11, 12, and 13 months plus can be a difficult time to determine a toddler feeding schedule with so many transitions from baby food and bottles. Get these sample feeding schedules with milk for 1 year olds from a feeding expert and mom.
A baby’s first year is filled with many changes, and as it comes to a close around 11 to 12 months, often one of the biggest changes is fully transitioning to table foods and totally leaving behind baby food.
At the same time, parents are also trying to navigate how to wean from breast or bottle. Many parents feel overwhelmed and are unsure how to make these changes, and understandably so.
Although I cover transitioning to table food and bottle weaning here in lots of detail, it is important to have a feeding schedule in mind too because it helps make these big transitions successful.
Today, I’m sharing three sample schedules with you that I use as a licensed occupational therapist for babies 11, 12, and 13 months old. Basically, a feeding schedule for 1 year olds, so you can see how to make the transitions work for you.
They are flexible and have options for a 1 year old milk schedule, or a 1 year old feeding schedule with or without milk included.
Feeding at 11, 12, and 13 Months (Aka The 1 Year Old!)
If I had to pick one word to summarize feeding babies at this age, it would be: unpredictable. Honestly, they are so busy and easily distracted that you’re baby won’t eat anything at some meal and others they may seem to eat more than you.
This is normal, and I want you to keep that mind. It is important to not jump through too many hoops to get your child to eat, because they will soon learn how to wield that power.
Setting up a routine and schedule around meals goes a long way in curbing the unpredictability and potential picky eating.
I would also encourage you to move completely to table foods by 11 months, if you haven’t done so already. An occasional pouch is okay when you are out and about, but by this age babies should be eating a variety of table foods.
The schedules I share below are made based on this assumption. See further down in the post if your child is having difficulty with this transition.,
In my 8-10 month old feeding schedule, I recommended introducing a straw. If you haven’t done that yet, no problem, they will likely pick it up very quickly. While the straw is a great choice, at this age, your child may be ready to drink from an open cup.
I know how shocking that sounds. It is a surprise to most parents, but stay with me.
Open cup drinking is an important developmental skill, and challenges children to use the muscles in and around their mouth in new and different ways. This helps them progress with managing different types of food, as well as their speech.
Great, right?
Yes, there is always the potential for messy eating with kids, but read why it is actually important to let your kids get messy!
So be brave and give the open cup a chance. It is a wonderful tool to add into your routine, as you can serve your child’s milk and water in it during mealtime.
Because this is a time of transition, I’m going to share with you three schedules so that you can see the transitions.
First, you will see the schedule at the beginning of 11 months, then you will see it once the baby is weaned, usually around the first birthday or in the next few months.
In the latter case, I gave you samples for either one or two naps, as this is often a transition at this age too! Of course, all of these factors vary from child to child.
Get more specifics for bottle weaning and breast weaning.
Sample Feeding Schedule Around 11 Months Old
*This schedule is just a sample. Your child may sleep at different times and you will need to adjust accordingly. I suggest taking note of the time intervals so that you can apply to you child’s individual schedule. You can use this 1 year old sleep schedule as a reference.
6:30-7:00 AM: Wake-Up – Breastfeed/Bottle upon waking *This is usually the second to last feeding you will take away. Sometimes it’s the last if your child is more attached to this than the night time feed.
7:00-7:30 AM: Breakfast – Water available in an open cup or straw cup, table foods (include a fruit/veggie, carbohydrate, and protein).
9:30 AM: Nap
11:00 AM: Breastfeed/Bottle upon waking *This is usually the first milk feeding I take away, if there are no complaints from the baby, and I promptly feed them lunch instead with milk in a cup. Some babies may start to nurse or take very little from a bottle earlier than their birthday. It is okay to follow their lead.
11:30-12:00 PM: Lunch – Water in a straw cup, table foods (include a fruit/veggie, carbohydrate, and protein).* Give milk at this meal once the previous formula/breast milk is eliminated.)
1:30-2:00 PM: Nap
3:30 PM: Breastfeed/Bottle upon waking, immediately followed by an optional small snack such as fruit and crackers/dry cereal/rice cake. *This is typically the second bottle or breast feeding I take away, but it can be the first if this works better. Once this bottle is gone, offer milk in a cup and some protein to the meal like peanut butter, hummus, cheese, or beans.
6:00 PM: Dinner – Water in an open cup or straw cup, table foods (include a fruit/veggie, carbohydrate, and protein).
7:30 PM: Breastfeed/Bottle before bed *Typically this is the last breastfeed or bottle you will take away, and it can be the most difficult. However, feedings at this time won’t interfere with their other meals.
