Why Your Baby Should Move On From Formula

Nov 05, 2025Plate&Play Team
Why Your Baby Should Move On From Formula
What is Baby Formula?

Formula is manufactured milk that is designed for babies, as a safe alternative to breastmilk. However, as babies grow older their nutritional needs change significantly. Once your baby hits their first birthday, it's time to say goodbye to formula and hello to regular milk and solid foods!

When Should My Baby Move On From Formula?

In general, experts recommend weaning your baby off of formula and onto full-fat dairy milk at around 12 months of age. Not into dairy? No problem. Plant-based milk alternatives can work too, depending on your baby's dietary needs.

Transitioning from formula to milk also goes hand-in-hand with moving from bottles to straw or open cups. This is another important step — prolonged bottle use can affect your baby’s teeth, jaw, and even their oral and speech development.

Why The Switch Matters?

After that first birthday candle, your baby's nutritional needs shift from relying heavily on milk to exploring a diverse range of solid foods. 

If you’re breastfeeding, it’s recommended to continue up to 2 years and beyond. Breastmilk offers numerous health benefits, including providing essential antibodies that boost your child’s immune system, reducing the risk of infections, and promoting healthy brain development. 

The Bottom Line

This transition is a big milestone for both you and your little one. Take it at your own pace, celebrate the small wins, and know that you're setting them up for healthy eating habits. Trust the process and follow your baby's cues. You've got this, Momma!

Frequently asked question

Baby-led weaning is a feeding approach where babies are given safely-textured table foods and allowed to self-feed, rather than being spoon-fed purees. It's associated with supporting oral motor development, pincer grasp and jaw development.

Yes. Meals are made with BLW-friendly textures, but every dish can also be blended down after reheating to a smoother, spoon-feeding consistency, so families can use whichever approach suits them.

Yes. Plate & Play meals can be blended down to a spoon-feeding consistency after reheating, so families who spoon-feed exclusively can use the meals just as easily as families doing baby-led weaning.

No, and they don't need to. Plate & Play meals are designed to be your baby's weekly staples, so cooking becomes something you do when you want to, not something you're obligated to do every day.

Yes. All Plate & Play meals are delivered frozen using cold-chain delivery. Someone needs to be available to receive the order and move it into the freezer promptly.

No. Plate & Play meals are made with no added salt, sugar or preservatives.

Plate & Play dishes are suitable from 6 months onward unless stated otherwise. Infant portions suit babies roughly 6-12 months, and Toddler portions suit 13-24 months, though bigger appetites can extend toddler portions to 3-4 years.

Choose a bi-weekly or monthly delivery frequency, select your meals, and Plate & Play automatically delivers baby and toddler meals on that schedule, so the weekly rotation is sorted in advance.

Meals can be reheated by microwave (3-5 minutes medium-high for dishes, 30-45 seconds for finger foods), double-boiling or steaming (10-15 minutes), or on the stovetop from defrosted (5-7 minutes covered). Air frying is not recommended for dishes.

Since the meals contain no preservatives, they're best consumed within one month of receipt when stored properly in the freezer. Once thawed in the fridge, consume within 24 hours.

Meals are delivered frozen via cold-chain delivery, Monday to Saturday, typically arriving within 1-2 working days between 3pm-10pm. Self-collection is also available at the East Village Mall store.

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