Feeding Babies and Young Children

• For the first six months, the only food or drink your baby needs is breastmilk. Breastfeeding is recommended for two years or as long as you and baby wish to continue
• If your baby is not breastfeeding or receiving expressed breastmilk, offer commercial infant formula. For instructions, see our infant formula factsheet or watch our video on safely preparing infant formula for your baby
• Select formulas approved by Health Canada. Be mindful of marketing for unapproved imported infant formulas
• If using powdered infant formula, be aware that mixing instructions will vary by brand. Ensure that you read mixing instructions carefully as incorrect mixing can be dangerous to your baby’s health
• If bottles are used, bottle feed safely and hold your baby for every feed
• Follow your baby's signs of hunger and fullness to know when and how much to offer them
• Visit the breastfeeding page for information and support

Vitamin D

• Your baby needs vitamin D to develop strong bones
• All babies need extra vitamin D starting at birth because they are not exposed to direct sunlight
• Offer your breastfed baby 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D₃ daily
  • If you are offering a combination of breastmilk and commercial infant formula, provide your baby with 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D₃ daily
• If you are exclusively offering commercial infant formula, extra vitamin D already added to the infant formula
  • Do not offer more than 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D daily unless instructed by your baby’s health care professional
• Talk to your baby's health care professional if you have questions about vitamin D supplementation

Iron

• Babies need iron for growth and development
• Breastmilk contains iron that is well absorbed. If you are not breastfeeding, infant formula has added iron
• Do not offer an iron supplement to your baby unless instructed by your baby’s health care professional 

Please note: Captions in Traditional and Simplified Chinese are available for this video. Set the YouTube Settings using the gear icon, then Subtitles/CC to select the language.

When to introduce solid foods

• Your baby does not need solid foods until about six months of age
• Before introducing solid foods, wait until your baby shows signs of readiness, such as:
  • Holding up their head up
  • Sitting upright and leaning forward
  • Showing when they are full
  • Trying to pick food up and bring it to their mouth

Before you get started

• Wash your hands and clean food preparation surfaces
• Seat your baby in an upright position in a highchair or secured booster using a safety harness
• Remove distractions like toys, TV or other screen devices

First foods

• Offer your baby iron-rich foods as their first food, such as:
  • Meat (beef, chicken, dark meat turkey, lamb, pork)
  • Legumes (for example: beans, lentils)
  • Eggs
  • Iron-fortified tofu
  • Iron-fortified baby cereal (for example: rice, barley, oat, wheat)
• Once you have introduced iron-rich foods, offer them twice daily

Other foods

• Avoid all forms of (pasteurized or cooked) honey until 12 months of age to lower the risk of botulism
• You can introduce new foods each day - there is no need to wait between providing different foods
• Offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains (e.g., bread, pasta, rice) and protein foods (for example: beans, chicken, cheese, chickpeas)
• Higher-fat foods made from milk can be offered. Choose yogurt and cottage cheese with more than 2% M.F. Choose cheeses that have more than 20% M.F.
  • Do not offer homogenized (3.25% M.F.) cow’s milk under nine months of age as their main milk
• As long as the texture is safe, you can offer most of the food you eat (see Textures and self-feeding right from the start below for more detail)
• Serve vegetables and fruits at every meal so they become familiar foods. They also provide vitamin C, which helps your baby’s body absorb iron
• Add herbs and spices but limit added sugar and salt
• If your child is on a vegan or vegetarian diet, careful meal planning is advised

Food allergies

• There is no need to delay the introduction of common food allergens
• Once your baby is six months, begin to introduce common food allergens, such as such as cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame (including tahini), wheat, soy, mustard, fish and shellfish
• You can offer one new common food allergen per day
• If your baby has an allergic reaction to a food, stop offering the food immediately and contact your baby’s health care provider
  • If your baby has a severe reaction, such as difficulty breathing, swelling of the tongue or throat, call 911 
• Once you have offered a common food allergen, continue to offer it regularly or a couple times a week to help maintain tolerance
• Since some common food allergens can be choking hazards, prepare them safely
• Learn more about food allergies

