The schedule below is the NHS shape of the first year: one meal a day at around six months, three meals a day by nine, and three meals plus milk feeds by twelve. It is a map, not a timetable — the number of meals follows your baby's appetite, and milk stays the base of the diet the whole way through.
| Around 6 months | 7 to 9 months | 10 to 12 months | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meals a day | 1, at a time that suits you both | Gradually towards 3 | 3, plus milk feeds |
| Texture | Purée, mash and soft finger foods | Mashed and lumpy, more finger foods | Mashed, chopped and finger foods |
| Milk | Still the main source of nutrition, on demand | Still central, alongside meals | Alongside three meals |
| Snacks | None | Not needed — offer extra milk instead | Not needed under 12 months |
Around six months: one meal, milk unchanged
Start with a small amount of solid food once a day, at whatever time works for both of you. Breast milk or first infant formula is still your baby's main source of nutrition at this stage, so keep offering it on demand — solid food is added alongside milk, not instead of it.[2]
Seven to nine months: towards three meals
Over these months your baby gradually moves to three meals a day — breakfast, lunch and tea — with variety mattering as much as volume, because this is the period where iron intake starts depending on food rather than milk.[3] Move on to mashed and lumpy textures and more finger foods as soon as your baby can manage them; leaving textures smooth for too long makes lumps harder to accept later.
10+
That number is the single most useful thing on this page. Rejection at the first, third and seventh attempt is ordinary and is not information about whether your baby likes something. Keep offering, without pressure, including foods that were spat out last week.
Ten to twelve months: three meals plus milk
By now three meals a day should be the established pattern, alongside milk feeds, and lunch and tea can each include a main course and a pudding such as fruit or unsweetened yoghurt.[4] Your baby should be managing mashed, lumpy, chopped and finger foods, and picking food up themselves with more precision. Eating together matters more than it sounds — a lot of this is learned by watching you eat.
Milk is still the base
Through the whole first year milk remains the foundation, with solids gradually taking over. If you are trying to work out how much milk to offer alongside meals, our milk volume calculator works from weight and age. And if you are not yet sure your baby is ready to start at all, the solids readiness check goes through the three signs that actually matter.
What does not go on the schedule
- No added salt or sugar, including in cooking water — salt is hard on a baby's kidneys and sugar causes tooth decay.
- No honey before twelve months, because of the risk of infant botulism.
- No whole nuts, whole grapes, raw hard apple or popcorn — choking hazards regardless of age within the first year.
- No cows' milk as a main drink before twelve months, though it can be used in cooking or on cereal from six months.
Textures move faster than the calendar
The most common mistake is keeping food smoother for longer than a baby needs, because it feels safer. It is not: babies who meet lumps and finger foods early tend to accept them more easily, and the window for doing that comfortably is in the second half of the first year. How to cut food by age covers the shapes that are safe at each stage, and gagging vs choking is worth reading before the first lumpy meal rather than after it.[5]
For the per-ingredient specifics — whether broccoli goes in as florets or stalks at seven months, how to serve banana so it can actually be held, when oats work as a finger food — our food database has a page per food with preparation by age.[1]
Broccoli
Banana
Oats
Sweet Potato