Caring for your baby6 to 12 Months

I Am Your Baby

I grow best with love and the right food.

  • I need breast milk or formula with iron until I turn one. You can still breastfeed me after I am one year old.
  • I know when I am hungry or full. I let you know by the way I act. Please feed me when I act hungry. Let me eat until I am full.
  • I will have a growth spurt around 6 months. I might nurse more often or longer.
  • I am growing fast. If I take breast milk or formula from a bottle, there might be times I drink more than 4 ounces at a feeding.
  • When I am about 7 or 8 months old, help me learn how to drink from a cup. Offer a cup with breast milk, formula, or water at meals and snacks.
Baby eating from green spoon in high chair.

With Your Help I’ll Learn to Eat Foods

When I’m about 6 months old, I can start to eat solid foods. Please go slowly.

If our family has allergies or I was born early, talk to my healthcare provider or WIC before I start solid foods.

Be Sure I’m Ready

To eat solid foods, I must be able to:

  • Sit up and hold my head steady.
  • Show I want food by opening my mouth or taking it from a spoon.
  • Show I don’t want food by closing my mouth or turning my head away from you.
Colorful floral pattern with red and blue flowers.
Baby eating from green spoon in high chair.

I Will Go Through 4 Stages of Foods:

1

Smooth: strained or puréed

Bowl of orange puree with green baby spoon.

2

Mashed: smooth with some tiny lumps

Mashed sweet potato on a white background.

3

Chopped: more lumps

Chopped carrots scattered on a white background.

4

Pieces of table foods

Diced carrots scattered on white background.

Make My First Food a Single Food

  • Give me only one new food at a time. This helps me adjust to new foods.
  • Make it thin by adding breast milk or formula. You can gradually make it thicker.
  • I might eat about a teaspoon to start with and then more as I get used to eating from a spoon.

Wait at least 5 days before trying another new food.

  • Build on the foods I tolerate. Offer what you know I like along with a new food. I will like the variety.
  • Watch for signs of food allergies like vomiting, wheezing, diarrhea, skin rash, or swelling. If I have a reaction to a new food, call my healthcare provider or take me to the emergency room.

I Need to Eat My Way

  • I’ll open my mouth if I want more food.
  • I’ll keep my mouth closed or turn my head if I don’t want more food; don’t force me to eat.
  • I might spit food out or make a face. I’m learning new flavors and how to move food around in my mouth.
  • If I don’t like something, wait a week and let me try it again. I might need to try a new food 10 times before I like it!
  • I’ll get food on my hands, face, and in my hair. Try not to stress about the mess. Be proud of me as I learn to eat.
  • Let me feed myself with my hands or a spoon. I use my jaw to mash food and my tongue and fingers to move it in my mouth.
  • Eat with me at our family meals. I eat better when you are with me. Let’s turn the TV and cell phone off so we can talk.
Baby playing with mashed broccoli on highchair tray.

Let Me Eat Food With My Fingers

By 8 or 9 months, I might want to eat food with my fingers. You may still need to use a spoon to feed me, but let me try to feed myself, too.

Make foods safe so I won’t choke on them.
Safe “finger” foods are:

  • Tiny pieces of cooked vegetables or soft fruit
  • Tiny pieces of cooked meat, chicken, or turkey
  • Mashed cooked beans, egg yolk, or tofu
  • Chopped noodles or rice
  • Bite-size pieces of toast, plain crackers, or soft tortilla
  • Make pieces of food no bigger than your thumbnail.

How much should I eat?

I need to eat about 5 or 6 times a day. A meal might be breast milk or formula, or a meal might be breast milk or formula plus infant cereal. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of each food. Give me more if I want it. I may not eat everything on my plate. As I start eating more, you can give me 2 or 3 foods at a meal.

Here are some ideas:

6 - 8 Months

2 tablespoons pureed peaches

Two bowls on a sectioned plate.
PLUS breast milk or formula

3 tablespoons baby oatmeal cereal

8 - 10 Months

3 tablespoons mashed peas

Plate divided into sections with rice, chicken, peas.
PLUS breast milk or formula

3 tablespoons cooked brown rice

1 tablespoons baked, chopped chicken

10 - 12 Months

2 tablespoons diced avocado

Plate with avocado and pasta in divided sections.
PLUS breast milk or formula

3 tablespoons cooked, chopped whole grain pasta

Let me eat until I show signs I’m full. I might close my lips, turn or shake my head, or raise my arm. Ask me if I’m full. Then, let me stop eating if I want to.

Toddler drinking from a green cup held by adult.

Time for a Cup

When I turn 6 months old, you can give me a small amount of water as I learn to drink from a cup.

Food Safety

  • We need to wash our hands before making my food or feeding me.
  • Put my food in a small dish and feed it to me with a baby spoon.
  • Throw out any food, breast milk, or formula left in a bottle, cup, or dish after I eat.
  • Don’t heat my food in a microwave. It could burn my mouth.

Foods To Avoid

I need food that is right for my age and will help me grow best.

I don’t need added sugars, salt, fat, or additives. Wait to offer juice until I am at least 12 months old.

  • Raw vegetables
  • Bacon
  • Whole grapes
  • Fish with bones
  • Potato, corn, or tortilla chips
  • Popcorn
  • Hard candy
  • Nuts
  • Hot dogs
  • Meat sticks

Also, please don’t give me foods that could make me sick, like:

  • Cow’s milk
  • Rare or raw meats
  • Honey or food made with it. Honey sometimes contains bacteria (Clostridium Botulinum) that can make babies sick. I shouldn’t have honey until I’m at least 12 months of age.
Smiling baby in high chair with floral bib.
Introducing Peanut Butter
Round cracker topped with smooth peanut butter spread.
After I have tried other solid foods, introduce me to peanut butter. Doing this can be helpful if our family has food or egg related allergies, like eczema or other skin issues. Spread a small, thin smear of peanut butter thinly on a cracker or mix it with applesauce and cinnamon and spread thinly on bread. Watch me for the next 2 hours to make sure I don’t have a reaction.

Play with me!

Put me on a blanket on the floor. Put a toy just out of my reach so I can move to get it. Roll a ball to me. Hold both my hands and let me walk with you.

Look what I can do!

I love to learn from you. Read to me. Sing a song. Let’s play games like peek-a-boo. Take me for a walk and show me new things. I’m active — keep an eye on me!

Baby watches adult play with colorful toy blocks.

Keep Me Safe and Healthy

  • I need check-ups and shots to stay healthy. I should visit my healthcare provider at 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year of age.
  • Clean my gums and teeth with a clean, wet, soft cloth after I eat. Ask the dentist if I need fluoride.
  • Never put me to bed with a bottle. I could choke, get an earache, or damage my teeth.
  • If other people feed me, be sure to ask what and how much I eat.
  • Let me explore and learn. See each room like I will, from the floor, and make it safe for me.
  • Keep me away from cigarette, tobacco, and all other smoke or vapor. Smoke hurts my lungs and can make me sick.
  • Buckle me into an infant car seat before we ride in a car. It’s the law! Install my seat in the car’s back seat, rear-facing.

For additional support, contact your local WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor or designated breastfeeding expert for breastfeeding questions.