Six months is when most babies start solids, and the most common misunderstanding is how much of the nutrition solids provide at that stage.
Almost none of it. Milk remains the main source of calories and nutrients well into the second half of the first year.
Milk at six months
Formula-fed — roughly 24 to 32 oz a day, typically as four to five feeds of 6 to 8 oz.
Breastfed — roughly 24 to 30 oz a day, usually four to six feeds, and it is not usefully measured at the breast. Nappy output and weight gain are the practical indicators.
The daily total does not rise much from here. It holds and then begins to fall as solids increase, and by twelve months many babies are on 16 to 24 oz.
Solids at six months
The starting amount is one to two tablespoons, once a day. Over the following weeks this builds toward two or three small meals, and even at nine months the quantities are modest against an adult's intuition.
Offer solids after a milk feed, not before, for the first few months. A hungry baby wants milk, and offering solids first reduces milk intake at exactly the stage where milk is doing the work.
The purpose at six months is learning — texture, tongue movement, self-feeding, the mechanics of eating from a spoon or with hands. Nutrition follows later.
Readiness is not just age
Six months is the usual guidance, and the physical signs matter as much as the date: sitting with minimal support, good head control, showing interest in food, and having lost the tongue-thrust reflex that pushes food back out.
A baby who is not doing these things is not ready regardless of age, and one doing them at five and a half months is a conversation with a paediatrician rather than a reason to wait strictly.
Iron is the specific reason for six months
Iron stores laid down before birth run low around six months, and breast milk is not a rich iron source. This is why iron-containing foods — fortified cereal, pureed meat, beans, lentils — are recommended among the early solids rather than starting with fruit alone.
It is the one nutritional argument for not delaying solids much past six months.
What not to give
Honey, before twelve months, because of infant botulism risk.
Cow's milk as a drink, before twelve months. Small amounts in cooking are fine.
Choking hazards — whole grapes, whole nuts, popcorn, chunks of raw hard vegetable, anything round and firm.
Added salt and sugar, which are unnecessary and set preferences.
Allergens
Current guidance in most countries is to introduce common allergens early — egg, peanut, dairy, wheat, fish — rather than delaying them, because delay appears to increase rather than reduce risk.
Introduce one at a time, a few days apart, at home and earlier in the day, so that any reaction is observable. Where there is a strong family history of allergy or existing eczema, discuss the approach with a clinician first.
The measure that matters
Weight gain along a consistent curve, plenty of wet nappies, and a baby who is alert and content between feeds. Those tell you feeding is going well far more reliably than any count of ounces or spoonfuls.
This page describes commonly cited ranges and general guidance. Your paediatrician's advice for your baby takes precedence.
Purees or finger food
Both work. Spoon-fed purees and baby-led weaning, where the baby handles soft finger food from the start, both produce babies who eat well, and there is no strong evidence that either is superior.
Many families do a mixture, which is also fine. What matters more than the method is that the baby is doing the eating rather than being fed to a schedule, and that textures progress rather than staying smooth for months.
Gagging is not choking
Gagging is a protective reflex and it is loud, dramatic and normal as babies learn to manage texture. The baby is noisy, red-faced, and dealing with it.
Choking is quiet. A baby who is silent, cannot cough and is going pale or blue needs immediate action. Knowing the difference before starting solids is worth more than any equipment, and a paediatric first aid course is worth the afternoon.
Always have the baby sitting upright and supervised, never propped or in a car seat, and never leave a baby alone with food.