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
Did You Pin This?
You’ll want to check this out again! Pin it here or hover/tap on any image to get the pin it button.
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.
My baby girl is 1year and refused to eat accept breast milk what do Ido and I want to wean her and she is weighing 6.8kg
Thanks for reaching out! For tips for weaning from the breast you can check out this article. But also, for working on eating of Table Foods, we do have a free workshop that will help get you started. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Thank you so much for your all your resources they are really informative! My only question with this schedule is how much formula should I be giving my baby at each feeding while weaning from bottle? Typically she takes 5oz every 5 hours. I also cannot get he off the middle of the night feeding. She wakes up every night at 3am crying until she gets a bottle. I try to make these bottles smaller (about 3/4oz)
Hey Estella,
You can use this guide for nutritional content. Hope that helps!
Best,
Desiree
Thank you so much for a very informative article, my now 10.5 months old baby he 3 bottles of expressed milk per day 8 oz per bottle and 2 meals around 10 oz each ( breakfast of cereal and fruits and lunch of veggies and carbs and protein ) he is not very happy when he drinks his milk wants to stop before finishing plus gives me a very hard time at lunch. What do you suggest should I eliminate the middle of the day bottle and give him a third meal ? Or give him half a bottle and half food ? He is my first baby and I’m very confused
Hey Nada,
Since he is 10.5 months, I’d work on providing his milk with his meals. The milk is still his main source of calories, but he’s getting closer to that 1 year mark. So getting him in a routine of providing the milk with all of his meals will be helpful.
Best,
Desiree
Hi! I have a 12.5 month old. I love your example schedules but was wondering how milk comes into play if still nursing? My kid wakes up at 7 and wants to nurse right away. Do you recommend delay giving breakfast or give it right after? Thanks for all the advice!
If nursing in the AM, you can push breakfast back 30 minutes or so… Each child is different, so I’d see if he’s eating a good amount with that time span. If not, then you can try to adjust to what works your child.
Best,
Desiree
Hello…
I’m a mother of a 15 month old boy.. I am really having difficulties of feeding him even letting him drink his milk (bottle feed). When he turns 8 months and I started for baby weaning, it turns very well. He tries to eat small foods that I put into his table specially vegetables. But when he reached 11 month, he started refusing table foods that I offer. I tried feeding him with rice and soup and other varieties of solid foods. Sometimes he swallows it but most of the time he spit it or he’ll shut his mouth hard so that food from spoon won’t enter his mouth. He plays and thows fruits and vegetables that i offer him (when those are his favorite foods when he’s just starting baby weaning). He doesn’t even want to drink milk when he’s awake. So the only time that i can make sure that he’ll drink it is when he’s near asleep (that gives me a hard time to teach him holding the bottle by his own while drinking his milk.) I am really worried about what’s happening and I am hoping that someone could help me what to do. Your help/suggestions will be very much appreciated. You may email me @ kgonalacerna@gmail.com
Hey Katee,
Thanks for reaching out! If you haven’t yet seen our free workshop, I’d recommend starting there!! I’d keep working on having him play and touch a variety of foods (even outside of mealtimes) You can save your seat for the workshop HERE
Best,
Desiree
Do you have a printable version of the sample schedules
Hey Chelsey,
At this time we do not, but we will keep that in mind!
Best,
Desiree
Good morning! My son is about to turn a year old on Monday. My question is about the 12 month schedule. You have it listed to feed breakfast at 7:30-8, about 30 minutes after waking. My son wakes at 6 because we leave by 7 for daycare so we generally feed him breakfast around 6-6:30. Is it feasible to give him a snack around 9:30 before his morning nap since 6:30 to 12 for lunch is a pretty long time? If so, should milk also be given at the 9:30 snack or just water? Thanks!
Hey Rebecca,
YES! Add the snack in there, you are looking for around 2.5/3 hours in between each meal, unless they are napping and its a longer break. You can provide milk with all snacks/meal times. The goal is to make sure there is no milk in between and just water so that he is hungry for food during the appropriate times!
Best,
Desiree
I’ve read this and your weaning article- very helpful! Any advice on how to use this schedule when a 12 month old is still nursing (no bottles) and is not drinking cow’s milk yet? I’m particularly unsure of when to offer so it doesn’t interfere with meals. Is it better to offer before or after meals? Thanks!
Hey Wendi,
So glad you are finding some helpful information. If your ready you can try to do breast milk in a straw cup to see if she takes to that better than the straw. You’d want to do feedings after meals, but not too close so she’s not making that connection that she doesn’t need to eat table foods as she will fill up on milk! Hope that helps!
Best,
Desiree
Hi,
My one year old is in a similar situation. What would be considered too close in time for a meal and nursing session?
Hey Jazmin,
If you are still nursing then I’d follow more on the 11 month old schedule looking at doing a nursing session 30 minutes before a meal. If you are weaning this off, then it’s best to provide the milk with each of the meals!
