6-month guidance

Introduction

Your baby is now 6 months old. Most of the advice from the 4-month page still applies, but a few things have changed, particularly when it comes to feeding. I will provide all the relevant advice here so you do not need to read through the 4-month page as well, and I will emphasize what is different now that your baby is a little bit older. If you have questions about how any of this should specifically apply to your child, please check with your child's healthcare team.

Nutrition

At 6 months your baby should get most of their nutrition from breast milk or an FDA-approved iron-fortified infant formula. Breast milk is still preferred if possible. You can start giving small amounts of water (no more than 8 ounces in a day), but you should not give any juice or other types of milk. You also should not put any food in a bottle. You can start introducing sippy cups as well; read this article for more information about introducing cups.

Foods

Now it is time to start feeding your baby more foods. This is a great article discussing the basics of how to begin introducing foods. You can see lots more advice by clicking on the cards below, which describe what foods to provide, what foods to avoid, how to prepare the foods for your baby to eat, and how much you should give.

Breastfeeding

Here are two videos that give several tips for breastfeeding effectively, both from this excellent video series:

Formula feeding

Here are two videos that provide good information about how to prepare formula bottles for your baby:

Feeding with a bottle

These two videos discuss how to practice responsive feeding with a bottle while still breastfeeding, but they also apply to people exclusively feeding with a bottle, regardless if you are providing breast milk or formula in the bottles. "Responsive feeding" means you follow your baby's feeding cues about when they are hungry and full and let them determine how much they will eat.

Vaccines

The shots given at the 6-month check-up are typically the same shots that were given at the 4-month check-up, with a couple of exceptions:

• Depending on if your child has received a 2-dose or 3-dose Rotavirus vaccine series, your child may not need an additional Rotavirus vaccine.
• Your child is also old enough to receive a flu vaccine (if it is the flu season) and a COVID-19 vaccine. Your baby will need to get additional doses of the flu and COVID-19 vaccines for full protection, so you can ask your pediatrician about scheduling for this before the 9-month check-up.

Otherwise, in the USA the vaccines follow the CDC schedule and at this age include:

• Hepatitis B - this protects against a virus that can infect the liver
• Rotavirus - this protects against a virus that can cause terrible diarrhea, this may not be needed a this age based on which brand your child has received
• DTaP - this protects against:
  • Diptheria (a rare illness)
  • Tetanus (a disease from a bacteria that can kill people, has no cure, and can be caught by cutting yourself on certain things in the environment)
  • Pertussis (a bacteria that causes whooping cough, an illness that can make babies stop breathing (and thus die) and older people cough for 100 days)
• Hib - this protects against a bacteria that can infect the brain (as well as other places in the body)
• PCV20 - this protects against bacteria that can cause pneumonia, ear infections, and other infections
• IPV - this protects against polio (a rare illness)

Flu and COVID-19 shots are separate, but the others are combined into 2 or 3 shots, while the Rotavirus vaccine is given as a liquid. These have been given to millions of people and we know that they are safe and effective. If you would like more information, look through the "Helpful Websites" listed below: