One thing I never want parents to feel is afraid of food.

Starting solids shouldn't be about avoiding everything that could go wrong or worrying that one wrong choice will harm your baby.

But I do b...

For decades, rice cereal has been one of the most common recommendations for babies starting solids.

It's often presented as the obvious first choice.

So when mamas tell me they don't feel quite rig...

Few topics in baby feeding create as much debate as grains.

Some advice says to start with rice cereal or porridge as one of your baby's very first foods.

Others suggest avoiding grains altogether u...

When parents start solids, one topic tends to dominate the conversation.

Allergens.

When to introduce them.

How often to offer them.

Which ones to start with.

Whether you've introduced them "on t...

When it comes to starting solids, parents are given a lot of rules.

Start with rice cereal for iron.

Steam vegetables and serve them plain.

Get to 100 foods before one.

Introduce all the allergens...

When most people think about iron deficiency, they picture a fussy toddler who survives on crackers and refuses vegetables.

They don't usually think about a healthy-looking baby who has only recently...

Right now, parents are hearing the same message everywhere.

Introduce allergens early.

And while that advice has become incredibly common, I think there's one part of the conversation that still isn...

Around six months, babies need more iron than an adult man.

Most parents hear that and go quiet for a second.

Because babies are tiny. They're drinking milk. They're only eating small amounts of foo...

Starting solids should feel like an exciting milestone. Somehow, for most parents, it ends up being one of the most stressful parts of the first year.

One person says start with vegetables. Another s...

Let me describe a typical baby food aisle to you.

Carrot. Broccoli. Spinach. Pea. Maybe a "mixed vegetable medley" if you're feeling adventurous. Everything smooth, everything mild, everything lookin...

Eight years ago I sat across from my first daughter with a small bowl of something beige and I genuinely thought I was doing the right thing.

I wasn't doing anything wrong exactly. But I also wasn't ...

There's a moment most parents hit at some point in the first year where someone — a health visitor, a well-meaning friend, a random corner of the internet — tells them grains are hard to digest. And s...