Starting Solid Foods: Baby Weaning Checklist for Kigali Parents

Sitting upright at meals is important for safe swallowing and helps your baby join family mealtimes.

How to use it: Use a sturdy baby chair with a strap and never leave your baby alone while eating.

Small, soft tipped spoons fit a baby's mouth and are gentle on gums.

How to use it: Offer a little food on the tip of the spoon and let your baby lean in. Wash after each meal.

Serving small amounts reduces waste, since a baby may eat only a few spoons at first.

How to use it: Spoon a portion into a bowl and keep the rest clean in the fridge, so leftover saliva does not spoil the whole batch.

Weaning is messy. Bibs save you changing clothes after every meal.

How to use it: A small towel tucked in works well. Wash daily and dry in the sun.

Babies can start practicing sips of water from a cup with meals from around 6 months.

How to use it: Offer a few sips of boiled and cooled water with meals. Expect spills at first.

Catches dropped food so cleaning up takes a minute, not twenty.

How to use it: Put a wipeable mat under the chair and wash it after meals.

Turns cooked vegetables and fruit into smooth purees in seconds.

How to use it: Blend with a little breast milk, formula or the cooking water. Make textures thicker and lumpier over the weeks.

For cooking small batches of vegetables and baby porridge without wasting food.

How to use it: Steam or boil until very soft. Use a pan only for baby food if you cook with lots of salt and spices.

Helps get a smooth texture for first purees and removes skins and fibers.

How to use it: Press soft cooked food through with the back of a spoon.

Raw apple, cooked carrot and later cheese grate into soft pieces a baby can manage.

How to use it: Use the fine side for early foods and the coarse side once your baby handles lumps.

Freeze purees in small portions so you can cook once and feed all week.

How to use it: Freeze, then pop the cubes into a clean container. Use within a month and thaw in the fridge, not on the counter.

Keep fresh purees clean in the fridge and pack meals for daycare or a visit to grandma.

How to use it: Label with the date. Fridge purees are best used within two days.

Keeps baby porridge warm for an outing or when power cuts stop you reheating.

How to use it: Rinse with hot water first, then fill with warm porridge and use within a few hours.

Soft, creamy and full of healthy fats, avocado is a perfect first food and needs no cooking.

How to use it: Mash a ripe avocado with a fork and a little milk. Serve right away before it browns.

Naturally sweet, filling and easy to mash, and babies usually love them.

How to use it: Boil or steam until very soft, peel and mash with a little of the cooking water.

Easy to mash, gentle on the tummy and ready in seconds when your baby is hungry.

How to use it: Pick ripe bananas with brown spots and mash finely. Later, offer soft finger sized pieces.

Sweet when cooked and a good source of vitamin A.

How to use it: Steam until soft enough to squash between your fingers, then blend or mash.

Soft, sweet and easy to digest, papaya is a great fruit to introduce early.

How to use it: Scoop out the seeds and mash the ripe flesh.

A familiar, filling base you can mix with greens or beans.

How to use it: Boil and mash with breast milk or formula. Do not add salt.

Leafy greens bring iron and vitamins, and mix well into potato or porridge.

How to use it: Wash well, cook until very soft and blend into another food.

Sorghum, millet and mixed grain porridges are traditional first foods in Rwanda and easy to make thin and smooth.

How to use it: Cook well and make it thin at first. Mix with breast milk or formula. Do not add sugar.

Eggs are an affordable source of protein and iron.

How to use it: Cook eggs fully, never runny, and mash with a little milk. Watch for any reaction the first few times.

A staple in every Rwandan home and a good source of protein and iron.

How to use it: Cook until very soft, remove skins if you can, and blend into a smooth puree.

Meat gives easily absorbed iron, important from 6 months.

How to use it: Cook lean mince well in a little water, then blend with vegetables.

Fish brings protein and healthy fats for growing brains.

How to use it: Steam or boil, remove every bone carefully, and flake finely into potato or porridge.

Many doctors now advise introducing common allergens like peanut early, but always ask your pediatrician first, especially if there is family allergy.

How to use it: Never give whole nuts or thick spoonfuls. Stir a little smooth peanut butter into porridge.

Bowls, spoons and blender parts need washing after every meal.

How to use it: Wash in hot soapy water and rinse well. Dry on a clean rack in the sun when you can.

Reaches inside cups and blender corners where food hides.

How to use it: Keep one brush only for baby items.

For sticky hands and faces after meals.

How to use it: A warm damp cloth works too, and is gentler for daily use.

Babies should drink safe water, and you need it for mixing food too.

How to use it: Boil tap water and let it cool, or use a filter as well as boiling. Ask your health center what they advise.