Weaning by month
A sample day
5feeds
-
06:00
Breast or formula
-
10:00
Buckwheat groats · apples
150 g + 60 g
-
14:00
Zucchini · turkey breast fillet
150 g + 15 g
-
18:00
Breast or formula
-
22:00
Breast or formula
5feeds
-
06:00
Breast or formula
-
10:00
Buckwheat groats · apples
150 g + 70 g
-
14:00
Zucchini · turkey breast fillet · Egg yolk
150 g + 30 g + ¼
-
18:00
Breast or formula
-
22:00
Breast or formula
5feeds
-
06:00
Breast or formula
-
10:00
Buckwheat groats · apples
180 g + 80 g
-
14:00
Zucchini · turkey breast fillet · Egg yolk
150 g + 35 g + ½
-
18:00
Soft quark · Kefir · White bread
40 g + 200 ml + 5 g
-
22:00
Breast or formula
5feeds
-
06:00
Breast or formula
-
10:00
Buckwheat groats · apples
200 g + 100 g
-
14:00
Zucchini · turkey breast fillet · Egg yolk
150 g + 50 g + ½
-
18:00
Soft quark · Kefir · White bread
50 g + 200 ml + 10 g
-
22:00
Breast or formula
A sample day at 6 months
- 06:00Breast or formula
- 10:00Porridge: buckwheat groats 150 gButter 4 gPurée: apples 60 g
- 14:00Purée: zucchini 150 gSunflower oil 5 mlPurée: turkey breast fillet 15 g
- 18:00Breast or formula
- 22:00Breast or formula
A sample day at 7 months
- 06:00Breast or formula
- 10:00Porridge: buckwheat groats 150 gButter 4 gPurée: apples 70 g
- 14:00Purée: zucchini 150 gSunflower oil 5 mlPurée: turkey breast fillet 30 gEgg yolk ¼
- 18:00Breast or formula
- 22:00Breast or formula
A sample day at 8 months
- 06:00Breast or formula
- 10:00Porridge: buckwheat groats 180 gButter 5 gPurée: apples 80 g
- 14:00Purée: zucchini 150 gSunflower oil 6 mlPurée: turkey breast fillet 35 gEgg yolk ½
- 18:00Soft quark 40 gKefir 200 mlWhite bread 5 g
- 22:00Breast or formula
A sample day at 9–12 months
- 06:00Breast or formula
- 10:00Porridge: buckwheat groats 200 gButter 5 gPurée: apples 100 g
- 14:00Purée: zucchini 150 gSunflower oil 6 mlPurée: turkey breast fillet 50 gEgg yolk ½
- 18:00Soft quark 50 gKefir 200 mlWhite bread 10 g
- 22:00Breast or formula
- 4–6 moto start solids
- 5–7 daysfor each new food
- 150–200 mlwater a day
Mark what your baby already eats, and the weaning week brings the next food with grams for each day.
Build a weaning weekTiming and amounts on this page come from the Russian national infant feeding programme (National Medical Research Center for Children's Health, Union of Paediatricians of Russia, 2019). Solids start at 4–6 months; for a healthy baby the programme suggests 5. The first food is a vegetable purée or a dairy-free porridge from one grain.
Below are the amounts by month, the order of new foods and a sample day for each age from 6 months to one year. Tick what your baby already eats and the planner builds a weaning week with the next new food and a shopping list.
How much a day, by month
| Food | 4–5 mo | 6 mo | 7 mo | 8 mo | 9–12 mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetable purée, g | 10–150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| Porridge, g | 10–150 | 150 | 150 | 180 | 200 |
| Boiled meat, g | — | 3–15 | 20–30 | 30–35 | 40–50 |
| Fruit purée, g | 5–50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90–100 |
| Egg yolk, pcs | — | — | ¼ | ½ | ½ |
| Cottage cheese, g | — | — | — | 10–40 | 50 |
| Boiled fish, g | — | — | — | 5–30 | 30–60 |
| Kefir, ml | — | — | — | 200 | 200 |
| Wheat bread, g | — | — | — | 5 | 10 |
| Vegetable oil, g | 1–3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Butter, g | 1–3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
From table 5.1 of the programme. Meat and fish are boiled at home. The programme treats juice and biscuits as optional, so they are left out.
In what order to introduce foods
- From 4 months:
- From 5 months:
- From 6 months:
- From 7 months:
-
From 8 months:
Soft quark
Kefir
Cod fillet
Hake fillet
White bread
- One new food at a time: the next one 5–7 days later, once this one reaches the full amount.
- Give a new food in the first half of the day, from a spoon, before breast or formula.
- No new foods during illness or for 3–5 days before and after a vaccination.
- Texture: a smooth purée with no lumps.
- From 9–10 months purées gradually give way to finely chopped food: mashed with a fork, small pieces.
- Water between feeds, 150–200 ml a day. No salt or sugar in baby food.
Weaning recipes 26
Questions
When should weaning start?
Between 4 and 6 months. The Russian programme suggests 5 months for a healthy baby; WHO suggests 6 for exclusively breastfed babies. Your paediatrician picks the exact time by development and weight.
What is the first food?
A purée of one vegetable (zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli) or a dairy-free porridge from one gluten-free grain: rice, buckwheat or corn. Babies with low weight usually start with porridge; with constipation or extra weight, with vegetables.
How much food at 6 months?
Per day: vegetable purée 150 g, porridge 150 g, fruit purée 60 g, boiled meat 3–15 g, vegetable oil 5 g and butter 4 g. Each new food starts at half a teaspoon and reaches the full amount over 5–7 days.
When to introduce meat?
At 6 months: meat gives the iron a baby absorbs best. Start with turkey, rabbit, veal or chicken: 3–15 g of boiled meat a day at 6 months, 40–50 g by 9–12 months.
When to give egg yolk?
From 7 months: a quarter of a hard-boiled yolk, from 8 months half. Mash it into the vegetable purée.
When to introduce fish?
From 8 months, twice a week instead of meat: 5–30 g at 8 months and 30–60 g at 9–12. Cod and hake work well; check every portion for bones.
When to give cottage cheese and kefir?
From 8 months: baby cottage cheese up to 50 g a day, kefir or another baby fermented milk drink up to 200 ml.
Should baby food be salted or sweetened?
No. No salt or sugar in baby food under one year, and no honey.
Timing and amounts follow the Russian national infant feeding programme (National Medical Research Center for Children's Health, Union of Paediatricians of Russia, 2019). A guide, not a prescription: your paediatrician knows your child better.