Feeding at 10 to 12 months

10 to 12 months

- Your baby should now be enjoying a wide variety of food and textures, and find it easier to pick food up and feed themselves.

Feeding at 10 to 12 months

- Your baby should now be used to having 3 meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – in addition to their milk feeds.

- Lunch and dinner can include a main course and a pudding (such as fruit or unsweetened yoghurt), try to eat together as much as possible, babies learn from watching you eat.

- Remember, your baby does not need salt or sugar added to their food or cooking water. Babies should not eat salt as it isn't good for their kidneys and sugar can cause tooth decay.

Vegetables

- Your baby should now be able to manage mashed, lumpy, chopped and finger foods.

- Cook veggies to soften them, where necessary, and offer them as chopped or finger foods. Offer a variety of vegetables, including ones with bitter flavours.

*Veggies include:

• broccoli

• carrots

• cauliflower

• courgette

• green beans

• peas

• peppers

• spinach

Fruit

- Your baby should now be able to manage mashed, lumpy, chopped and finger foods.

- Wash fruit and remove any pips, stones or hard skin – chop the fruit up or offer as a finger food.

*Fruit includes:

• avocado 

• apples

• bananas

• blueberries

• kiwi

• mango

• melon

• oranges

• papaya

• peach

• pears

• pineapple

• plums

• raspberries

• strawberries

Starchy foods

- These can be cooked, where necessary, and offered as mashed, chopped or finger foods.

- Cereals can be mixed with breast milk or first infant formula – or with pasteurised whole (full-fat) cows' milk.

*Starchy foods include:

• bread

• cornmeal

• maize

• millet

• oatmeal

• oats

• pasta

• pitta bread

• porridge

• potato

• quinoa

• rice

• sweet potato

• toast

Protein foods

- This food group includes meat, fish, eggs, beans and pulses, and is suitable from around 6 months.

- As well as giving your baby protein, these foods contain other useful nutrients, such as iron and zinc, which are important for babies.

*Protein foods include:

• beans

• beef

• chicken

• egg

• fish (no bones)

• lentils

• pulses, such as chickpeas

• tofu

• turkey

Dairy

- Pasteurised dairy foods,like pasteurised full-fat yoghurt and cheese, are suitable foods for your baby from around 6 months.

- Full-fat, unsweetened or plain yoghurts are a good choice because they do not contain added sugars.

- Whole pasteurised (full-fat) cows' milk, or goats' or sheep's milk, can be used in cooking or mixed with food from around 6 months old, but not as a dsmooth rink until your baby is 12 months.

Drinks

- During meal times, offer your baby sips of water from an open or free-flow cup. Using an open cup, or a free-flow cup without a valve, will help your baby learn to sip and is better for their teeth.

- Cows' milk is not a suitable drink until your baby is 12 months old, but it can be used in cooking or mixed with food from 6 months of age.