7:45-8:00 PM: Sleeping for the night
*Times are given in a range of possible start times, not duration. If you are concerned about how much your baby needs to eat, see this post on Portion Sizes.
Sample Feeding Schedule for 1 Year Old with 2 Naps
Specifically, this is an example around 12 – 13 months
7:30 – 8:00 AM: Breakfast – 15-30 minutes after waking. About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
10:30 AM: Nap
12:00 PM: Lunch – 15-30 minutes after waking. About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
2:30 PM: Snack – About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
3:00 PM: Nap
5:30 – 6:00 PM: Dinner – About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
Sample Feeding Schedule for 1 Year Old with 1 Nap
Beginning around 12-13 months Old
7:30- 8:00 AM: Breakfast – 15-30 minutes after waking. About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
11:00 AM: Lunch – About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
12:00 PM: Nap
2:30- 3:00 PM: Snack – 15-30 minutes after waking: About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie. *This meal should include all the elements listed, but will be on a little smaller of a scale.
5:30 – 6:00 PM: Dinner – About 4 oz. of milk in an open cup or straw, a protein, carbohydrate, and fruit/veggie.
Tips for Feeding 1 Year Olds
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I get a lot of questions about when and what to feed 1 year olds. Here’s some answers to the most common questions:
- Milk should be around 16 oz. total for the day after 1 year of age.
- Ideally, meals should be spaced 2.5 – 3 hours apart, counting from the start of one meal to the start of the next.
- Babies and toddlers are capable of feeding themselves a lot of food at this age. Yes, it’s messy, read the benefits of babies getting messy while eating. I encourage you to allow them to feed themselves as much as possible, even with a spoon!
- If your baby is gagging a lot or you’re nervous about their occasional gag, then head to What You Need to Know About Baby Gagging.
- Try to have as much variety in your toddler’s diet as possible, ideally not serving the same thing two days in a row. Need some inspiration? I’ve got you covered! See The Mega List of Table Foods or The Ultimate List of Meals for Toddlers.
- If you’re concerned about how many calories they’re eating or need to increase your babies weight, then see High Calorie Foods for Babies.
- Around this time you may also be considering getting rid of the binky or dummy, if so, I’ve got a guide that will help you know when and how to do it. Check out Everything You Need to Know About Pacifier Weaning.
What If Your Toddler Isn’t Eating Well? Is It Picky Eating?
If you feel like your baby isn’t getting the hang of table foods or is consistently eating very small amounts of food at 10 months of age, then I would strongly suggest scheduling an evaluation through early intervention (if you live in the states) or seeking out a private or outpatient therapist.
I highly encourage you to save a seat in our free workshop on how to get your child eating table foods, if you haven’t already. This will give you practical strategies on working through this transition with your baby or toddler.
To get you started with strategies you can use at home, grab my, Learn to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet, that I’ll send right to your inbox. It has a step-by-step plan and some other tips that will be helpful.
Unfortunately, many times, pediatricians advise to wait it out, but trained feeding therapists (usually OTs and SLPs) are able to catch early signs of underlying sensory or motor difficulties. The earlier these problems are addressed, the easier they are to overcome. Head to Everything About Feeding Therapy to read more.
More on Feeding Schedules for Babies from Your Kid’s Table
The Best 6 and 7 Month Old Feeding Schedule, So Easy to Follow
Introducing Baby Food: Everything You Need to Know
The Ultimate Guide to Feeding Milestones for Babies and Toddlers
Feeding Red Flags for Babies and Toddlers
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Alisha Grogan is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Your Kid’s Table. She has over 19 years experience with expertise in sensory processing and feeding development in babies, toddlers, and children. Alisha also has 3 boys of her own at home. Learn more about her here.
Breastmilk is healthier than cows milk it is not good to suggest weaning from breastmilk it has better nutrition plus immunity benifits .let baby lead with breastmilk weaning or at least give it in a cup not cow or other milks . babys still get thier main nutrition from breastmilk even until age 2.other than that ok.
I totally agree, but a lot of moms can’t or don’t want to continue nursing or pumping. So yes, breast milk first, if that’s an option 🙂
My son is 13 months old and refuses to eat table food. I have tried giving him Puffs and he will pick them up and then won’t put them in his mouth. Same thing with Cheerios and other crunchy things. He eats baby food very well, but if I try to put any other texture in his mouth he gags as he doesn’t chew, but just tries to swallow it. Any suggestions on how to get him to try eating some basic table food? Thank you for your help!
Yes! I’ve got you covered, head to how to transition your baby to table foods. I’ve got a free printable there and a brand new free workshop is coming in the next few weeks that I think will be REALLY helpful!
