Feeding Your Baby and Toddler, Month by Month

6 months: first tastes

Around 6 months, many babies are ready for their first tastes of food. Look for a baby who can sit up with a little support, holds their head steady and leans in when you eat.

Every baby goes at their own pace. Ask your pediatrician if you are unsure whether your baby is ready.

What meals often look like

Early meals are tiny. A few spoonfuls of a smooth or well-mashed food, once a day, is a normal start, and milk is still the main meal.

A lot of food comes back out at first while your baby learns to move it around their mouth. That is part of learning a new skill, so offer it again another day.

Try this month

• Smooth or mashed vegetables like sweet potato, carrot or broccoli.
• Soft mashed fruit like banana, pear or avocado.
• Baby cereal mixed with the milk your baby already drinks.
• A soft finger food to hold in a fist, like a strip of ripe avocado or a soft cooked carrot stick.
• A few sips of water from an open cup at the meal, just for practice.

A mealtime tip

Pick a calm time of day when your baby is awake and not too hungry. Sit them upright, face to face, and stay with them for the whole meal.

Wait for your baby to open their mouth or lean toward the spoon before each bite. When they turn away or close their mouth, the meal is done.

7 months: thicker textures

At 7 months, many babies are ready to move from smooth food to thicker, lumpier textures. Mashing with a fork instead of blending is an easy way to start.

What meals often look like

Many babies eat one or two small meals a day now, still alongside their usual milk. Amounts change a lot from day to day, and that is normal.

New tastes can bring surprised or sour faces. A funny face is not a no, so offer the same food again on another day.

Try this month

• Mash cooked vegetables with a fork so a few soft lumps stay in.
• Stir some texture into a favorite, like mashed lentils into sweet potato.
• Offer a slightly bitter vegetable such as broccoli or spinach next to a sweeter one.
• Load a spoon and hand it to your baby to bring to their own mouth.

A mealtime tip

Let your baby touch the food. Squishing, smearing and patting are how many babies get to know a new texture before they taste it.

Every baby goes at their own pace with lumps. If a texture is not working yet, go back a step for a few days and then try again.

8 months: finger foods

Around 8 months, many babies want to feed themselves, and soft finger foods give them the chance. Long strips about the size of your finger are easy for small hands to hold.

What meals often look like

Meals are often a mix: some spoon food from you and some pieces your baby picks up. Plenty ends up on the floor or squeezed in a fist, and that still counts as practice.

Every baby goes at their own pace. Some grab everything right away, and others watch for a while first.

Try this month

• Soft cooked carrot or sweet potato sticks.
• Ripe avocado or banana cut into long strips.
• Toast fingers with a thin spread.
• Well-cooked pasta shapes, big enough to hold.

A handy check: soft pieces should squash easily between your thumb and finger.

A mealtime tip

Gagging is common while babies learn. It is noisy, with coughing, a red face and the tongue pushing forward, and many babies carry on eating right after.

Choking looks different and is often quiet, because air can’t get through.

Keep your baby seated upright and watched at every meal. Learning infant CPR is a good idea for anyone who feeds your baby.

9 months: small soft pieces

At 9 months, many babies start picking up food between thumb and finger, so small soft pieces become fun. Little bites of soft food let them practice that pinch at every meal.

What meals often look like

Many babies are moving toward three meals a day, with milk feeds still in the mix. Some days they eat a lot, and other days they mostly explore.

Every baby goes at their own pace. Keep offering a mix of spoon food and finger food for as long as it works for your family.

Try this month

• Blueberries squashed flat, or grapes cut lengthwise into quarters.
• Small pieces of soft cooked chicken or flaked fish with the bones removed.
• Cooked peas or beans, lightly squashed.
• Small cubes of soft tofu, ripe peach or cooked apple.

A mealtime tip

Put just two or three pieces on the tray at a time and add more when they are gone. A full tray often turns into a sweep onto the floor.

Sit with your baby and eat something yourself. Many babies copy the way you pick up food and bring it to your mouth.

10 months: joining family meals

At 10 months, many babies can eat a version of what the rest of the family is having. Sharing one meal saves you cooking twice and lets your baby watch how everyone else eats.

What meals often look like

Many families now have three meals a day with the baby at the table, plus milk feeds. Food can be chopped small or mashed, with plenty of soft pieces to pick up.

Try this month

• Set aside your baby’s portion before adding salt, stock cubes or hot sauce.
• Mild herbs and spices such as cumin, cinnamon or garlic can stay in.
• Turn family dishes into baby food: pasta in a smooth sauce, soft rice with lentils, mashed potato with flaked fish.
• Pull the high chair right up to the table so your baby sits with you.

