Prevent Picky Eating: Baby Feeding Guide for 6 to 12 Months
Picky eating runs in our family, which made us determined to prevent our daughter Emily from developing the same habit. We did our homework, researched and decided to prioritize meal variety and a feeding system to maintain this goal during busy weekdays. Our efforts paid off—Emily loves food and it shows! Her enthusiasm for trying new things brings joy to our entire family. Here's how we achieved this, and how you can too.
The Root Causes and Advice to Prevent Picky Eating: Leaning On Science
Research suggests that picky eating has a genetic component, but providing varied food exposure and positive mealtime environments early on can help prevent it. Experts advise parents to take specific actions, including:
- Introducing diverse flavors and textures early
- Sharing meals with their children
- Cooking with your children
- Demonstrating healthy eating habits
- Avoiding mealtime pressure
- Fostering positive social mealtimes
The Biggest Challenge: Providing Variety to Weekday Meals
Mamas, I see you. Juggling daily life with a baby is no small task. It’s easy to overestimate what we can handle in a day. Here’s what I’ve learned: the key to preventing picky eating and ensuring variety in your child’s meals is smart meal planning and prepping. The good news? Today, I’ll show you how we made baby meal prep simple and stress-free. Discover our tried-and-true weekend meal prep system—designed for variety and ease—based on our experience with Emily from 6 to 12 months old.
Our Baby Feeding Guide for 6 to 12 Months: Prioritizing Food Variety
We created a simple, consistent system to prevent picky eating, ensure Emily enjoyed a variety of foods on busy weekdays, and minimize food waste.
1. Friday Night Grocery List
I highly recommend making your grocery list on Friday night—it’s much easier than trying to fit it into a busy morning packed with kid-related activities. Start by taking inventory of your freezer, refrigerator, and pantry. Plan the upcoming week’s meals around ingredients that are nearing spoilage. Then, add any additional items needed to complete your meal plan to the grocery list.
Creating a Balanced Meal Plan
Her meals included ingredients that provided all the necessary micro (vitamins and minerals) and macro (protein, carbs, fats) nutrients in each meal.
Micronutrients-Filling the Rainbow
We prioritized fresh, seasonal veggie and fruit options and whole grain carbs. To prevent waste, we bought smaller quantities of many items and embraced the mantra “a little bit of everything to fill the Rainbow”.
Macronutrients: Prioritizing High-Quality Proteins, Fats, and Complex Carbs
Stocking our pantry with oats, buckwheat cereal, polenta, potatoes, and rice made incorporating complex carbohydrates simple. Bob's Red Mill Cereal is our go-to brand for these whole grains, and we buy any of their products that we can. They are industry leaders in organic and whole grain foods, and they became fully employee-owned in April 2020. We are definitely going to continue supporting them!
Given the current state of the meat industry, sourcing high-quality protein and fats can be challenging. To address this, we prioritize plant-based proteins, including beans, lentils, tofu, and tempeh. Additionally, we use specific certifications to ensure the quality of our animal and fish products:
-
- Fish: MSC Certified
- Meat: Certified Humane Level 4 GAP and up; Grass Fed and Grass Finished; USDA organic.
- Eggs: Pasture-raised, Certified Humane and USDA organic
- Yogurt and Cheese: USDA organic and Grass Fed.
For further information on where to find products with these certifications, please refer to our article: How To Be An Ethical Omnivore: Animal Welfare and Our Health.
2. Saturday Morning Grocery Shopping
Going to the farmers market and whole foods right after breakfast on Saturday morning has become a weekend ritual for us. By Friday, our fridge is nearly empty, making it the perfect time to restock. Plus, it’s a great excuse to get outside and enjoy a walk early in the day—before nap time—helping us transition from the busy week to a more relaxed weekend.
3. Sunday morning: Meal Prepping and Freezing for Convenience
After buying the ingredients, it was time to prepare meals and portion them into freezer-safe silicone molds. These life-saving freezer cups, which my sister-in-law recommended, were incredibly helpful for serving Emily various combinations of proteins, vegetables, and grains at each meal. We also kept fresh fruit and yogurt in the fridge as an easy and no-prep snack.

Baby Food Texture Needs to Prevent Picky Eating and Our Approach
Following the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations, we started with smooth, easily swallowed foods like mashed, pureed, or strained options. As our baby's eating skills progressed, we gradually introduced thicker textures. We prioritized food safety by cutting all food into small, easily dissolvable pieces to minimize the risk of choking. While we explored various feeding approaches, we ultimately decided to follow the AAP's guidelines for our family.
Why Our "Baby Feeding Guide for 6 to 12 Months" Works
Science shows that introducing a variety of foods early helps prevent picky eating. However, preparing and blending food for a baby can be time-consuming, not to mention the cleanup that follows. It's easy to fall into the rotation rut. To ensure we consistently offered nutritious and diverse meals to Emily when she was a baby, we developed a meal prep system that helped us avoid relying on less desirable options.
Today, with Emily at 2 years old, the system remains the same, though we’ve adapted it. We no longer rely on specialized baby food storage; instead, we use glass snapware containers, and she eats the same meals as we do. Prepping meals in advance has kept her palate open to variety and made mealtimes stress-free for the entire family.
We’re in this together, make sure to share your experience and advice in the comments below. Good luck mamas!
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Meet the Author
Hi, I’m Tamara Schweitzer, creator of Everyday Essentialist. My passion is helping you live more intentionally by identifying and pursuing what's essential while letting go of the rest.
Rooted in quality over quantity, minimalist design, ethical practices, and clean ingredients, I share practical strategies that have helped me make the most of my time, space, and energy.
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