12 months & up: Regular meals & snacks

At this point, your baby can eat most things you eat at the same times. Still, stay away from mercury high fish (shark, swordfish, marlin,...), food with high food poisoning risks (raw eggs, raw shellfish,...), and choking hazard foods (whole nuts,...) [4].

Focus on sharing healthy family meals with your baby as it simplifies your life. It’s a good time to watch what you eat and think about how to eat even healthier with various ingredients.

What to do

  • Regular Meals & Snacks: Make it so your baby eats what you eat for 3 regular meals and has a couple of snacks a day - plus breast milk or full fat cow milk (about 500 mL per day). Time to say bye-bye to formula. Aim for roughly 1,000 calories per day. [1,2]
  • A Family Affair: Babies want to eat what you eat and you’ll want to be a good role model for healthy eating habits. Include all food groups in your meals, and just be cautious with salt and sugar. [1]
  • Plenty of Fish in the Sea: Fish provides omega-3 to boost your baby’s brain development. Try a variety of fish - but make sure it’s low mercury fish such as salmon and white fish [5,7].
  • Cups & Utensils: By this time, most infants will be able to drink from closed cups. You can encourage your baby to try an open cup any time now [1]. Promote self-eating with a spoon. It will take time - most toddlers can use utensils around 18 months old. [3]

What not to do

  • Limit fruit juices and sweetened beverages. Offer water instead to satisfy thirst [1,6].
  • Don’t allow children to eat while moving around or unsupervised - this still poses a choking hazard
  • Do not chase or push your child to eat more than they want to.
  • Keep away from overly seasoning foods which can prevent children from experiencing the natural taste of ingredients.