First foods

If you have the time, I would recommend making your own. They taste better, you have control over quality and texture and flavor combinations. Jar foods also tend to have fewer nutrients as well. I used Super Foods for Babies and Children by Annabelle Karmel. IT was a huge help. If you find that you waant to use pre-prepared food, I hear Happy Baby Food is awesome! One of the first foods I gave my son was avocado and he loved it! He also really loved carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apple, bananas, etc. I started with orange veggies and would alternate between fruits and veggies when introducing a new food. He also enjoyed his cereal,but rice made him constipated so we had better luck with oatmeal and barley. He really liked cream of wheat as well. Let your child guide you, but also be aware that it may take several tries for your baby to like certain foods and their taste also change as they grow older. I never used to have trouble with green veggies, but I can't get my son to eat them now unless I put them in soup or sauce of some sort(except lettuce, he loves salads:))

These links might help you. http://www.health.qld.gov.au/brochure/solids.asp
http://www.babyzone.com/baby/feeding_nutrition/solids-index

Start slow, think bland flavours and work your way up from there. With my third child I had to go back to work full time when she was only a few months old so I used to make up a batch of boiled vegetables on the weekend (potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, broccolli, carrots) put it through the blender and then freeze it in a tupperware ice cube tray. This way you just drop a few cubes in a bowl and defrost them as you need them. Thick soups are good too - my daughter loved potato and leek soup and pumpkin soup. You can also freeze oat and rice baby cereals in the same way and this can help to make the morning and evening more free and less stressful so you can still enjoy your children.

I think the only thing to be careful about is introducing things one at a time so you know if your little one is sensitive or allergic to anything. I dont think you are supposed to give eggs until they are 12 months old because of something in the egg white.

I started out with rice cereal and then started adding applesauce to it, but this was around 6 months. I have heard different peds offering different advice on what age to start feeding baby food. My ped suggested 6 months, but I've heard other moms say their ped gave the ok at 4 months.
Later, I believe that I started out with banana, pears, squash, green beans, applesauce, etc. The advice I got was just try one or two different kinds and watch for any kind of allergic reactions, then gradually add a new flavor. One little boy that I watch is allergic to sweet potatoes.

One Happy Mom in Arizona.

This is all great advice. In addition to having 3 children of my own, I own 2 daycare centers, so I have helped raise hundreds of infants. Let your child guide you. Use stage 1 foods, introduced one at a time. The brand really doesn't matter unless your child has a preference. If you have the time, puree your own. Just use the boiled food and a small amount of water, then freeze in ice cube trays. Make sure you are introducing infant cereal with the foods too, since they are iron fortified, and most infants do not drink enough formula after 5 months to get enough iron. After 6 months, make sure you are feeding your baby a variety of foods in order to provide a variety of nutrients. I have seen many orange-tinged babies (moms said they only liked carrots!)

Our ped also said we could start foods at 4 to 6 months. She did say that the longer we wait the better, however. There are less chances of allergies if they're a little older. That being said, many, many babies start at 4 months and have no problems. I started both my kids at 6 months. Again, we did rice cereal first for a few days, then mixed in a little fruit or veggie with the cereal. I would give them the same fruit or veggie for 3 or 4 days in a row, so I could see if they had any problems or allergies. If everything was fine, I'd try another food for a few days. At this age, food is mostly an experience. Your child will still get most of his nutrients from breastmilk or formula. Most of all, have fun! They are so cute at this age!

Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

We started out with veggies then fruits. But what is amazing, our 9-month old don't like fruits but loves veggies. We do still give her fruits as I hope she just starts to get use to them. Good luck!!

There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one!