We can start her on a ripe avocado, simply mashed smooth with a fork into a soft, scoopable paste. A well-ripened one needs no cooking at all, which makes it an easy first food. If it is thick, loosen it with a little formula or breast milk.

Once she is settled with it on its own, you can stir mashed avocado into a food she already eats, or mash it together with soft banana. Keep it plain, with no added salt while she is little and no added sugar before she is two, not even the pinch of salt or jaggery some add to make it tastier. Start with just a little and let her appetite lead.

Now she can pick up soft pieces of avocado herself, cut into short finger-length strips or small bite-size pieces. If she struggles with the small pieces, thicker spears or a little mash are still perfectly fine. Picking them up is good practice while her pincer grasp develops.

Ripe avocado is soft and slippery, so offer strips no wider than your finger rather than round coins. If a strip keeps slipping out of her fingers, roll it in a little finely shredded coconut or hemp seeds for grip. She may gag a little as she learns to manage it, which is normal and not the same as choking. Offer a little and let her take what she likes.

Once she is one, avocado is just part of what the family eats. Offer it in bite-size pieces or short spears, mashed onto toast, or stirred through her other foods, depending on how well she eats.

By now she decides how much she wants, along with everything else she is eating. Avocado browns quickly once cut, so it is best served fresh the same day rather than saved for later.