As your pregnancy comes to an end, your baby will need all the help they can get when it’s time to eat. Here is a 12-month feeding plan for your baby so you stay prepared.
The First Three Months
When your baby enters the world, the first three months matter tremendously. Along with creating a routine for cleaning, sleeping, and spending time with your bundle of joy, your baby should learn how to latch for breastfeeding. Otherwise, formula feeding works best if you can’t produce milk or your baby has allergies.
The first month consists of 10 to 12 feedings within 24 hours; the second and third months range between eight and ten feedings every 24 hours. Furthermore, infants shouldn’t have solids in their first three months, as breast milk and formula provide their necessary nutrients. Your baby also isn’t physically capable enough to eat solid foods from a spoon. Eating solid foods this early can result in poor feeding experiences or weight gain.
Fourth and Fifth Months
As your baby enters their fourth month (or fourth trimester) in the 12-month baby feeding plan, their feeding time will slowly decrease to six or seven sessions within 24 hours. Your baby may start expressing interest in foods such as baby cereals. You’ll want to prepare baby cereal with formula or breast milk and feed them with a baby spoon. Moreover, if you feel unsure, a sign your little one can have baby cereal is if they can sit up with good head control.
Sixth and Seventh Months
Around the sixth to eighth month of your baby’s life is the time when you can decrease feedings. Your baby will experience five to six feedings during the day, and fewer feedings at night. You can introduce other foods to your baby, including two ounces of Stage 1 baby vegetables and well-cooked, pureed vegetables once or twice a day. You can also feed your baby pureed fruit, meat, beans, or legumes once or twice daily for additional nutrients. At this point, children should eat seated and upright in baby seats or supported chairs.
Eighth and Ninth Months
The eighth and ninth months of your baby’s life are when you can begin weening them off breastmilk and introducing them to baby formula in a cup. Your child will likely have four to six feedings daily and small amounts of pureed or soft foods.
You can also start incorporating well-cooked and mashed vegetables, soft mashed fruit, easy-to-dissolve puffed cereals and snacks, dried and mashed beans or tofu, and cooked egg yolks into your baby’s diet in small amounts. You can also give your baby fluorinated water twice to four times daily.
10th to 12th Months
As you reach the end of your baby’s first year, they eat, on average, four times a day and no longer have night feedings. They should now drink formula from a cup and eat more solid foods such as rice, pasta, cottage cheese, beef, pork, yogurt, and whole grains.
Moreover, they can try one to two ounces of 100% fruit juice in a cup. Always immediately refrigerate leftover foods and open food jars. Remember to use a sippy cup for liquids, not a bottle.
If you want to learn more about feeding plans and general parenting, give us a listen at That’s Total Mom Sense podcast today!
