At 11 months old, babies eat a wide variety of soft solid foods alongside breast milk or formula. This is an exciting stage: your baby likely has a pincer grasp, can pick up small pieces of food, and is ready for three meals a day plus snacks. Breast milk or formula still provides a significant share of calories, but solid food is now a major part of the diet.
What a Typical Day of Eating Looks Like
An 11-month-old generally eats three solid meals and one or two snacks per day, with breast milk or formula offered at each meal and sometimes in between. The American Academy of Pediatrics outlines a sample day that looks something like this:
- Breakfast: 2 to 4 ounces of cereal or one scrambled egg, 2 to 4 ounces of mashed or diced fruit, plus breast milk or 4 to 6 ounces of formula
- Morning snack: Breast milk or 4 to 6 ounces of formula with 2 to 4 ounces of diced cheese or cooked vegetables
- Lunch: 2 to 4 ounces of yogurt, cottage cheese, diced beans, or meat, plus 2 to 4 ounces of cooked yellow or orange vegetables, and breast milk or formula
- Afternoon snack: A whole grain cracker or teething biscuit with 2 to 4 ounces of soft fruit and a few ounces of water
- Dinner: 2 to 4 ounces of diced poultry, meat, or tofu, 2 to 4 ounces of cooked green vegetables, 2 to 4 ounces of soft whole grain pasta or potato, diced fruit, and breast milk or formula
Before bedtime, you can offer breast milk or 6 to 8 ounces of formula. If your baby drinks milk right before sleep, follow with a sip of water or brush their teeth afterward.
How Much Breast Milk or Formula
At 11 months, breast milk or formula is still important but takes a back seat to solid food compared to earlier months. Breastfed babies typically nurse about four times in 24 hours. Formula-fed babies drink around 6 to 7 ounces per feeding, three to four times a day, with no nighttime feeds needed at this age. That works out to roughly 18 to 28 ounces of formula daily.
This is also a good time to start offering formula or breast milk in a cup rather than a bottle. The goal is to wean off the bottle by 12 to 15 months.
Best Foods for 11-Month-Olds
Your baby can eat most of the same foods your family eats, as long as they’re prepared in soft, small pieces. Good options include:
- Proteins: Scrambled eggs, flaked fish (low-mercury varieties), shredded chicken or turkey, ground meat, tofu, mashed beans, lentils
- Fruits: Banana, ripe pear, avocado, soft peach, blueberries (halved or mashed), diced mango, cooked apple
- Vegetables: Steamed sweet potato, roasted butternut squash, cooked carrots, peas, soft broccoli florets, green beans cut small
- Grains and starches: Soft whole grain pasta, oatmeal, rice, toast strips, whole grain crackers
- Dairy: Plain whole-milk yogurt, small cubes of cheese, cottage cheese
You don’t need to stick to bland or puréed food. Most 11-month-olds handle soft, fork-mashed, or finely diced textures well. Many babies at this age enjoy picking up small pieces on their own using their thumb and index finger. Offering a variety of colors and textures helps build comfort with different foods and provides a broader range of nutrients.
Foods to Avoid Before 12 Months
A few foods are off-limits until your baby turns one or older:
- Honey: Can cause infant botulism, a serious form of food poisoning. This includes honey in baked goods and honey-containing sauces.
- Cow’s milk as a drink: Before 12 months, cow’s milk can cause intestinal bleeding and has too many proteins and minerals for a baby’s kidneys. (Cheese and yogurt are fine in small amounts, since the proteins are partially broken down.)
- Fruit and vegetable juice: Not recommended before 12 months.
- High-mercury fish: Shark, swordfish, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, bigeye tuna, and tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico. Low-mercury options like salmon, cod, and tilapia are safe and nutritious.
- Unpasteurized foods: Raw milk, raw cheeses, and unpasteurized juice can carry harmful bacteria.
- Caffeinated drinks: No safe amount has been established for children under two.
Common choking hazards at this age include whole grapes, whole cherry tomatoes, raw carrots, large chunks of meat, popcorn, nuts, hard candy, and globs of nut butter. Cut round foods lengthwise into small pieces, and always supervise meals.
Limit Salt and Added Sugar
Babies’ kidneys aren’t mature enough to handle much sodium, and early exposure to sweet foods can shape preferences in unhelpful ways. Avoid adding salt or sugar to your baby’s food. Watch for hidden sources: processed meats like hot dogs and deli meat, canned soups and vegetables (choose low-sodium or no-salt-added versions), flavored yogurts, packaged toddler snacks, and store-bought muffins or cookies often contain more salt and sugar than you’d expect.
Water and Hydration
Between 6 and 12 months, babies need about 4 to 8 ounces of water per day, roughly half a cup to one cup. This is in addition to the fluids they get from breast milk or formula. Offer small sips of water with meals in an open cup or straw cup. You don’t need to push large amounts; breast milk and formula still provide most of their hydration.
Getting Ready for the Transition at 12 Months
At 11 months, your baby is one month away from a few big changes. Once they turn one, you can introduce whole cow’s milk as a drink (pasteurized, unflavored, unsweetened). The recommended amount is about 1⅔ to 2 cups of dairy per day for 12- to 23-month-olds, and that includes yogurt and cheese, not just milk. Fortified soy beverages are an alternative if your child doesn’t drink cow’s milk.
This is also a natural time to practice cup drinking if you haven’t already. Offering formula or breast milk in a cup now makes the bottle-to-cup switch smoother in the coming weeks. Many babies resist giving up the bottle at first, so starting early gives them time to adjust without pressure.