Rice with egg and carrot

Soft rice with grated carrot and small, fully cooked pieces of egg.

Serve warm and let your child eat it with a fork.

The egg must be completely set; runny egg is never served. The carrot is grated and cooked — raw carrot is hard and a choking risk.

Cooked rice has its own stricter rule: cool it within 1 hour, refrigerate it and eat it within 24 hours. Never reheat rice more than once; when you do reheat it, heat until steaming hot all the way through, then let it cool before serving. Throw away a half-eaten portion rather than storing or reheating it.

Your child should be sitting upright and someone should stay with them while they eat — never while walking, running or in a moving car. No salt or sugar is added to these recipes. Their back teeth may not be fully through, so every piece must be soft enough to squash with gums and cut to a safe size. Round foods such as grapes and cherry tomatoes are always quartered lengthways. Whole nuts and popcorn are never given. Egg, meat and fish must be cooked all the way through, and unpasteurised dairy is not used. Children do not all manage the same texture at the same age — follow your child's pace rather than pushing. If your child has an allergy, eczema, or a family history of allergy, talk to your GP or health visitor before introducing new foods. Introduce foods that can trigger an allergic reaction one at a time and in small amounts, so you can spot any reaction.