One of the most common questions parents ask when starting their baby’s weaning journey is: How many meals should my baby be having each day? It’s completely normal to feel unsure, especially when there’s so much conflicting advice out there. The truth is, every baby is different, and the transition from milk to solid foods happens at their own pace. But don’t worry, I’m here to guide you through the general recommendations so you can feel confident in your baby’s mealtime routine.
How many meals in the early days of weaning?
The early days of weaning are really about exploration, practice and skill development, NOT getting lots of food into your baby. This means milk intakes are likely to stay the same and the food is just a supplement to their usual milk feeds.
It’s important to start with ONE meal a day initially during weaning. There are several reasons for this:
- Up until now babies have ONLY had milk, so solid foods are quite experimental for tiny tummies and offering a lot of complicated foods for them to digest and absorb can take time. It’s really good to go in gently so their digestive system has time to get on board.
- It’s quite a lot of new skills to learn – using cutlery, using a cup, sitting still in one place etc, so we want to take it a little slowly to allow baby to gradually get used to this new routine.
- We don’t want foods to very quickly take over milk intakes. Milk is still important and should provide the majority of calories right up until around 10-12 months of age. Starting with one meal and building up to two and three can help this transition to be a bit more gradual and save plenty of space for all important milk.
How many meals per day by age?
6- 7 months
Babies will all move through weaning at their own paces, some will really take to weaning and others will be a little slower to grasp the concept. Both are OK. If your baby really enjoys weaning, it’s Ok to move a little faster through offering meals as long as the meals aren’t heavily displacing milk feeds. So between 6-7 months of age your baby might be having 1 meal and then gradually move to two and maybe even three meals a day.
Each meal only needs to be small spoonfuls to begin with and keep their milk intake the same. I have a whole factsheet on the best first foods to start them on.
7 – 9 months
Between 7-9 months of age. If your baby hasn’t moved to two meals it’s definitely the time to start offering two meals each day and some babies may be happily enjoying three early on in this age range. Go at your baby’s pace and try to bring them into your meal times as much as possible.
Make sure you are offering plenty of different foods and encouraging some independence with self feeding.
9 – 12 months
By 9 months you ideally would like your baby to be eating 3 meals a day, each day and to have a nice routine around meal times now. Also it’s good to try and balance out the meals you’re offering to your baby so they are starting to get the right nutrients they need each day. If your baby hasn’t taken to weaning, check out the factsheet I have on this topic for some helpful advice.
What counts as a meal?
The size of a meal will depend on your baby’s appetite, age and other factors that can change from day to day like illness, milestones, teething for example. There are no set guides for babies portions during weaning, it’s important to listen to their own appetite cues. If you would like to get a clearer idea of the recommended portion sizes then check out our portion guide during weaning.
How to know when to progress to another meal?
Look for signs of hunger and fullness – if they are increasingly eating a good amount at a meal then you could try and introduce another meal. Signs they are wanting more could include not filling up enough on milk and wanting more feeds.
Be flexible instead of using strict schedules – once you have set up a routine, its good to stick to it consistently but you don’t have to be so rigid. There will be days they won’t eat as much and days they will eat more, so being flexible and being guided by your baby is best.
If you’re looking for more advice around this topic, check out my guide on Moving onto three meals a day during weaning.