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 beyond, 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 on safe preparation of infant formula, see our factsheet or watch our video
• It is recommended to only select formulas that have been approved by Health Canada, as they have strict manufacturing guidelines to help ensure product safety. Be mindful of marketing using social media of unapproved imported infant formulas
• If using powdered infant formula, be aware that mixing instructions are not the same from one brand to another. Be sure to always read the mixing instructions carefully. Mixing incorrectly can be dangerous to your baby’s health
• If bottles are used, bottle feed safely and hold your baby for every feed. Avoid propping a bottle – this is when you bottle feed your baby without holding them and the bottle is held up by another object (e.g., pillow, blanket). Propped bottle feeding systems are illegal to sell in Canada as they are unsafe and increase the risk for choking or breathing in (aspirating) the liquid
• Regardless of how you feed your baby, always 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 on:
  • Getting breastfeeding off to a good start, including what to expect in the early days and weeks
  • Breastfeeding supports, including chatting with a registered nurse and free breastfeeding clinic appointments, in-person and virtual
  • Learning how to hand express and storing expressed breastmilk
  • Breastfeeding and returning to work or school, including the Ontario Human Rights Commission and what an employer must do

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, offer your baby 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D₃ daily
• If you are exclusively offering commercial infant formula, extra vitamin D is not needed because it is 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
• Healthy, full-term babies have enough iron stored in their bodies for about six months
• Breastmilk contains adequate amounts of 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 

When to introduce solid foods

• Your baby does not need solid foods until about six months of age
• Wait until you see the following signs of readiness before offering solid foods. Signs of readiness include:
  • Baby holds their head up
  • Baby can sit up and lean forward
  • Baby lets you know when they are full
  • Baby tries to pick food up and put it in their mouth

Before you get started

• Wash your hands and clean food preparation surfaces before making food for your baby
• Seat your baby in an upright position (not reclined) in a highchair or secured booster using a safety harness. If they cannot sit upright and they are less than six months old, they may not be ready for solid foods
• Keep distractions like toys, TV or other screen devices away when feeding your baby

First foods

• Healthy, full-term babies have enough iron stored in their bodies for about the first six months
• Offer your baby iron-rich foods as their first food, such as:
  • Beef
  • Chicken and dark meat turkey
  • Legumes (e.g., beans, lentils)
  • Lamb
  • Pork
  • Eggs
  • Iron-fortified tofu
  • Iron-fortified baby cereal (e.g., rice, barley, oat, wheat)
• Once you have introduced iron-rich foods, offer them twice daily

Other foods

• After you have introduced iron-rich foods, the order of introducing other foods does not matter
• You can offer new foods daily (there is no need to wait a certain amount of time between new foods)
• Offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains (e.g., bread, pasta, rice) and protein foods (e.g., beans, chicken, cheese, chickpeas)
• Higher-fat foods made from milk can be offered. For example, choose yogurt and cottage cheese that is more than 2% M.F. For cheese, choose ones that are 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 these foods become typical foods to eat. They also are a source of vitamin C, which helps your baby’s body absorb iron
• Avoid honey (even pasteurized or cooked) until 12 months of age to lower the risk of botulism
• You can 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 including:
  • Eggs (both egg white and yolk)
  • Milk
  • Peanuts
  • Tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts)
  • Fish (choose ones that are low mercury)
  • Shellfish (e.g., clams, crab, lobster, scallops, shrimp, squid)
  • Sesame (includes Tahini, a sesame condiment or sauce)
  • Soy
  • Wheat
  • Mustard
• You can offer one new common food allergen per day
• If your baby has an allergic reaction to a food, stop offering that food immediately and make an appointment with your baby’s health care provider. If your baby has difficulty breathing or has another severe reaction such as swelling of the tongue or throat, call 911
• Once you have offered a common food allergen, continue to offer it a few times a week to help maintain tolerance
• Since some common food allergens like peanuts and tree nuts can be choking hazards, prepare them in a safe way. This includes:
  • Taking a small amount of smooth peanut/tree nut butter and adding an equal (or slightly less) amount of hot water. Stir well until dissolved. Once cooled, the mixture can be offered alone or added to an already tolerated food, such as infant cereal. You can also do this with tahini as a way to introduce sesame seeds
  • Adding a small amount of peanut powder (can be purchased at most grocery stores) into an already tolerated food and mix well
  • Spreading thinly smooth peanut/tree nut butter onto pieces of toast
  • Never feed peanut/tree nut butter directly from the container by spoon as it is a choking hazard
• Learn more about food allergies

