post will be your complete guide to transitioning to solids and table foods, no matter which situation you find yourself in.
Lastly, to be clear, when I say “table food” I mean any food that is not a food specifically pureed for babies. Baby led weaning (BLW) often skips the step of baby food so this guide is for parents that have followed the traditional route of giving baby food first.
Of course, if your child is struggling with BLW these strategies can still be helpful!
In this post you’ll learn:
Why Eating Table Foods is Challenging
When Do Babies Start Eating Table Food?
Step #1: Making Sure Baby is Ready for Table Foods
Step #3: Introducing Table Foods to Your Baby
Step #4: Transitioning Baby to Table Foods
Step #5: Getting Your Baby or Toddler to Only Eat Table Food
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.
- 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!
- 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.
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.
- Give baby puffs as their very first table food.
- Give other food that have a crunch but melt easily, like cheese curls and graham crackers.
- Give crunchy/meltable foods layered with another texture like spread, dip, etc.
- Give soft foods that you’ve cut into a small cube.
- Give soft foods with irregular shapes like scrambled eggs, noodles, and ground meat crumbles.
- Give crunchy foods that don’t melt as quickly like cheerios, toast (add toppings like hummus, avocado, etc.)
- 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, I highly recommend our free table food workshop. You’ll learn how to make some powerful but easy changes to what and how you feed them.
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
More on Transitioning Baby to Table Foods from Your Kid’s Table
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.
Thanks Alisha. He has been enjoying cubes of homemade buckwheat bread that crumbles very easily. I tried swede and he gagged a lot, scary, I guess he is not great at chewing yet!
I’m not familiar with swede, I know you limited, but try to stick to either meltable crunchy foods that require very little chewing and will dissolve with saliva or soft cubes like cooked veggies and fruits. Avocado and banana work well for this too:)
Hi Alisha, Firstly, thanks so much for all your hardwork in putting this info online for people.
Secondly, I have a 12mth old son who has only been on solids regularly for a few months. Due to food protein induced allergic colitis, reacting to food proteins in my milk and when we tried foods in his diet. His primary nutrition is still breastmilk but now he is tolerating 3 types of food,buckwheat, swedes and chicken, trying pear again next.
He is eating thick purees now and seems to do well, he did gag when I tried a fork mash swede, there were a few lumps. A lot of info I read says to offer well steamed vegies in sticks big enough to grasp with some sticking out of his hand to chew. I worry if I do that he would stuff the whole piece in his mouth!
He can do pincer grasp and I give him bits of buckwheat to pick up off his tray and he seems to do fine. A buckwheat seed is so small I doubt he really chews it much. I can’t do puffs as he can’t tolerate the ingredients in most processed food.
Your advice to offer small cubes, no lumpy purees, definitely seems logical to me. But as I said I have read, plus advice from my Mum, to go with stick size. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Plus I am very nervy of choking, what are the approx measurements of the cubes you do.
Sorry for the length! Thanks from Australia
Hello Danika!
Yes, please continue with the diced cube. Your instincts are correct about the stick shape, once he is handling cube shape then move to that with close supervision. Avoid the lumpy purees until he is eating a variety of textures and chewing well! Let me know how it goes!
Also she doesn’t like anything crunchy, she always like everything smooth so how do i migrate from the smooth baby food to the normal adult food.
Am really happy for all your advice Aisha but am really having difficult time here more than anyone else. My baby is 20 months. Some days back she had constipation i had to rush her to the children hospital. It wasn’t funny at all. Didn’t get home till 3:30am. Aisha my baby has been feeding on baby food since she was 15 months till now. Thou i have started giving her solids but can’t sometimes think of what to give her. When i give her noodles with veges she vomits the veg but i didn’t get tired. i kept on trying and she finished everything for the first time today. But confused at what other things to give her aside noddles, rice or potatoes, because i think they are all carb. i want a balanced diet for her though she is picky eater, eat slowly and sometimes won’t eat all till she is very hungry. HELP HELP HELP, what do i do.
Hello Alimat- I am so sorry that you are having such a hard time, truly! I have worked with many families in similar situation so I understand. There could be a variety of underlying issues going on that are making it difficult for your daughter to eat. I don’t know what part of the world you are in, but I would look into a feeding evaluation by a specialist if possible. I am also available for online consults. In the mean time, I would suggest starting to make your own baby food and gradually turn this into the foods you are eating in your house but a re pureeing in a blender or food processor. There are so many foods that you can put in a blender and they will come out with a smooth texture. I would try to increase the thickness overtime and give her other table foods that are natural purees like applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc. I would also give her small cubes sized pieces of fruits and veggies that are cooked really well. Keep your mouth open when you chew to show her what it looks like. Still follow the steps in this article and the next- it will just take more time. It sounds like she doesn’t know how to chew. I hope this helps a little- let me know if I can be of any more help.
Hi there. thanks for the advice. Writing to u from south Africa. I look after my 13mnth old granddaughter. needed a refresher course as my youngest is now 24yrs old LOL
Yay! That’s awesome so glad you found your way here! Hope it helped!
What do you consider as an ongoing gagging or coughing issue? My daughter is approaching one and is still on the looser stage 2 food, although she does eat the gerber puffs. She gags on the thicker stage 2 foods. What type of early intervention services were you referring to in response to a previous poster? Thanks so much for sharing this information.
Also, I forgot to mention that she had reflux and took medicine for it. I still wonder if she still has issues with reflux lately. Do you know if reflux has any bearing or impact on a babies ability to handle solid foods? Thanks again!
