What should my 6 month old eat? A simple Indian food chart

The short answer

• Start at around 6 months, when your baby can sit with support, hold their head steady and shows interest in food.
• Begin with 1 meal a day of 1 to 2 teaspoons. Build up to 2 meals a day by the end of the month.
• Keep breastfeeding as often as before. Offer solids after a milk feed at first.
• Make it thick, not watery. The food should stay on a tilted spoon.
• Add one new food every 2 to 3 days, so you can spot anything that doesn't suit your baby.
• No salt, sugar or honey in the first year.

Is my baby ready?

Look for these signs. Most babies show them at around 6 months:

• Holds their head steady and sits with a little support
• Opens their mouth when food comes near
• No longer pushes everything out with their tongue
• Watches you eat and reaches for your food

If your baby was born early, go by their corrected age (from their due date), and check with your pediatrician before starting.

How much, and how often?

These are rough guides. Some babies eat more, some less. Watch your baby, not the spoon. Stop when they turn their head away, close their mouth or push the food away.

Why thick food matters

Many families start with dal ka paani (dal water) or rice water. These look nourishing, but they're mostly water. Your baby fills up without getting much energy or iron.

Give the dal itself, well cooked and mashed. Give the rice itself, soft and mashed. A thick, smooth mash gives your baby far more in every spoonful.

Adding half a teaspoon of ghee or oil to a meal is a simple way to add energy.

Good first foods

Grains

• Ragi (finger millet) porridge
• Rice, cooked soft and mashed
• Suji (semolina) or dalia (broken wheat), cooked soft

Dals

• Moong dal, well cooked and mashed
• Masoor dal, well cooked and mashed
• Khichdi of rice and moong dal, mashed smooth

Vegetables

• Pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato, potato, bottle gourd (lauki), all steamed and mashed

Fruits

• Ripe banana, mashed
• Apple or pear, steamed and mashed
• Papaya, chikoo, mashed

Protein and iron

• Egg, hard-boiled and mashed (whole egg is fine; it doesn't need to be yolk first)
• Curd (dahi), plain
• For non-vegetarian families: chicken or fish, cooked soft and minced fine

Iron matters a lot at this age, because the iron your baby was born with starts to run low around 6 months. Try to include one iron-rich food every day, such as ragi, dal, egg or meat. Pairing it with fruit helps the body absorb the iron.

Not sure if a food is safe at this age? Check it in our food guide.

A sample 4-week plan

This is one way to do it. Swap foods for ones your family eats, as long as you add one new food every 2 to 3 days.

Foods to avoid in the first year

• Salt and sugar. Your baby's kidneys can't handle added salt, and sugar builds a sweet tooth. Food will taste bland to you. It won't to your baby.
• Honey. Not before 12 months, not even a lick, because of the risk of infant botulism. This includes honey in ghutti.
• Cow's milk as a drink. It's fine in small amounts cooked into food, but not as a replacement for breast milk or formula before 12 months.
• Fruit juice, tea, biscuits, and packaged snacks. They fill your baby up without much nutrition.
• Whole nuts, whole grapes, and hard chunks of raw vegetables. These are choking risks. Nuts can be given as a smooth powder or paste.

Water

Once your baby starts solids, you can offer a few sips of boiled and cooled water with meals, from a small open cup. Breastfed babies don't need much, even in summer.

Eating well together

• Sit your baby upright for every meal, never lying down.
• Don't feed with a phone or TV on. Your baby learns to notice hunger and fullness when they can pay attention to the food.
• Never force feed. Pressure at mealtimes often leads to a baby who refuses more.
• Expect mess and faces. A funny face at a new taste isn't a "no". It can take 8 to 10 tries before a baby accepts a new food.

When should I talk to a pediatrician?

• Your baby has a rash, swelling of the face or lips, vomiting, or trouble breathing after a new food. If breathing is affected, go to the emergency department straight away.
• Your baby refuses all solids for more than a couple of weeks
• Your baby is not gaining weight, or is gaining much more slowly than before
• Your baby coughs or chokes often while eating
• Your baby was born early, or has a medical condition, and you're not sure when to start

Questions parents often ask

Sources & clinical references

• World Health Organization. Guiding principles for complementary feeding of the breastfed child. 2003; and WHO guideline for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6–23 months of age, 2023.
• Infant and Young Child Feeding Chapter, Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Guidelines on Infant and Young Child Feeding. Indian Pediatrics, 2016.