One! Waves, maybe steps, and a whole personality
Happy birthday to your baby — and to you, for a year of feeds, nights and firsts. Around now: cruising or first steps, waving bye-bye, a name for you, and in the UK the one-year vaccinations.
Development
By around a year, most babies pull up to stand and walk holding onto furniture; some are taking independent steps, and plenty aren't yet — walking anywhere from about 10 to 18 months is within the normal range.
Communication blossoms: waving bye-bye, calling a parent 'mama' or 'dada' or their own special name, and pausing at 'no'. The pincer grip is precise, and games like pat-a-cake and putting blocks into cups are big hits.
They'll hunt for a toy they watched you hide — memory and problem-solving arriving together.
Sleep
Many babies begin drifting towards one big lunchtime nap over the coming months — the transition weeks can be messy, with some days needing two naps and some managing one.
Separation anxiety often flares around the first birthday, so extra bedtime clinginess is common and temporary. Warm, boring consistency remains the trick.
Night waking hasn't necessarily finished — some one-year-olds sleep through, many don't yet, and both are normal.
Food and milk
From 12 months: three meals a day plus a couple of healthy snacks, and whole cows' milk can now be the main drink. Breast milk remains great too, for as long as you both want.
Bottles should start retiring now in favour of cups — the NHS discourages bottle feeding from age 1 to protect teeth.
In the UK, children aged 1 to 4 are advised to have daily vitamin drops containing vitamins A, C and D (10 micrograms of vitamin D) — unless they're still having 500ml or more of formula a day.
And you
In the UK, the one-year vaccinations are due — following the 2025–26 schedule update, this now includes the MMRV jab (measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox) alongside pneumococcal and MenB boosters; the NHS vaccinations page has the current list, as combinations were updated recently. In the US, the 12-month well-child visit covers similar ground.
If the 9–12 month health visitor review hasn't happened yet, it should be offered soon — chase it if it hasn't appeared.
And take a breath: you got a tiny human through an entire year. However this year looked, that took love, stamina and about a thousand small decisions — well done.
Feeding at this stage
Pick how you're feeding — we'll remember for next time. Every one of these is a good way to feed a baby.
Breastfeeding
- Carry on as long as you both want — the WHO supports breastfeeding to 2 years and beyond, and every extra month counts.
- Feeds often become bookends now — morning and bedtime — with food and other drinks in between.
- If or when you stop, gradual is kindest: one feed at a time, with cuddles taking over the comfort role.
Breast + expressed
- Routine pumping usually isn't needed from now unless you want to continue — direct feeds plus cows' milk in a cup covers it.
- Taper any remaining pumping slowly for comfort rather than stopping abruptly.
- Remaining frozen milk can go into cooking, cereal and cups — nothing wasted.
Breast + formula
- Formula can simply stop at 12 months — swap those feeds for whole cows' milk in a cup, and keep any breastfeeds you're both enjoying.
- No follow-on or toddler milk needed for the transition — the NHS recommends plain whole cows' milk from 1.
- Change one feed at a time if your baby side-eyes the new milk; mixing during the switch is fine.
Formula
- From the first birthday, whole cows' milk can be the main drink and formula can be retired — no toddler milks needed.
- Milk becomes a drink alongside food rather than the main event — the NHS feeding pages give a feel for how much, without rigid targets.
- Serve milk in an open or free-flow cup and let bottles bow out gently over the coming weeks.
Totally normal (even when it doesn't feel it)
- Not walking yet — many babies take first steps at 13 to 18 months and stride off just as well.
- Few or no clear words — understanding you is the milestone that matters most right now.
- Never crawled — some babies cruise straight past that chapter with no ill effects.
- Still waking at night sometimes — plenty of one-year-olds do.
- Eating heroically one day and hardly at all the next — growth is slowing, and appetite follows.
- Only a couple of teeth, or none — late teeth are almost always just late.
- Full-body devastation over the wrong-coloured cup — big feelings are part of the age.
Worth checking
You know your baby best — if any of these ring true, or something just feels off, it's always OK to ask.
- Your baby can't pull to stand or take weight on their legs with support.
- They aren't sitting steadily on their own.
- There's no babbling — none of those conversational strings of sounds.
- They use no gestures at all — no waving, pointing or lifting arms to be picked up — by around 12 months.
- They don't respond to their name or to people talking to them.
- They don't look for a toy they watched you hide.
- They've lost any skill they used to have.
- Raise any of these at the review, or book a GP or health visitor chat — early support helps, most concerns melt away on checking, and it is always OK to ask.