Week 3 of Baby GAPS adds soft boiled meat, liver, fish and ripe avocado. It also increases the homemade yogurt or cultured sour cream introduced through the Week 2 dairy route. For a formula-fed baby, this is the week the book begins replacing more formula with soups and purees containing meat or fish. Breastfeeding continues after every meal.[1]
We began Baby GAPS with our youngest on September 20, 2026, and this is our first time following the baby sequence. Week 3 builds on the foods already introduced, with more attention to soft meat and smooth textures.
A baby’s milk needs do not end simply because a week number has been reached. Breast milk or infant formula remains the main source of nutrition from 6 to 12 months. Discuss any reduction in formula with your baby’s clinician, who can assess age, growth, intake, and the nutritional adequacy of the replacement diet.[4]
Continue Weeks 1 and 2
Continue the foods already established in Week 1 and Week 2. Week 3 adds meat, liver, fish and avocado to the existing meat stock, fresh juice, probiotic-food route and soft vegetable soup.[1]
The complete Baby GAPS first-food guide shows where this week sits in the ten-week sequence.
Week 3 at a Glance
| Week 3 Addition | Starting Point | How It Progresses |
|---|---|---|
| Soft boiled organic chicken | Begin with a small amount, pureed into vegetable soup or puree | Increase gradually, then add other soft gelatinous meats |
| Cooked liver puree | About 1 teaspoon per serving | Add with the meat to the baby’s meal |
| Cooked fish with skin | Add after preparing fish stock and checking carefully for bones | Serve with vegetable soup or puree |
| Homemade yogurt or cultured sour cream | 1 to 2 teaspoons with each meal | Use only when the dairy route is already tolerated |
| Ripe avocado | 1 teaspoon mixed into vegetable puree | Increase gradually |
Add Soft Boiled Chicken
Begin with a small amount of organic chicken cooked for a long time in water until very soft, then puree it into the vegetable soup or puree. Increase the amount gradually.[1]
Use the meat and skin from the wings, legs and carcass with some breast meat. The book includes the skin, dark meat and fatty pieces. Include those tender, fatty parts rather than using breast meat alone.[1]
Once chicken is established, introduce other meats cooked in water. Prefer the soft gelatinous meat from around bones and joints. The meat used to make the family’s GAPS Chicken Meat Stock already has the soft texture this step needs.[1]
Prepare Liver With the Stock
Cook a piece of liver with the meat and bones while making meat stock. When the liver is cooked, puree it with a little stock and press the mixture through a metal sieve. Keep that strained mixture in the refrigerator.[1]
Add about 1 teaspoon of the liver mixture to each serving along with the meat. The Week 3 source names liver specifically. It does not replace liver with an undefined organ-meat blend.[1]
Add Fish and Use the Skin
Prepare fish stock regularly and serve cooked fish with vegetable soup or puree. Use the fish skin as well as the flesh because the source includes both. Descale the fish before cooking so the skin can be pureed into the baby’s meal.[1]
Check the cooked fish carefully as you separate the portion for the baby. The finished serving should contain the soft cooked fish and skin, without scales or bones.
Increase Homemade Yogurt or Sour Cream
When the dairy route introduced in Week 2 is tolerated, increase homemade yogurt or cultured sour cream to 1 to 2 teaspoons with each meal. Continue adding 1 teaspoon of sauerkraut juice to soups and stews.[1]
Use homemade live yogurt fermented for at least 24 hours. The 2020 book calls that preparation lactose-free, while the official GAPS FAQ explains that residual lactose varies and gives a 36-hours-or-longer option for especially sensitive people. A dairy reaction still follows the source-defined dairy wait and retry route.[2][3]
Add Ripe Avocado
Begin with 1 teaspoon of ripe avocado mixed into the vegetable puree. Increase the amount gradually. The source gives one teaspoon as the start; it does not begin with a 1-to-2-teaspoon range.[1]
Mash or puree the avocado into the established vegetable meal. Keep it identifiable as the new addition when recording the serving.
Perform the Wrist Test Before Each New Food
The New Baby chapter calls for the overnight wrist test before introducing foods, especially at the beginning. Test the food in the same form in which it will be served, then begin with a small oral amount when the wrist is clear. The Baby GAPS wrist-test guide keeps the method and wait period together.[1] A clear wrist spot does not rule out food allergy. Follow the baby’s allergy plan.[5]
Formula and Breastfeeding in Week 3
For a formula-fed baby, Week 3 begins replacing more formula with soups and purees containing meat or fish. The book describes a gradual shift. It does not stop formula on the first day of Week 3. Discuss any reduction with the baby’s clinician so milk intake still meets the baby’s needs.[4][1]
For a breastfed baby, continue breastfeeding after every meal. The solids expand while breastfeeding remains part of the feeding sequence.[1]
Track Each New Food
Week 3 names several additions, but the general introduction rule still applies. Test each food in its served form, begin with a small amount and increase it gradually. A short record of the food, form, amount and response keeps liver, fish, avocado and the increased dairy amount from becoming one unreadable change.
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.
What Waits for Later Weeks
Raw egg yolk and cooked apple begin in Weeks 4 and 5. Larger yogurt, yolk and meat amounts come in Weeks 6 and 7. Nut-butter pancakes, more juice and the first raw vegetables wait until Weeks 8 and 9. Cooked whole egg, raw fruit, homemade cream cheese, GAPS bread and the move toward Full GAPS family meals come later still.[1]
Continue with Weeks 4 and 5 of GAPS Weaning for the raw-yolk and cooked-apple steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Week 3 Name Other Organ Meats?
No. The Week 3 passage names liver specifically and gives its preparation and serving amount. It does not substitute another organ or a mixed-organ product.[1]
Why Does the Sequence Start With Chicken?
The book starts with soft organic chicken, including skin, dark meat, and fatty pieces. Once that is established, it adds other tender meats from around bones and joints.[1]
Does Formula Stop Immediately?
No. Week 3 begins replacing more formula with soups and purees containing meat or fish. The later Weeks 6 and 7 passage describes formula ending while breastfeeding continues. That is a description of the book, not a reason to stop needed milk according to a calendar; changes belong in the baby’s individual feeding plan.[4][1]
What Is the Week 3 Avocado Start?
Begin with 1 teaspoon of ripe avocado mixed into vegetable puree and increase it gradually.[1]
References
- Campbell-McBride, Natasha. GAPS: Gut and Psychology Syndrome, expanded second German edition (2015), Part 4, “New Baby,” “Introducing Solid Foods,” Week 3.
- 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.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How Much and How Often To Feed, March 11, 2025.
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Allergy Testing.
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