Baby Feeding Schedule, 6–12 Months: Example Days
Last updated October 2026
Example feeding days from 6 to 12 months: how solids build from one small meal to three, how milk feeds fit around them, and when snacks come in.
If you haven't started solids yet, begin with our guide to first foods for babies or jump to a day of meal ideas.
Around six months, offer a little food when your baby shows readiness and gradually build more opportunities for meals. Breast milk or infant formula remains the main source of nutrition through the first year. UK NHS routines below differ from US guidance in how they organize meals and snacks; neither is a fixed intake target.
The clock times are illustrations from a UK-style pattern, not a timetable or a prescription for US families. You can use the age-and-milk decision tool below, shift food opportunities around naps, keep milk feeds responsive, and discuss feeding or growth concerns with your baby's clinician.
Meals, milk and snacks at a glance
UK NHS guidance describes a gradual build-up. US CDC guidance likewise emphasizes responsive milk feeding and more solids over time, but snack patterns are not identical. These are examples, not targets to hit by a certain date.
Around 6 months
- • A small amount of solid food once a day, at a time that suits you both
- • Breast milk or first infant formula on demand, still the main source of energy and nutrients
7 to 9 months
- • Gradually moving towards 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch and tea
- • UK NHS illustration: often around 4 feeds; about 600ml formula is a rough NHS example, not a universal target
10 to 12 months
- • 3 meals a day; lunch and tea can include a main course and a pudding such as fruit or unsweetened yoghurt
- • Under-12-month snacks are not required in the UK NHS example; US feeding patterns can differ
- • UK NHS illustration: around 3 feeds and roughly 400ml of formula as a guide, not a target
NHS guidance generally introduces snacks around 12 months. US CDC/AAP schedules may include snacks during late infancy; follow your baby's appetite and feeding development rather than a calendar rule.
An example you can adapt
Make room for meals without a rigid clock
Choose an age and how your baby gets milk. This visual shows where food could fit around milk and naps; it is not a prescribed number of feeds, a medical intake target, or a guarantee of readiness. You can move every step to suit your baby.
Your flexible example
Around 6 months
One relaxed first-food opportunity is enough to begin. Keep the usual milk pattern.
On waking
MilkStart with your baby's familiar milk routine.
At a calm moment
FoodOffer a small first-food opportunity when your baby is ready and alert.
Through the day
MilkKeep milk feeds responsive; don't replace them to create space for solids.
Toward bedtime
FlexibleContinue the milk and sleep routine that works for your family.
If combining breast milk and formula
Breastfeeding and bottle feeds can share the day in the order that works for you. Keep both responsive rather than trying to match a fixed number.
If a meal happens during a nap, the baby seems tired, or food simply isn't going well, move or skip that meal opportunity and try again when practical. Continue appropriate milk feeding. If you are concerned about intake, growth, hydration, or a feeding difficulty, speak with your baby's clinician.
Source context: CDC: how much and how often to feed and NHS: first solid foods. Illustrative sequence created by Nibli, not a CDC/NHS-prescribed schedule.
Example day at around 6 months
At this stage solids are about getting used to new tastes and textures and learning to move food around the mouth, not about filling up. Your baby still gets most of their energy and nutrients from breast milk or formula, so keep offering it on demand.
Example day (times are illustrative):
- 7:00 – Milk feed
- 9:30 – Solid food: a few teaspoons or a few soft pieces, when your baby is alert and not too hungry
- 10:00 – Milk feed if your baby wants one
- Through the day – Milk feeds on demand, as before
- 19:00 – Milk feed before bed
First foods could include:
- • vegetables that aren't so sweet, such as broccoli, cauliflower or spinach, cooked and mashed or blended
- • soft-cooked vegetable sticks, such as carrot or parsnip, as finger food
- • mashed avocado or ripe banana
- • porridge or oats mixed with your baby's usual milk
- • plain full-fat yoghurt
Start small and let your baby explore. For more ideas, see our first foods for babies and BLW breakfast ideas.
