For your baby's first supper, pick a time when she's starting to seem hungry, but not frantically so. Forget about assembling the highchair; she won't be ready for that for a few weeks. Instead, put your baby in an infant seat or on the lap of an available adult, making sure she is basically upright with her head tipped slightly back.

Do not put solid foods in a bottle or an infant feeder unless your doctor has told you to do so (which she will suggest only if your child has one of a very small list of medical conditions). It is easy to overfeed using a feeder, unlike a spoon that your baby can easily push away.

Scoop a tiny bit of cereal on an infant or demitasse spoon — or even your own finger — and put it just into the front of your baby's mouth. Don't shove it in; she needs to learn for herself how to get the food off of the spoon and far enough back into her mouth to swallow. Since you're introducing this at a stage when she is mouthing everything in sight, she'll probably open her mouth as soon as the spoon gets close.

Then let your baby do whatever she wants with the cereal. She may try to suck the spoon. She may push the cereal out with her tongue. Matter-of-factly scoop it off of her chin and back into her mouth. Eventually she may swallow and then open her mouth for another bite. Once she turns away she's had enough, even if it's only been a few spoonfuls. Respect her appetite and stop when she's full; don't try to coax in one last bite. Let your baby decide how much she wants to eat. The average baby eats the equivalent of one jar of baby food at each meal once she is eating confidently and has moved to three meals a day.

If she starts to get bored with this new game, wipe her off and put away the spoon and bowl, but bring it out again at around the same time the next day. If she balks completely — closes her mouth from the beginning, turns away from the spoon, or just starts screaming — try again tomorrow. If she balks several days in a row, give it up for a few weeks and try again; some babies just aren't ready when you think they should be.