Week 2 of Baby GAPS keeps the Week 1 meat stock and fresh juice in place, then adds two routes: a small amount of probiotic food and the baby’s first soft vegetable soup or puree. The source starts the probiotic food at 1/2 teaspoon per day and the soup at 2 to 4 teaspoons, increasing each gradually.[1]
We began Baby GAPS with our youngest on September 20, 2026, and this is our first time following the baby sequence. Week 2 brings a few more things to prepare: a probiotic-food option and soft vegetable soup.
Continue the Week 1 Foods
Continue the homemade meat stock and freshly pressed juice introduced in Week 1. Increase the amounts step by step as the baby accepts them. Week 2 builds on those foods rather than replacing them.[1]
If you need the whole sequence before working through the individual weeks, begin with the complete Baby GAPS first-food guide.
Week 2 at a Glance
| Week 2 Step | Starting Amount | How It Progresses |
|---|---|---|
| Continue Week 1 meat stock and fresh juice | Use the amounts already accepted | Increase gradually |
| Add homemade whey or juice from homemade sauerkraut or fermented vegetables | 1/2 teaspoon per day | Increase gradually |
| If whey is tolerated, add homemade yogurt | 1/2 teaspoon per day | Increase gradually before moving to cultured sour cream |
| Add soft vegetable soup or puree | 2 to 4 teaspoons | Begin thin and gradually make the texture thicker |
Add a Probiotic Food
Begin with 1/2 teaspoon per day of one probiotic food added to the meat stock. The book gives two choices: homemade whey drained from homemade yogurt, or juice from homemade sauerkraut or another homemade fermented vegetable. Increase the amount gradually.[1]
Perform the book’s overnight wrist test before introducing the chosen probiotic food. Test the food in the same form in which it will be served. The Baby GAPS wrist-test guide keeps that method and its retry timing in one place.[1] A clear wrist spot does not rule out food allergy. Follow the baby’s allergy plan.[4]
Choose the Dairy or Non-Dairy Branch
For the dairy branch, the expanded book suggests beginning with whey from homemade goat-milk yogurt because it is often better tolerated than whey from cow-milk yogurt. If the whey is tolerated, introduce the undrained homemade yogurt itself at 1/2 teaspoon per day. Increase it gradually. Once yogurt is tolerated in increasing amounts, the next dairy form is sour cream fermented with yogurt cultures.[1]
Use homemade live yogurt cultured for at least 24 hours. The 2020 book calls the 24-hour preparation lactose-free. The official GAPS FAQ adds a useful qualification: residual lactose varies from batch to batch, and especially sensitive people may ferment yogurt or kefir for 36 hours or longer. That is a refinement within GAPS guidance, not a reason to replace the homemade preparation with commercial finished yogurt.[2][3]
For the non-dairy branch, use juice from homemade sauerkraut or another homemade fermented vegetable. Keep the two branches distinct so you know which food was introduced and in what form. A dairy reaction follows the source-defined dairy route and wait period; it does not require abandoning the separate fermented-vegetable option.[3]
Make the First Vegetable Soup
The second Week 2 route is vegetable soup or puree. Peel and deseed the vegetables, then cook them very soft in homemade meat stock without salt or other additions. Use non-starchy vegetables. The book names carrots, zucchini, squash, leeks, onions, garlic, broccoli and cauliflower. Peel and deseed zucchini and squash.[1]
Potato, sweet potato, yam and parsnip are excluded from this Week 2 soup. They do not replace the listed non-starchy vegetables.[1]
Add One of the Listed Fats
Once the vegetables are very soft, blend the soup with one of the fats named in the source:
- 1 teaspoon of an animal fat such as pork, beef, lamb, duck, goose or chicken fat
- 1 teaspoon organic coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 drops cod liver oil
- 1 teaspoon homemade ghee made from organic butter
- 1 teaspoon unsalted organic raw-milk butter
The book says to vary the oils and fats used from day to day. Choose one of these fats that the baby already tolerates.[1]
Cool to Body Temperature Before Adding Yogurt
Let the soup or puree cool to body temperature. Test a small amount on the inside of your wrist. When it is ready, the book adds 1 teaspoon of homemade organic yogurt. Use this step only after yogurt is established in the baby’s dairy route.[1]
Begin with 2 to 4 teaspoons of the finished soup or puree. Start with a thin texture. Make it gradually thicker as the baby becomes used to eating from a spoon.[1]
Track Each New Food
Week 2 contains several possible forms, but they are not all introduced at once. Choose the first probiotic branch, test it, begin with the stated amount and increase it gradually. Build the soup separately. If you use the dairy branch, whey comes before undrained yogurt, and yogurt comes before cultured sour cream.[1]
A simple written record makes that order visible. Note the food, the prepared form, the amount and what followed. This keeps an early reaction from being confused with several foods introduced together.
Keep the Whole First-Foods Kitchen Together
My Baby’s First Foods Cookbook brings together the preparations and textures used through the Baby GAPS sequence. It is listed in the WFLI shop.
Breast Milk and Formula Continue
Week 2 still adds complementary food alongside milk feeds. The expanded book does not begin gradually replacing formula with soup and puree until Week 3. Breastfeeding continues as the sequence expands.[1]
Continue with Week 3 of GAPS Weaning for boiled meat, liver, fish, avocado and the next milk-feed steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Have to Use Both Whey and Sauerkraut Juice?
No. The source presents them as two options for the first probiotic addition. Choose one form, perform the wrist test, begin at 1/2 teaspoon per day and increase it gradually.[1]
What If Dairy Is Not Tolerated?
Leave the reacting dairy form out and follow the source-defined wait before another trial. The fermented-vegetable juice branch remains separate. Do not treat sauerkraut juice as proof that whey or yogurt is tolerated.[3]
Can Potato Be Used in Week 2?
No. The Week 2 soup excludes potato, sweet potato, yam and parsnip. Use the named non-starchy vegetables instead.[1]
Does Week 2 Soup Replace Breast Milk or Formula?
No. Milk feeds continue during Week 2. For a formula-fed baby, gradual replacement with soup and puree begins in Week 3. Breastfeeding continues after meals as the sequence progresses.[1]
References
- Campbell-McBride, Natasha. GAPS: Gut and Psychology Syndrome, expanded second German edition (2015), Part 4, “New Baby,” “Introducing Solid Foods,” Week 2.
- Campbell-McBride, Natasha. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Food” and “Yogurt, Kefir and Sour Cream”: homemade fermented dairy and the 24-hour yogurt statement.
- GAPS official FAQs, Dairy question 9 and Fermented Foods question 2, plus the official Dairy Introduction Structure: residual-lactose qualification, longer fermentation for sensitive people, sensitivity testing, gradual introduction and the dairy-reaction wait.
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Allergy Testing.
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