Example day at 7 to 9 months
The UK NHS offers this possible day while babies progress toward more meals; it is not a required pattern for every seven-month-old. Milk needs and milk-feeding frequency vary. Continue breastfeeding or offering bottles responsively rather than reducing milk to meet a schedule.
Example day (times are illustrative):
- 7:00 – Milk feed on waking
- 8:00 – Breakfast
- 12:00 – Lunch
- 12:30 – Milk feed
- Between meals – An extra milk feed if your baby seems hungry (no snack needed)
- 16:30 – Tea
- 17:00 – Milk feed if wanted
- 19:00 – Milk feed before bed
As your baby gets more confident, offer more mashed, lumpy and finger foods, such as:
- • soft-cooked vegetable sticks and slices of soft fruit
- • eggs
- • beans and lentils
- • fish with every bone removed and soft-cooked meat
- • toast fingers, pasta and rice
- • pasteurised full-fat cheese and plain yoghurt
Example day at 10 to 12 months
By later infancy, many families offer breakfast, lunch and an evening meal while continuing breast milk or formula. The NHS example below places milk around meals, but a US family may use a different rhythm. Adapt texture to your baby's skills, not just the number of months.
Example day (times are illustrative):
- 7:00 – Breakfast
- 7:30 – Milk feed
- 12:00 – Lunch: a main course and a pudding such as fruit or plain yoghurt
- 12:30 – Milk feed
- Between meals – An extra milk feed if your baby seems hungry (no snack needed before 12 months)
- 17:00 – Tea
- 19:00 – Milk feed before bed
Across the day, draw on each food group:
- • vegetables, including bitter ones such as broccoli, cabbage and spinach
- • fruit, chopped, with pips, stones and hard skin removed
- • starchy foods such as bread, rice, pasta, potato and chapatti
- • protein foods: meat, fish, eggs, beans, lentils and tofu
- • pasteurised full-fat dairy such as plain yoghurt and cheese
What could a day of meals look like at 10 to 12 months?
One example day, using foods from each group. Leave out added salt and sugar, and cut food to a size and texture your baby manages.
Breakfast
• porridge made with your baby's usual milk, with chopped soft fruit
Lunch
• soft-cooked vegetables with shredded chicken or lentils, then plain yoghurt
Tea
• pasta with a vegetable sauce made without salt or stock cubes, then chopped fruit
Between meals
• under 12 months, an extra breast milk or formula feed if your baby is hungry; from 12 months, a healthy snack such as fruit, vegetable sticks, toast or plain yoghurt
Appetite varies across days. Judge one meal in the context of your baby's ongoing feeding, hydration and growth. If refusal persists, wet diapers decline, or your baby seems unwell, ask their clinician for advice rather than assuming it is a normal phase.
Tips for feeding a baby from 6 to 12 months
Follow your baby's cues
Go at your baby's pace and stop when they show they've had enough, for example by closing their mouth firmly or turning their head away. Don't leave meals until your baby is too hungry or too tired to eat.
Include iron-rich foods
Babies need a variety of foods to get enough energy and nutrients such as iron. Foods that contain iron include:
- • meat and fish
- • eggs
- • beans and lentils
- • dark green vegetables
- • fortified breakfast cereals
Introduce common allergens one at a time
Foods such as egg, cows' milk in cooking, wheat, crushed or ground nuts and peanuts, seeds and fish can be introduced from around 6 months, one at a time and in very small amounts so you can spot a reaction. Once a food is introduced and tolerated, keep offering it as part of your baby's usual diet.
Move on from smooth textures
Move from purées to mashed, lumpy and finger foods as soon as your baby can manage them. See how to cut food for baby-led weaning for shapes and sizes. Always sit your baby upright and supervise every meal. Call your local emergency number if your baby is choking and can't cough, cry or breathe effectively, and start baby choking first aid straight away.
