9 tips from Dr. González for the introduction of solids 2026

The baby is six months old (or younger, but wants to try what you are eating). What should you take into account when introducing the first solids?

1. The baby needs to eat chicken or meat

It is not necessary to make monographic months, the month of fruit, the month of vegetables, the month of cereals; today you can give him chicken and tomorrow macaroni. Among the first things offered should be chicken or meat, which are the main sources of iron. About 25 grams a day is enough. If your child repeatedly refuses to eat meat, ask your doctor if you should give him iron drops.

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2. Milk is the most important food

Since many people still give their children those huge 200 ml purees, we always say to breastfeed first. And the bottle first too. Because the child who swallows all that porridge no longer gets milk, and milk is what really nourishes. But if you give him pieces, he will only eat three macaroni or four bites of banana. This does not fill his stomach, he will continue to drink enough milk, and therefore it does not matter whether the breast is given before, during or after meals.

3. You should not drink other dairy products

The breastfed child does not need any other dairy. Those who drink a bottle should drink special milk for babies up to one year old (not normal cow's milk or yogurt). From one year onwards, you can drink whole cow's milk, in a glass, without sugar or cocoa, or unsweetened white yogurt. Now, before the first year, if you are not allergic to milk, there is no problem in trying it, if for example you see your brother with yogurt and ask for it, or if the food has milk as an ingredient.

4. Your meals are better without salt or sugar

Salt and sugar are no worse at six months than at 30 years. If we pediatricians say "no salt and no sugar," it is in the hope that children get used to eating healthier. But it's useless. Children eat very healthily for six months, and then eat terribly for thirty years. If at two years old you are going to drink potato chips and soft drinks every day, you can start at six months, this precaution will be useless. What will really influence your health is not what you eat at six months, but what you eat over the next thirty years. So what you have to do is improve the family's diet. Don't think "I can't give this to the baby," but the other way around: "If it's bad for the baby, it will also be bad for me."

5. It is not necessary to delay the introduction of fish

Until a few years ago, it was recommended to delay certain foods, such as fish, eggs or dairy products, especially in children with a family history of allergies. But no one has proven that introducing these foods late prevents allergies, and today no special age is recommended. You can give your child eggs or fish from six months.

6. You can take gluten

Decades ago we believed that gluten, the later, the better. Years ago we believed that it must occur before seven months. Now we have well-done studies on the subject, and the result is clear: it is completely indifferent. You can start gluten free whenever you want.

7. Offer water

If you don't want it, you're not thirsty. Always give it to him in a glass; If he breastfeeds, he doesn't know how to drink from a glass or a bottle, so let's learn something new, unless he learns something useful, that will serve him throughout his life. If you take a bottle, you must learn to use the glass, because it is recommended to stop using bottles before reaching one year of age. The glass should be, if possible, plastic and with handles.

8. Do not give hard and round foods

When he starts on complementary feeding he chokes, just as when he starts to walk he falls. Choking only means that the food (a piece of bread, tangerine, chicken...) gets stuck. The child strains and swallows it, or coughs or gags and spits it out. No problem. The bad thing is drowning, that the food goes into the lungs. This happens mainly with hard and rounded foods, which when bitten do not stay hooked, but rather jump and go towards the airways. Babies and small children should not eat nuts, at least until they are three or five years old. It is because of the shape; They could eat Santiago cake, what they can't eat are whole almonds. Be careful with olive or cherry pits, chicken or hake vertebrae... Grape seeds are also round and slippery, cut them in half. Be careful with hard foods that, when broken with your teeth, can leave pieces with a "peanut effect": carrots, better boiled or grated; the apple can be cut into thin slices, etc.

9. You can take spices, if you like them

Spices are not harmful to health. Some kids may not like them but others will love them. It's about testing; If your baby prefers non-spicy food, set aside his portion before adding the spices.