Give your baby breastmilk or infant formula, and also offer water, throughout the day as required. The menu planner is intended as a guide. Every baby is an individual and they develop at different rates. Once your baby has accepted the first simple foods, a greater variety of tastes and textures should be introduced until they can eventually eat the same as the rest of the family, but in smaller portions and with no added sugar or salt.
Other foods to try: soft cooked meat, pasta shapes, lentils, pieces of chapatti, mashed hard boiled eggs, and whole milk dairy products like yogurt. *Mixed with breastmilk or infant formula before 6 months. From 6 months whole cow’s milk may be added to cereal and used in small amounts in cooking, but it is not suitable as a drink until one year.
Morning
First try
Breastmilk or infant formula
Next try
Breastmilk or infant formula
Baby cereal*
Move on to
Breastmilk or infant formula
Baby cereal*
Keep increasing frequency and textures
Breastmilk or infant formula
Mashed banana and toast fingers
Mid-morning
Breastmilk or infant formula
Lunch
First try
Baby cereal*
Breastmilk or infant formula
Next try
Fruit or vegetable purée or mash (e.g. apple, pear, potato, yam)
Breastmilk or infant formula
Move on to
Soft cooked vegetable mashed or as finger food (e.g. carrots, parsnip)
Breastmilk or infant formula
Keep increasing frequency and textures
Mashed fish (well-cooked, with no bones)
Soft cooked sticks of sweet potato
Soft, peeled fruit mashed or as finger food with fromage frais
Breastmilk or infant formula
Mid-afternoon
Breastmilk or infant formula
Evening
First try
Breastmilk or infant formula
Quantity
3 portions of dairy a day: 100-120ml (small glass) milk, 125g (small pot) of yogurt, or 2-3 tablespoons (15g) of grated hard cheese
Key nutrients
Soft, peeled fruit mashed or as finger food (e.g. banana, mango, melon)
Breastmilk or infant formula
Keep increasing frequency and textures
Soft, cooked pieces of chicken
Soft cooked vegetable mashed or as finger food
Rice
Breastmilk or infant formula
