What Should the First Foods Be?
Iron-rich foods come first — iron is the first nutrient to run short after 6 months.
Iron-Rich Foods Come First
A baby is born with iron stores, and by around 6 months those stores are close to used up, while the iron in milk alone no longer covers the need. This is why first-food guidance in multiple countries points to the same short list: iron-fortified infant cereal, red meat purées such as pork and beef, and liver purée.
Home-cooked rice water and thin rice porridge are not substitutes — the fortified cereal, or meat and liver, is what closes the gap. The traditional script of opening with sweet fruit purée puts the nutrient that matters most at the back of the line. Building the taste early matters, because iron-rich foods accepted in the first weeks tend to stay accepted.
Order Matters Less Than You Think
Once iron-rich foods are established, vegetables, fruits, egg, fish and soy products can rotate in fairly freely. Keep two or three days between each new food so any reaction is easy to trace — that gap is the whole logic of the so-called introduction rhythm.
There is no need to serve one single food for a full week before moving on. Space new foods a few days apart, start with small amounts, and let the roster grow steadily.
What the First Week Looks Like
A workable opening rhythm looks like this. Day one: one or two spoons of iron-fortified cereal in the morning, then watch the rest of the day. Days two and three: keep the cereal and increase slowly. Day four: add a vegetable purée such as pumpkin; after another two or three days, switch to a different vegetable, then bring in meat purée or egg yolk.
Through all of this, milk comes first. In the first year, breast milk or formula still carries most of the nutrition, and solids are for learning and topping up — do not let them crowd out the milk feeds. The early weeks are calibration, not consumption: watching the baby's face tells you more than counting spoons.
Related foods
Sources
General guidance from the public sources above — not medical advice. For your baby’s specific situation, ask your pediatrician. See our medical disclaimer.