When your baby first starts solids at around 6 months, offer a small amount of food before their usual milk feed, while they are awake and interested but not desperately hungry. Then offer their breast milk or first infant formula as usual.
As eating becomes more established, meals gradually take shape and milk may naturally move after them. There is no single perfect gap to time. Milk and solids are partners during the first year, and your baby's hunger and fullness cues matter more than making every day match a chart.
The quick answer by weaning stage
- First tastes, around 6 months: offer a little food before the usual milk feed. Choose a calm moment and do not wait until your baby is extremely hungry.
- Around 7–9 months: build towards meals, then offer milk. Keep usual milk feeds alongside increasingly varied food.
- Around 10–12 months: three meals may anchor the day, with milk feeds around them. Let milk reduce gradually as food skills and intake grow.
This is a flexible direction, not a timetable. Illness, teething, travel, nursery days and growth spurts can all make one day look different from the next.
At first: food before the usual milk feed
The current NHS first-solid-foods guide says that, in the beginning, babies need only a small amount of food before their usual milk feed. The idea is to find the middle ground: interested enough to explore, but not so hungry that learning a completely new skill feels upsetting.
A first attempt might look like this:
- Choose one unhurried daytime moment when your baby is alert.
- Sit them safely upright and stay with them throughout.
- Offer a few teaspoons or a few appropriately prepared pieces.
- Follow their cues and stop when they turn away, close their mouth or lose interest.
- Offer the usual breast or formula feed afterwards.
There is no need to reach three meals immediately. At this stage, tasting, touching, moving food around the mouth and learning to swallow are the work. If you have not yet checked the three readiness signs, start with our guide to what is worth tracking when starting solids.
Around 7–9 months: meals start finding their place
From about 7 months, the NHS says babies gradually move towards three meals a day alongside their usual milk feeds. The NHS 7-to-9-month feeding guide suggests offering milk after solids and reminds parents not to force a baby to finish a bottle.
That does not mean withholding milk until a meal is eaten. A simple rhythm might be:
- milk on waking;
- breakfast later in the morning;
- lunch followed by milk;
- tea followed by milk; and
- milk before bed.
Use the shape, not the clock times. A breastfed baby may feed more often and adapt intake naturally. For a formula-fed baby, the NHS gives around 600ml a day at this stage as a guide, not a target every baby must hit. Do not reduce or stretch feeds simply to make the number fit.
Babies under 12 months do not need snacks. If they seem hungry between meals, the NHS recommends offering an extra milk feed instead.
Around 10–12 months: food carries more of the day
By about 10 months, many babies are having three meals as well as their usual milk feeds. The NHS example is around three milk feeds—perhaps after breakfast, after lunch and before bed. For formula-fed babies, it gives about 400ml daily as a broad guide. Breastfed babies continue to adapt their feeds as food intake changes.
This transition should be gradual. A baby does not wake on a particular month birthday needing a completely new routine. Continue to offer varied textures and iron-rich foods, and let appetite guide how much is eaten.
Breast milk or first infant formula remains the main drink until 12 months. Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk can be used in cooking from around 6 months but should not replace breast milk or first infant formula as the main drink before age 1. The NHS drinks and cups guide also recommends offering sips of water from an open or free-flow cup with meals.
What if my baby fills up on milk and refuses food?
If a full milk feed leaves no interest in food, try moving the solids opportunity a little earlier next time. Do not create hunger by delaying a feed for a long stretch. The aim is calm curiosity, not using hunger as leverage.
You can also make the meal smaller. One soft piece or one spoonful is still practice. Sit together, let your baby touch the food and stop without persuasion when they show they are done.
Repeated refusal can have many ordinary explanations: tiredness, timing, unfamiliar texture, illness or simply a low-appetite day. Look across a week rather than grading one meal. If feeding is persistently difficult, painful or worrying, ask your health visitor or GP for individual advice.
What if solids seem to replace too much milk?
Do not use a single low-milk day as proof that something is wrong. Instead, notice the wider picture:
- Is your baby still being offered breast milk or first infant formula responsively?
- Are wet nappies continuing as usual?
- Are they alert and behaving normally for them?
- Are meals varied rather than dominated by one filling food?
- Is their growth being followed as expected?
The NHS responsive bottle-feeding guide says to follow hunger cues and never force a baby to finish a bottle. Formula figures are population guides; they are not a reason to override fullness cues. Breastfeeding cannot be reduced to a millilitre target at home.
Speak to your health visitor, GP or feeding team if you are worried about milk intake, weight gain or feeding skills. Get urgent GP help or contact NHS 111 if your baby has fewer wet nappies than usual, seems unusually drowsy or shows other signs of dehydration. Call 999 for a life-threatening emergency.
A low-admin way to remember the rhythm
You rarely need to calculate gaps between every meal and milk feed. If care is shared, three facts are usually enough:
- the last milk feed;
- the last solids meal and anything new in it; and
- what your baby seemed to want next.
That makes a useful handover: “Milk at 7, porridge at 9, stopped after a few tastes; offer milk when hungry.” It is clearer than “They should last until lunch.” Our two-minute baby care handover gives you a reusable format.
How OBubba keeps milk and solids separate—but connected
In the current app, open Track → Feed and choose Bottle, Breast or Solids. A solids entry can include the food and an optional Loved it, Unsure or Reaction response. Milk feeds remain milk feeds, so a gram-based solids entry does not inflate milk totals or change the family's usual breast, bottle or combination-feeding choice.
Logged solid foods also appear in Care → Weaning & First Foods → Food journal, with recognised allergen context where available. That gives you one timeline for the day's sequence and a lighter food history for what was tried. Automatic allergen recognition is only a convenience: check ingredients and labels yourself, and use professional advice for a suspected reaction.
OBubba does not decide that your baby must wait a fixed number of minutes between milk and food. It helps you remember what actually happened, which can make the next offer—or the next carer handover—less guessy. Download OBubba if one shared feeding timeline would make your day feel lighter.
Quick questions
How long should I wait between milk and solids?
There is no universal interval. At first, offer a little food before the usual milk feed without waiting until your baby is very hungry. Later, meals and milk can settle into the rhythm that works for your baby and family.
Should I cut a bottle so my baby eats more solids?
Do not deliberately force a reduction to meet a solids target. Offer food at a better moment, follow fullness cues and discuss persistent concerns with your health visitor or GP.
Should breastfed babies follow the same millilitre guides?
No. The NHS millilitre examples are for formula-fed babies. Continue breastfeeding responsively; frequency and duration can change as solids become established.
Can solids replace milk before 12 months?
Food gradually contributes more energy and nutrients, and some milk feeds may naturally drop. But breast milk or first infant formula should remain the main drink throughout the first year.
This article provides general information for UK families, not an individual feeding plan. Follow current NHS guidance and advice from your health visitor, GP, dietitian or feeding team. Seek urgent help if your baby may be dehydrated or seriously unwell.
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