Unfortunately, Robbie I would consider that to be an ongoing issue and have her evaluated. Gagging on stage 2 baby food is not typical, although as I therapist I see it often. As for refulx it could definitely have affected her ability to want to eat and have a sensitive gag reflex. However, solid foods stay down better than formula or milk so it shouldn’t be causing more reflux. Each state is required to provide free in home therapy services to children under 3. If you google your state and the word early intervention you should be able to find a number to call. You don’t even need a doctor, just call and let them know your concerns. If you need help please let me know!
Oh, thank goodness I found this. I have my Master’s in Nutrition and I feel like we glossed over how to introduce solids to babies. It’s hard since each baby is different. This is really helpful. Thank you so, so much
Thank you so much Amanda for your comment! I’m glad you found it helpful!
I was googling how to transition and what foods to start with and I have found your site! It’s awesome! I just want to thank you for this, as a first time mom I NEED this info – Thanks so much!
Aww, that’s awesome Sandy! Thank you so much, your little one is lucky to have such a proactive Momma!
My son just turn 1 year old and most of his food are thick purees(I would say is Stage 3 food). I tried cut the carrot into very small piece, 2mm size, and also steamed minced pork, he tried to chew and eat, but after a while, he vomit out the food. I was so scared and stop giving him these food, and back to thick puree again. After a week I try again and he still vomit a bit. Is my method wrong? Sometimes I find the carrot still a bit hard (I steamed for about 20 minutes), so I’m not sure is it because I choose the wrong table food (carrot)? Anyway, he can eat banana or papaya chunk perfectly.
By the way, I’m a working mom and my mother-in-law(mil) is helping me to take care of my son when I’m at work. Therefore I always prepare the food in batch (blend and freeze). Since I need to transit his food to table food, I shouldn’t blend and freeze them right? Can I cut the raw vege in cube size and freeze it? And steam the frozen chunk food before each meal? I know some nutrition may lost but it’s better than I cut part of the vege and keep the rest in fridge for next few meals right?
I would try and stick to the steps I described in this post and part 2. Go for really soft foods or ones that melt easily at first, it sounds like he isn’t chewing the food enough. The carrot is fine, but keep it really soft. It is totally fine to freeze ahead, you don’t lose that many nutrients. By the way, if you are in the states you could look into free early intervention services that your state is required to provide. They will come to you or your mil’s house to help get him on table foods. Let me know if you need more help with this!
I need help transitioning my 16 month old to table food. He is so picky
Hey Elizabeth, I know it can be really hard. I’d start by following the steps in both part 1 and 2 here. Also, read through the comments in both posts, lots of extra tips and suggestions. Take a look and let me know what questions you have!
I am so happy I found your blog! I’m working with my 9 month old now on making the transition. He seems interested, but the problem is he hasn’t really developed his pincer grasp yet. I’ve given him large pieces of graham cracker and cheese sticks that he enjoys chewing on and has been pretty successful with (I watch him closely), but puffs and diced steamed veggies remain a big challenge because he can’t pick them up. Should I wait it out or give him larger pieces of food that he can pick up and get into his mouth?
Hi Melissa, is your little guy picking up the puffs with his whole hand or does he not attempt to pick them up at all? If you can demonstrate or put your hand on top of his and show him how- the latter is a little more tricky with their tiny hands. If you feel like he is chewing the larger pieces well, then I would say it is okay, if you are watching closely. But, I would always be encouraging him to pick up the smaller pieces. You can also feed him some of the bites and let him to try and feed some himself to cut down on his frustration. It sounds like he is doing great with the table foods, I wouldn’t want you to back off from that. I hope that helps!
Gerber Puffs WERE her first solid food, and she did amazing with them.
Yes Emily, break them up into pieces, as small as she can pick up at first. Then move to slightly bigger pieces as she is chewing well. Taking a bite is an important skill but it comes later on the continuum. Try that once she is eating fairly large pieces safely.
Thank you 🙂
Quick question, with the town house crackers should I break them into small pieces or let her take bites from the whole cracker? I’m so afraid that she’ll take too big of a bite and choke. My baby is 13 months and we’re working on more crunchy foods
That’s what I thought, but just needed a little extra courage! Thanks!
Should I wait until my baby gets teeth? He just turned 9 months and loves puffs but we are still waiting on teeth!
Oh my gosh Beth, no. Your question is so common, I think I need to write a post on it. It is a total misconception that they need teeth to eat. Sure if you were giving them a hunk of steak, but you are giving them soft, easy to eat foods. Plus, you would be surprised at how good their gums work. When teeth do come they are in the front, not the teeth they need to grind their food up. I know it is scary, follow the steps and check out part 2 in this series.
if my baby has allergies to all nut, eggs and corn… what is anot here option beside baby puffs that he can try… I am trying to transition my 16month old from baby foods to table foods but he gags.. the only table food he will eat is cut up cheese.. but he will not try nothing…
Hi Mandy, that can be really challenging, I’d look for any of those first baby food options, there are a lot of organic varieties that don’t have a lot of ingredients. Maybe a rice husk? Also, keep in mind he’s past the normal age for this, so its going to be more difficult for him. You’ll need to demonstrate and try and put them on his molars at first so he doesn’t gag. Also, I’d try and brush his teeth a couple of times a day with a firm pressure, getting the sides of his tongue and over the top really well. This will help decrease the gag reflex!