A mealtime tip

Eat with your baby when you can, even a few bites of your own. Seeing you eat the same food at the same time can make a new dish feel less strange.

Every baby goes at their own pace. If dinner is too late in the evening for your baby, share breakfast or lunch instead.

11 months: spoons and mess

At 11 months, many babies want to hold the spoon themselves, and meals get messier. That mess is part of how they learn to steer food to their mouth.

What meals often look like

Many babies eat three meals a day now, using fingers for most things and the spoon for some. Most of the food may still arrive by hand, and that is fine.

Try this month

• Use two spoons: one for your baby and one for you to help between their tries.
• Serve thick foods that stick to a spoon, like oatmeal, plain thick yogurt or mashed beans.
• Preload the spoon and set it down handle first so your baby can grab it.
• Keep an open cup at meals with a little water in it, so spills stay small.

A mealtime tip

Put a mat or old sheet under the high chair and a bib with a pocket on your baby. Wipe up at the end of the meal, not after every bite, so eating stays relaxed.

Every baby goes at their own pace with spoons. Some prefer fingers for months, and that is normal too.

12 months: cups and family meals

Around the first birthday, many families switch to whole cow’s milk as the main drink and lean more on the cup. Your toddler can now share most of what the family eats, cut small and soft.

If you breastfeed, you can keep going for as long as it suits you both.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers eat three meals and a couple of snacks, sitting with the family. Food is chopped small and soft, and seasoning stays light.

Honey can join the menu once your child has turned 1. Before the first birthday, keep it off the plate, even a small taste.

Try this month

• Offer whole cow’s milk in an open or free-flow cup at meals instead of a bottle.
• Move away from bottles one at a time, leaving the bedtime one for last.
• Keep water in a cup on the table at meals and snacks.

Ask your pediatrician when to make the switch to cow’s milk and what fits your child.

A mealtime tip

Give your toddler a small portion of the same family dish and let them decide how much to eat. A second helping is always on offer.

Every child goes at their own pace with cups. Spills and dribbles are part of learning to sip.

13 months: appetite swings

At 13 months, many toddlers eat a lot at one meal and barely touch the next. Big swings in appetite from meal to meal and day to day are common at this age.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers settle into three meals and two snacks a day. A hungry morning and a picky dinner can easily happen on the same day.

Try this month

• Keep meals and snacks at roughly the same times each day.
• Offer water between meals instead of letting snacks run all day.
• Serve one food you know they like next to anything new.
• Look at what they eat over a whole week, not one meal.

A mealtime tip

Your part is to offer the food, and their part is to decide how much. Skip coaxing, bribes or “one more bite”, and end the meal calmly when they are done.

Every child goes at their own pace. Ask your pediatrician if you are worried about how much your toddler is eating.

14 months: routines and new foods

At 14 months, a steady mealtime routine makes the table feel familiar for many toddlers. Turning down new foods is common now, so keep offering them without pressure.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers eat with the family, using hands, a spoon and a cup. A food they loved last week may get pushed away today, and that is normal.

Try this month

• Use the same seat, the same bib and a short wind-down before each meal.
• Put a small taste of a new food next to familiar favorites.
• Serve some meals family style and let your toddler pick from the bowls with your help.
• Offer the same new food again on other days, in a different shape or dish.

A mealtime tip

Keep eating at the table, with your toddler sitting down. Eating while walking or playing makes it easier for food to go down the wrong way, so snacks happen in a seat too.

Every child goes at their own pace with new foods. Many need to see a food lots of times before they taste it.

15 months: hungry and full signals

At 15 months, many toddlers show you clearly when they are hungry and when they are done, even without many words. Following those signals keeps meals calmer on big days and small ones.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers eat less now than they did as babies, and some days they barely eat at all. The next day they may clear the plate.

Hungry often looks like reaching or pointing at food, getting excited when the high chair comes out, or opening wide for the spoon. Done often looks like pushing the plate away, turning the head or closing the mouth.

Try this month

• Serve small portions and let your toddler ask for more.
• Offer meals before your toddler gets very hungry or tired. A worn-out toddler often eats very little.
• Teach a simple sign or word for “more” and “all done” to use at the table.
• When the done signals show up, ask “All done?” and let the meal end, even if food is left.

A mealtime tip

Skip the “clean plate” rule. It is fine for a meal to end after a few bites if your toddler is done, and the next meal or snack is never far away.

