Babies: 9 - 12 Months

Baby's Menu

So I my baby girl is 9 months old and got her first tooth a week ago (yay!) and we have been starting on the puffs and finger foods, but while looking up what to feed her I feel like I am behind the curve somewhat.

We mainly feed her the purees still - gerbers seem to be the best - and of course nurse/formula (combo baby because for some reason I just can not pump very much). I have recently started "sharing" with her - rice, potatoe, and bit of safe foods that I am eating - and she seems to love it, but we have not started her on meats yet or cheese. 

Guess I am just wondering - is it normal for her to still mainly be eating her pureed fruits and veggies? In what format do you do meats and cheese? FYI - she is a great eater, we easily eat a whole gerber tub in a sitting and then have puffs foods and water then nurse - loves her veggies too.  

Re: Baby's Menu

  • DD mainly does pur?ed food also- but she is a picky eater.

    at 9 months months she can have most of whatever you normally eat. I would "share" everything with her (wish I could). I would. Give meat directly from your plate. 

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  • We mostly do purees too b/c I'm a baby and nervous about giving her finger foods.  She also gets oatmeal, yogurt, and puffs.  I recently bought a mesh feeder and she loves it!  I put a chunk of banana in it and she goes to town!  My nephew was on purees until 14 months, and he's now a normal 3 year old who eats a variety of foods, so I wouldn't worry too much about being behind the curve!

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  • I'll share my experience with my son who will be 10 months next week and also has only 2 teeth.  I have a friend that didn't really start on finger foods until her child turned one and she really regretted it because she had a hard time at that point.  For us, our daycare wants him on mostly "adult food" by one so we are sort of under pressure!  Also, they need finger foods at this point to learn to pick up small objects, which is unsafe to practice with non food items since they might put the item in their mouth and choke.

    For a while we did stage two purees and the fruit or veggie puffs (i refuse to give him the ones that look like cheetos puffs!).  We also did yogurt melts which can be messy.  There were a couple of times where he would choke/gag and throw up a little onto his bib and I would just remove the bib and he kept on eating, it wasn't traumatic or anything.  Then about 3 weeks ago we gave him cheerios and he ate those fine - loved them and they are much cheaper than puffs.  So then I moved on to giving him green beans and mac and cheese which I broke into bite sized pieces with my fingers.  The next day I started giving him shredded pieces of meat (chicken, turkey, BBQ pork, bite sized meatballs, etc).  He took to it really well.  Its not a main part of his diet or anything, we just give him a little of whatever we are eating.  You can also by canned carrots, and beans like lima beans and break them in half.  Just sit right there with her while she eats.  Have fun!

  • It's hard to say what is "normal" with babies at this stage, but your child is fine. We started doing Baby Led Weaning just shy of 6 months, so LO has only ever had table food. At first, he "ate" very little but played a lot. He screamed at his food a lot, too. After about a week, he stopped screaming. After a few weeks, he starting consuming considerably more. Now, he eats pretty much anything we offer (and anything on the carpet). He is able to pick up yogurt melts one by one and place them in his mouth.

    Once YOU are comfortable introducing finger foods, do it the way that you are comfortable with. Now that my LO has been eating table food for awhile, I'm a little more confident on what he can handle. But at first, I gave him larger/finger-sized food so that he could hold part of it in his hand while he put it in his mouth. Even now, when I give him something new, he prefers to study it before putting it in his mouth. He was far more tentative with puffs than he was with the hunk of ham on his plate, because he could hold on to the ham with his fist. It took a lot of trust before he would shove the puff blindly into his mouth.

    It's a huge learning experience for babies, so give it time, don't rush it, and don't worry if she doesn't pick it up at first. Also, realize that there is a big difference between choking and gagging. My LO has gagged on a LOT of food and turned red in the face in a coughing fit. He usually spits it back out, and tries to shove it right back in. He hasn't choked on anything yet though. Watch your LO, but understand that gagging is a part of the learning process. Good luck!

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    Micah Leonard
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  • By 9mths DD had all but rejected anything on a spoon, so we've been on finger food since then.

    We started with grated cheese, but now I just cut small pieces.

    I give her small pieces of chicken, but started with it pretty well shredded up. Minced meat is good, and really tender lamb or beef shredded into tiny pieces. Some cut strips of beef that LO can suck the goodness out of.

    My little girl pretty much has everything we're having. Cooked veges like broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, beans, pumpkin etc are great for them to manage. DD LOVES peas.

    I also give her boiled eggs, chunks of tinned tuna, pieces of pasta, tinned fruit. 

    DD only has two teeth. It's amazing what their gums can do. 

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    Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
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  • I cut sandwich meat into little tiny pieces, add some shredded cheese and let him feed himself.  We also do eggs, avacado, potatos, oatmeal, cream of wheat, collard greens, vegitable soup and the kid loves Chili.
  • we only do cheerios, gerber stage1 and 2 foods...and some 3. while I feel that LO is behind as well....I also don't want to rush into something that he may be allergic to or give him stuff that's got too many adult flavors (sodium, fat, carbs, etc). beech nut makes single ingredient meats (chicken, turkey, beef) in their stage 1...LOTS of protein and ZERO carbs! also earth's best line of baby food, even in stage 1 and 2 are a bit thicker than gerber, so I like to use that to give LO more of a texture variety
  • I wouldn't worry about it at this point. With DD#1, I just started feeding her finger foods after her 9 month well-check. Now with DS, he's been eating finger/table foods since about 7.5 months. Always remember there is a wide range of "normal" when it comes to babies starting anything (whether it be crawling or eating).

    I think you're doing a good thing by feeding her those foods you mentioned from your own plate. I would go ahead and put those foods on her tray and let her pick them up and feed herself (of course you can help her along and still spoon feed her some things, but it is good for her to learn to pick up those small pieces).

    Some things that DS is eating right now:

    Cooked veggies that I dice up (carrots, broccoli, peas, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, etc.)

    Cheese (small pieces or shredded)

    Bread (I tear off tiny pieces)

    Diced, cooked chicken or beef and crumbled pieces of ground beef

    Cheerios, puffs

    Yogurt

    Additionally, he pretty much eats whatever we are eating now, within reason. He loves casseroles, spaghetti, meatballs, and he just ate his first grilled cheese last night (I cut it up in tiny pieces and he went to town on it).

    Mom to DD#1 December '06, DD#2 Feb '09 and DS March '12
  • OMG... everytime we move forward my LO sets back... we still do the chunky purees. chicken and either potatoe, pasta or rice and veggies... he started crying over the last 2 weeks when he is fed the thick pureed food.

    if i cut fruit into oatmeal, regular rice, cheerios, etc., he is fine... do i run with the pieces because he is behind?

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