Textures and self-feeding

• Start offering your baby a variety of textures as soon as your baby reaches six months. This includes soft, lumpy, mashed, ground, minced and diced pieces of food. You do not need to start with purees or offer them at all
• Offer diced or small pieces of soft foods and see how your baby responds. It is ok if they just play with the food or put it into their mouth and spit it out 

• Learning to chew and self-feed are important developmental skills that take lots of practice
• Allow your baby’s feeding skill level to guide you on what textures to offer
• Your baby may want to feed themselves with their hands or hold a small spoon or round-pronged fork. It may be messy however the more they practice, the better they become
• New textures may cause your baby to gag. This is a normal response and is your baby’s way to stop them from choking
• Avoid foods that are choking hazards
  • If you are concerned your baby is choking, call 911

When and how much to offer

• Follow your baby’s signs of hunger and fullness to know when and how much to offer. This will promote a healthy relationship with food. Trust that your baby knows how much they need to eat and drink
• Your baby may be hungry if they:
  • Are excited when placed into their highchair
  • Smack their lips
  • Open their mouth or place their fist into their mouth
  • Lean forward or reach out for food
• Your baby may be full if they:
  • Turn away from the food
  • Close their mouth at food
  • Cover their mouth with their hands
  • Spit food out
• Begin by offering solid foods once or twice a day, then gradually increase to three to four times daily. By nine months of age, aim to provide solid foods four to five times per day
• Solid foods can be offered before, after or between milk feedings
• Sometimes your baby might not be interested in eating solid foods. Simply try again later
• Try a sample meal plan

Beverages

• For most of your baby’s first year, breastmilk should be their main source of nutrition. Even with the introduction of solid foods at six months, breastfeeding is recommended until two years, or as long as you and baby wish to continue
• Help your baby learn to drink from an open cup by offering water during meals or between feeds. Tap water is safe to drink
• Avoid offering juice as it has minimal nutritional value and it can increase the risk of dental decay
• Avoid all other beverages

Preparing baby food at home

• You do not need special food or equipment to make food at home. Babies can eat the same food as the rest of the family. Watch our Making food for your baby video for more tips
• Store-bought pre-made baby food is often packaged in squeeze pouches. Keep the following in mind:
  • The texture is generally a smooth puree and may limit your baby’s exposure to textures
  • Meat and vegetables are often blended with fruit, which can limit your baby’s exposure to their natural flavours
  • Do not let your baby eat directly from food pouches, instead remove the food from the pouch into a bowl or onto a spoon
• Rice rusks or food puffs are highly-processed food products that have little nutrition and they can limit your baby’s exposure to textures and learning to chew
  • Read the Nutrition Facts table and ingredient list to know what is in the product. Review this quick guide for more information on reading labels

Other tips

• Be a good role model. Your baby learns eating habits from parents and other family members
• Be patient when offering new foods. Babies learn about food using all of their senses. Touching and smelling food is part of the learning process
• When you begin solid foods, you will notice your baby’s bowel movements change texture, colour and odour. This is normal and not a sign of constipation. If your think your baby is constipated, talk to your baby’s healthcare provider
• Take care of your baby’s gums and teeth by cleaning their gums, inside their cheeks and the roof of their mouth with a clean, soft, damp cloth every day. As soon as teeth appear, brush them gently using a small, soft toothbrush and water. Brush 30 minutes after each feeding or at least twice a day
• Bring your baby to the dentist by their first birthday
• Talk to your baby’s health care professional if you have questions about their growth

When feeding your child, you both have a role in feeding. It is important to let your child lead the way.

It is up to you to decide:

• What foods to offer
• When to feed your child
• Where to feed your child

Trust your child to decide:

• Which foods to eat (of the foods you offer)
• How much to eat

By trusting your child, you will encourage them to be a healthy eater. Learn more about common feeding challenges and solutions that will help you and your children enjoy mealtime.