Every child goes at their own pace. Ask your pediatrician if you are unsure whether your child is eating enough.

16 months: spoon and fork practice

At 16 months, many toddlers want to eat with a spoon and fork, just like the grown-ups. Soft foods that are easy to scoop or spear make that practice much easier.

What meals often look like

Hands still do a lot of the work, and the spoon or fork comes and goes. A toddler may spear a piece, pull it off with their fingers and then eat it. All of it counts as eating.

Expect more food on the tray than in the mouth for a while. Practice at every meal is what moves it along.

Try this month

• Offer a short toddler fork with blunt tines and pieces that spear easily, like cooked pasta, soft cooked carrot or ripe pear.
• Spear the first piece yourself and hand the fork over, handle first.
• Serve spoon foods in a bowl with high sides, so there is something to scoop against.
• Keep a few soft finger foods on the plate too, so a tricky fork never means a hungry toddler.

A mealtime tip

Sit across from your toddler and use your own fork slowly, with big, easy movements. Toddlers love to copy, so let them watch you do it.

Every child goes at their own pace with a fork. Some take to it fast, and some prefer fingers for a long while.

17 months: cups and bottle goodbyes

Many families work on saying goodbye to bottles somewhere between 12 and 18 months, and 17 months is a fine time to keep going. Offering drinks in an open cup at the table makes the change feel ordinary.

What meals often look like

Drinks come in a cup, at the table, with food. Some toddlers still have one bottle left, often at bedtime, and that one tends to go last.

Expect spills and dribbles for a while. Open cup drinking is a skill, and it gets better with practice.

Try this month

• Offer water in a small open cup at every meal and snack.
• Let your toddler pour a splash of water from a small jug into their own cup.
• Drop one bottle at a time, starting with the one your toddler cares about least.
• Keep the cuddle and story that came with the bottle, with a cup in hand instead.

A mealtime tip

Drink from your own cup alongside them. Toddlers love to copy, and a shared “cheers” at dinner can do more than any special cup.

Every child goes at their own pace. If the last bottle is hard to drop, it is fine for it to take a few extra weeks.

18 months: the picky phase

Around 18 months, many toddlers suddenly refuse foods they ate happily last month. It is a very common phase, and calm, repeated offers work better than pushing.

What meals often look like

A favorite gets refused, the same few foods get eaten on repeat, and foods touching on the plate cause upset. Some days “no” is the answer before the plate even lands.

None of this means you did something wrong. Saying no is one of the first ways toddlers get to make a choice.

Try this month

• Keep serving refused foods in small amounts, alongside foods they already like.
• Offer a choice between two options: “peas or carrots?”
• Use a divided plate if mixed foods bother your toddler.
• Eat the food yourself and let them watch you enjoy it.

A mealtime tip

Skip the bribes, the deals and the “one more bite”. A refused food can simply stay on the plate, and you can offer it again another week.

Many foods take many tries before a toddler accepts them. Every child goes at their own pace.

19 months: a steady snack routine

By 19 months, a simple routine of meals and snacks at roughly the same times helps many toddlers come to the table hungry. Grazing all day often means less interest at dinner.

What meals often look like

Many families settle on three meals and two or three snacks, with a gap of a couple of hours between them.

Snacks can look like small meals: soft fruit pieces with some cheese, toast with a thin spread, or a few spoonfuls of leftover pasta.

Try this month

• Set snack times, and serve snacks sitting down at the table.
• Think of each snack as a mini meal with fruit, vegetables or other everyday foods.
• Offer water between meals instead of milk or juice.
• Close the kitchen between snack and meal times, kindly and without fuss.

A mealtime tip

When your toddler asks for food just before dinner, a calm “dinner is soon, come help me set the table” often works better than a negotiation.

Some days the routine slips, and that is fine. Pick it back up at the next meal.

20 months: mess, drops and throwing

At 20 months, food on the floor is part of most meals, and throwing is often a toddler’s way of saying “I’m done” or “what happens if?” A calm, short response helps it pass.

What meals often look like

Toddlers squish, smear and drop food to learn how it feels and moves. Throwing often starts once the hungry part of the meal is over.

A messy tray usually means your toddler is busy learning, not misbehaving.

Try this month

• Serve small amounts, and add more when they ask.
• When food starts flying, ask “Are you all done?” and end the meal if the answer is yes.
• Show where food goes: “Food stays on the plate. You can put it here.”
• Set a small “no thank you” bowl next to the plate for foods they don’t want.