How NHS, WHO and AAP guidance compares
The UK's NHS, the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree on starting around 6 months and on following your baby's hunger and fullness cues. They differ on some details, including snacks.
| Authority | When to start | First foods | Allergens |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS (UK) | Around 6 months, when your baby can sit and hold their head steady, co-ordinate eyes, hands and mouth, and swallow food | Start with vegetables that aren't so sweet, such as broccoli, cauliflower and spinach; include iron-rich foods | From around 6 months, one at a time and in very small amounts; keep offering them if tolerated |
| WHO | 6 months, with breastfeeding continuing to 2 years or beyond | Small amounts, gradually increasing in consistency and variety; 2–3 meals a day at 6–8 months, 3–4 from 9 months, with 1–2 snacks as required | Not covered in its infant and young child feeding fact sheet |
| AAP (US) | About 6 months | Your choice; soft or puréed foods, including iron and zinc sources such as meat or iron-fortified cereal | No evidence that waiting beyond 4 to 6 months to introduce egg, dairy, soy, peanut or fish prevents allergy; ask your doctor about peanut if your baby has severe eczema or egg allergy |
WHO and the AAP's sample menu for 8 to 12 months include snacks before 12 months; the NHS says babies under 12 months do not need them and suggests extra milk feeds instead. This page follows the NHS. Ask your health visitor, GP or paediatrician about your own baby.
How do milk and meals change from 6 to 12 months?
Breast milk or first infant formula should be your baby's main drink until 12 months. As your baby eats more, they may want less milk at each feed or drop a feed altogether. The formula amounts below are the NHS's own rough guides, not targets.
| Age | Milk per day | Solid meals | Snacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 6 months | Breast milk or first infant formula on demand | A small amount, once a day | Not needed |
| 7 to 9 months | Often around 4 feeds; formula around 600ml a day, as a guide | Gradually moving towards 3 | Not needed; extra milk if hungry |
| 10 to 12 months | Often about 3 feeds; formula around 400ml a day, as a guide | 3, with a pudding at lunch and tea | Not needed; extra milk if hungry |
| 12 months and over | Breast milk, or whole or semi-skimmed cows' milk as a main drink; about 350ml of milk or 2 servings of dairy a day | 3 | May need 2 healthy snacks |
Breastfed babies adapt their feeds to how much food they're having, so there's no volume to hit. US guidance uses different figures (the AAP's sample menu for 8 to 12 months suggests roughly 720ml of breast milk or formula a day), which is another reason to treat any number as a rough guide. If you're worried about how much your baby is drinking, their weight or their wet nappies, talk to your health visitor or GP.
Common feeding schedule problems
What to try when the routine isn't working, and when to ask for help.
My 6-month-old won't take solids. What now?
Around six months, look for good head control, supported sitting, interest in food and beginning to swallow it. If your baby turns away, finish calmly and try another time without pressure, while keeping usual milk feeds. Persistent refusal, growth or hydration concerns, and prematurity deserve individualized pediatric advice.
My baby is eating more and drinking less milk. Is that OK?
Often, yes. The NHS says that as babies eat more solid food they may want less milk at each feed, or drop a feed altogether. Breast milk or formula should still be the main drink until 12 months, so keep offering it rather than cutting it back to make room for food. Talk to your health visitor or GP if your baby has fewer wet nappies than usual or you're worried about their weight.
My baby seems hungry between meals. Should I add a snack?
Guidance differs by country and stage. The UK NHS suggests extra milk rather than snacks for babies under 12 months; US CDC/AAP examples can include snacks as solid-food routines develop. Continue responsive breast milk or formula, avoid displacing feeds, and discuss intake or growth concerns with a clinician.
Should I offer milk before or after solids?
Either can work. In the early weeks the NHS suggests offering food before the usual milk feed, but not waiting until your baby is too hungry; its weaning pages also remind you that your baby's tummy is tiny, so you can offer milk after solids. The AAP suggests a little milk first, then a few half-spoonfuls of food, then more milk. Choose what keeps your baby calm and interested.