Foods and beverages to offer

Parents decide what food comes into the home and what is served to the family. Follow these tips:

• Wash your hands and clean any food preparation surfaces before cooking
• You may need to cut, chop or grate some foods to make them safer for young children
• Let your child feed themselves, and offer a variety of textures
• Continue to offer iron-rich foods two to three times each day
• Offer foods from all three food groupings for meals
• Offer a vegetable or fruit with each snack
• Offer fish that is lower in mercury
• Breastmilk can continue to be an important source of nourishment into toddlerhood. Continue to breastfeed or offer breastmilk for up to two years or for as long as you and your child would like
• For breastfed children less than two years of age, a daily supplement of 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D₃ is recommended
• If fluid milk is offered, offer two cups (500 mL) of milk each day if they are no longer breastfeeding
• Offer beverages in an open cup at every meal or snack
• If they use a bottle, it is time to promote your child’s development and say goodbye to the baby bottle
• Avoid offering juice as there is little nutritional value and it can increase the risk of dental decay
• Vegetarian and vegan diets, when planned carefully, can meet a growing child’s nutritional needs. If you have question, talk to your child’s health care professional or registered dietitian

For more information about feeding your child, read Feeding young children (one to five years).

Review the Sample Four-Week Menu for a preschool-aged child for meal and snack inspirations

Set a meal and snack routine

Starting at 12 months of age, meal and snack routines are important. Follow these tips when deciding when to feed your child:

• Offer three meals and two to three snacks per day
• Schedule meals and snacks two and a half to three hours apart. This will ensure your child is hungry but not starved when arriving at the table
• Offer water if your child is thirsty between meals and snacks
• If you choose to offer milk, serve about a half cup (125 mL) in an open cup at meal or snack times to avoid making your child too full

Enjoy family meals

The best and safest place to feed your child is at the family table. Make eating a social and enjoyable time.

• Serve meals and snacks family style. This helps children develop their motor skills and table manners. Also, children who eat meals with their family are more likely to have better nutrition 
• Consider, but don’t cater to your child. Serve new foods along with familiar foods
• Children learn to like foods if they see their family eating and enjoying it. Avoid commenting on what or how much your child is eating (or not eating) and instead, have enjoyable and positive conversation
• Keep mealtimes free of toys, TV, tablets, phones or other electronics

What about my child’s growth?

• Children come in different shapes and sizes and grow at different rates
• If you think your child is growing too fast or slow, talk to your child’s health care professional
• For more information about children’s growth, read Is my child growing well?

Trust your child to decide which foods to eat and how much

Allowing your child take control of their eating will support their development of healthy self-esteem and mental health

• Once you get the meal or snack to the table, let your child choose which foods they eat
• Bring your child to the grocery store and shop together
• Have your child help put groceries away
• Let your child help to prepare the food
  • Even two and three-year-olds can help with preparing simple recipes. Learn about kitchen skills for every age
• Read the following resources for more information on how to change your child’s yuck to yum and practical tips on how to manage mealtimes
• Children eat when they are hungry and shift their attention when they are full. Let your child decide how much to eat whether it is a lot or a little. This is normal. Kids are born knowing how much food they need for healthy growth.
• Be patient, you may need to offer the new food more than ten times before your child will accept it
• Allow your child to say “no thank you” or “more please”

Avoid:

• Reminding to eat more
• Offering rewards or bribes for eating
• Making special foods to tempt children
• Making children try “one bite” of a food
• Allowing children to eat anything they want to make sure they eat something
• Going back into the kitchen to get them something else if they refuse what you prepared
• Offering snacks in the living room or away from where they eat their meals
• Chasing after a child with a spoon to get them to eat
• Criticizing or over-praising about how much or what types of foods are eaten
• Keeping them at the table for longer than 30 minutes