When it comes to nutrition, please don’t forget: Every developmental step goes along with tremendous changes for your child, and he or she will need your support! New tastes, textures and skills must first be learned and tested. Please be patient if not everything works right away: If necessary, gently offer your child new foods several times if they do not respond positively to them immediately. Every child has his or her own pace for different developmental stages. Give your child the time he or she needs and pay attention to when he or she is ready.

0–5 months of life

• In the first 3-4 months of life, your baby only needs liquid food (breast milk or infant formula). He or she learns to coordinate sucking and swallowing and to drink calmly and rhythmically. The baby expresses his or her hunger through restlessness, crying and searching for the breast/bottle with his or her mouth. However, not every sucking, e.g. on the finger, indicates hunger – it may also be an attempt to calm themselves down. In general, you can help your baby to regulate their behavior by feeding them in a calm, relaxed atmosphere.
• By the age of 4-5 months, your baby will continue to be breastfed or given a bottle. They will also begin to suck intensively on their hands or pacifier, grasp objects and bring them to their mouth.
• A good time to offer puréed food for the first time is when your child starts to show interest in your food and is open to new tastes. This often occurs between the 4th and 5th month of life. You can now try offering your baby a small amount of purée on your finger or baby spoon – this will help your baby to get used to different tastes and textures of food. Some babies are ready to eat purée at 4 months, others not before 6 months of age.

From the 6th month of life

• From around the 6th month, your baby will show an increasing interest in foods that you or older siblings eat. He or she wants to try everything that the grown-ups put in their mouth. They can now hold their head on their own and the first teeth are coming through. Normally, your child can now chew and salivate and coordinate all the important steps for eating mushy baby food – the gradual introduction of complementary foods should start now. It is important that your child can see and touch his or her food.
• At around 10-12 months, your child can bite off and also grind fibrous food. Your child loves to explore his or her food. They now want to take food in their hand, can bring it to their mouth on their own, suck on it, salivate small pieces, and swallow. Allow your child to do this!
• In the second year of life, your child’s development of autonomy in eating becomes an increasingly important issue. He or her wants to eat more independently with his or her hands and tries to use a spoon and fork.