Textures and self-feeding right from the start

• Offer your baby a variety of textures beginning right at six months. This includes soft, lumpy, tender-cooked mashed, ground, minced and diced pieces of food. You do not need to offer purees first or even offer purees at all
• Whether or not you call it baby-led weaning, offer diced or small pieces of soft foods and see how your baby responds. Even before they develop the pincer grasp, they can often palm the food and try to put it into their mouth. 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
• When possible, adjust the texture of what you are eating so you and your baby can enjoy eating the same foods together
• Your baby may want to feed themselves with their fingers or hold a small spoon or round-pronged fork. It may be messy however the more they practice, the better they get
• New textures may cause your baby to gag. This is a normal response and is your baby’s way to stop them from choking. However there are some foods that are choking hazards
• Avoid foods that are choking hazards. This includes foods that are:
  • Hard, small and round such as whole grapes, raw carrots, apples, nuts, fruit with pits or hot dogs
  • Sticky foods from a spoon such as peanut butter
  • Some of these foods can be made safer by grating or cutting them
  • 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. Trust that your baby knows how much they need to eat and drink
• Responding to your baby’s signs of hunger and fullness will help your baby have a healthy relationship with food
• 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
• You may start with offering solid foods once or twice daily, however, work towards offering solid foods three to four times per day. Once they are nine months, offer solid foods four to five times per day
• Solid foods can be offered before, after or between milk feedings
• There may be times that you baby is not interested in eating solid foods. That’s ok. Try again later
• Try a sample meal plan

Beverages

• For most of your baby’s first year, breastmilk will remain the main source of nutrition. Even after solid foods are introduced at six months, breastfeeding is recommended to continue for two years or beyond, or as long as you and baby wish to continue 
• If your baby is not breastfeeding or receiving expressed breastmilk, offer commercial infant formula. Health Canada has strict manufacturing guidelines and has approved some imported infant formulas. Be mindful of marketing using social media of unapproved imported infant formulas. For instructions on safe preparation of infant formula, see our infant formula factsheet or watch our video
• If bottles are used, bottle feed safely and hold your baby for every feed; do not prop the bottle. 3.25% M.F. (homogenized) cow’s milk can be their main milk source between nine to 12 month of age if your baby is eating a variety of foods, including iron-rich foods (e.g., beef, egg, beans, lentils, iron-fortified tofu) daily. If cow’s milk is their main milk source, limit the amount to 750 mL (3 cups) daily
• Teach your baby how to drink from an open cup by offering water when your baby is eating or between feeds. Tap water is safe to drink
• Avoid offering juice. There is no nutritional need for juice and it can increase the risk of dental decay
• Avoid all other beverages

Making food for baby at home

• Food prepared at home gives you more control over the ingredients and texture
• 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
  • They often blend meat and vegetables with fruit, which can limit your baby’s exposure to the taste of meat and vegetables
  • If you do buy food pouches, remove the food from the pouch into a bowl or onto a spoon instead of letting your baby eat directly from the pouch 
• There is no need for special baby products like rice rusks or food puffs. These highly-processed food products have little nutrition and if given in place of regular food, it can limit your baby’s exposure to textures and the important skill of learning to chew. Keeping the following in mind:
  • The images and words on packaging can be misleading. 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
  • For example, a package may have images of vegetables (a source of potassium) but only have a small amount of vegetable powder in the ingredient list. On the Nutrition Facts table, of there is less than 5% Daily Value for potassium, there is likely little to no vegetable in the product

