My 12-month-old has been eating solid food since she was 5 months old. We did a combination of purees (mostly so she would eat veggies) and baby led weaning (everything else). This is something I am really passionate about and you can read more about why I chose baby led weaning here. Let’s get into it! This is what my 12 month old eats in a day. 

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Breakfast & First Bottle – 

Isla starts off the day with some warm milk while she wakes all the way up. Anyone else’s toddler take a bit to fully way up and not be a total grump? Haha. After about half an hour, it’s time for her to  eat breakfast so I put her in her highchair and give her some cheerios, graham crackers or toast to munch on while I slice her some fruit. I’ve learned the hard way to not give her all her food at once because she will get excited and throw it on the floor. She always has fruit for breakfast, typically banana (Her favorite) but she also eats strawberry, raspberry, grapes or kiwi. Isla will not eat oranges. She despises them. I don’t know if it’s a texture thing or what.

These are my favorite baby forks and spoons (made from recycled milk jugs and such fun colors!)

While she is eating her fruit, I will make her some scrambled eggs with shredded cheese or French toast if she hasn’t already had toast (mom hack: use a pizza cutter to cut toast or eggs. so much easier).  She loves eggs and has been eating those and strawberries since she was about 6 months old, even though her doctor flipped when I told him. Apparently there are some allergies that can developed with those foods. He calmed down when I said she hadn’t had any allergies to anything and she loves strawberries. 

I will then sit with her and encourage her to eat. I give her some water to sip while she eats. We don’t give Isla juice. I find that she doesn’t need the added sugar and it seems to cause diaper rashes when we have had to give her apple juice for constipation. We try to avoid it all together. 

Snack Time #1 – 

For her first snack,  I’ll give her some goldfish, apple sauce, or string cheese and a cup of milk. This usually is right when she wakes up from her first nap at about 10:30. She doesn’t eat her snacks in the highchair. I just give them to her while she plays. We loved using these snack cups! They worked great especially for the car.

Lunch Time – 

For lunch she will have a peanut butter or cream cheese sandwich, or some sliced turkey, or  grilled chicken strips, some pasta, a cheese quesadilla , or sometimes she will have dinner leftovers from the night before. I try to do a source of protein for all 3 meals. I also try to look for sources of iron because at her 12 month check up she was a little low. When she is teething I will put a strawberry slice into this silicon container and freeze it. She loves that. 

Snack Time #2 – 

For her second snack she will have a yogurt typically or some grapes. I slice the grapes long ways and then half them again. This snack is usually had when we are running errands or when she wakes up from her nap. 

If we are out I will take some crunchy snacks (just in case) and maybe an apple sauce or yogurt pouch. This is the kind we buy. Of course, she has never turned down waffle fries or Chic-Fil-A nuggets either if we don’t have any other options and are running around. 

Dinner Time – 

For dinner,  I’ll do some spiral pasta with a red sauce is her favorite. She also LOVES steamed veggies. If we have steak, pork chops, or grilled chicken then she will have that too. We season her food and give her usually a main dish (protein) with two sides (veggie and starch). She eats pretty much everything that we do except we don’t give her anything too spicy. She eats tuna casserole, salmon, stuffed bell peppers, spinach, kale, sweet potato, yellow potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots and LOVES spaghetti squash – especially with my homemade alfredo sauce! (Recipe on my instagram highlights)

These are our favorite cups to use. They don’t spill but they still get used to lifting a cup to drink. We love these cups with the weighted straws for milk. She seems to want to drink milk all at once so a straw is faster. 

Last Bottle of the Day – 

Once dinner is done, we give her a bath and let her wind down for 30-45 minutes. This is when we will give her a final bottle for the day and she will go to bed soon after. At this point, she has a full belly and is typically ready to go right to sleep!

I hope this helped you if you’re getting stuck deciding what to feed your baby. It’s so easy to get stuck using the same things over and over. Isla’s foods are always changing so I’ll post an update if her tastes change.