The fun continues with your weaning baby routine at seven months!
Having started weaning your baby at six months you’re hopefully feeling a little more used to offering them meals by now and they are enjoying getting their first tastes of food.
It’s important to remember that while your baby may have been trying solid foods for a month, it doesn’t follow that they will be on three meals a day and loving eating meals.
Many babies are still a little hesitant at this stage so be patient and don’t worry if your baby is only trying a little here and there.
This weaning baby meal plan and routine will give you an idea of when to fit solid foods in around milk feeds, how many times to offer solids a day plus lots of meal ideas for your baby at seven months.
You may also get lots of ideas from my weaning meal plan for 6 month old babies plus there are tons of tips about making your own baby food here.
How many times a day should you give a 7 month old solids?
A seven month old baby will be on one to two meals per day. This applies to babies who are doing baby-led or traditional weaning.
There may be some seven month olds who have roared through the weaning process, gobble up every bit of food, lick the bowl and then demand seconds. In which case it’s totally fine for your baby to be on three meals of solids per day.
But at seven months some parents find their babies are still being a little picky with their solid food. They may only eat one or two bites at a mealtime, or refuse to eat anything at all.
If this is the case then continue to offer solids once or twice per day, but don’t worry. They will get there.
Part of the process at this stage isn’t just to get the food into your baby, but to get them used to the routine of sitting at a table at mealtimes, learning how to eat solid foods and appreciate new tastes.
My eldest child went through a phase that felt like years but actually was a few weeks where she ate hardly any food I presented to her. At the time it felt that we would never get this weaning thing and it was frustrating because I was cooking the food from scratch!
But I can report she is a happy, normal six-year-old who does in fact love her food!
So my point is if your baby is seven months old and still not eating much at mealtimes, do not panic!
Remind yourself of the mantra:
Food is for fun until they are one.
The period between six months and one year is a opportunity for babies to explore new tastes, get used to the practice of eating – lifting food to their mouth, chewing, swallowing and getting to grips with a spoon.
Seven months is still extremely early in the weaning process so if your baby is not eating much at all at meal times, do not panic! A lot can change with babies in even just one week let alone a month.
See this next month of weaning as a chance to add more different flavours, explore new recipes and get used to this new weaning routine that you will have introduced at six months. There is no need to rush!
How many milk feeds at 7 months?
A weaning baby at seven months will be on around 500ml to 600ml per day divided between four to six feeds.
If you’re breastfeeding then you can continue to nurse on demand but can expect to be feeding four to six times a day.
Some babies at this age are sleeping through the night but some will still wake in the night wanting a milk feed.
At seven months both of my babies were on four bottle feeds a day but we had ditched the fourth bottle by around month nine to give you a rough idea of when we were dropping milk feeds.
Your baby will continue to get really important nutrients from the milk feeds – whether breast of formula – they have every day so it’s important to continue with offering baby these feeds at this stage.
You may notice as the month goes on and your baby gets older that they start to drop milk feeds as they eat more solids. This is absolutely fine!
By age one many babies are on just two milk feeds per day which continues to give them the important nutrients, vitamins and minerals that they need alongside solid food.
What food can a 7 month old eat?
At seven months your baby can eat a variety of fruit, soft cooked vegetables, cheese, yoghurt, pasta, rice, grains, fish and meat such as chicken, beef and lamb.
You may find it useful to use full fat cows’ milk in cooking at this stage, for when making certain sauces for example. Cows’ milk shouldn’t be given as a drink until 12 months as baby should be on formula or breast milk until age one.
When offering your baby solids give them a cup of water to drink alongside their meal. From six months you can offer your baby water straight from the tap in a cup.
You could purchase jarred food or make it yourself, it’s totally up to you. I found it much easier to cook it myself as I just let my babies try the foods we were eating for dinner.
There’s a complete guide to make your own homemade baby food on this post.
Your baby can try, or may already have tried at six months, the following foods:
Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Carrots
- Peppers
- Peas
- Swede
- Spinach
- Green beans
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Butternut squash
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Courgette
Fruit
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Kiwi
- Pears
- Apples
- Raspberries
- Mango
- Oranges
- Pineapple
- Melon
- Peach
- Plums (great for helping with constipation)
- Blueberries
Protein
- Chicken
- Beef
- Turkey
- Lamb
- Pork
- Eggs
- Lentils
- Beans and pulses
- Tofu
- Fish
Starchy foods
- Potato
- Sweet potato
- Rice
- Pasta
- Oats
- Cornmeal
- Quinoa
- Bread
- Chapatti
- Oatmeal
Dairy
- Cheese
- Yoghurt (full fat and unsweetened plain)
- Full fat milk can be used in cooking but only offer as a drink when baby is 12 months
Baby-led weaning or spoon feeding?
