The baby weaning chart

From around 6 months

Source: NHS · From around 6 months

• To start with, your baby only needs a small amount of solid food, once a day, at a time that suits you both.
• Start weaning with vegetables that aren't so sweet, such as broccoli, cauliflower and spinach.
• Your baby's main source of nutrition is still breast milk or first infant formula, so keep offering it to your baby on demand.
• Just keep offering them lumpy textures from around 6 to 7 months, and stay with them so you can be sure they are swallowing it safely.
• Remember, babies do not need salt or sugar added to their food (or cooking water). Babies should not eat salty foods as it is not good for their kidneys, and sugar can cause tooth decay.

7 to 9 months

Source: NHS · 7 to 9 months

• Your baby will gradually move towards eating 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and tea).
• Try to move your baby on to mashed, lumpy foods and finger foods as soon as they can manage them.
• 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.
• Babies under 12 months do not need snacks. If you think your baby is hungry in between meals, offer extra milk feeds instead.

10 to 12 months

Source: NHS · 10 to 12 months

• Your baby should now be used to having 3 meals a day – breakfast, lunch and tea – in addition to their milk feeds.
• Your baby should now be able to manage mashed, lumpy, chopped and finger foods.
• At this stage of weaning, your baby may be down to about 3 milk feeds a day.

Over 12 months

Source: NHS · Over 12 months

• Now your toddler is 12 months old, they should be having 3 meals a day.
• They may also need 2 healthy weaning snacks in between (for example fruit, vegetable sticks, toast, bread or plain yoghurt).
• Now your toddler is 12 months old, milk or water, as well as breast milk, should be their main drink.

What to feed your baby

Source: NHS · From around 6 months

• VegetablesCook to soften them, then mash with a fork or blend veggies to a suitable texture for your baby – or give them as finger foods. Offer a variety including ones with bitter flavours: asparagus, avocado, broccoli, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, courgette, green beans, kale, parsnips, peas, peppers, spinach, swede
• FruitMash with a fork or blend soft ripe fruits to a suitable texture for your baby, or give them as finger foods. Harder fruits will need to be cooked to soften them. Wash and remove any pips, stones and hard skin. Fruit includes: apples, bananas, blueberries, kiwi, mango, melon, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peach, pears, pineapple, plums, raspberries, strawberries
• Starchy foodsThese can be cooked, where necessary, and mashed with a fork or blended to a suitable texture for your baby or offered as finger foods. Starchy foods include: baby rice, bread, chapatti, cornmeal, maize, millet, oatmeal, oats, pasta, pitta bread, porridge, potato, quinoa, rice, sweet potato, toast
• Protein foodsThis food group includes meat, fish, eggs, beans and pulses, and is suitable from around 6 months. Protein foods include: beans, beef, chicken, egg, fish (no bones), lamb, lentils, pork, pulses, such as chickpeas, tofu, turkey
• DairyPasteurised dairy foods, like pasteurised full-fat yoghurt and cheese, are suitable foods for your baby from around 6 months. 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 drink until your baby is 12 months.

Food that can trigger allergic reactions

Source: NHS · From around 6 months · Baby food allergies

When you start introducing solid foods to your baby from around 6 months, introduce the foods that can trigger allergic reactions 1 at a time and in very small amounts so that you can spot any reaction.

• Cows' milk (in cooking or mixed with food)
• Eggs (eggs without a red lion stamp should not be eaten raw or lightly cooked)
• Foods that contain gluten, including wheat, barley and rye
• Nuts and peanuts (serve them crushed or ground)
• Seeds (serve them crushed or ground)
• Soya
• Shellfish (don't serve raw or lightly cooked)
• Fish

• Once introduced and if tolerated, keep offering those foods as part of your baby's usual diet (to minimise the risk of allergy).
• Evidence has shown that delaying introducing peanuts and hens' eggs after 6 to 12 months may increase the risk of developing an allergy to them.
• If your baby already has a diagnosed food allergy or eczema – or if you have a family history of food allergies, eczema, asthma or hay fever – you may need to be particularly careful when introducing foods. Talk to your GP or health visitor first.

Foods and drinks to avoid

Source: NHS · Foods and drinks to avoid

Every heading of the NHS list is here. Some entries are shortened: the full text is on the NHS page, linked under Sources.

• HoneyHoney should be completely avoided until your baby is 12 months old. It contains bacteria that can lead to infant botulism, which can make your baby seriously unwell.
• Salty foodsThis includes foods like: bacon, sausages, chorizo, chips with extra salt, crackers, crisps, ready-meals and takeaways, gravy or meals made with stock cubes Babies should not eat salty foods as it is not good for their kidneys. There's also no need to add salt to their food.
• Snacks and sweetsBabies and young children should not have: popcorn, jelly cubes, marshmallows, boiled sweets (or any hard, gooey or sticky sweets, including cough sweets), peanut butter by itself, chewing gum, ice cubes These are all choking hazards.
• Whole nuts and peanutsWhen left whole, nuts can get stuck in the throat and cause choking. They should be crushed or flaked for children under 5 years.
• Soft cheeseSoft cheeses can contain a bacteria called listeria and should not be given to babies or young children. This includes: mould-ripened soft cheese (brie, camembert); ripened goats' milk cheese (chévre); soft blue-veined cheese (roquefort); unpasteurised cheeses.
• Raw shellfishChildren should only eat shellfish that has been thoroughly cooked. Raw shellfish can increase the risk of food poisoning.
• Shark, swordfish or marlinThese fish contain high levels of mercury, which can affect your baby's growing nervous system.
• Fresh pâtéPâté made from meat, fish or vegetables can cause food poisoning.
• Cows' milkFor babies, cows' milk does not have the right balance of nutrients so should not be given as a drink before 12 months. However, it's OK to use small amounts in cooking.
• Unpasteurised milk or raw milkThese types of milk contain harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
• Fruit juice and smoothiesThese are high in sugar, so it's best to avoid them before your baby is 12 months.
• Squash, fizzy drinks and flavoured milkThese types of drinks contain lots of sugar even if they are diluted and can cause tooth decay. Diet or reduced-sugar drinks are not recommended for babies and toddlers either.
• Follow-on formula, growing-up milks and goodnight milksThese milks are not suitable for babies under 6 months and are unnecessary after 6 months.
• Rice drinksRice drinks can contain too much arsenic. Avoid them altogether until your child is at least 5 years old.
• Unsweetened, calcium-fortified plant-based drinksThese should be avoided before your baby is 12 months old. They include drinks made from: soya, oat, almond They can be given from 12 months on as part of a healthy balanced diet. Cows' milk and dairy foods are good sources of nutrients, so it's important not to cut them out of your child's diet without first speaking to a GP or dietitian.
• 'Baby' and herbal drinksDrinks like these usually contain sugars and are not recommended.
• Tea, coffee and other caffeinated drinksCaffeine is not suitable for babies or young children.
• Hot drinksThere's risk that hot drinks can cause scalding.