11 Month Old Meal Plan, Baby Food Ideas, Recipes and Schedule

Baby food for 11 months

At this age your baby's nutrition comes from solid foods and breastmilk/formula.

A baby should be eating 750 - 900 calories per day, with about 400 - 500 calories still coming from breastmilk/formula.

All the food you give to your baby at this age should be finger food, to allow your child to develop their pincer grasp and oral motor development.

You can even start giving them some starter cutlery to explore and play with.

However it is possible you are still feeding your baby purees. If so, you should be transitioning away at this age (unless there are developmental reasons not to). You can learn more about how to do that safely and successfully in the Starting solids - how to transition to finger foods guide.

These meal plans were developed by Dora Babic-Cikos, Phd, our resident nutritionist.

You can check out her book Wean With Confidence for a full 6-12 Month Meal Plan here (7 months of nutritionist-made meal plans and over 100 recipes).

Foods to avoid

Baby can basically eat all foods at this stage, except:

• Cow’s milk – digestive system not yet adapted
• Low-fat milk and dairy products – cause excessive intake of protein and low intake of essential fats
• Honey – can cause botulism
• Salt – kidneys not sufficiently developed
• Fruit juices – high sugar content
• Unpasteurized products – can contain dangerous bacteria
• Smoked & cured meats / processed food – excessive salt intake
• High mercury fish (fresh tuna, halibut, grouper, shark) – excessive intake of mercury
• Chocolate, especially dark – caffeine content

How much breastmilk/formula does a 11 month old baby need?

Amounts of breastmilk/formula are approximate for this age, adjusted for the nutrient content of the other meals.

As before, if your child wants more or less throughout the day, feel free to feed on demand.

The amounts per meal can also be split into multiple meals.

The baby should still not be having any cow's or goat's milk, unless used in cooking.

How much water should I give an eleven month old baby?

Ideally, you would also give your child 8-10 oz (240ml - 300 ml) of water in addition to the below as well.

Note that different kinds of food also contain different amounts of water so that will vary with a different menu.

With 3 meals you can split the water between each of them.

However, at this stage it also makes sense to offer a little water in between meals as well – just not too close to liquid meals (breast or bottle feeding) as it can interfere with their appetite.

How to use this meal plan?

Following the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association and World Health Organization we suggest you introduce solid foods one by one and for at least a day at a time.

All the recipes are to be served as finger food, to allow your child to develop their pincer grasp and oral motor development.

Because of physical differences, growth spurts, or teething, your child may need/want more or less food than what’s proposed. This is completely normal as every child is unique.

The idea is to offer the proposed average amount of food needed and to go from there.

If however, you need or want personalized advice or have any concerns related to eating, please speak to your pediatrician or a pediatric nutritionist.

Meal plans and baby food charts for other ages are available in the baby food charts section such as Meal plan for 6 month old baby, 7 month old baby food chart, 8 month old baby food chart, 9 month old baby food chart, 10 month old baby food and diet chart or the 10 month old meal plan and the 1 year old baby food chart.

Free baby meal planner

Download, print and stick to your fridge this easy to use meal planner for your baby. Click here to download the PDF Meal Planner for Baby.

Feeding tips

• offer foods one by one to control for allergies
• start offering bite-sized pieces of food to your baby to help them develop pincer grasp (soft food the size of a pinky fingernail)
• offer small servings of food so child does not get overwhelmed
• always be present when baby is eating
• avoid salt and sugar
• no honey before 1 and no cow's milk or goat's milk unless cooking
• have a great bib to minimize cleaning
• serve food in a suction bowl so baby can scoop food out themselves
• teach them to drink little sips from an open cup from the beginning
• notice when baby is full because they will start turning their head away, clamp lips, throw food on the floor, spit food out, push food away
• start teaching them simple baby sign language (ideally to say "eat", "milk" and "water" so they can tell you when they are hungry)