How do I keep a routine when we're travelling or at nursery?
Keep milk feeds responsive and let mealtimes move with the day. Familiar foods help. Jars and pouches are fine now and then, but the NHS advises against relying on them as everyday food and suggests squeezing pouches onto a spoon rather than letting your baby suck from them. Share your baby's usual pattern and any known allergies with carers.
My baby refuses the spoon but takes finger foods. Can we skip purées?
Yes. Some babies like to start with mashed, lumpy or finger foods, and the NHS says there's no right or wrong way: baby-led weaning, spoon-feeding or a mix of both. Its guidance also says there's no more risk of choking when a baby feeds themselves than when they're fed with a spoon. Offer soft finger foods, include iron-rich ones, and always sit your baby upright and stay with them while they eat.
Common feeding schedule mistakes to avoid
Small habits that can make feeding harder, and what to do instead.
Pushing food when your baby has had enough
Go at your baby's pace. When they close their mouth, turn their head away or push the food off, end the meal calmly and try again at the next one.
Cutting milk to make room for solids
Breast milk or first infant formula should be the main drink until 12 months. Let your baby's appetite lead any change; don't hold back milk so they eat more food.
Adding snacks before 12 months
The UK NHS and US CDC/AAP use different snack conventions. Use age-appropriate food opportunities and responsive milk feeds rather than a strict number of snacks. Avoid pressure and discuss growth or low intake concerns with a clinician.
Giving juice or cows' milk as a drink
When solids begin, you may offer small amounts of water with meals. In the US, the CDC recommends no fruit or vegetable juice before 12 months; dilution does not make juice appropriate for younger infants. Plain cow's milk is not a replacement for breast milk or infant formula as a main drink before 12 months, although pasteurized cow's milk may be used in cooking when developmentally appropriate.
Staying on smooth purées for a long time
Move on to mashed, lumpy and finger foods as soon as your baby can manage them. This helps them learn to chew, move food around their mouth and swallow. Babies take different amounts of time to get used to lumps; keep offering them and stay close.
Adding salt, sugar or honey
Don't add salt to your baby's food or cooking water, or use stock cubes or gravy; salt isn't good for their kidneys. Sugar can cause tooth decay. Don't give honey until your child is over 1 year old, because it can occasionally cause infant botulism, a very serious illness.
Leaving out iron-rich foods
Include foods that contain iron, such as meat, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, dark green vegetables and fortified breakfast cereals, across the day.
Planning the day in Nibli
A common question once meals start to multiply:
“How do meals fit around milk feeds and naps?”
If you'd like help with that, the Nibli iPhone app can suggest a plan.
It builds a suggested daily feeding plan from your baby's age, how they're milk-fed, where they are with solids, their wake time and naps. In Nibli you can:
- •see and adjust a suggested daily feeding plan
- •find meal ideas for baby-led weaning and spoon-feeding
- •read preparation and choking-hazard guidance
- •track the foods your baby has tried
The plan is a suggestion, not a target. Everything on this page is free to read without the app.
Sources & References
This guide is informed by current guidelines from leading health organizations:
- ●NHS - Your Baby's First Solid Foods NHS
- ●NHS - Feeding your baby from around 6 months NHS
- ●NHS - Feeding your baby: 7 to 9 months NHS
- ●NHS Best Start in Life - Feeding your baby: 10 to 12 months NHS
- ●NHS - Feeding your child: 1 year and beyond NHS
- ●NHS - Drinks and Cups for Babies NHS
- ●NHS - Foods to Avoid Giving Babies NHS
- ●NHS - Help your baby enjoy new foods NHS
- ●WHO - Complementary Feeding WHO
- ●AAP - Starting Solid Foods AAP
- ●AAP - Sample Menu for Babies 8–12 Months AAP
- ●NHS - How to stop a child from choking NHS
- ●CDC — Foods and Drinks to Avoid or Limit (2026) CDC
- ●CDC: how much and how often to feed CDC
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a 6 month old eat in a day?