Best,
Desiree
My son turned a year old on January 1st and we started baby led weaning at around 7 months, with the except of being spoon fed cereal and yogurt. He did really well until about a month ago when he started getting to be a fussy eater and barely wants to eat anything I serve him; almost everything ends up on the floor. He takes 2 naps a day, but he’s always been super inconsistent despite us doing exactly the same thing 99% of the time (naps can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 90 minutes). He’s also still nursing and refuses milk (in a bottle or cup – regular, sippy or straw – even mixed with 80% breast milk, warmed or cool…). I want to wean him off the breast as he’s super dependent on it to fall asleep at naps and at night, generally waking at least twice a night still. I just don’t know what to tackle first…should I wait until this “hunger strike” ends to wean him or just start cutting out a feed at one of his nap times? I’m afraid since he’s barely eating solids at the moment, he’s not going to get enough nutrition once he’s no longer breastfeeding; he’s already on the smaller side in the 25-30th percentile. Any help would be much appreciated!
Hey Jade,
We can totally understand where you are coming from and how hard this is! My question would be to think about when you are offering the breast milk. Is he not eating much solids because he is just waiting on breast milk rather than solid foods? Or is the spacing not far enough apart so that he is not hungry. Depending on what you think could be happening you can try to drop a feed or work on scheduling such as in the post to space meals out for having him be hungry for solids!
Best,
Desiree
I can’t give my 11 month old too many table foods because she still has no teeth so what am I supposed to do?
Hey Lauren,
That is a common misconception that kids need teeth to chew, their jaws are incredibly strong and made to chew. You can check out this List Idea of finger foods for your child!
Best,
Desiree
Hi. I have an 11 month that we are trying to get year to turn a year. We have already dropped the two daytime bottles, but are stuck mainly on the morning bottle. He is consistently waking up at 545. We have always given him a bottle at 6. Breakfast usually isn’t into 7:30(at home) or 8:30(daycare) how do I switch him over when those times are so far off from his waking time. He jus cries and is so hungry when he wakes up. I mean come on so am I! Lol. Nighttime bottle should be fine. I will just have to hold off on supper another half hour. Also do you recommend giving the milk with the meal or after the meal, and water with the meal? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Maybe we can get him to sleep in longer with some kind of method. Thanks!
Hey Amber,
Thanks for reaching out we know how hard this can be. The morning may be the last bottle to go. I’d just make sure that he had a good dinner and possibly snack before bedtime to hopefully decrease the hunger in the am, sometimes the schedule can’t be perfect so I’d try to adjust to fit your needs. We do recommend Milk with meals and then water in between so they do have time in between meals to be hungry and not filling up on milk! Hopefully this continues to get better for you!
Best,
Desiree
Hi. I have a 12 month old who is having some eating challenges. We did baby led weaning since 6 months and she was doing fine…not eating too much but tasting everything. I wasn’t worried because she was having breastmilk. Last 2 months feeding her is a challenge. She will only eat if completely distracted ( in the park, store, dad playing with her etc). She will not open her mouth unless fully distracted no matter how hungry.if distracted she opens her mouth wide and lets me put the food in. If in the high chair she just keeps dropping her food on the floor and none in her mouth. It’s getting exhausting having to constantly find new ways to feed her. I hate that I’m doing this but not sure how to ensure she gets the calories she needs ( she only takes 4-5 oz of milk a day as she refuses all the rest ). Her doctor says to just offer her the food in the high chair and she won’t let herself starve. I tried this for 1 day. All she ate all day was 1/2 of an egg. Any advice. Thank you
Hey Sara,
We get it and do believe that this is not true advice for all kids! We have a free workshop video series, I think you’d get some great insight from! Sign Up Now as the videos are only available for a limited time!
Best,
Desiree
Hi, my baby is 21 months old and still prefers pureed food. He refuses table food and even a small chunk in his food makes him gag and he throws up the entire food that he ate. We are concerned at this point as he will be 2 years old in another 3 months. He drinks whole milk at 6am ( while sleeping), wakes up between 9 and 10am and breakfast is usually between that time, lunch around 2 pm. He takes a nap between 3 to 5.30pm. He drinks milk at around 5.30pm and dinner around 7.30pm. He drinks another bottle of milk at 9.30pm and goes to bed at 10.00pm. He refuses to put anything in his mouth even the snacks like yogurt melts and other flavored puffs. He licks on cookies but doesn’t take a bite. How can we get him eat regular food. Please help. Thank you
Hey Sangeetha,
We hear you, this can be hard and we understand. You are doing great and trying to figure out his feeding journey. I’d try to only provide milk during meals at this time as providing between meals can decrease their appetite to want to try any foods. You can also complete some food play with him to get him used to touching a variety of textures!! Check our our free workshop for more ideas and transitioning to table foods. Save your seat
Best,
Desiree
Hello, I am trying to get my 13 month old off of the bottle but when he drinks milk or water out of anything else (I’ve tried various sippy cups, straw cups, open, etc.) he almost always spits it out or lets it dribble. Do you have any recommendations regarding this? He also spills a lot of food while he eats and puts his fingers in his mouth and the food comes out. I am worried he isn’t going to be getting enough. Thank you.
