While it’s very exciting to get started with solid foods, it’s also important to remember that milk has been their most important source of nutrition for quite some time. Don’t worry if your baby is slower to accept solids; each will get there in the end.

As you get started on solids, the milk feeds should remain exactly as they are. We want the solids to be additionalcalories, not displacement calories. To start with, you will offer milk feeds as normal, and then after a short break, you can offer solids.

Role of milk 6-8 months

Babies should still be getting around 75% of their energy needs (calories) from their milk feeds.
It is likely they will have one solid meal per day (increasing to two towards the upper age) and that milk will remain at the same levels as before.
Offer milk before solids to ensure that it is still their priority food.
If babies’ stomachs are filled with nutritionally poorer foods, they will take less milk, and their overall diet and health will be inferior.

Role of milk 9-11 months

By 9 months, most babies will be eating 2-3 solid meals per day.
At this age, you can start to offer solids before their milk feeds (milk essentially becoming the ‘dessert’ to a solid meal).
An average baby will still be getting around 55% of their energy (calories) from milk at this age.
At this point, there is some divergence between the roles of milk for breastfed and formula-fed babies:

Breastfed babies:

Breastmilk isn’t merely calories; it is also a major provider of protein, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and protective factors, and so it continues to have value for as long as you wish to provide it.
You can continue to feed on demand (if you wish) and offer breastmilk in addition to solid mealtimes.
If you prefer a more scheduled approach (or you are looking to cut back on breastfeeding), you can start to introduce snacks between meals that are also solids. Snacks should be viewed as'mini-meals' rather than the traditional understanding of snack food. For example, you may ‘drop’ the midmorning feed and replace it with a health snack.
Formula-fed babies:
Once your baby is one year old, solid foods are the superior nutritional choice over formula, so the 9–11 month window is the time to start actively managing the milk feeds.
At 9 months, assuming they are on 3 meals per day, you can start to slowly replace other milk feeds with snacks. So if they were on four milk feeds in addition to their solids, you would drop one and introduce a snack. Then, a few weeks later, drop another feed and replace it with a snack. Keep doing this until, at a year old, they are no longer having milk feeds.

Role of milk from 12 months

The role that milk plays for your baby is very different, depending on how you’ve been giving milk feeds and what your personal goals are. Looking at a few common scenarios below:

Happily breastfeeding. In the second year of life, breastmilk can still provide up to 40% of your baby’s energy and nutritional needs. So, if you’re happy to keep breastfeeding on demand, then there’s no reason to change anything. Your child will likely have just three solid meals per day rather than any additional snacks. The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding for at least 2 years and for as long as mom and child are happy to continue. From here on in, your breastfeeding relationship is unique and yours to design; you can have several feeds per day, on-demand feeding day and night, scheduled feeds—do whatever works for your family!
Breastfeeding, but looking to stop. Well done for making it to a year—that's a huge achievement! At this age, if you want to stop breastfeeding, then you can simply start to replace milk feeds with solids. There is no value in introducing a bottle at this age or even milk feeds in a cup; your baby may love their current milk feeds, but it’s usually the delivery system rather than the milk itself that they are bonded to! For your own breast health, make sure you cut down slowly so that you aren’t engorged, and for your baby, make sure they are having plenty of water to drink so they don’t get constipated or dehydrated.
Formula feeding. Once your baby reaches a year of age, there is no nutritional need for them to continue to have milk feeds. If your child enjoys drinking milk, they can move to full-fat cow's milk at this age (formula is unnecessary, and ‘growing up milks’ aren’t a great nutritional choice). If they do still want to drink milk, dentists recommend moving away from a bottle and towards a free-flowing cup instead. Continued bottle use over the age of 1 carries with it increased risks of dental caries.

What is the role of milk from 6-12 months?

For our Baby Feeding Journey, Unii Expert Wendy Lever looks at the role of milk from 6 to 12 months.