Baby-led weaning is where you offer your baby finger foods they can pick up and take bites from, so they feed themselves.
Spoon feeding is the more traditional approach where baby is spoon fed purees that you make steadily more lumpy as they get bigger and more used to eating.
Which approach you take is totally up to you and it does not have to be an all or nothing approach – you could do a little of both!
If you are baby-led weaning then you can give your baby finger foods, such as cooked carrot sticks or broccoli florets along with chicken drumsticks, or sugar-free muffins with fruit.
Otherwise you can cook and puree food to a smooth or lumpy consistency before offering it to your baby. As your baby gets older you can puree the food a little less so that it has more lumps and gets them used to eating real meals.
Meat should be shredded or cut into small chunks to make it easier for your baby to chew if you are using baby-led weaning.
Ideal portion size for a 7 month old
A seven month old baby will eat around four tablespoons of food at each meal. Of course some may eat six to eight tablespoons if they have a bigger appetite.
Watch your baby’s cues to figure out when they are full. They should let you know by becoming less enthusiastic with each bite and maybe even refusing food or starting to simply play with it.
Try to balance what your baby eats each day with a range of vegetables, fruit, carbs and proteins.
Remember that a baby’s tummy is still quite small at this stage, so they may still be eating small amounts.
Baby feeding routine at 7 months
This baby weaning routine at seven months assumes your baby is on a breakfast of solids now.
If they are just having lunch and no other meals right now then that’s totally fine. You can try to introduce a second meal of the day at some point this month.
This baby feeding routine at seven months is for baby-led and traditional weaning.
This routine assumes the post-lunch milk feed – breast or bottle – has now been dropped as your baby hopefully is managing a full lunch.
If your baby is only having the odd bite of lunch and they still want that post-lunch milk feed then keep it in your routine, offering it between 12.30pm and 1pm.
I’ve included two routines here. One for a baby on two meals a day and the other for a baby on three meals a day.
Babies will move towards being on three meals a day at around nine months. Some will do so earlier and that’s totally fine!
Routine for a 7 month old baby on two meals a day
| Time | What’s happening |
|---|---|
| 7am | Wake-up and have milk feed |
| 8am | Breakfast – solids |
| 10am | Milk feed |
| 10.30am | Nap |
| 11.30am | Lunch – solids |
| 1.30pm | Nap |
| 3.30pm | Wake-up and play |
| 4pm | Milk feed |
| 6.45pm | Bath |
| 7pm | Milk feed and bedtime routine |
| 7.30pm | Bed |
Routine for a 7 month old baby on three meals a day
| Time | What’s happening? |
|---|---|
| 7am | Wake-up and have milk feed |
| 8am | Breakfast – solids |
| 10am | Milk feed |
| 10.30am | Nap |
| 11.30am | Lunch – solids |
| 1.30pm | Nap |
| 3.30pm | Wake-up and have milk feed |
| 4.30pm | Dinner – solids |
| 6.45pm | Bath |
| 7pm | Milk feed and bedtime routine |
| 7.30pm | Bed |
Weaning baby meal plan
Scroll down to see a printable version of this meal plan!
Week 1
This week is a continuation of what you’ve already been doing with weaning your baby at six months.
Keep up with offering a variety of foods, even if your baby shows a clear preference for certain things, so that they are exposed to a range of tastes.
If they really hate a particular vegetable, give it a miss for a week or so and then try offering it again. Trying different recipes may help, but consistency is often key.
If you want to offer your baby a pudding after their lunch then you could try a plain yoghurt or some fruit such as mango or berry puree.
At breakfast time you could try a few different types of cereals such as Weetabix or porridge for your baby.
For lunches you can cook recipes (or jars of pre-made baby food) or keep it simple with a little mashed vegetable – for example mashed potato with another vegetable such as mashed carrot.
MONDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal mixed with fruit puree
Lunch
TUESDAY
Breakfast
Porridge with fruit puree
Lunch
Lamb and mashed potato (make a shepherd’s pie for yourself and either puree for traditional weaning or serve as it comes for baby-led weaning)
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal with fruit puree
Lunch
THURSDAY
Breakfast
Porridge with apple puree
Lunch
FRIDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal and fruit puree
Lunch
Potato, carrot and sweetcorn puree
SATURDAY
Breakfast
Baby porridge with fruit puree
Lunch
SUNDAY
Breakfast
Baby porridge with fruit puree
Lunch
Week 2
MONDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal mixed with fruit puree
Lunch
Spaghetti bolognaise
TUESDAY
Breakfast
Berry puree with plain yoghurt
Lunch
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Baby cereal with pear puree
Lunch
Cod with sweet potato
THURSDAY
Breakfast
Baby porridge with mashed banana
Lunch
FRIDAY
Breakfast
Baby cereal with fruit puree
Lunch
SATURDAY
Breakfast
Porridge with fruit puree
Lunch
SUNDAY
Breakfast
Plain yoghurt with berries or fruit puree
Lunch
Chicken and root vegetable mash
Week 3
If you’ve been concentrating on weaning with purees so far and you’re feeling confident at trying something new then you could add some finger foods now.
Start very simple with soft cooked carrot sticks and sliced berries such as raspberries which are nice and soft.
To make this weaning process easier on you think about what you like to eat and how you can cook for both yourself and your baby.
For example if you love a Sunday roast then all you need to do is put aside some vegetables to mash for your baby and shred the meat.
You could use a low salt stock cube to mix up a little gravy for them to try too.
MONDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal mixed with fruit puree
Lunch
Scrambled eggs
TUESDAY
Breakfast
Baby cereal with apple puree
Lunch
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Porridge and fruit puree
Lunch
Chicken and couscous
THURSDAY
Breakfast
Scrambled egg
Lunch
FRIDAY
Breakfast
Plain yoghurt with fruit puree
Lunch
Vegetable baby curry
SATURDAY
Breakfast
Porridge with fruit puree
Lunch
SUNDAY
Breakfast
Baby cereal with fruit puree
Lunch
Week 4
This is a good week to think about introducing a dinner if you feel like your baby is doing well with breakfast and lunch.
If your baby is not quite there yet, whether they’re not eating much or you feel they’re too tired in the late afternoon to sit up and eat then do not worry!
Most babies are on three meals a day by the time they turn one, so it really does not matter when in the first six months of weaning you get them to that stage.
For now you have lots of time to add the third meal.
In week four you could consider providing lumpier purees for your baby if you are doing traditional weaning so that they start getting used to the different texture.
MONDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal mixed with fruit puree
Lunch
Cod with butternut squash and cheese
Dinner
Carrot and sweet potato mash
TUESDAY
Breakfast
Baby porridge with mashed pear
Lunch
Dinner
Pasta in a tomato sauce
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Baby porridge with mashed banana
Lunch
Lamb curry with rice
Dinner
Cauliflower cheese (add some cooked pasta if you like)
THURSDAY
Breakfast
Baby rice or cereal mixed with fruit puree
Lunch
Chicken and vegetable casserole
Dinner
Cod poached in milk and mashed sweet potato
FRIDAY
Breakfast
Scrambled egg (add toast fingers if you are doing baby-led weaning)
Lunch
Chicken with rice, leeks and carrots
Dinner
SATURDAY
Breakfast
Baby porridge and fruit
Lunch
Sweet potato, pear and broccoli puree
Dinner
SUNDAY
Breakfast
Toast fingers with mashed banana
Lunch
Cherry tomato and cheese muffins
Dinner
Download your copy of the plan in PDF format here:
Tips if baby is refusing solid foods
If your baby is refusing to try solid foods at all at mealtimes then you can try a few key tips to encourage them to give it a go.
Eat together as a family
Babies love to copy what you are doing, so make mealtimes a family affair where you are all sat at the dinner table (baby at their high chair) eating at the same time.
Feed them off your plate
Kids love to steal your food. Mine are four and six and they still swipe food off my plate – it’s a compulsion!
Sit close to your baby’s high chair with a plate for food that is suitable for them to eat – mashed potato if you are using purees or some soft cooked sweet potato or carrot sticks if you are doing baby-led weaning.
Now take a few bites of your food then offer a bite to your baby. If they take it then continue alternating between you and them.
Make it into a game where you say “one for you and one for me” and be really enthusiastic and positive about the food.
This method can work wonders.
Go for variety
It may be that you haven’t yet discovered your baby’s favourite food. Keep trying.
Go for variety to give them a chance to try a range of foods and discover what they like best.
For my kids it was cauliflower cheese, sweet potato mash and mango puree that would get them to eat happily every single time.
Do not force the issue
Avoid making mealtime a battleground. If they are getting upset about eating then stop and try again tomorrow.