Do you have a schedule for an early riser? My almost 1 year old wakes at 5:30am and still naps twice (9-10 and 1:30-3). He goes to bed around 7:30pm. It’s been hard to find a schedule that sounds like what our day looks like. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
The schedule in the post is just an example. You can use roughly the same schedule, just adjust the times to start when he wakes up.
Hello, my daughter just turned one and I am trying to wean her off the bottle. She is a good solid food eater but she still takes 4 bottles a day. I started mixing formula (30%) with whole milk (70%) and it seems like milk change does not bother her at all. I took away one of her mid-day bottles and started giving her milk in the sippy cup during meals but she seems to be thrown off by it… as she always had water in it and does not want to drink the milk from the cup, but if I give it to her in the bottle before/after her naps she will chug it. On the other hand, if I give her water in a cup she will drink it no problem. I think she is just confused as she always got water from the cup and milk from the bottle. I am concerned that if I take bottles away and she does not want to drink milk from the cup she will not get the needed nutrition as she can’t just drink water. However, I also feel it’s time to take the bottles away. Any suggestions as to the easy transition and how I can encourage her to drink milk from the cup? Thank you!!
Check out this post on How to Wean a Baby From Bottle to help with the transition.
Hi. I’m happy that I ended up at the right place after a lot of searches. My DD is 13 months old. She was born at 2.3 kg and currently weighs 7.7 kg. Though she is on the lower side of the weight she follows the curve. The pediatrician isn’t much concerned about the weight. Coming to her eating habits. She has 3 meals and 2 snacks in a day and is breastfed on demand. Around 3 to 4 times a day and 1 to 2 times at nights. I am trying to wean her at nights. Eating part, she is not that a great eater. She is totally into family food. She is good with all kind of textures of food. She self feeds and sometimes I feed her. But the portion of food she takes seems to be very less. I feel she gets full very quickly. Once she decides not to eat it’s done once for all. It’s either one or two meals a day she would be eaten satisfying. The rest goes to the floor. Though I offer food from all the food groups she picks only the ones she wants to eat. She takes 3 to 4 oz of milk at one serving and that seems to make her full, she refuses to eat beyond that. She drinks from a straw or open cup. At the end of the day the total food intake would be equalling to one complete serving meal. Besides she breastfeeds on demand. How do I know if she is eating enough? How couldn’t sneak in an extra bite or two here and there. She poops once or twice a day. No loose stools or constipated stools.
The past 3 to 4 days, she turns her head when any kind if food is offered, even her favorite ones. She doesn’t try to put a bite or two into her mouth. All she wants is to be breastfed the whole day and doesn’t want to eat any kind of food. She has stuffy nose and mild cough though. How do I address her eating issues?
In this case, there a lot of factors that could affect feeding. It sounds like she’s getting the nutrition she needs, but I’d recommend talking to your doctor and/or scheduling an evaluation with a feeding therapist. So you can have specific direction. You can read more in this post on feeding therapy.
Dear Mona, I am curious how your daughter is doing now? I’m in your position woth my 17 month old and we are at our wits end. Thank you! Best wishes, Maria
Hi
I live in India and my dad is 11 months old.
She would earlier sleep through the night but has now started getting up, should I nurse her or offer formula when she gets up.
Also my other question is that what should be the gap between breastfeed and solid meal.
She gets up in the middle of the night 2/3 times but my nanny offers her water and makes her go back to sleep. Kindly advise
It’s really a personal choice, it’s fine to still breast feed her. Check out the schedule above to see the spacing between meals:)
Is it good to leave 11month old baby sleep without having milk in the middle of the nights
It usually is, but I’d check with your pediatrician.
I have an 11 month old and he only has 2 bottles a day and he has two weeks till he is one. I know at one he starts cow milk but do i switch him completely or does he still get formula for a bit.
You’ll want to gradually mix them, check out this post on bottle weaning!
My Baby is 1yr old & 1 month, but everytime we feed him with some of solid foods, he always seems to vomit what he is eating and it fears us that he might get choke. What should I do? Then at night what is the best time to last feed him then when is the next?
You can give him a bedtime snack or if he’s still weaning that could be his bottle/nursing before bed. Breakfast is within 30 minutes of waking.
As far as solids go, I do have a post on transitioning to table foods, I highly recommend going there to check it out and grabbing the free printable too. Also, I’d check with your doctor, and consider feeding therapy, which can make a huge impact.
I would also check with your pediatrician to see if he is tongue tied! Sometimes this makes children gag and it is helped with a simple procedure and some OT.
