0-3 months
- Solely breast and/or bottle-fed; having oral reflexes for suckling and swallowing
- Have the following reflexes: rooting reflex, suck and swallow reflex, tongue thrust reflex, and gag reflex
- Can close lips to seal mouth
4-5 months
- Begins sucking and no longer only suckling
- Should be introduced to soft solid foods; such as cereals and pureed fruits and vegetables from a spoon
- Gag reflexes should diminish
- Tongue thrust and rooting reflexes should subside
- Should be able to move tongue up and down
- Should start using lips to draw in food off spoon
- Should start up and down munching
- Should open mouth when you hold up a spoon
- Cup drinking may also be introduced during this time (6 months,) as to practice their skills for a future transition to the cup
6-9 months
- Opens mouth and waits for the spoon to enter
- Uses upper lip to clean food off spoon
- Be able to control the position of food in the mouth to prepare for chewing
- Munch on food
- Soft, dissolvable foods are (typically) introduced
- Ground or lumpy solids are introduced
- Begin to eat food with hands
- Able to drink from straws at 9 months
- Control the position of food in the mouth to position food between jaws for chewing
- Be able to munch food
- Begin to eat mashed food
- Be able to eat from a spoon very easily
- Begin to eat food with hands
10-12 months
- Be able to move food from side to side in mouth
- Tongue may protrude under the cup in order to add additional stability
- Begin to curve lips around the rim of cup
- Begin to chew in circular manner
- Have a controlled, sustained bite through a soft cookie
- Take liquids from a cup although bottle or breast may still be utilized
- Mashed or chopped table foods with noticeable lumps are introduced
- Start to use a spoon, but may choose to use hands
- Diet will consist of yogurt, soft cheese, soft bread and crackers, strained meat or poultry, soft fruits and vegetables
12-18 months
- Playfully bite on the spoon
- Use a spoon proficiently
- Feed self
- Chopped table food continues to be provided and more control over the lips and tongue has developed
- Bite through harder foods if teeth are present
- You can introduce whole milk and eggs into the diet
- Most 13-15-month-olds will not take a bottle and instead will use a straw or regular cup
- At 16-18 months children are given more challenging foods that require chewing such as meats and many vegetables
19-24 months
- Gaining more control of cup drinking and not biting the cup as much
- Learning to drink for longer sequences with little to no spillage
- Chew and eat most foods, but you should still cut up food into small, non-circular pieces, as to not pose a choking hazard, like hotdogs
- Eat with mouth closed
24-36 months
- Able to enjoy almost all foods
- Drinking from an open cup or straw
- Help you cook and clean up