The 6th month is the time when children begin to enter the weaning stage. At this time, breast milk is no longer enough to ensure the nutrition for the child’s activities and development. Supplementing nutrients from outside foods will support the child’s comprehensive development. However, many parents are still confused about weaning their children, do not know what foods to choose, how to build a menu for their children that is suitable for their baby. If this is also your problem, let’s find out with Autoru the menu of 30 weaning dishes for children right in the following article!
1. Appropriate time to start weaning your baby according to the National Institute of Nutrition
According to experts, from the 6th month onwards, the amount of protein and antibodies in breast milk has decreased significantly compared to the first 6 months. Therefore, the baby needs to be supplemented with nutrients from the outside. Therefore, the 6th month is the time when mothers should start introducing their babies to solid foods and should start introducing them from the 7th month onwards.
In particular, mothers should not feed their babies solid foods under 6 months of age because their digestive system is still very weak and not capable of good digestion, which can easily lead to stomach pain and slow growth. In cases where solid foods are unavoidable, a doctor’s guidance and prescription is required.

Depending on the baby’s physical condition and health, the time to start weaning may vary.
2. Amount and type of food to add to baby’s weaning meals
For weaning meals for babies, how much food should be supplemented? And what are those foods? The following information will answer questions for mothers when starting to wean their babies to help them develop fully.
2.1 Weaning stage (5.5 – 6 months old)
From 5.5 to 6 months, mothers still breastfeed normally, but start to combine it with weaning. Mothers can choose to supplement their babies with foods such as fruits, vegetables, cereals and meat, meat substitutes, yogurt and cheese… Mothers can start feeding their babies small amounts of 5-10ml (1-2 teaspoons) and gradually increase the amount of food for their babies to 30-45ml per day depending on their appetite.
To give your baby’s digestive system enough time to function, you should feed your baby 2 meals a day and each meal should be spaced out. The amount of food will depend on your baby’s ability, you should not force them but let them decide how much food they want!
2.2 Official weaning stage (7-12 months)
Regardless of the weaning method the mother applies, the baby’s menu must still ensure all 4 essential nutrient groups such as vitamins & fiber, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Traditional weaning, Japanese weaning or self-directed weaning all need to have all 4 nutrient groups mentioned above to ensure the comprehensive development of the child.
Regarding the amount of food for the baby, the mother should observe and distribute the amount of food suitable to the baby’s needs. Depending on the appetite, some babies will eat a lot or eat a little. Mothers can give their babies an extra feeding in case they eat too little.

Appropriate amount of weaning food for each stage of child development
3. Menu of 30 weaning dishes for babies from 6-12 months old
3.1 Menu for babies starting to eat solid foods (5.5 – 6 months old)
- Sweet potato mixed with powder or formula
- Pumpkin mixed with powder or formula
- Mashed carrots with powder or formula
- Mash avocado with powder or formula
- Mashed Potato and Carrot Porridge
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Spinach
- Formula and mashed banana
- Chayote and pureed mung bean porridge
- Pureed spinach, cheese and pumpkin cooked with walnut oil. Mom can add orange juice for baby.
- Mashed spinach, cheese, taro and olive oil porridge
- Mashed sweet potato and zucchini cooked with lotus seeds, formula milk, walnut oil and cheese.
- Yogurt and mango smoothie made with formula milk
- Yogurt made from formula milk combined with mashed papaya
- Formula milk combined with avocado and mashed banana
- Mashed avocado combined with oats and formula milk
- Mashed apple (¼ fruit)
- Mashed zucchini, cheese, tomatoes and eggs cooked in porridge with olive oil
- Banana mixed with soy milk, 1 spoon of soy milk combined with ⅛ ripe banana, mashed smoothly.