A mealtime tip

Keep your reaction small. A big laugh or a big “no” can turn throwing into a game. A short, even “food stays on the table” and moving on works better over time.

Every child goes at their own pace with table manners. It takes many meals, and many wipes, to get there.

21 months: eating together

At 21 months, sitting down together for meals is a simple way to help your toddler’s eating. They watch what you eat, how you eat and how you talk at the table.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers can eat a version of the family meal now, cut into small, soft pieces with no salt added to their portion.

Lots of toddlers eat better next to someone who is eating too, and a busy toddler may stay seated longer when the whole family is at the table.

Try this month

• Pick a few meals a week where everyone sits down together, even if it is breakfast.
• Serve your toddler from the same dishes, adjusting the size and texture.
• Turn off the TV and put phones away during the meal.
• Talk about the food: the colors, the crunch, who made it.

A mealtime tip

Shared meals don’t need to be long or fancy. A short, calm meal with everyone at the table counts.

If schedules make dinner hard, sit with your toddler at their meal and eat a little something yourself.

22 months: meals at daycare

If your toddler eats at daycare, many days include a meal you don’t see. A little talk with the staff keeps home and daycare meals working together.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers eat differently at daycare. Some eat more alongside other children, and some eat less in a busy room and make up for it at home.

A small lunch one day and a big dinner that night is a normal mix.

Try this month

• Ask what was offered, what was eaten and how lunch went in general.
• Share the foods your toddler likes, how you cut them and the words they use for food and drink.
• If you pack food, send small portions in containers your toddler can open.
• If your doctor has given you an allergy plan, make sure daycare has a copy too.

A mealtime tip

Match a few routines across both places, like washing hands before eating or using the same kind of cup. Familiar steps make a new place feel easier.

On days when lunch was small, keep dinner relaxed. There is no need to make up for it at one meal.

23 months: new foods, no pressure

At 23 months, new foods go down best when nobody is pushing. Put a little on the plate next to familiar foods, and let your toddler decide what to do with it.

What meals often look like

Many toddlers look at a new food, touch it, lick it or move it around long before they eat it. All of that is progress.

Favorites still come and go, and a food eaten happily on Monday may be refused on Thursday.

Try this month

• Serve one new food at a time in a small amount, next to something they like.
• Try a step from a liked food to a similar one: carrots, then sweet potato, then pumpkin.
• Offer the same food cooked different ways: roasted, mashed, baked into a muffin.
• Let your toddler help wash, stir or pour, so the food is familiar before it reaches the plate.

A mealtime tip

Praise trying, not finishing. A simple “you touched the broccoli” is enough. If it is refused, wait a week or so and offer it again.

Every child goes at their own pace with new foods. Keep offering, and keep it light.

24 months: little helpers in the kitchen

At 24 months, many toddlers love helping in the kitchen, and that interest can carry over to eating. A child who rinsed the tomatoes is often more curious about tasting them.

What meals often look like

Meals at two often look a lot like the family’s, with small, soft pieces and plenty of finger foods. Appetite still swings, and favorites still change from week to week.

Try this month

• Give small jobs: washing vegetables, tearing lettuce, stirring a bowl, putting bread in a basket.
• Let your toddler choose between two options for a snack or side.
• Keep cutting round foods like grapes and cherry tomatoes lengthwise into quarters.
• Keep meals seated and watched, with no eating while running around.

A mealtime tip

A kitchen helper needs a stable step or a seat at the counter and a job away from the stove and knives. Short jobs count, and a little stirring is a real contribution.

Looking back, this year probably held big days, small days and plenty of refusals. That is how the toddler year goes for many families, and every child goes at their own pace.

References

1. AAP HealthyChildren.org: Starting Solid Foods
2. NHS: Your baby’s first solid foods
3. CDC: When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods
4. CDC: Choking Hazards
5. NHS: Drinks and cups for babies and young children
6. CDC: Foods and Drinks to Avoid or Limit
7. AAP HealthyChildren.org: Feeding & Nutrition Tips: Your 1-Year-Old
8. NHS: What to feed young children
9. CDC: Signs Your Child Is Hungry or Full
10. CDC: Fingers, Spoons, Forks, and Cups
11. AAP HealthyChildren.org: From Bottle to Cup: Helping Your Child Make a Healthy Transition
12. AAP HealthyChildren.org: 10 Tips for Parents of Picky Eaters
13. CDC: Picky Eaters and What to Do
14. CDC: Tips for Mealtime Routines
15. AAP HealthyChildren.org: Feeding & Nutrition Tips: Your 2-Year-Old