6 Month Baby Food Chart: Indian Vegetarian, Week by Week

2 days ago

5 min read

The short version. Start at six completed months, not before. One new food at a time, then wait three days before the next. Start with a smooth single-grain or single-dal purée. No salt, no sugar, and no honey at all before the first birthday. Milk stays the main food for the whole of this month.

This chart is a starting structure, not a prescription. Babies eat different amounts on different days and that is normal. If your paediatrician has given you a different plan, follow theirs.

Before you start: the four rules

Six completed months. The WHO guidance is exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, with complementary foods from then. Starting earlier is not a head start.
One new food, then wait three days. If something disagrees with your baby, this is the only way you will know which food it was.
Milk first, food second, for this whole month. Breast milk or formula is still where the calories come from. Solids at six months are practice.
No salt, no sugar, no honey. Honey matters most — it carries a risk of infant botulism and should not be given before one year, not even a taste.

Week-by-week, first month of solids

One meal a day for the first fortnight. Offer it when your baby is alert and not ravenous — a very hungry baby wants milk, not a spoon.

Week	What to offer	Texture	How much
Week 1	Rice water or thin rice purée. Or moong dal water	Thin, pouring	1–2 teaspoons, once a day
Week 2	Add ONE of: mashed banana, steamed apple purée, pumpkin	Smooth purée	2–3 teaspoons, once a day
Week 3	Add ragi porridge, or moong dal khichdi, thinned	Smooth, slightly thicker	1–2 tablespoons, once a day
Week 4	Add sweet potato, bottle gourd (lauki) or carrot	Mashed, no lumps yet	2–3 tablespoons, twice a day

Iron is the thing to watch at six months. The iron a baby is born with starts running low around now, which is a large part of why solids start when they do. Ragi, moong dal and other dals are the useful vegetarian sources. Serve them with something containing vitamin C — a little steamed tomato or a squeeze of orange — because it helps the iron absorb.

Indian vegetarian first foods, by group

Group	Good first choices	Notes
Grains	Rice, ragi (nachni), oats, suji	Single grain first. Ragi is the iron-rich one
Dals	Moong dal, masoor dal	Start with the water, then the mashed dal
Vegetables	Pumpkin, bottle gourd, carrot, sweet potato, beetroot	Steam and mash. Beetroot can turn things pink, which is not blood
Fruit	Banana, steamed apple, pear, chikoo, papaya	Mash raw banana; steam apple and pear until soft
Dairy	Curd / dahi from about 7 months	Plain and unsweetened. Not cow's milk as a drink before 1 year
Fats	A few drops of ghee in khichdi	Babies need fat. This is not the place to go low-fat

What to avoid in the first year

Avoid	Until	Why
Honey	After 12 months	Risk of infant botulism. Not even a taste
Salt	After 12 months, then minimal	Infant kidneys cannot handle it
Sugar	As long as possible	Sets a preference you then have to undo
Cow's milk as a drink	After 12 months	Fine in cooking; not as the main milk
Whole nuts, grapes, popcorn	Well past 12 months	Choking shape. Nut powders and butters are fine
Packaged juice	Indefinitely	Sugar without the fibre of the fruit

On allergens, current guidance has moved: delaying foods like peanut or egg does not prevent allergy and may increase risk. Introduce them, in a safe form, one at a time, like any other food. If there is a strong family history of allergy, ask your paediatrician first.

A sample day at six and a half months

Time	What
On waking	Breast milk or formula
Mid-morning	Milk
Around noon	2–3 tablespoons of ragi porridge or thin khichdi
Afternoon	Milk
Evening	Milk
Night	Milk, as often as your baby wakes

One solid meal. Five or six milk feeds. That ratio is correct for this age, and it shifts slowly over the following months — not this one.

How to tell it is going well

They are gaining weight along their own curve. Not somebody else's baby's curve.
Six or more wet nappies a day.
They open their mouth for the spoon rather than being chased with it.
Stools change colour and smell. Expected. Undigested bits of vegetable are also expected.

See a doctor if: your baby is refusing all solids for more than a week or two and seems unwell with it; there is vomiting, a rash or swelling after a food; stools have blood or mucus; or weight gain has stalled. A baby who simply is not interested yet is usually fine — some take a month to get going.

What this chart is not

Not a medical plan. It is the conventional Indian vegetarian starting sequence, lined up with WHO guidance on when to start.
Not a quantity target. The amounts are typical, not goals. A baby who eats one teaspoon has still eaten.
Not the only order. Many families start with dal water, many with rice, many with banana. There is no evidence that the order matters, as long as you go one at a time.

Questions parents ask

What is the best first food for a 6-month-old Indian baby?

Rice water, thin moong dal water, or a smooth single-grain purée. All three are gentle, single-ingredient and easy to thin down. The specific choice matters much less than introducing one thing at a time.

Can I give my 6-month-old khichdi?

Yes, from about the third or fourth week of solids, thinned down and mashed smooth, with a few drops of ghee and no salt. Moong dal khichdi is one of the better first foods because it brings grain and dal together.

How much should a 6-month-old eat?

Start at one or two teaspoons once a day and build to two or three tablespoons twice a day by the end of the month. Milk is still the main food throughout.

Can a 6-month-old have curd?

Plain unsweetened curd is usually fine from around seven months. That is different from cow's milk as a drink, which waits until twelve months.

Why no salt or sugar for babies?

Salt because infant kidneys cannot process much of it. Sugar because it sets a taste preference early that you then spend years undoing. Food tastes bland to you and perfectly fine to a baby who has never had either.

When should I start solids — 5 months or 6?

Six completed months, per WHO guidance. Starting at five is common advice from previous generations but there is no advantage to it, and a gut that is not ready handles food worse.

Sources

This page carries no shopping links. It is a reference, not a review.

More: your 6-month-old in India, introducing solids and baby-led weaning, our baby and child health hub and the first year hub.

This is general information, not medical advice. Your paediatrician knows your baby and this page does not.