Hello
My son is 11+ months. He takes a feed for his morning nap which he can sometimes do without, and afternoon nap- it puts him to sleep or he needs to be bounced…he also needs nursing to sleep at night and wakes up frequently for feeds at night too..any advise on how to wean him off nursing and bouncing, also how to put him to sleep without that. Especially during the night
So sorry this has been hard on you! We do have an article I think may help with transitioning from breast feeding. I’d try changing up his routine so that everything is different for him to start a new routine! You can read more in the article HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi! I’m so glad I found your site. My daughter turns one next week and I’m hoping you can help by pointing me in the right direction on what to do next. My daughter is breastfed and a great solid food eater. I nurse her in the morning, before naps, and at bedtime then her nanny gives her a 3oz breastmilk/2oz whole milk bottle 3x a week before her nap on the days my daughter is in her care. It looks like we’re doing it wrong… that instead of giving her milk before sleep we should be giving her milk after she wakes up. I’m not worried about her solid food intake, she is a great eater – we did baby lead weaning starting at 6 months and I truly believe that made all the difference. But here is my biggest concern, I nurse my daughter to sleep at night, I know its terrible!, but how can I stop this? Shes a great sleeper, 7pm-7am with one middle of the night nursing session. I am worried as I’m hoping to wean her in the coming weeks; first middle of the day bottle/nursing then morning, and lastly evening. What about middle of the night feedings? Any help you can offer is appreciated!
You guys are doing great, nothing wrong at all! I’d definitely try to wean from that middle of the night feeding, but you’ll have to decide if you’re okay with some tears and maybe Dad, if that’s an option, going in to comfort her.
I’d take away the night feeding before bed last, and that could take a couple of weeks or a month or so. It sounds like you guys are on the right track!
I have the same question! How do I transition her from needing milk to sleep? My daughter does bottles before her 2 naps and nurses before her bedtime.
If I just fed her first, and then snuggled/ rocked her for a couple of minutes and put her in her sleepsack in the crib I imagine she’d stand up, holding on to the rail, and scream until if I went to get her.
She does not want a comfort item, doesn’t use pacis….
Hi, the schedule is only showing 16 oz of liquid. One year olds need 40-44 oz of liquid a day (20% coming from food, which leaves at least 32 oz of liquid from a cup/bottle). There are 16 oz of liquid needs by cup/bottle missing from the schedule. Where is that supposed to be fitted in and what should it be? I know my son won’t drink 16 oz of water a day, we are lucky to get 4 oz.
The schedules shown are just examples and will vary from child to child. Milk should be around 16 oz. a day for a year old. Water should be available at all other times of the day. I typically recommend having a water cup that is on the table or within their reach at all times. Sometimes you may need to hand them their water or remind them to take a drink if it has been a while since they have had anything.
Hi
My little boy is turning one this week. I breastfeed him and although he does take the bottle during his stay at daycare, he wont take a bottle while he is with me. He still drinks ALOT during night time and I want to start his weaning process but I have no idea how to start or where to begin.
Any advise is welcome please
The weaning process can be tough. Have you check out my post on How to Stop Breastfeeding (when you’re ready). There’s a lot of tips in there that can help you out.
I offered him straw bottles since 8m but he doesnt seem to take it till 10m. After which we gave him munchkins 360 cups which he gladly takes. How can we train him to drink from straw?
Check out this post on How to Teach you Baby to Drink from a Straw.
Hi, I’ve been using these straw like cups with my 12 month old since we’ve started solids (he struggled with traditional sippy cups). I’m wondering what your thoughts are on these cups from a developmental perspective?
https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Transitions-Straw-Removable-Handles/dp/B079K7899F/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531149606&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=oxo%2Bstraw%2Btransitions&th=1
These cups with the handles are great! The straw size is a little large, but it looks pretty good. I’d use it with my kids.
Hi Alisha,
I love your site! However, I’m worried that I am starting too late. My daughter is now 13 months and still eats a majority of baby food as her diet. I try to get her to eat more table food but she shakes her head no and doesn’t want it. Used to give her 4 bottles of day of milk, varying in oz depending on the time of day for bottle, but going way over the recommended 16 oz/per day. I would give her the milk after she eats breakfast, lunch, and as a snack and then for her nighttime bottle before bed. If we are supposed to be giving them milk WITH their meals/snacks, when do they drink water? I thought you give water with meals and then give milk afterwards. Shouldn’t water be a big part of their diet as well? She also doesn’t like to pick a lot of stuff off her tray with her hands. She’ll eat cheerios, puffs, anything dry with her hands, but try to give her slices of bananas or avocados and she refuses! I stress all the time that we waited too long to push for table food and I hope you tell me its not too late!
Definitely water should be a big part of there diet. Water should be available in between meals and at all points of the day. I have some posts on helping toddlers with table foods that I think will be helpful. Check it out here.