At around 6 months babies usually drink breast milk or formula while gradually trying small amounts of solid foods once or twice per day.
How many meals should a 6 month old have?
Many babies start with one or two small meals daily while continuing regular milk feeds.
How much solid food should babies eat?
When starting solids babies may eat only a few spoonfuls. Intake increases gradually as they learn to chew and swallow.
Do babies still need milk after starting solids?
Breast milk or formula remains the main source of nutrition during the first year even after solids are introduced.
What is a typical baby feeding schedule?
A baby feeding schedule often includes several milk feeds and one or more small meals depending on age.
When do babies start eating three meals a day?
Many babies move towards three meals a day from about 7 to 9 months, and most are having three meals a day by about 10 months, alongside their milk feeds.
Should I feed my baby on a schedule or on demand?
A loose schedule with meals roughly tied to family mealtimes works well for most babies, while milk feeds can stay more responsive. Watch hunger and fullness cues rather than enforcing fixed quantities.
How long after milk should I offer solids?
The NHS suggests offering food before your baby's usual milk feed, at a time when they're not too tired, and not waiting until they're very hungry. Milk feeds stay responsive around meals.
Can I give my baby snacks between meals?
The NHS says babies under 12 months do not need snacks: if your baby seems hungry between meals, offer extra milk feeds instead. From 12 months, 2 healthy snacks between meals, such as fruit, vegetable sticks, toast or plain yoghurt, can be added.
What does a 6 month old feeding schedule with solids and formula look like?
Keep offering breast milk or formula as usual, and add one small solid meal at a relaxed time, before a milk feed rather than when your baby is very hungry. Clock times are only an example; milk feeds stay responsive. Build up to more meals gradually as your baby is ready.
What does a 7 month old feeding schedule with solids and formula look like?
From about 7 months babies gradually move towards 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and tea) alongside their usual milk feeds. An example day: milk on waking, breakfast, milk, lunch, milk, tea, milk before bed. No snacks are needed before 12 months; offer extra milk if your baby seems hungry between meals.
What does an 8 month old feeding schedule look like?
Most 8-month-olds are having or moving towards 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and tea) plus their milk feeds, which stay responsive. The NHS says babies under 12 months do not need snacks; offer extra milk feeds if they seem hungry between meals. Clock times are an example, not a rule.
How many oz of formula should a 6 month old drink per day?
There's no single amount to aim for. Breast milk or infant formula remains the main drink through the first year, and milk feeds stay responsive to your baby's hunger and fullness cues. As meals increase, many babies naturally take a little less milk; ask your health visitor or GP if you're worried about how much your baby is drinking or how they're growing.
How long should I wait between solid feeds?
Most babies eat solids every 3-4 hours during the day, mirroring family meal patterns. Don't worry about precise gaps - follow hunger cues. A predictable rhythm of breakfast, lunch, and dinner helps babies recognize hunger and fullness.
What time should I feed my baby solids?
Pick a time when you and your baby are not rushed and your baby is not too tired, and offer food before their usual milk feed (NHS). Many families start with breakfast or lunch; once your baby is on 2–3 meals, fit them around your family's mealtimes.
Can a baby eat too much solid food?
Babies are good at self-regulating in the first year. Stop offering when your baby turns away, closes their mouth, or pushes the spoon away. If a baby consistently overeats and milk feeds drop sharply, talk to your pediatrician.
Should I drop a milk feed when my baby starts solids?
Not at first. Solids complement milk in the first year - they don't replace it. Most babies naturally drop a milk feed between 9-12 months as solids increase. Let your baby lead; never force-drop a feed.
What if my baby is not eating enough solids?
It is normal for new eaters to take only a few spoonfuls. Offer solids consistently 1-3 times per day, vary textures and flavors, and keep meals positive. Most babies eat more by 8-9 months as skills develop. Talk to your pediatrician if growth slows.
Plan your baby's day in Nibli
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