9 Month Old Food Ideas

Oven fried potatoes and sweet potatoes (toss chunks lightly with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes @ 400 degrees)

Kidney, butter, pinto or navy beans right out of the can - rinse and serve.

Toast with sesame butter (tahini)

Noodles - plain or toss them with something you like to see if she likes it. Most kids like butter and salt.

Frozen peas thawed or steamed fresh peas.

Frozen blueberries (keep them frozen - it makes their gums feel better) or fresh

Watermelon, cantaloupe, pears, apples, bananas, plums - skin removed

Cheese chunks if she will tolerate dairy (this is one way to find out)

Scrambled eggs

Babies love fresh, colorful foods. Little things they can pick up that pack a lovely flavor or color will always do the trick. Stay away from cereals - they are unnecessarily fortified and are just filler. What's also important is to stay away from serving the same foods every day so that she decides all she wants is one thing or another.

"Super Baby Foods" is a GREAT book for a food resource. It's got ideas for foods at what age, how to make your own food, etc...take it with a grain of salt though as the author is "all natural" and uses a lot of whole/natural foods. I used it as a basic guide as to what to feed when and thought it was FABULOUS for making my own food. My daughter never did like the jarred baby food. She only liked home-made baby food and started eating table food as soon as she could put it in her mouth!

http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/babyfoodnews.html

http://blog.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/

http://simplybabyfoodrecipes.blogspot.com/search/label/Re...

These are the web sites I use.

I found an amazing book, 123 Cook for Me, by Karin Knight. It has tons of nutrition info and recipes for 6 months to 2 years.

sounds like you have a good meal for your daughter. keep up with the breastfeeding - its terrific. find your local la leche league if you can - they will help support you to continue!

www.askdrsears.com is a good site for good mom-baby-dad-baby relationship support. lol. attachment parenting. best thing i ever did!

and, basically, depending on teeth, she can probably eat anything you eat. as long as you cut it up really small and its really smooshy... etc.

good luck!

I would recommend www.wholesomebabyfood.com to get ideas. They are listed by age on the site as well. It's what I use with our son. It's the best!

Babies this age can have almost anything you're eating. Just be sure to stay away from choking hazards (raisins, grapes, etc.), honey (until age 1), peanut butter (usually til age 1), and egg whites (I believe it's the yolk that's okay... but ask your doc for sure). My boys LOVED yogurt and bananas. Gerber also makes little meals for babies learning to eat big-kid food. If you go to the Gerber website, they should have a feeding guide based on age... I loved it with my first son and went back and printed another one with my second son... I kept it on the fridge as my guide of ideas to feed the boys. Good luck... It is SO nice once the kids are able to eat almost everything from what is for lunch/supper... Such a time and money saver!

It's so fun when they start eating table food!
I suggest giving her a lot of vegetables, because at this age they will try anything and eat almost anything. So if you start the good habits now, it'll pay off when she is older.

Here are some suggestions:
Throw a pan full of yams and beets in the oven and roast them. Then when you eat, peel one and dice it up for the baby. Steamed carrots, broccoli. Canned beans, whole grain pasta, rice. We put everything on our 11 month olds high chair tray! She even eats hummus and ate a burrito yesterday.

Have fun!

I agree with the other posters - your dd should be ready to eat most table foods with the exception of the alergy no-no's. One tip - feed them what you eat. Your life will be a lot of easier down the road if your child knows she eats what is served. Don't make a separate or special meal to suit your child or you'll end up with a kid that only eats chicken nuggets and mac n cheese.

Also - my pediatrician recommended avoiding food battles and it has worked for us. She said if a child doesn't want something, require them to eat two more bites and then give them whatever they want. I have rarely had to give in to "whatever she wants" because she eats what we eat. Usually my daughter will want more potatos or veggies, but won't eat her meat, so I would always say eat two bites of meat and you can have all the veggies you want. It works very very well. Now my daughter almost always eats all her meat, beyond the required two bites and usually forgets that she wanted more of something else!

Hi-

I am also 28 years old and the mother of two girls ages 8 years and 7-1/2 months. I too have been struggling with new ideas to feed my baby (pureed foods just don't do it for her lately). I have been known to be a bit of a control freak when it comes to new foods, and always worrying that I will give her something that she will choke on. I decided to just open myself to the idea that she has got the whole "chewing" idea down cold... so recently she has tried mac and cheese with bits of brocoli, gerber graduates carrot and chicken ravioli, lasagna (her favorite so far!). I also have tried baked potatoes(until they are very soft). I dice up the whole potatoe and separate into small containers. Then I just add whatever veggie the rest of us are eating and some soft bites of cheese that I break up to be about pea size. She has taken to everything wonderfully. Another idea... I buy the fruit cups with peaches, pears, mandarine oranges and I devide the cups into smaller gerber cups with lids that I have recycled. She loves these and they are convenient, one cup usually makes about 3 meals of fruit for her. We still are using the gerber puffs, wagon wheels, strips of toast and crackers for snacks. I hope this helps. Good luck!

