When your baby is between nine and 12 months, he will be ready to join in family mealtimes and can often have some of the family meal, well chopped or mashed.

When to start weaning

Once your baby is happy eating soft baby foods, it is important to start to introduce minced and mashed small, soft pieces to encourage them to chew. Try to do this before ten months, because babies introduced to lumpy food after ten months tend to eat a smaller range of family foods and are more likely to have feeding difficulties.

Take your baby's portion of food out of the main dish before you add any salt and remember you will still need to make a separate meal on the days you are eating foods your baby cannot manage, like salads or very spicy foods.

The more food your baby eats, the less milk they will need. Milk has been a really useful and important food for the first year and will continue to be so. 

Your baby should still drink:

• About a pint of milk each day until the end of his first year.
• After this, it will gradually decrease to around half to three-quarters of a pint a day.
• Milk and dairy products are good sources of protein and also calcium, which is vital for healthy bones and teeth but you may find you now need to offer your baby milk after a meal. If you give milk before the meal, it may fill your baby up and prevent them from eating enough other foods.

Try to make sure your baby has a good variety of nutritious foods each day. 

Here are some family foods that must still be avoided:

• Soft-cooked eggs
• Unpasteurised soft cheeses
• Adult ‘ready meals’
• Tea, coffee, colas and fizzy drinks
• Whole nuts
• Crisps
• Honey
• Energy snacks

Babies of this age cannot go for long periods without eating and you may find your baby needs both a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. Try offering an apple, banana, grapes (cut in half to prevent choking), a sandwich, a small tub of yoghurt, cheese cut into sticks, some raw or cooked vegetable sticks or a rice cake.

Avoid sugary snacks – foods like chocolate, sweets and cakes are ‘empty’ calories that give energy but offer very little in the way of vitamins, minerals or protein.  They aren’t good for growing baby teeth either.

Here are some foods for the family that your baby might love:

• Whole pasta shapes
• Chopped cooked chicken (with no bones)
• Chopped cooked meats (again, make sure there are no pieces of bone)
• Cooked wedges of vegetables
• Breadsticks
• Sticks of cheese

From one year

Your baby can now have cow’s milk as a main drink, soft cheeses, mild spices and honey.