Optimal Feeding Schedule for Your 11-Month-Old Baby

Isn’t it a joy to see your little one grow up so fast? The cute face, crawling feet, and soft hands get bigger day by day.

It’s already been eleven months if you are reading this article. And it also seems that you are looking for guidance for an 11-month-old feeding schedule. By this time, your little one has started eating fruits, boiled veggies, and soft foods along with breast milk. It becomes difficult to plan a day where you serve your infant with all the good food and milk. At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure that they are not over or under-fed.

Having a proper timetable for your infant’s body will help in better growth. This article outlines everything you need to know about an 11-month-old feeding schedule, sleep cycle, activities, and engagement ideas.

Read ahead to get guidance on how to make your little ones’ life more convenient and comfortable.

What Does an 11 Month Old Feeding Schedule Include

You are almost near the completion of the first year, and it’s time for celebration. Your baby has changed a lot over eleven months, giving you various experiences. By now, they must have started feeding themselves by making everything messy in the surrounding. They might use their fingers and learn how to use a spoon by observing you.

Having an 11 month old feeding schedule makes it easier to navigate them throughout the day as they explore new things. By this time, you must have given them a taste of many new things beyond breast milk. If you choose a vegetarian diet, your offering can include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, rice, pasta, and cereals. Going beyond that, you can add boiled eggs, tofu, chicken, fish, beef, or poultry.

Any food you offer has to be in extremely small quantities and not so hard. This is the time when they might be teething, tired, and not ready for extremely solid foods. Keep trying new foods, but do not force them to have any meals.

Giving them exposure to a diverse diet reduces the possibility of developing a severe food allergy. However, you should always be on the watch out for signs of food allergies or intolerance in your baby as their diet expands.

What are the Crucial Factors for an 11 Month Old Feeding Schedule

An 11 month old feeding schedule includes three meals a day, two snacks, and 3-5 feeding sessions a day. Even though the kid has begun to eat solid foods, breastmilk still plays a crucial part in their growth. Do not fully put them on solid foods at this time. Try to create a balance and feed them both things.

It is the time when your baby is developing a sense of taste. Expose them to various fruits and vegetables to develop a wide range of taste senses. Initially, they might hesitate and now accept a new taste. Keep trying a few times a day to give them the needed time to accept it. After every meal, never force them to complete the meal at this stage. Take the cue and stop feeding when they give the signs.

When it comes to dairy products, it is advisable to wait until they reach the age of 1 year to give cow’s milk. You can introduce yogurt as a part of their meal in smaller quantities. Milk can be a little heavier to digest for the little one.

Model What You Preach!

As you feed your little one with healthy and tasty food, give them a place on the dining table. Sit together and eat the same food with them. It gives them a message that they are fed the same thing you eat. It gets them excited to try it and accompany you in the process. Modelling healthy eating habits is the best way to build a pattern of healthy eating in your little one’s mind.

Despite a healthy 11 month old feeding schedule, they might be confused to see you eat something different than what they feed on.

Get a small chair with cute toys to entertain them as they eat. Having their seat at the table will give them the feeling of inclusiveness. Have conversations with them as you eat and enjoy the meal. You can also bring home a special set of tableware for your little one.

Activities You Can Expect Your 11 Month Old to Do!

The 11 month old feeding schedule will have to be planned in a way that they get the needed time to play and nap. By this age, they will be active and fun enough to keep you on your toes all day. Their curiosity and exploring abilities will take them to every corner of the house. Some of the activities you can explore with your infant are –

• Crawling: They will hold on to objects around them and crawl on the floor. This makes it crucial to keep the furniture clean and the floor healthy. Use sustainable and chemical-free cleaners that might not harm their health. We are all aware of a child’s habit of sucking their fingers at any time of the day. You can also use knee pads to keep them safe from any hurt.
• Standing: Some infants might learn to stand while some might still be practicing. You can expect your little ones to stand with support and struggle to take a few steps. Having a baby walker with wheels is the best way to help them in gaining speed and steadiness in this pursuit of walking.
• Pointing: By this time, they have developed an interest in things they love. Whenever they want something, they will try to indicate it by pointing their finger. They will also point a finger to get your attention. Understand their cues to gain knowledge about their comfort and preferences. This is also the best time to introduce sensory toys.Such toys will help them in refining their motor skills and improve hand-eye coordination.
• Talking: By the age of 11 months, they might not be able to learn words and long sentences. However, they can manage to speak a few short words like mama, dada, or any small word that they might be hearing around. Prompt them to talk and speak up as you spend time with them. Introduce this amazing cactus toy that reacts to every word and expression of your little one.

These are some of the common activities expected at this time. However, it may differ for every child. So, if your toddler has not yet shown these signs, do not worry. Wait for a few more weeks and keep them engaged and moving. They will surely catch up with this list when they are ready!

11 Month old feeding schedule

It is a sample schedule that needs adjustment depending on how your child responds. It is not a mandatory method or procedure to keep your child healthy. You will need to make the necessary modifications in 11 month old feeding schedule to suit your child. The food might differ, quantities may change, and the timings can also vary.

After all, it’s all about you and the child. The schedule should be comfortable for them to enjoy the day and convenient for you to run your errands.