Vitamin D

• Your baby needs vitamin D to develop strong bones
• All babies need extra vitamin D because they are not exposed to direct sunlight
• Offer your breastfed baby 400 IU (10 mcg) daily of vitamin D₃
• If you are offering a combination of breastmilk and commercial infant formula, offer your baby 400 IU (10 mcg) daily of vitamin D₃
• If you exclusively offering commercial infant formula, extra vitamin D is not needed because it is already added to the infant formula
• Talk to your child’s health care professional if you have questions about vitamin D supplementation

Other tips

• Be a good role model. Your baby learns eating habits from parents and other family members
• Rather than feeding your baby first, eat together and enjoy the same foods
• It may take time for your baby to learn about new foods. Be patient and offer new foods with no pressure. 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 young 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 making food for your child
• Offer the same foods to all family members. You don’t need to make a separate meal for your child
• You may need to cut, chop or grate some foods to make them safer 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. Foods that are good sources of iron include beef, dark meat chicken, legumes, eggs, iron fortified tofu, lamb and pork 
• Offer foods from all three food groupings for meals
• Offer a vegetable or fruit and one other food grouping 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 and beyond 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
• Offering beverages in an open cup helps with your child’s development and can prevent them from drinking too much milk. Offer an open cup at every meal or snack
• If they use a bottle, it is time to say goodbye to the baby bottle
• Avoid offering juice. There is no nutritional need for juice 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).

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

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 milk is offered, offer half cup (125 mL) servings in an open cup at meal or snack times. Two cups (500 mL) per day will provide protein, calcium and vitamin D without filling them up for meals

Enjoy family meals

The best and safest place to feed your child is at the family table. This includes snacks. Offer meals and snacks when your child is comfortably seated and supervised. Make eating a social and enjoyable time.

• Children who eat meals with their family on a regular basis are more likely to eat more vegetables and fruits and have better nutrient intakes
• Serve meals and snacks family style. This means food is offered in larger serving dishes at the table and passed around as everyone eats together
• Family style meals and snacks allow everyone at the table to take as much or a little as they want. Little hands may need some help at first passing dishes
• Family style meals help children use their motor skills and table manners
• Consider, but don’t cater to your child. New food can be scary for young children. Serve new foods along with familiar foods
• Children learn to like foods if they see their family eating and enjoying it. Keep mealtimes pleasant by not 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

NOTE: If dinner time doesn't work for your family, get together for breakfast or lunch instead.

For more information on cooking at home with fresh ingredients visit the Cooking in the Community page.

Trust your child to decide which foods to eat

Once you offer the food, trust your child to decide which foods to eat. Children will explore and learn to eat new foods. Letting 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 what and how much to eat.

• Be patient, you may need to offer the new food more than ten times before your child will learn to like it
• Allow your child to say “no thank you” or “more please”
• Young children use their senses when eating. Watch this video on sensory considerations at mealtimes
• 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. They will be more likely to eat it if they help prepare it
• 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

Trust your child to decide how much to eat

When children are hungry, they focus on eating. When children are full, their attention turns elsewhere. Let your child eat until they are full. Your child might eat a lot or a little. This is normal. Children are born with the ability to know how much food to eat for their own growth.

Don’t pressure or reward your child to eat more:

• When parents push their child to eat certain foods, children will like those foods less
• A child may develop negative feelings about food and eating when rewarded or pressured at the table
• A child may lose touch with their own internal signals of hunger and fullness

Young children are unpredictable eaters. This is normal. Your child’s appetite can change depending on:

• Their activity level
• Whether they are excited or tired
• If they not feeling well

Trust your child at the table

• Let your child decide whether they will eat or not and how much they will eat
• Some children eat quickly (five or ten minutes) and others take their time. Children are often done eating in about 15-20 minutes. Once they are done, remove the food without commenting on what they have eaten or how much
• Once they leave the table, meal or snack time is over. Regardless of how much they ate, continue to follow the routine of a meal or snack every two and a half to three hours

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

Watch this video to learn the signs of hunger and fullness of young children.

What about my child’s growth?

• Children come in different shapes and sizes and grow at different rates
• A child’s growth depends on genetics (how their parents grew)
• Healthy eating habits help a child grow at a healthy rate
• If you think your child is growing too fast or slow, talk to your child’s health care professional. They can track your child’s growth on a chart
• For more information about children’s growth, read Is my child growing well?