See more: H1 high chair helps babies eat well and safely
3.2 Menu for weaning babies (7-8 months old)
At this stage, the amount of milk for the baby has begun to decrease and the baby starts eating 2 meals a day. The baby can also eat red meat and other meats. The mother needs to give the baby time to get used to the new food for about 2-3 days before officially feeding the baby.
The daily menu should ensure about 25g of green vegetables, 10-15g of protein and 40-80g of porridge. The appropriate porridge ratio is 7 water and 1 rice. Here is a weaning dish for 7-8 month old babies that mothers can refer to:
- Carrot, Potato and Apple Soup
- Carrot and white fish porridge
- Pumpkin and chicken porridge
- Vegetable Oatmeal
- Vegetable porridge, mashed zucchini and chicken hearts
3.3 Menu for weaning babies (9-10 months old)
At this stage, your baby has started teething and can gnaw and chew some soft foods. Your baby has also become familiar with most common foods and you can feed your baby solid foods at this stage according to the following menus:
- Shrimp and squash porridge
- Pea, pumpkin and chicken porridge
- Cabbage and beef porridge
- Bok choy, pork and mung bean porridge
- Sweet potato and egg porridge

Mothers should choose and distribute appropriate foods for their babies according to each stage of development.
3.4 Menu for weaning babies (11-12 months old)
11 – 12 months old is the stage when your baby’s teeth can chew most foods and you don’t need to grind them too finely anymore. You can feed your baby solid foods and supplement their nutrition with some suggested menus as follows:
- Mashed vegetables and chicken liver
- Shrimp porridge
- Baby food
4. Baby food menu by month
Each stage of your baby’s development will have different abilities and amounts of food. Mothers can refer to the following menu:
Months oldFood amountKind of food6 month old baby100 – 200ml (can be more or less)- 1 meal, 1 breastfeeding meal- Minced food, mashed food or thin powder7 month old baby200ml- 2 meals, 1 breastfeeding meal- Finely chopped or mashed food and thick paste8 month old baby 230ml- Cereal- Minced meat, fruits and vegetables.9 month old baby200 – 250ml- 3 meals, 1 breastfeeding meal.- Thick powder- Cut food into small pieces so that children can grasp them.11 month old baby250 – 300 ml- 3 meals, 1 feeding- Chopped food and porridge.12 month old baby200ml porridge + other foods- White porridge is eaten with protein-rich foods such as shrimp, fish, meat, eggs, fat, oil and green vegetables. |
5. Some things to keep in mind when cooking baby food
Cooking baby food is not too complicated, however, parents also need to pay attention to the following issues to ensure a delicious and nutritious meal for their baby:
- Defrosting food properly: The best way to defrost food is to move it from the freezer to the refrigerator 4-5 hours before cooking. This method not only helps ensure the freshness of the food but also preserves the inherent nutrients of the food. Mothers should not defrost food with hot water or defrost at room temperature because it can easily cause food to become contaminated with bacteria and reduce nutrients.
- Do not reheat food: Reheating food many times not only reduces the nutritional value of the food but also loses its original deliciousness. Children will also no longer be interested in food that has been eaten many times.

Should use fresh and nutritious food for baby
- You should use hot water when cooking porridge for your baby: This helps save cooking time, ensuring the nutrients and delicious flavor of the rice.
- Ensure food hygiene and safety during processing: When cooking baby food, parents should prioritize choosing fresh foods with clear origins. In addition, parents also need to ensure hygiene during processing so that babies can have delicious and safe dishes!
- Mothers can use a high chair to help their babies sit in the correct position, safely and comfortably while eating and avoid unwanted accidents such as choking or reflux,…
Above is a menu of 30 weaning dishes for babies from 6-12 months old that mothers can refer to. In addition to nutritious dishes, parents also need to pay attention to the child’s psychology during the weaning process. Let your baby freely choose the dishes he likes, a comfortable eating mentality will help your baby have a more delicious and interesting meal. Hopefully, the information that Autoru has shared can support mothers in the process of taking care of their babies with weaning.