How much should your baby eat? Here's a visual guide to baby food portions

Lots of factors – including activity level, growth spurts or plateaus, illness, and teething – will affect your baby's appetite, which can vary daily.

End mealtime when your baby shows signs that they're full, including:

• Turning their head away
• Refusing to open their mouth for another bite after they've swallowed (resist the urge to encourage your baby to have one last spoonful)
• Leaning back in their chair
• Playing with their utensils or food instead of eating

When your baby is developmentally ready for solids, typically around 4 to 6 months, talk to their healthcare provider about introducing solid foods. The first bites are mostly about getting your baby used to the idea of having something different in their mouth. Here are some basic tips for getting started:

• Start with a very small amount, 1 to 2 teaspoons, of a single-ingredient puree.
• Gradually increase to 1 to 2 tablespoons of food once a day.
• Follow your baby's fullness cues.
• Popular first foods include pureed mango, banana, chicken, turkey, beef, peas, sweet potatoes, and baby cereal.
• Only introduce one food at a time, and wait three to five days between giving each new food. If your baby has an allergic reaction or food intolerance, spacing out new foods will make it easier to figure out what's going on.

As your little one gets more comfortable with solids, you can increase how many meals they eat in a day and give them more variety. Here are some tips:

• Usually by 8 months, babies are eating two solid food meals a day.
• Over time, add a second food to each meal. The photo above is an example of a meal with two foods.
• Once you've worked up to two meals with two foods each, aim for a balance of proteins, vegetables, fruits, and grains in your baby's daily diet.
• Whenever you introduce a new food, start with a very small amount – a teaspoon or two – so your baby can get used to its flavor and texture.
• Start with a soupy consistency. Gradually add more texture as your baby gets better at eating.
• It's normal for babies to drink less formula or breast milk as they start eating more solids.
• Provide healthy options at mealtimes, and let them choose how much to eat.

"We started [solids] a month ago. So far we've done white sweet potatoes, avocado, apple, blueberries, and peas. He absolutely LOVES food," says BabyCenter Community member Ro711. "He grabs for everyone's food constantly and gobbles everything down really quickly. Right now to keep him occupied during dinner, I have to pretend to feed him – otherwise he's just angry eyeballing us all for eating without him."

Note: The jars in all photos are standard 4-ounce baby food jars.

Cereal and fruit make an easy combination for a morning meal.

Grain: Iron-fortified, whole-grain infant cereal is a popular first grain. At 6 months, a typical daily portion of infant cereal mixed with breast milk or formula might be 2 to 3 tablespoons, increasing to 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup) by 8 months. (It's best to avoid rice cereal, which may contain higher levels of arsenic than other baby cereal and can make your baby constipated.)

Fruit: Babies love the natural sweetness of fruits like pears, apples, berries, prunes, and stone fruits. Between 6 and 8 months, a baby will typically transition from about 2 to 3 tablespoons of fruit puree a day to 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of mashed or minced fruit.

If you serve a grain and a fruit in the morning, consider giving your baby a protein-rich food and vegetable later in the day.

Protein: Other than the usual beef, pork, chicken, and fish, good protein sources include cheese, unsweetened plain whole-milk yogurt, tofu, beans, and lentils. A baby might transition from eating 1 to 2 tablespoons of meat puree at 6 months to 2 to 4 tablespoons at 8 months.

Vegetable: Try classic favorites like carrots, spinach, or butternut squash, as well as less traditional first foods such as parsnips, beets, or asparagus. Between 6 and 8 months, a baby will typically transition from about 2 to 3 tablespoons of vegetable puree a day to 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup).

By 8 months or so, your baby is likely getting the hang of eating and needs more calories to support their growing body. But since their little belly can't hold a lot of food, they'll need to eat more often.

Every baby is different, but this may be a good time to try offering a third solid food meal.

During this period:

• Continue to give your baby breast milk or formula.
• Add morning and afternoon snacks. (Some babies this age are happy with breast milk or formula as their snack, while others gravitate toward solid foods.) Once you've added a third meal and snacks, your baby will be eating or drinking something about every two to three hours.
• Continue to aim for a mix of proteins, vegetables, fruits, and grains.
• Introduce coarser and chunkier textures, for example, by dicing or mincing food instead of pureeing it, and graduate to soft finger foods as your baby's eating skills improve.
• Avoid foods with added sugars. Check the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods, and try to steer clear of foods that list 1 gram or more of "Added Sugars."
• Keep providing healthy options, but let your baby choose how much to eat.

"My girl will be 1 tomorrow and she has been eating real food since she was about 6 months old," says BabyCenter Community member CallieB11. "Started with scrambled eggs and small, cut-up fruits! Now she eats anything I eat."

Your child may eat more or less than these amounts. If you're concerned about how much your baby is eating, talk to their healthcare provider.

The AAP sample menu for a baby 8 to 12 months features a breakfast consisting of:

• 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup) whole-grain infant cereal mixed with formula or breast milk
• 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup) diced fruit

The AAP sample menu for a baby 8 to 12 months features a morning snack consisting of:

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) grated cheese or cooked vegetables

The AAP sample menu for a baby 8 to 12 months features a lunch consisting of:

• 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup) unsweetened plain whole-milk yogurt or cottage cheese, or minced meat
• 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2 cup) diced or mashed yellow or orange vegetable

The AAP sample menu for a baby 8 to 12 months features an afternoon snack consisting of:

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) diced fruit or unsweetened plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1 whole-grain teething biscuit or cracker

The AAP sample menu for a baby 8 to 12 months features a dinner consisting of:

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) minced or ground poultry or meat, or diced tofu
• 4 to 8 tablespoons (1/4 to 1/2) cup diced, cooked green vegetable
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) noodles, pasta, rice, or potato
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) diced fruit

Breast milk or formula will fully meet your child's hydration needs until they're about 6 months old. They may start drinking less as solid foods become a bigger part of their diet. Here are typical daily amounts by age – there's a wide range of normal, though, so your baby may drink more or less:

• 6 to 8 months: 18 to 40 ounces of formula or breast milk
• 8 to 12 months: 18 to 32 ounces of formula or breast milk

You might be wondering about introducing other drinks at this age, too. Here's what to know.

Water: You can offer your baby water once they start eating solids, but let them self-regulate how much they drink. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends giving babies who are 6 to 12 months old 4 to 6 ounces of water a day, but what your baby decides to drink may vary. They may drink more on a hot day, for example.

Avoid juice: Juice isn't recommended for babies younger than 12 months.

Keep in mind that these portions are an estimate. The truth is, every baby is different, and there's no set amount of food that's appropriate for every baby at every stage.

If you're worried about whether your baby is eating enough – or too much – the best advice is to look for and respond to signs that your baby is full.

Your baby's healthcare provider will chart their weight gain at regular intervals. If the provider sees a consistent growth curve and doesn't have other concerns, your baby is most likely eating the right amount of food.

Hungry for more?

• Your feeding chart for baby's first year
• The 10 best foods for babies
• The worst foods for babies
• Using spices and seasoning in baby food