Your baby's food from 12 months

Your baby will now be eating three meals a day, chopped if necessary, plus breast milk or whole cows' milk and healthier snacks like fruit, vegetable sticks, toast and rice cakes.

They can now drink whole cows' milk. Choose full-fat dairy products as children under two need the extra fat and vitamins found in them. From two years old, if they are a good eater and growing well, they can have semi-skimmed milk. From five years old, 1% fat and skimmed milk is OK.

You can give your baby:

• three to four servings a day of starchy food such as potatoes, bread and rice
• three to four servings a day of fruit and vegetables
• two servings a day of meat, fish, eggs, dhal or other pulses (beans and lentils)

• What milk, when?

• For around the first six months you should feed your baby only breast milk or infant formula. Infant formula made from cows' or goats' milk is the only suitable alternative to breast milk in the first 12 months of your baby's life. Only use soya-based infant formula if your GP has advised you to. Follow-on milks are available for babies over six months, but there is no need to change over to these.
  Cows' milk can be mixed with food from six months and whole cows' milk can be given as a drink from one year. Semi-skimmed milk can be introduced once your child is two years old, as long as they're a good eater and they have a varied diet. Skimmed and 1% milk aren't suitable for children under five, as they don't contain enough calories.
  Infant formula, follow-on formula or growing-up milks are not needed once your baby is 12 months old. Goats' and sheep's milk are not suitable as a drink for babies under one year.
  You can give your child unsweetened calcium-fortified milk alternatives, such as soya, almond and oat drinks, as part of a healthy, balanced diet from the age of one. Toddlers and young children under the age of five should not be given rice drinks because of the levels of arsenic they contain.
  If your child has an allergy or intolerance to milk, talk to your health visitor or GP. They can advise you on suitable milk alternatives.