Introducing three meals a day

With solids replacing milk as your baby's main source of nutrition, what should he be eating and when?

In the early stages of weaning, eating solids is more about getting your baby used to the taste and texture of food than about filling him up. Until a year, a lot of the calories and nutrients he needs will come from his milk feeds. But as he becomes more established on solids, you'll find you need to introduce more meals and snacks and reduce the amount of milk he takes.

Most babies are ready to eat three meals a day once they’re about 10 months old. By this point, your baby should be able to sit up on his own and is moving on from purees to chunkier foods. He’ll also be expending more energy by crawling and possibly taking his first steps. This means he'll be needing more in the way of solids: a good breakfast followed by either two hot meals, or one hot meal and one lighter or finger-food meal, such as sandwiches or scrambled egg.

How to fit in three meals a day

Children love routine, so find a mealtime schedule that fits in with your lifestyle and try to stick with it. That way your baby will come to expect food at certain times of the day. Fitting in three meals a day can be tricky, especially with naps and activities to cram in too, and you may need to experiment slightly with timings to find a schedule that suits your baby.

Most mums aim for breakfast to be finished by 8am, then have lunch around 11.30-12noon and tea at 4.30-5pm. Don't worry too much if your baby seems to be eating at slightly odd times; if he usually goes down for a nap at 11.30am, you might find you have to postpone lunch until he wakes at 1.30pm. As he gets older and moves from two naps to one, it will be easier to implement a more grown-up feeding routine.