Starting Solids Without Stress: How Confident Feeding Supports Better Sleep (and Calmer Nights)
Guest post written by Sari Imberman, MS, RD – Fun with Food
If you’re parenting a baby right now, you’ve probably noticed this already: feeding stress and sleep stress love to show up together.
Parents ask me things like:
“Will starting solids help my baby sleep better?”
“Am I messing up sleep by how (or what) I’m feeding them?”
Totally fair questions.
Starting solids is not about hacking your baby’s sleep. It is about building trust, skills, and regulation around eating—which supports calmer days, more predictable rhythms, and yes… often easier nights.
Let’s talk about how to start solids in a way that supports both feeding and sleep—without pressure, fear, or trying to turn dinner into a sleep intervention.
Solids Are About Development, Not Sleep Tricks
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends introducing complementary foods around 6 months, when babies show clear signs of readiness—not earlier just to chase longer sleep stretches.
And despite what TikTok might tell you, research consistently shows that starting solids does not magically make babies sleep through the night.
What solids do support is:
Learning how to chew, swallow, and coordinate breathing
Exposure to flavors and textures
Meeting nutrient needs (especially iron)
A growing sense of body awareness and autonomy
When feeding feels calm and responsive, babies learn to trust their bodies. And babies who trust their bodies tend to be more regulated overall—which matters a lot when you’re also working on sleep.
Readiness Matters (Spoiler: It’s Not Just About Age)
In Fun with Solids, I talk a lot about readiness because starting solids works best when babies have the skills for it—not just the birthday.
Signs your baby is actually ready include:
Sitting upright with minimal support
Holding their head steady
Reaching for and grabbing food
Bringing objects to their mouth accurately
Making chewing or gnawing motions
Starting solids before these skills are in place often leads to more stress, more worry, and more pressure—which can spill right into bedtime routines and make everything feel harder.
Following Your Baby’s Lead (Yes, This Helps With Sleep Too)
One of the most helpful frameworks I teach parents is Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility in Feeding:
You decide what food is offered, when, where, and how it’s served
Your baby decides if they eat and how much
This isn’t about being hands-off. It’s about taking pressure off.
Why does this matter for sleep?
Because pressure at the table often leads to:
More anxiety around eating
Babies overriding hunger and fullness cues
Emotional dysregulation that doesn’t magically disappear at bedtime
When meals feel predictable and low-pressure, babies don’t burn extra emotional energy fighting food—and parents don’t either. That calm carries into the rest of the day.
Nutrition & Safety Stuff Parents Actually Need to Know
No Honey Under 1 Year (Even Baked In). Honey can contain botulism spores that are dangerous for babies under 12 months. That’s why the AAP and CDC recommend no honey at all before age one—including baked goods, packaged snacks, or anything sweetened with honey.
Go Easy on Salt Under 1 Year. Babies’ kidneys are still developing, so they can’t handle much sodium. The AAP recommends limiting added salt during the first year.
Iron Matters. Around 6 months, babies’ iron stores start to run low. Offering iron-rich foods helps support growth and development—and can help babies sleep better. Think: beef liver, shredded or slow-cooked meats, beans, lentils, tofu and iron-rich veggies paired with fats. This is most relevant for breastfed babies and important but less relevant for formula-fed babies as all infant formula contains iron.
Baby-Led Weaning Isn’t Chaos (It’s Skill-Building)
Baby-led weaning may feel scary or like you’re asking for your wall to be Jackson Pollacked with tomato sauce , but when it’s done thoughtfully, it’s actually very responsive (but I won't lie it’s still messy…but worth it!)
In my work, that looks like:
Offering food in safe, developmentally appropriate shapes
Letting babies self-feed at their own pace
Understanding that gagging is normal and protective (it’s not an emergency)
When babies are allowed to chew, explore textures, and control the pace of eating, they build better oral awareness and coordination over time. That sensory learning supports nervous system regulation—which helps everything, including sleep.
Choking Hazards & How to Prepare Foods Safely
Choking is understandably one of the biggest fears parents have when introducing table foods instead of purees. A quick but important reframe: gagging is normal; choking is not. Gagging is a protective reflex that helps keep food out of the airway, especially while babies are learning to chew and move food around their mouths.
To reduce choking risk, focus on how food is prepared and served:
Offer foods in finger-sized pieces (about the size and shape of an adult finger)
Aim for foods that are soft enough to squish easily between your fingers
Avoid round, hard, or sticky foods in their risky forms (like whole grapes, nuts, popcorn, chunks of meat, or untoasted bread)
Modify foods appropriately—slice grapes lengthwise, shred or slow-cook meats, cook vegetables until soft, thin nut butters with yogurt or water
Waiting too long to introduce textured foods can actually make choking more likely later, because babies don’t get the chance to practice chewing skills early on.
A few additional safety reminders:
Always supervise meals
Make sure your baby is sitting upright with good support
Avoid feeding on the go (car seats, strollers, couches)
Take an infant CPR/choking course for peace of mind
Learning to eat is a skill—and like any skill, it gets safer and easier with practice
About Full Bellies and Realistic Sleep Expectations
A well-nourished baby may wake less because they’re comfortable—not because solids flipped a magical sleep switch. At six months old, a baby’s ability to sleep through the night still primarily depends on getting enough milk calories during the daytime hours. Solids are for exposure, skill-building, and fun but not “fixing” night wakes.
Understanding this matters. When parents know that solids aren’t a guaranteed sleep fix, they’re less likely to:
Overfeed
Pressure bites
Micromanage intake
All of which protects both feeding and sleep from turning into power struggles.
Calm Feeding Supports Calm Bedtimes
If sleep feels like work right now, predictability and emotional safety are your friends. Feeding supports that when you:
Keep meals structured but flexible
Skip rushing or distracting to “get more in”
Trust your baby when they show they’re done
Stay as regulated as you can (even when it’s messy)
Babies pick up on our energy. A calm, confident approach to feeding during the day helps preserve emotional bandwidth for evenings and bedtime routines.
The Big Picture
Starting solids isn’t a sleep strategy—but how you feed absolutely shapes how this season feels and will have lasting effects for how feeding continues.
When feeding is:
Responsive
Pressure-free
Skill-based
Developmentally appropriate
…it supports what most parents want: babies who trust their bodies, feel safe around food, and are better able to regulate.
And that’s a win—for feeding, for sleep, and for you.
Want a little more support with starting solids?
If you’re navigating readiness, feeling nervous about choking, overwhelmed by food prep, or just want a clear, calm roadmap for starting solids and setting up a feeding framework that will grow with your family—you don’t have to piece this together on your own. Inside the Raising Empowered Eaters membership, there’s an entire section of the video library dedicated to starting solids, baby-led feeding, safety, and confidence at the table. Members also get access to the Fun with Solids guide, plus ongoing support as feeding evolves.
It’s designed to help you feel steady, informed, and supported—without pressure or perfection.
Wherever you are in this phase, you’re doing better than you think.
About the Author
Sari Imberman, MS, RD is a registered dietitian and the founder of Fun with Food. She helps parents raise confident, competent eaters without pressure, fear, or food battles. Her work focuses on breaking generational cycles around food and supporting body autonomy from the very first bite.
