First fruits and veggies for baby are exciting, but can be confusing. Here you’ll find a fully comprehensive list of baby led weaning fruits and vegetables. Make the transition to solids easier and less stressful
The most exciting part about starting baby led weaning is choosing your baby’s first foods. So what are good options for whole, clean foods the first month or two?
I found a ton of options when we started using baby led weaning with my oldest son, and I wanted to share this list with all of you!
What to serve as baby’s first food?
- Generally speaking, you want to choose a single, whole food every 2-3 days to eliminate the chance of an allergic reaction. This way you’ll be able to pinpoint if one does occur.
- Most pediatricians will suggest starting with a vegetable over a fruit in order to encourage baby to try vegetables. Fruits are sweet and easy to get baby to enjoy.
- Finally, make sure to avoid known family allergens for a while and honey. Honey can be dangerous to babies under 1 year old.
How to prepare food for a baby?
We chose to introduce food using baby led weaning and I suggest trying it out as well! As with all decisions regarding you baby, talk to your pediatrician, but here are some resources on baby led weaning.
- Baby Led Weaning – What is it, How to do it, and is it right for you?
- Baby Led Weaning Benefits
- When to Start Baby Led Weaning
- How to Cut Food for Baby Led Weaning
- How to prepare for baby led weaning
First Vegetables for Baby
- Sweet potato
- Carrots
- Tomato
- Green Beans
- Snow Peas
- Snap Peas
- Zucchini
- Yellow Squash
- Acorn Squash
- Cucumber
- Spaghetti Squash
- Avocado.
- Peas. (Great for the pincer grip!)
- Pepper
- Broccoli stalks
- Cauliflower
- Roasted Onion
- Asparagus
- Spinach (great for iron!)
- White Potato
- Parsnip
First Fruits for Baby
- Banana.
- Apple. (Apples are often a choking hazard – always steam or bake them for babies! We have a great post on baby led weaning apples here. )
- Oranges
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew
- Mango.
- Watermelon
- Peaches
- Plums
- Pears
- Nectarines. Peeled and sliced. (Peeled optional)
- Kiwi. Peeled and cut into sticks. Leave out the white middle if tough.
- Strawberries
- Blueberries (always quartered to avoid choking)
- Grapes (always at least quartered to avoid choking)
- Raspberries
Notes:
When first starting out, it’s important to stick to softer foods that your baby can pick up and essentially smash with his gums.
Like I noted in my post about baby led weaning, the most common recommendation for the softness of food is to smush it easily between thumb and pointer fingers.
I go a step further and made sure I can smush it a little between my tongue and the roof of my mouth.
What did you give your child for his baby led weaning first fruits and vegetables? Do you enjoy the baby led weaning method? Let me know in the comments!
Amy @ Elephant Eats says
I originally wanted to do BLW with Berkeley but he just didn’t get how to chew, and had a super sensitive gag reflex so we did purees. Now he’s 9 months and ready for finger foods but I’m so scared! He still doesn’t get how to chew..he just seems to swallow everything I give him. I’ve been cutting it into teeny tiny pieces for that reason but theyr’e hard for him to pick up. I so want to try sticks of soft things but am nervous…. How did Ryan know to chew??
morgan.wieboldt@outlook.com says
We got pretty lucky wit teh gag reflex, and Ryan’s only really triggered when he shoved way too food in like a weirdo. I would definitely recommend sweet potato sticks – Just cook them until they are super soft but before they brown (you can also steam them but they’re harder to grab that way sometimes) That way when it gets into his mouth, if he just gently smooshes it with his tongue, he’ll start to understand the concept. Ryan definity took a bit to understand chewing, the first few times he would just put it in his mouth, make a weird face and stop. We found that a mix of having him watch me smoosh it, put it on, a spoon and then spoon feed it before offering him the other stick of whatever was mushed on the spoon helped as well as eating with him. I would sit right in front of his highchair, take something off it and pretty much make an exaggerated show out of eating it and chewing it. It was probably funny to watch, but I’d chew with my mouth open and make a lot of chewing noises. but he’s start to imitate me, so it worked for us! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me anything!!
Lux G. says
Aw. That’s exciting, isn’t it? Like a milestone. 🙂
We don’t have a baby in our house at the present so I already forgot how it was for us back then.
So adorable.
Ana (@ANAWINSblog) says
My last baby did BLW. She has a lot of food allergies and would refuse for so long that it was just easier to put food on her tray and let her experiment with it when she felt safe to eat it. To this day, at 2.5, she is still my messiest eater. She thinks everything should be eaten with her hands – that’s the only downside of BLW, I think, lol!
Morgan says
It’s definitely a downside – my son is 20 months now and will literally hold a fork in one hand and eat with the other. But he’s the best eater I’ve ever met of kids his age so I’m definitely not complaining!
Rachel says
I did BLW with my first and she took to it amazingly, she was chewing on bits of steak by 6.5 months! My youngest was a different story though – he had hyper sensitive gag reflex so couldn’t initially cope with putting things in his mouth. Not even just a spoon! We worked with a speech therapist though, and she helped to desensitise his mouth and tongue so he eventually got the hang of it.
#TeamMM
Kendall Patton says
We certainly do baby-led weaning and offer only what seems interesting to our babe. Monkey Boy loved having some fruit or veggie (or bit of bread), as well as yogurt or kefir. To this day, he still loves different foods. Sometimes he doesn’t eat the veggies, but I don’t sweat it too much yet 🙂
Meredith says
That printable would be such a good idea! I love all of the ideas and though we didn’t really do the babe led weaning with my son he would have loved those ideas!
Juliet @ Bowl of Cherries says
Wow, this is a GREAT list of first foods. I didn’t try half of these with my first baby and now I have a second one who is totally ready to start finger foods. Thank you for the inspiration – definitely trying these ❤︎
jasmine Hewitt says
You have some really great first foods here! WeHave been giving our son most of these already and he loves food
Liz says
We are doing baby led weaning with pur son and we love it! At first he just seemed to be dropping it on the floor-much to the dog’s delight. He has recently turned 8 months and it is like he finally got eating. Now he eats quite a lot! He can crunch into an apple slice with only 2 teeth and he loves mealtime. Plus his fine motor skills are really improving with all that practice. He can feed himself with a spoon and is becoming far less messy at mealtimes. He loves fruit and bread or crackers but is not sold on broccoli yet. (No matter how many times he tries it.) We have also tried boiled pierogies with him and he loves eating the filling. The only downside to this method for me is that he steals things off my plate only to decide the dog would like it more.
Morgan says
I can’t rave enough about BLW. When my son was younger people were shocked at how well honed his pincer grip was so young, and now they’re shocked at what a healthy and willing eater he is. My son still LOVES apple slices and even more, now, loves whole apples. Definitely keep trying different foods, and also reintroducing things he’s not a fan of. My son wasn’t a huge fan of broccoli until he tried it roasted! Different seasonings and textures (raw, very, very steamed, roasted, lightly steamed..) could turn him into a lover!
Gloryanna @onlyaseason says
I have loved doing BLW!! Our guy is 10.5 mos and he is a fantastic eater!! I do worry about the eating with his hands, but I figured at some point he’ll grow out of it 🙂
Morgan says
Hahah we’ve grown to embrace it. My son is almost 2 and while he uses and enjoys using a fork, he does still use his hands. BUT everywhere we go people GASP at what a wonderful eater is and how he’s so willing to try anything at least once. Just remember, he won’t be eating with his hands when he’s 30, you know? hahah!
Amanda says
We’ve been doing BLW. My son is a huge fan of eating. I can’t wait until he gets teeth so he can enjoy more things. Right now, at 8 months old, his favorites include fruits and chicken.
Tammy anders says
My son is almost 6 months old and we’ve tried butternut squash, that he squashed in his hand, some made it to his mouth and the other on the floor. Our next venture is avocado then perhaps mango..it’s mango season here.t
Megan says
Thank you, thank you, thank you! My 6 month old insists on feeding himself. I have been feeding him peanut butter toast for the last few days. I needed some inspiration and you have provided it.