25 Week Old Baby: Almost Time for First Foods

Your Baby at 25 Weeks Old

A 25 week old baby is almost 6 months old — sitting steadier, reaching and grabbing with control, babbling, and often showing the readiness signs for solids. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends starting around 6 months with iron-rich foods offered at least twice a day, and warns against giving honey before 1 year because of the risk of infant botulism.

Your 25 week old baby is right on the doorstep of solids. Sitting is steadier, the interest in your food is obvious, and 6 months is just days away. This is a good week to lock in the plan — and the few important safety rules.

This guide covers what’s normal this week, the first-foods safety basics, and feeding and sleep as you reach 6 months.

Your Life This Week: The Parent Experience

You’re almost at first foods, and a little planning now makes the start smoother. Pick a calm time of day, when your baby is alert and not overtired or ravenous, and keep the first sessions short and low-pressure.

Expect mess and expect your baby to need many tries with a new food before accepting it — that’s normal, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes. Follow your baby’s cues, and don’t coax them to eat more.

If low mood or anxiety has been lingering, please tell your doctor or public health nurse — postpartum depression can develop across the first year and is treatable, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes.

Feeding Your 25 Week Old Baby

A 25 week old baby feeds on cue. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises feeding on demand — whenever your baby is hungry. Amounts vary widely; for formula, follow the feeding chart on your formula’s packaging. Plenty of wet diapers, a content baby and steady weight gain show your baby is getting enough.

First foods are days away. When you start — around 6 months, once your baby shows the readiness signs — begin with iron-rich foods offered at least twice a day, and start small: a teaspoon or two, following your baby’s cues, per the Canadian Paediatric Society. A few rules matter from day one: no honey before 1 year, no added salt or sugar, and care with choking-risk foods. You can also start offering water occasionally in an open cup, in small amounts with meals. Breast milk or formula stays your baby’s main nutrition as solids begin.

If breastfeeding isn’t an option, the CPS advises a store-bought, iron-fortified, cow-milk-based infant formula.

A note on formula this week. Iron leads as solids begin: the Canadian Paediatric Society advises starting solids with iron-rich foods, and using an iron-fortified formula if you formula feed. MOF’s organic Stage 1 formulas, such as HiPP Dutch Stage 1, are iron-fortified and suitable from birth to 6 months, providing the iron, DHA and vitamin D your baby needs alongside first foods. Formula is a good choice whenever it’s the right one for your family.

Sleep at 25 Weeks: What’s Normal & How to Help

A 25 week old baby’s sleep is usually in a pattern. By 4 months, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes, most babies need three naps a day — morning, afternoon and early evening — with total sleep around 14–16 hours across naps and nights. Night waking still happens and is normal.

Starting solids soon won’t necessarily change nights, and milk stays the main source of nutrition — so don’t expect first foods to “fix” sleep. A consistent daily rhythm and calm wind-down help most; the Canadian Paediatric Society suggests keeping a regular sleep schedule as much as possible, and putting your baby down drowsy but awake when you can.

Safe sleep reminder: always place your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm flat mattress with a tightly fitted sheet and no loose, soft items, in a crib, cradle or bassinet in your room for the first 6 months. Keep starting your baby on their back even once they can roll — but if your baby rolls onto their front on their own, you don’t need to turn them back. That’s safe once they can get there under their own strength. If you’re still swaddling, stop now. A swaddled baby who rolls onto their front can’t push up or free their arms — a sleep sack or fitted sleepwear gives the same contained feeling without restricting movement. Car seats, strollers, carriers, bouncers and swings aren’t safe sleep surfaces; if your baby falls asleep in one, move them to their crib, cradle or bassinet as soon as you can. Keep the sleep space bare — no bumpers, positioners, pillows, or infant nests and loungers. Lower the crib mattress before your baby can push up onto their hands and knees, and check the weight and rolling limits on a bassinet — most say to stop once a baby can roll. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises this lowers the risk of SIDS.