Ask for individual advice before offering new foods if your baby has eczema, a known allergy, was born prematurely or has difficulty swallowing.
Start practising when your baby is ready
A baby should be able to sit upright with support and swallow food safely. Start between four and six months with a few small spoonfuls of soft food. These first tastes do not yet replace milk feeds.
Calmly offer different flavours again without applying pressure. Stop when the baby turns their head away, closes their mouth or becomes unsettled. Learning to eat involves mess and varying amounts.
Build up further from six months
From six months, a baby needs solid food alongside breast or bottle feeding. Gradually make the texture coarser and introduce more flavours and mealtimes. Offer water in an open cup or suitable training cup alongside milk feeds.
Ordinary cow's milk is not suitable as the main milk drink during the first year. Choose breast milk, complete infant formula and, later, food suited to the baby's age. Check vitamin advice with the child health clinic, as it varies by feeding method.
Introduce allergens deliberately
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum) advises offering peanut and egg during the first-tastes stage in a form that does not pose a choking risk. If your baby has severe eczema, an existing food allergy or other risk factors, consult a doctor or child health clinic first.
Introduce a new allergen at a time when you can observe the baby. Do not give whole nuts or hard, round pieces that could block the airway. Call 112 immediately if the baby has difficulty breathing, swelling or a severe reaction.
Make eating safe and predictable
Have a baby eat sitting upright and under supervision. Cut round foods such as grapes and cherry tomatoes into safe pieces and adapt hard foods. Learn the difference between gagging, which can occur while learning to eat, and choking, when the baby cannot make a sound or breathe.
Do not give honey during the first year, and do not add salt or sugar. Check the current advice from the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum) on fish, liver products, raw animal products and herbal tea. Product labels and ingredients can change.
Sources for this guide
This guide provides general information. Your healthcare professional or the competent authority can explain what applies in your situation.
- Voedingscentrum: first tastes from four to six monthsAccessed on 2026-09-07
- Voedingscentrum: introducing more solid foods from six to eight monthsAccessed on 2026-09-07
- Voedingscentrum: learning to drink waterAccessed on 2026-09-07
- VeiligheidNL: preventing chokingAccessed on 2026-09-07