- What's happening
- A gradual shift from milk as the main food to family meals as the main food.
- What helps
- Modified family meals, variety, responsive milk feeds, sitting together, trusting the week.
- When to get help
- Severe refusal, choking history, faltering growth, sensory aversion.
- One tiny next step
- Plan one family meal you can adapt for everyone this week.
What's going on?
Weaning is the gradual transition from milk being your baby's main food to family meals being the main food — usually spread over the second half of the first year and well into the second.
At 6 months, milk is most of the nutrition and solids are mostly learning. By 12 months, family food is increasingly central, and milk shifts to a drink with meals and a smaller part of the day's intake.
Weaning is not a switch you flip. It is dozens of small adjustments over many months, with plenty of refusal and plenty of variation along the way.
Common signs and symptoms
Very common
- Days of eating lots, days of eating almost nothing.
- Loving a food one week, refusing it the next.
- Getting messy.
- Wanting to do it themselves.
- Wanting milk between or instead of meals at times.
Less common
- Persistent severe refusal of all family foods.
- Sensory aversion that doesn't ease.
- Faltering growth or significant weight worries.
Is this normal?
Appetite varies enormously from meal to meal and day to day. A toddler's appetite is best judged over a week, not a meal.
Wanting milk after months of family food is common, especially during illness, teething or change.
Different families introduce family meals at different paces. There is no single 'right' age to move to fully shared meals.
Practical things that help
Offer modified versions of family meals
Reduces the work, models normal eating, and broadens your child's exposure.
Aim for variety of textures and tastes
Repeated exposure to a range of foods builds long-term acceptance.
Keep milk feeds responsive alongside
Milk and food share the day. Both are valuable in the first year.
Sit and eat with them when you can
Children learn how to eat by watching the people around them.
Trust the week, not the meal
Appetite balances out over time.
What can accidentally make it harder?
Always cooking separate 'baby food'
Builds a habit that is hard to undo and disconnects them from how the rest of the family eats.
Insisting on full bowls
Overrides fullness signals and turns meals into pressure.
Removing milk too quickly
Milk is still a major source of nutrition. Sudden drops can affect intake and growth.
These are gentle observations, not blame. None of us avoid all of them all of the time.
What should I say?
- “We eat together now.”
- “You don't have to finish it. Your tummy knows.”
Red flags and when to seek help
Worth an assessment
- Persistent severe refusal across many foods.
- Choking history.
- Faltering growth.
- Sensory aversion to most textures.
A paediatric dietitian or speech and language therapist (specialising in feeding) can help if weaning has stalled.
If your child is seriously unwell or in danger, get help now.
One tiny next step
Plan one family meal you can adapt for everyone this week.
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Ask Little Humans about weaning