A Guide for Feeding Your Baby

The First Twelve Months

Suggested ages and growth stages for adding new foods to your baby's diet. For more information, talk with your baby's doctor, nurse, or nutritionist.

Birth-12 months

• Breast milk is the best choice or
• Iron fortified formula

4-6 months

• Baby cereal (from spoon)
• First rice, then oats and barley, later wheat, corn and mixed cereals
• Growth stages:
  • sits supported with head steady
  • hands go to mouth
  • can move food from front of mouth to back

6-8 months

• first: plain vegetables and fruits (strained or blended) and fruit juice (from cup)
• then: strained meat, mashed beans, and chopped chicked
• later: cottage cheese and yogurt
• Growth Stages
  • develops grasp
  • sits unsupported
  • begins chewing
  • can use cup with help

7-10 months

• vegetables and fruits (mashed)
• egg yolk
• Finger foods:
  • toast squares or crackers
  • cooked vegetables and peeled soft fruits
  • meat (ground or chopped)
  • offer drinks by cup
• Growth stages:
  • begins to feed self with hands

10-12 months

• Offer a variety of table foods (cooked or soft, chopped or in small bites).
• Growth Stages
  • can use a spoon and cup

1 year

• Drink from cup
• Wean from bottle
• Offer whole milk from one to two years
• Growth Stages
  • progress in biting, chewing and swallowing food.

Some important things to remember:

1. Breast feeding is the best way.
2. Bottles are for water and formula only.
   • no cereal (use a spoon)
   • no Kool-Aid
   • no juice (use a cup)
3. Add one new food at a time. Wait about five days.
   • This gives your baby time to adjust to the new food. If there is a reaction, it is easier to tell which food may have caused it.
4. Offer small amounts at first. Make food thin and smooth by mixing it with a little formula or breast milk.
5. Never force your baby to finish a bottle or food.
   • Your baby is the best judge of how much to eat.
6. At feeding time, you and your baby are learning about each other.
   • Hold your baby close. Love is just as important as food for your baby's health.
7. Baby can choke on hard foods like nuts, popcorn, chunks of meat, raw vegetables or cheese.
8. Do not heat baby's bottle in the microwave. This creates hot spots that may burn your baby.