She can have anything you're eating as long as you cut it up into small pieces. At 9 months my son was on mostly table food and by 10 months he was completely on table food. Since she is still breastfeeding she is still getting most of her nutrients from your milk so I wouldn't worry too much about the table food yet.

I've got a 7 1/2 month old and I have found this website really helpful: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

It's easy to look up age-appropriate foods and recipes here - especially for making your own baby food, which I love to do.

I just cut up a butternut squash the other day and made it in the pressure cooker (I LOVE my pressure cooker!!!) and it was so easy and quick. Looks like you have a lot of great ideas here.

My 8-month-old likes to feed himself as well. An example of his lunch would be: diced steamed carrots (I dice then steam them myself, served room-temp or just warm), diced banana, shredded cheese. An example of dinner would be: a few tablespoons of mixed cereal combined with his Poly-Vi-Sol vitamin, gerber's freeze dried diced apples, steamed green beans (I steam either fresh or frozen beans myself, served room temp or warm) and plain or lightly seasoned chicken breast, cut small enough. Other ideas are: buy canned no-sugar-added pears or peaches. Dice them up and let her feed herself (this is a great way to save money- they're just as nutritious as gerber's). Yogurt. Frozen waffles! I give him them still frozen because he'll gum them (provides relief to sore gums) and as he does, they turn mushy, preventing choking. Graham crackers or nilla wafers are also a fun snack. My guy likes cooked macaroni (generally I cut them in half or thirds once cooked) mixed with some tomato sauce and ground burger as well. Hope these ideas are useful. Best of luck.

9 months is a typical time to not want baby food any longer. She can probably start eating about any table food that is soft or can be cut up-staying away from high allergy foods like eggs, peanut butter, chocolate, citrus fruits, etc. Grapes can be cut up and the skin can be removed from all beef hot dogs and sausages. She may be ready for more of everything!

See the Super Baby Food Book. All foods by age appropriateness with instructions on how to prepare.

My daughter would only eat foods she could pick up when she was about 9 mos. Her favorite is/was peeled apple cooked in a little water and cinnamon just until it becomes soft. Then cut up into smaller pieces. It is soft and yummy! Also, cooked sweet potato cut into pieces. She loves pancakes for any meal. You can add some baby oatmeal to the mix to add more vitamins. Peas are great. I think you could definitely add more nutrition to the lunch. Try soft cheese like brie (Wee Brie brand in the store). Macaroni plain or with a little tomato sauce is very popular with my daughter. Good luck!
Good recipes:
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

At her age it is ok to move away from the gerber foods and feed her pretty much anything that is soft enough for her to chew. Good finger foods are cheese, meats, noodles, cooked veggies, soft fruits, dry cereal, crackers, rice, beans. Avoid honey cereals, crackers and meats to prevent food posioning.

FYI: The gerber puffs/wagon wheels are ok but not very high in nutrients. They are mostly flour and probably flavored with juice not fruit. Cereal tends to be higher in vitamins and minerals and is a better choice.

HI A.,

Our second child refused baby food as he wanted what big bro was having, so the last 3 babies have had table food, just cut to their size. banana's are a big hit. gold fish & cherrios are good. I cut up mozerella cheese sticks a lot. Pasta is a great food that they love to touch themselves. cut up carrots and green beans are a favorite for my little one too. Don't be afraid to give her table food. You will be surprised. My kids have all wanted what we eat and it really is simpler and cheaper. I've breastfed all four of my babies as well. Of course until age 1 most nutrition should come from breastmilk too.

have fun and good luck!

My children all started eating sliced avocado and black beans rinsed from a can and sliced in half...those are my healthy snacks I would give them. And a book I loved when my oldest was that age was The Petit Appetit Cookbook which has great ideas and recipes for babies through toddlers...and for me into adulthood! :)

$12.21 from amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Petit-Appetit-Cookbook-Organic-Reci...

My son now 10 months eats what we do and has for close to a month now. He loves peas and grean beans and corn. He has the baby oatmeal for breakfast with either regular or cinnamon toast or bannana or fruit, etc. for lunch he will eat a sandwich with lunch meat and cheese (cut up small) or spagettios or ravioli or a hot dog and fruit, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, spagetti and the same with dinner whe let him try anything he can gum since he only has 2 bottom teeth. He also really likes the yo baby organic yogurt. For dinner he also likes mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, pasta and any veggie cooked or steamed as long as its soft enough. Hope this helps with some ideas.