Foods for older babies
Feeding babies gets easier as they approach their first birthdays because now they can tuck into a much wider menu, and eat more of the same foods as you
Once your baby’s happily eating three meals a day, he can increase the number of meals he has with the family. Not only is this more convenient (no need to prepare separate meals!), but you also know exactly what you are feeding him.
What should my baby be eating?
Each day your baby needs a varied diet that includes:
- 3-4 servings of starchy carbohydrate foods, such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or breakfast cereals
- 2-3 servings a day of meat, fish, poultry, beans, pulses, eggs or dairy products
- 3-4 servings a day of fruit and vegetables.
Coarsely mash, finely chop, grate or mince foods instead of puréeing them. This will help your baby to practise his chewing skills, encourage healthy teeth and help his speech development. It may take a while for your baby to accept foods with a coarser texture, but try to persist, taking things slowly and being as encouraging and positive as possible.
Foods to avoid up to 12 months:
- Honey
- Raw and undercooked eggs
- Whole nuts – to reduce the risk of choking (and avoid any food with peanuts in if you have a family history of allergies)
- Salt
- Shellfish
- Cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk as a main drink
Have regular mealtimes
Babies thrive on routine and, because their energy needs are high in relation to their size, they need three small meals a day. If it’s convenient for you, give the main meal of the day at lunchtime when your baby is alert and not feeling too grouchy. If your baby has started to crawl or is going through a growth spurt, he may well need a couple of healthy snacks between meals to keep his energy levels up. Sugary, salty, high-fat and highly processed snacks aren’t recommended, as they’re high in calories but low in nutrients.
Some snacks to try:
- Hard-boiled egg
- Fingers of bread or toast
- Fruit muffin or teacake
- Rice cakes with yeast extract (not too much as it’s high in salt)
- Pitta bread with houmous
- Sticks of hard cheese
- Vegetable sticks
- Slices or large cubes of fruit
- Pieces of dry, sugar-free cereal
- Yogurt or fromage frais
- Rice pudding
- Dried fruit (again not to much as it’s very sticky and can harm emerging teeth)
Trouble-free mealtimes
Your baby is unlikely to love every meal you offer him, but don’t force him to eat if he doesn’t want it. Leave it for a few days and try offering the food again — maybe in a different way, say, mashed up with vegetables. Teething and general wellbeing can influence a baby’s eating habits, which can change almost on a daily basis!
At this stage, lots of babies want to be more independent and may become choosier about what they eat. Stay calm, and the less likely he is to make not eating a way to get your attention, and the more harmonious mealtimes will be. If he doesn’t want to eat his food, simply remove it and let him run off and play.
Feeding himself
Your baby will probably now be sitting in a high chair or a baby seat attached to the table, allowing him to join in with family meals. Many babies at this stage like the idea of feeding themselves and this i
s to be encouraged as much as possible.
But do prepare yourself for some mess. Feeding himself is an important stage in your baby’s development as it helps to develop his hand/eye coordination and encourages independence. It’s worth putting a plastic sheet down under his highchair or baby seat to catch any spills, and plastic bibs with a lip at the bottom can also help to catch dropped food.
Give your baby his own spoon and food with a fairly stiff consistency, like mashed potato, in a non-slip plastic bowl (you can also get bowls with suckers on the bottom). Finger foods are also perfect for babies to practise feeding themselves, but you may find that all his meals are eaten with his hands at first.
Moving on from milk
Breastmilk or formula remains an important source of nutrients in your baby’s diet until he’s one, and he still needs about 500-600ml of breastmilk or formula a day as his main drink.
If your baby’s bottle-fed and he’s still having bottles, try introducing a soft-spouted beaker or trainer cup with two handles, so he can have sips of water or very diluted fresh fruit juice, during mealtimes. Tea, coffee, fizzy drinks and sugary fruit drinks (including the low-sugar sort) aren’t suitable for babies.
Healthy meals for your baby:
- Chicken and bean stew
- Spaghetti bolognese
- Egg-fried rice
- Macaroni and vegetables with cheese
- Salmon with couscous
- Slices of pizza with vegetable sticks
- Eggy bread with ‘no sugar or salt’ baked beans
- Cottage pie
- Pork and noodle stir-fry
- Baked potato with pesto, cheese and broccoli
- Lentil dahl with rice
- Baked fruit with ice cream
- Yogurt ice lollies
- Fruit crumble or pie
Find out more
- Food Standards Agency
www.eatwell.gov.uk
- The Vegetarian Society (if you're raising your baby as a vegetarian)
www.vegsoc.org
- Now read our feature on feeding picky eaters
- Watch our short film "Is my baby eating enough?"
“To help my daughter towards her five daily portions of fruit and veg, I cook a bag of mixed veg and make a cheese sauce, then combine the two and freeze the lot for easy dinners on busy days. Jorja loves it and it’s cheap and healthy too.”
Iona, mum of Jorja, 2, and Aidan, 5 mths
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