Hey Katharine,
I get where you are coming from!! Transitioning from a bottle can be difficult and we always seem to try a variety of cups with no success. What you are saying here as well as paired with the food coming out of his mouth, I’m thinking there may be some oral motor skills to work on first to help strengthen his face/mouth muscles to assist with drinking and feeding. Take a look at this article here. It will explain what we mean by oral motor skills as well 🙂
Hope this helps, please reach out if you have any other questions!
Best,
Desiree
Hi! Thanks so much for this post. I have a question regarding the 11 month old schedule. For the mid morning and afternoon bottles, it says to serve milk in a straw cup if we were able to wean them from the bottle/breast for that feeding. Are you referring to formula in the straw cup or actual milk? I am in the process of doing this now with my 11.5 month old, but wanted to double check!
Hey Kim, thanks for reaching out, so glad you are following along with the schedule here to help your child. The “milk” is going to depend where you are with your child!! If you have given straight milk and they are drinking that, then it is fine. You really should try to do a mixture so 25% Milk/75% of formula or breast milk for a few days to see if they tolerate the milk well, I would be doing this closer to turning 1. The schedule is helping you make the transition to drinking any kind of milk from a straw and open cup so that you can transition away from bottle as well. After they tolerate the mixture, you would then increase and do 50/50 a few days, then 75/25 till you are at 100% milk with the goal to be on straight milk after they turn 1, or when you are ready to make that transition!! Hope this helps and makes sense, but reach out if you have any more questions!!
Best,
Desiree
My 12 month old daughter is drinking toddler transition formula which her doctor recommended, and I’m having troubles giving her whole milk. She doesn’t seem to like it and will only drink a ounce or two at a time. I have been putting milk in with her toddler formula. Any advice?
Thanks for reaching out! I’d try to mix it in slowly overtime, so that it is a less noticeable change. So you can add 25% of milk (or lower if she’s still not liking the taste), wait a few days and continue at the same rate, then add 50% milk, wait a few days and continue with the 50%. Keep continuing this until she’s drinking the milk.
Best,
Desiree
Hi Alisha,
Thank you for all your help and advice! So my son is just over a year, and we started cows milk, (and trying to wean completely off nursing/breastmilk) but he doesn’t want to take it via zippy cup or straw. He drinks his water via straw cup or sippy cup and does fine with it! But the second you put cows milk in those, he won’t drink it. I even tried mixing it with breast milk. He will drink the entire thing (3 part cows, 1 part breastmilk) if it is in a bottle. Any suggestions as I would like to get him completely off the bottle AND the boob;)
Yes! In fact I have two posts for you. Check out weaning from bottle and weaning from the breast for lots of specific tips!
How much protein should 1 year old be eating per day? Aren’t they already getting a lot of protein from the 16 oz of whole milk per day? Thanks!
Hey Kelsey,
We have an article all on portion sizes from a dietitian, you can read about it HERE. Hope this helps!
Best,
Desiree
Hi alisha,
My son is 17 months old and he weighs 8kg. He barely eats anything but breast milk. Any tips on what we should do to have him start eating actual food?
I am happy you found our site and are looking at a feeding schedule. We understand transitioning to table foods can be tricky!! This article may be helpful with the transitioning 🙂
https://yourkidstable.com/how-to-transition-your-baby-or-toddler/
Hi Mohammad, this is my girl exactly. I was wondering how it’s going and if anything helped? We are desperate…
I just came across your website and this article has already been so helpful. My son just turned 11 months, he is exclusively breastfed, nursing usually five times a day. I am leaving town in three weeks and will be gone from him for a week. I have started the weaning process and want to be done by the time I leave town, but he just will not drink either pumped milk or formula from bottle or sippy cup/straw cup. Multiple people have tried. Do you have any recommendations on what to do? My thoughts are to drop a feeding about every 4 days before we go but I don’t know what to do if he won’t drink any milk from cups to replace those feedings?? I have about 55 ounces of pumped milk left. It would be so helpful to get some insight from you!! Thank you in advance!
Hi Sarah! So glad you found our post helpful! We know how hard weaning can be. I’d really try to focus on having him in the same positioning as he would if he was breastfeeding, making sure you are not nearby and have someone else keep trying to feed him (since you will be out of town soon). Making sure to find that “just hungry” window can play a huge factor as well- where he’s hungry, but not fussy and starving, so that he has more patience with trying the cup or accepting solid foods. Your thought of taking away one feeding at a time is also a great idea! Start by eliminating the easier feedings first. But remember to continue offering either breast milk or formula until he turns 1 year old. You can find more tips in this post here!
Best,
Kalyn