Breakfast

Breastmilk or formula (4 to 6 oz)

Seasonal fruit (frozen, cut, or pureed in small pieces)

Baby Cereal

Mid-morning Snack

Breastmilk of formula (4 to 6 oz)

Seasonal fresh boiled vegetables (chopped in small pieces or mashed)

Lunch

Breastmilk (4 to 6 oz)

Yoghurt, Cheese, or Meat

Some more vegetables/Rice/Mashed Potato/Boiled Pasta

Afternoon Snack

Whole Grain Cracker or a Teething Biscuit with Hummus, or

Boiled vegetables with cheese or seasonal fruit (everything must be chopped)

Dinner

Breastmilk or formula (4 to 6 oz)

Meat or tofu diced into small pieces

Green Vegetables cooked

Pureed seasonal fruits

Before Bed

Breastmilk or Formula (6 to 8 oz)

Some water before bed

You can use a feeder-cum-teether to feed the frozen food. This way, they will enjoy the afternoon snack and go through the teething process with the same device. Create your schedule after considering your child’s habits and keep making the necessary modifications with changing patterns.

Foods to Avoid While Feeding Your 11 Months Old

As you modify and adjust the schedule, here are a few things to avoid adding to your infant’s routine.

• Unpasteurized cheese or dairy products can contain bacteria that harm your little one.
• Avoid cow’s milk at any cost before your toddler turns one.
• Do not add any sugar to the milk, fruits, or vegetables before serving. Also, avoid sugary biscuits or crackers.
• Avoid salty food like crackers and biscuits. Also, at this time, they do not need any added salt in their boiled food as well.
• Avoid feeding them highly processed foods like chips, candy, microwave meals, and any food with additives, flavoring, or artificial colors.
• Raw eggs and seafood should also be avoided. They both need to be cooked before feeding them to your infant.
• Whole Nuts can cause choking in the young one.

Sleeping Cycle and Expected Changes!

By this time, infants develop a habit of sleeping throughout the night without any feeding sessions. They need to sleep 11 to 12 hours every night in a calm and composed environment. Along with that, they also take two long naps of 2 and a half hours during the day. You will have to adjust the 11 month old feeding schedule in a way that does not disturb the sleeping pattern.

The wake windows for your 11-month-old are typically three to four hours at a time. To work smartly, use these timings to get some time off, do other work, and spend some time with yourself. In some cases, the child might need an early feeding at around 5:00 a.m. Keep checking on them in the initial days as they sleep throughout the night. If they wake up, it means they might be hungry and in need of food.

Observing your child will give you an idea about syncing the food and sleep schedules most comfortably. With sufficient food, they will be able to remain active, and due to that activity, they will get a good night’s sleep. Everything is interconnected.

What Can You Do to Engage and Involve Them?

As your little one has started moving, it’s time for you to start searching for activities to engage them. Here are a few things you can do to keep their curiosity alive and have a playful time with them.

• Put on some music and sing the rhythms for your little one. Poems, lullabies, jingles, and other melodious tunes will be on your list as you drive to work these days. Learn the lyrics well and sing for them in the evening. Move along and make some movements as you sing them. Observing you, they will also attempt to dance and sing. This will help them develop the necessary motor skills. Instead of singing, you can also buy an instrument that can recite the poems. A singing teddy bear is the best thing to gift them at this age.
• 11 months might seem a little too early to color. However, what’s the loss in at least surrounding them with colors? Select colors of your choice and start coloring around them on paper. As they observe you coloring, they might attempt to do it or avoid it. The response is uncertain; however, giving it a try will help. They might enjoy the coloring and end up enhancing their creativity in the coming years. Let them simply play with the colors if they don’t feel like coloring.
• Blocks of different shapes that can be placed on each other are a great way to begin their second year. Introduce your little one to blocks and teach them how to hold and move them in their 11th month. As they proceed into the second year, they will learn how to build structures with it. It will help them identify basic shapes like circles, rectangles, ovals, squares, triangles, and much more. Colored blocks will enhance their knowledge about different kinds of colors. This will happen in the coming months, but the 11th month is a good start for such games.
• This game does not need any special tools except for the sofa in your living room. You can also add some extra soft cushions to create a comfortable surface for them to enjoy. Climbing the sofa during this time will help them understand how to use their hands and legs to do certain activities. To make the best out of this activity, do it with them. YES! Be the leader and guide them on how to lean, climb and catch the corners to move ahead. If they fall once or twice, act like you are falling too, and let them know it’s okay.
• Do you have a round cereal with a hole in between? Get a soft string and pour some cereal into the bowl. Hold the string, and show your little one how to pass the cereal through it. Show them a few times and let them try it for the next few days. They might be able to do it on the first day, and some might need a few days. Make a necklace out of the cereals and thread to put around their neck or use it as a bracelet. It gives them a sense of achievement to see their creation.

Have a Schedule that is Flexible and Structured!

Having a plan for 11 month old feeding schedule is the best way to keep a routine. However, let there be some flexibility to the schedule. Kids can be unpredictable, and at this age, they are always evolving. Their playtime, eating habits, and sleeping patterns continuously keep on changing.

Don’t worry if things don’t turn out according to the schedule for a few days. Have patience if they eat more than normal or sometimes choose to skip a meal. It is perfectly acceptable to see such changes in the daily habits of an infant. Along with feeding your little one, don’t forget to take care of yourself too! The child will remain healthy only if you are physically and emotionally healthy.

Also, as it’s the 11th month, your little one will be turning one soon. It will soon be time to plan the first birthday celebration with family.