Knowledge

Starting solids: what belongs when

This page gathers what causes the most uncertainty when you start solids. The full cards — preparation by age, texture, guidance — live in the app, because there they match where your child actually is.

The content follows the recommendations of public professional bodies. It does not replace medical advice — least of all if allergies run in your family.

Allergens

The 14 major allergens

These fourteen groups must be declared on food sold in the EU. They're the reason “which allergen, and when?” is the most common question at the start — and they are not a reason to wait. If your child themselves has severe eczema or a known food allergy, talk to your paediatrician first — starting early still applies, but with support.

  • Cereals containing gluten
  • Crustaceans
  • Eggs
  • Fish
  • Peanuts
  • Soybeans
  • Milk and dairy
  • Tree nuts
  • Celery
  • Mustard
  • Sesame seeds
  • Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
  • Lupin
  • Molluscs

The list is set by Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. The app carries more than one card for some groups, because it names the foods you actually shop for — tree nuts are a single group, but almond, hazelnut, cashew and walnut each get their own card.

Three kinds of card

Allergen cards

The fourteen major allergens that must be labelled in the EU, each with texture, preparation, and how to keep offering it regularly.

Food cards

Individual foods with preparation by age — from the first purée through to eating at the family table.

Good to know

Articles on iron, on the window for introducing solids, on gagging and choking, and on the move to the family table.

Foods

56 food cards

Each with preparation and form by age, notes on gagging and choking, and the step across to the family table.

  • Apple
  • Avocado
  • Banana
  • Pear
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli
  • Bread
  • Couscous
  • Egg
  • Iron baby purée
  • Peas
  • Strawberry
  • Peanut butter
  • Semolina
  • Green beans
  • Cucumber
  • Chicken
  • Oats
  • Blueberry
  • Millet
  • Yoghurt
  • Cheese
  • Carrot
  • Potato
  • Chickpea
  • Kohlrabi
  • Pumpkin
  • Salmon
  • Lentils
  • Lupin
  • Almond butter
  • Mango
  • Pasta
  • Olive oil
  • Pepper
  • Parmigiano
  • Parsnip
  • Pancake
  • Peach
  • Plum
  • Polenta
  • Turkey
  • Rapeseed oil
  • Rice
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Spinach
  • Sweet potato
  • Sulphites
  • Tahini
  • Tofu
  • Tomato
  • Grapes
  • White fish
  • Sausage
  • Courgette

The catalogue grows. These are the cards in the app today.

The cards themselves are in the app

They show preparation and texture by age, and follow the week you're in. That's why they live in the app rather than here.

You don't have to get through them in a week.