When should I start weaning my baby in Ireland?
When to start, what to offer first and the short list of foods to keep off the spoon.
In short
The HSE advice for Ireland is to start weaning around 6 months, never before 17 weeks and no later than 26 weeks, once your baby shows the readiness signs together. Breast milk or formula stays the main source of nutrition until 12 months.
- Readiness signs: sitting with support, a steady head, interest in your food, bringing things to their mouth, fading tongue-thrust reflex.
- Start with iron-rich foods such as well-cooked pureed meat, iron-fortified baby cereal, eggs, beans and lentils.
- Introduce one food at a time, including allergens like egg, peanut, wheat and fish, at home and not before 6 months.
- No honey or cow's milk as a main drink before 12 months, no added salt or sugar, no whole nuts before age 5.
- Textures go smooth, mashed, lumpy then finger foods, and always stay with the baby while they eat.
Starting solids, or weaning as the HSE calls it, is one of those milestones that arrives with a suspicious amount of advice attached. Your mum did it one way, the forums insist on another and the baby has opinions of her own. The good news is that the official guidance is short and sensible, and most of the drama is optional.
When should I start weaning my baby?
The HSE advice is to start around 6 months. Never before 17 weeks, and don't leave it later than 26 weeks. That's the whole window.
Within it, age alone isn't the trigger. What you're waiting for is the signs together:
- Baby can sit up with support and hold their head steady
- They show real interest in your food, staring at your fork like it owes them money
- They can pick things up and bring them to their mouth
- The tongue-thrust reflex, the one that pushes food straight back out, is fading
One of these on its own doesn't mean much. All of them at once, around the 6-month mark, means you're probably there.
Does my baby still need milk once solids start?
Breast milk or formula stays the main source of nutrition until 12 months. Those first spoonfuls of solids are practice, not replacement. If most of the first week ends up on the bib, the floor and the dog, that's fine. Nobody is relying on the parsnip.
What are the first weaning foods to give my baby?
By around 6 months a baby's iron stores are running down, so iron-rich foods matter more than anything trendy. Good first foods include:
- Well-cooked pureed or mashed meat
- Iron-fortified baby cereals
- Well-cooked eggs
- Beans and lentils
- Pureed or soft vegetables and fruit alongside
Introduce one new food at a time. It keeps mealtimes calm and, if something disagrees with the baby, you'll actually know which food it was.
What about allergens?
The common allergens, egg, peanut in a safe form like smooth peanut butter thinned down, wheat and fish, should be introduced one at a time, at home, not before 6 months but not needlessly delayed either. Delaying them doesn't protect against allergy. If your baby has eczema or there's a family history of allergy, talk to your PHN or GP before you start.
What foods should a baby not have?
The list is shorter than the internet suggests, but the entries on it matter:
| Foods to avoid | And why |
|---|---|
| Honey before 12 months | Risk of infant botulism |
| Added salt | Kidneys can't handle it |
| Added sugar | No benefit, harms new teeth |
| Whole nuts before age 5 | Choking risk |
| Cow's milk as a main drink before 12 months | Too low in iron |
| Raw or runny eggs (unless safely produced) | Food poisoning risk |
Cow's milk in cooking is fine from 6 months, it just shouldn't be the main drink until 12 months. And skip high-mercury fish like shark or swordfish entirely.
When do I move from purees to lumps and finger foods?
The progression goes smooth, then mashed, then lumpy, then finger foods. Lumps are a skill, not a hazard to postpone forever. Babies learn to manage texture by meeting it, and hanging around on purees for months makes the eventual jump harder, not safer. Month by month, our 7 month, 8 month and 9 month guides show what eating looks like at each stage.
The one non-negotiable: always stay with the baby while they're eating. Every meal, every snack, every hopeful gumming of a bit of toast.
What are the HSE weaning guidelines in short?
Start around 6 months and never before 17 weeks, when your baby can hold their head steady, sit with support and shows interest in food. Begin with iron-rich foods such as puréed meat, fortified baby cereal, lentils and well-cooked egg alongside vegetables and fruit. Move from smooth to mashed to finger foods over the following weeks, offer the common allergens one at a time and keep offering them, and leave out salt, sugar, honey and whole nuts in the first year. Milk feeds continue alongside solids until 12 months.
How do I keep track of what my baby has tried?
Write down each new food and how it went, because "one at a time, at home" only works if everyone knows what's already been tried, and that matters most with allergens. Lullagram has a weaning and solid foods log that follows the HSE guidance, so you can track what was tried and how it went. First taste of egg on Tuesday, went down grand. Broccoli on Thursday, thrown at the wall. Both parents see the same log, so whoever is doing dinner knows exactly where you are and what's next. It is free to try on Android, iPhone and web.
The full official guidance is on the HSE weaning pages and it's worth a read before the first spoon.
Sources and guidance
This guide is written to be consistent with the official guidance below. It is general information for parents in Ireland, not medical advice. Links checked 17 September 2026.
Great app that has everything. great especially around the new born phase where you need to record and keep an eye on everything for doctors/nurses and your own self assurance. Quick action buttons help and although I haven't yet posted on it, the community section is brilliant for help and reassurance that I'm doing things right and that certain things that happen are normal and nothing to worry about.