Food textures: Baby weaning recipes

Adventures with textures

Introducing lumpy food

Once your baby has mastered eating puréed food, usually at around 7 months of age, it will be time to move on to different textures. Learn how lumpier textures are important for the development of speech muscles that will eventually enable your baby to talk.

Somewhere around 7 months, once your baby has got the hang of eating puréed food, it will be time to introduce them to new food textures.

Many parents feel anxious about their baby gagging or choking at this stage. However, gagging is a normal part of learning to eat, and the benefits of eating chunkier textures are enormous.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that lumpy foods should be introduced between 6 and 9 months of age. Research shows that babies who are not introduced to new textures during this time are less likely to accept new foods later in childhood¹.

Happy infant baby boy spoon eats itself; Shutterstock ID 631322687; purchase_order: 25 thumbnail photos ; job: ; client: ; other:

At around 7 months, it's time to start introducing your baby to the exciting new world of textures

Lumpier food textures have also been shown to support the development of speech muscles². It takes time to master different textures of food, so give your 7 month old baby plenty of time and opportunities to practise this next step.

Learning to chew and swallow different types and textures of food doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to master different textures of food, so give your baby plenty of time and opportunities to practise this next step. By 8 months, a baby’s ability to chew and swallow purées and soft solid foods is considered to have reached maturity, whereas for more solid textures (such as dry cereals) the chewing efficiency (the number of chews required before a food is swallowed) continues to improve for some time – until at least their second birthday³.

How delaying lumpy foods can lead to feeding difficulties later on

Studies suggest that most babies are willing and able to take on the challenge of learning to chew lumpier foods at around 6 or 7 months of age. If left until after 10 months, introducing solid, textured foods can become more difficult⁴. Late starters have been shown to be more likely to eat a limited range of foods, to refuse food and have difficulty with chewing³.

According to some research, delaying the introduction of solids until 9 or 10 months or later is more likely to lead to the following feeding problems:

Refusing solids
Refusing milk
Only eating certain solid foods whilst refusing others, which may lead to nutrient deficiencies
Not eating enough food
Fussy eating at 15 months and older
A tendency to eat less fruit and vegetables than other children later on¹

The best approach is to introduce a variety of textures into your baby’s diet once they’ve got the hang of eating purées. Ideally this should be between 6 and 9 months.

Next steps

Tips for introducing new textures:

Start with simple flavours that are familiar to your baby, such as potato and carrot
Begin with thicker purées with small soft lumps and gradually introduce chunkier textures
Move on to mashing food
Make your own weaning recipes

Just like the first stage of weaning, introducing new food textures can take time and patience. If your baby doesn’t seem keen, don’t rush them. Getting used to different textures is a new skill that your baby has to learn.

Your baby's future health begins here

At Aptaclub, we believe that experience helps to build resilience; and that each new encounter, whether in pregnancy or after birth, can shape your baby’s future development. With our scientific expertise and one-to-one round the clock support, we can help you and your baby embrace tomorrow.

Join Aptaclub

Baby wearing knitted sweater sitting in high chair and feels hungry, holding spoon and eating puree or porridge, enjoying apples and water in yellow bottle, posing isolated on white background.; Shutterstock ID 2169821577; purchase_order: 25 thumbnail photos ; job: ; client: ; other:

Stage 2 weaning: Introducing food textures

Once your baby can manage smooth purées, you can introduce thicker textures and new tastes. Find out how in our short video.

Weaning foods variety

Find out how introducing a wide variety of nutritious foods into your baby’s diet makes a positive impact on their future health.

Weaning problems solved

Whether your baby is gagging on lumpy foods or refusing to eat anything new, find out how to solve common weaning problems with Aptaclub’s weaning guide.

Weaning from bottle to beaker

Can prolonged bottle use really hinder speech development? Learn when and why your toddler should be weaned from a bottle to a beaker with the Aptaclub guide.

Foods to avoid

Introducing a balanced diet during weaning is important, but some foods should be avoided for babies under 12 months. Find out more with the Aptaclub guide.

Need some help?

You can get quick answers to common questions in our FAQs.

Alternatively, if you need help with general pregnancy or baby advice, or maybe on using or ordering our products - our expert team are always on hand to talk about feeding your baby.

1. Coulthard H et al. PubMed. Delayed introduction of lumpy foods to children during the complementary feeding period affects child’s food acceptance and feeding at 7 years of age. Matern Child Nutr 2009;5:75-85.

2. Northstone K et al. The effect of age of introduction to lumpy solids on foods eaten and reported feeding difficulties at 6 and 15 months. J Hum Nutr Diet 2001;14:43-54.

3. Le Reverend BJD et al (2013) Anatomical, functional, physiological and behavioural aspects of the development of mastication in early childhood. Brit J Nutr 111: 403–414

4. llingworth RS et al. The critical or sensitive period, with special reference to certain feeding problems in infants and children. J Pediatr 1964;65:839-48.

Last reviewed: 5th September 2016

Share this article