What Milk to Feed Baby After 12 Months

What to feed your baby

Baby's age

10 - 12 months

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

Lunch and tea 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 shouldn't eat salt as it isn't good for their kidneys and sugar can cause tooth decay.

Food groups

Make sure you include a wide variety of the following food groups in your baby's meals. Have a look at our baby weaning recipes and Start4Life YouTube channel for inspiration!

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
• parsnips
• peppers
• peas
• cauliflower
• swede
• spinach
• green beans
• courgette
• asparagus
• kale
• carrots
• avocado
• butternut squash
• cabbage

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:

• bananas
• blueberries
• kiwi
• oranges
• apples
• raspberries
• mango
• nectarines
• pears
• strawberries
• pineapple
• papaya
• melon
• peach
• plums

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 (or goats' or sheep's milk) once your baby is over 6 months old. Starchy foods include::

• potato
• sweet potato
• rice
• baby rice
• pasta
• porridge
• oats
• oatmeal
• cornmeal
• maize
• millet
• quinoa
• toast
• bread
• chapatti
• pitta bread

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

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

Eggs: Make sure you buy eggs stamped with the British Lion stamp mark. There have been improved food safety controls in recent years. So infants, children and pregnant women can now safely eat raw or lightly cooked hen eggs (as long as they have the British Lion stamp), or foods containing them.

If you have a severely weakened immune system or are on a medically supervised diet prescribed by health professionals, you should cook all eggs thoroughly. Read about the healthy way to eat eggs on the NHS website.

Protein foods include:

• chicken
• turkey
• beef
• lamb
• pork
• fish (no bones)
• egg
• lentils
• beans
• tofu
• pulses, such as chickpeas

Pasteurised dairy foods such as pasteurised full-fat yoghurt and cheese are suitable foods for your baby from around six months.

Full-fat, unsweetened or plain yoghurts are a good choice because they don't 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 six months old, but not as a drink until your baby is 12 months.

Chunky, lumpy and tasty

Your baby should be enjoying a wide range of tastes and textures, with bigger chunks of soft food and a wider variety of finger foods. They should be finding it easier to pick up small pieces of food and feed themselves.

Should I still give my baby breast milk or first infant formula?

Yes. Breast milk or first infant formula is still important for energy and nutrients during the first year, and should be their main drink until 12 months. You can continue breastfeeding for as long as you both want.

At this stage of weaning, your baby may be down to about 3 milk feeds a day. If you're breastfeeding, your baby will adapt their feeds according to how much food they're having. If your baby has first infant formula, they may need around 400ml per day, but just use this as a guide.

Our breastfeeding section has advice on going back to work.

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Drinks?

Your baby should be using their cup with more confidence now, helping themselves to sips of water as and when they need it.

Sweet drinks like squash, fizzy drinks, milkshakes and fruit juice can have lots of sugar so avoid these to help prevent tooth decay – even baby and toddler drinks can be sugary.

What Milk to Feed Baby After 12 Months

Source: https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning/what-to-feed-your-baby/10-12-months/

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