Stage10–12 m
10-12 months
First step, first word, first birthday
Three milestones crowd together at the one-year mark: walking, a first meaningful word, and a diet that shifts from milk-led to food-led. Do not rush the walking — the normal range runs to 18 months.
What to feed
- Milk
- Around 600ml a day across 3 feeds. Milk starts making way for meals.
- Meal pattern
- Three meals plus 1-2 snacks, on the family schedule.
Can start eating
- Small pieces of soft rice, noodles, bread
- Shredded meat, fish, prawns
- A wider range of vegetables and fruit, including soft raw fruit
- After the first birthday: whole cow milk as a daily drink
Not yet
- Salt and sugar (before age 1)
- Honey (before age 1)
- Whole nuts, hard sweets, jelly cups, whole grapes and cherry tomatoes
- Sugary drinks and juice
Worth knowing
- Let them hold their own spoon even if half of it lands on the floor
- Move from bottle to cup and aim to be bottle-free by 18 months — prolonged bottle use affects tooth alignment
- Do not chase them around with a bowl, and do not feed them in front of a screen. These two habits are the most common origins of later fussy eating
- Appetite swings wildly day to day. Judge by the week, not the meal
How much sleep
11-14 hours a day
- Daytime
- Two naps merging into one, usually between 12 and 18 months
Do not force the merge. If the morning nap is still needed, keep it. Dropping it early buys you an overtired, harder-to-settle afternoon.
Vaccines in this stage
No scheduled vaccines in this stage.
What most children do by now
Gross motor
- Cruises sideways along furniture
- Pulls to stand and stands alone for a few seconds
- Some take a first step
Fine motor
- Accurate pincer grip
- Puts objects into a specific container
- Turns board book pages
Language
- A first meaningful word, where "mama" means mama
- Points to ask for things
- Follows a simple instruction such as "give me the ball"
Social and cognitive
- Waves goodbye and claps
- Imitates adult actions such as using a phone or sweeping
- Signals yes and no with gesture and expression
This is what most children manage in this window, not a pass mark. A few months either way is common. The signals worth acting on are in the doctor section below.
Height and weight reference for this ageWhen to see a doctor
If any of these apply, do not wait for the next routine check.
- At 12 months, cannot pull to stand or move around by any means
- Does not point at things — this one is important in autism screening
- Does not wave or imitate actions
- No consonant syllables
- Does not turn to their name
- Loss of previously acquired skills
What to practise
- 01
Push, do not ride
How · Give a sturdy push toy or a small stool to push around the house. Not a baby walker.
Why · Pushing trains weight transfer and balance. A walker holds them up instead, which delays independent walking.
- 02
Turn gestures into words
How · They point at the cup and grunt. You say: "You want water. Water." Then give it. Translate every gesture into a word.
Why · Gestures are the precursors to words. Consistent translation speeds up the crossover.
- 03
In and out
How · Give a box and a pile of blocks. Let them fill it, tip it out, and fill it again.
Why · This apparently pointless repetition is how spatial relationships and cause and effect get built. Let it run.
Day to day
- The one-year check matters: blood count, developmental review, vaccine catch-up
- Bare feet or thin soft-soled shoes are best for learning to walk. Stiff "training shoes" are unnecessary
- First dental visit within six months of the first tooth, and by age 1 at the latest
- Screen time: apart from video calls, none is recommended before 18 months
Common questions
- One year old and not walking. Is that a problem?
- No. Independent walking normally arrives anywhere between 9 and 18 months. What matters is whether they can pull to stand and move around somehow, not the date of the first step.
- Can they drink cow milk now?
- Yes. From age 1, whole cow milk works as a daily drink at 350-500ml. Not low-fat — fat matters for brain development at this age. Follow-on formula is not required.