9 Mos. Old - When Do I Feed Solidish Foods and Dairy??

Hi S.
I am a mom to two little girls. I have a 2.5 year old and a 10 moth old. I breastfed my first exclusively until 8 months due to a series of overseas trips we had scheduled. She was totally fine with this. She did baby food for about 2 weeks and then went straight onto small bits of table food. She did not have teeth until 10.5 months!! This is fine and totally within the normal range (she has been a little late with all of her teeth). I ended up finding myself chewing a lot of food for her (gross to others but your baby doesn't care!!). Even though she is a toddler, she is one of the best eaters I know.
My 10 month old seemed to have a different plan. She breastfed exclusively through 7 months and then transitioned to baby food for couple weeks. She liked the infant cereal only for the first couple of times we tried it with her. It was good for her to learn with but she didn't seem to like it nor any other type of baby food too much. By 8 months she was pretty much eating all types of table food (cut into small bits). Her favorite foods are anything she can totally do by herself and don't require teeth (soft pear slices, tofu , avocado, oatmeal, bananas, pieces of melon, angel hair pasta cut into tiny pieces with sauce, Trader Joes Turkey meatballs cut into small pieces). While she will occasionally accept food off a spoon, we pretty much let her eat what she puts into her mouth herself. We started dairy products (cheese, yogurt) at 9.5 months. I think the books say 9 months for dairy products and 1 year for milk....Anyway my bottom line is 1) be smart about what foods to avoid (allergies or choking hazards) but 2) honor your babies palette and her capabilities. Give her good foods that you are eating and you might just have a toddler who likes to eat things other than mac and cheese!!! I am still breastfeeding her as much (or little) as she wants and intend to continue as long as she wants. Good luck with it all! Let your little one lead the way!
K.

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Hi S.,
My son is now 1 yrs old, and only had 2 teeth until this week. We started him on solids around 9 mo. We started off with mashed pot., very soft tiny pieces of carrot, peas, things like that, as well as the yo baby yogurt w/ cereal, also cheese. The went from there. The Gerber web site is very helpful with meal ideas, etc. and also the gerber snack puffs were very good, since they melt in their mouth.He eats EVERYTHING now! And I mean EVERYTHING! I think that you should go with whatever you feel comfortable with. Good luck, and have fun with it! Let us know what you do!

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Hi S.,
In my opinion, you could start meats anytime now, but they should still be pureed until she has teeth and is doing better with thicker consistencies. It sounds like Lily is doing well with fruits, veggies, and cereal so try making those a little thicker over the next couple of weeks so she can get used to the little chunks. Dairy is okay to start around 8 months, I would suggest Yo Baby yogurt to start. Whole milk can be introduced at 1 year. You could try little bits of cheese, but again you may want to hold off until she gets used to thicker consistencies. Everything you mentioned was very similar to me and my daughter, but she's almost 7 months. I breastfeed her 4 times per day and wake her at 10:30pm for one last feed then she sleeps through the night til about 8am. I am home with my daughter now, but I was a Nutritionist with WIC before having her. It was definitely a beneficial job in preparing me for my own children! Hope this helps! Happy New Year! J.

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hi there,
I know its good to follow the baby's lead, (to see what they like/dislike) but i definitely think you can feed baby more solid foods and hard dairy (no milk, but yes- cheese and yogurt). My son is 9 mos and we've been doing more solids for a month or so now. Avacados are a huge favorite. French toast (egg yokes and cinnamon, then fry up). He LOVES small bits of bread, small pieces of cheese (cheddar/american). WE still breastfeed too, and have used the mesh thing (with banana). i think at 9 mos, You can try lots of things, just stay away from eggwhites, nuts, mercury-fish, milk, strawberries (those are the ones that come right to mind)

i found this a VERY fun, helpful and creative book. Yesterday i made my baby banana muffins with wheatflour, applesauce, cinnamin, etc- and he loved them!
http://www.petitappetit.com/

here's the book on amazon too.
http://www.amazon.com/Petit-Appetit-Cookbook-Organic-Reci...

good luck!
A.

oh- and regarding teeth, my 2 cents.. My son has two bottom teeth, but my best friend in alaska, who has a baby also 9 mos- is eating TONS of food, french toast is her favorite, (since she was 6 mos) and she has NO teeth at all. so i think its totally possible. every baby is different though. so just give it a try- and see how she does. :)

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Hi, my 9 y.o daughter was born 11 weeks premature and also had very normal development and was "normal" sized by the time she was a year old. I was told by my pediatrician at the time to clock her developmental milestones by what her due date was supposed to be, not her actual birth date. That would mean in your case that your daughter is seven and a half months old in terms of how she should be fed.
I breast fed exclusively until my daughter was seven months old and slowly added solids. I started by using soy based formula mixed into baby rice cereal. I gradually added individual baby food vegetables and fruits. I then started with mixed dinners baby food. I also cooked tiny pasta (pastina) until it was very mushy and added baby veggies and/or baby food chicken or beef to that. I started giving her whole milk (Yo Baby) yogurt when she was about 10 months old, but didn't introduce other dairy until she was over a year old. I didn't fed her much solid "adult" foods until she was over a year old and had a few teeth. She loved cubes of tofu and scrambled eggs.
My doctor told me my daughter would nurse and eat more often than other babies her age because she was smaller with a smaller stomach. I was also told not to introduce foods that are potential allergens, such as dairy, peanuts, shellfish and such, until she was over a year old to minimize the risk of her developing allergies to them. By the way, I continued to breast feed my daughter until she was two. She has rarely been sick and has had only one ear infection in her life. She is very healthy, normal sized and has NO food allergies at all.

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I used to make my son homemade baby food. I would take beef or chicken and cook it in chicken or beef broth with carrots, celery and potatoes ... let it cook on low heat for 1-3 hours (beef takes longer) than you take a baby food grinder and grind up the meet than the veggies. Grind them to small pieces but not completely grinded. I would than use small pasta (they have small balls or small pieces that look like stars) and mix it in. I liked doing this for my son because he would get his protein and veggies and loved his soup. My son by a year had about 14 teeth so at 11 months we just started feeding him whatever we ate. Good luck!!

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A great resource that was suggested to me and that I lived by when giving my son solids was a book called Super Baby Foods, (I think the author is Ruth Yaron, I have since passed my copy on). She gives great suggestions on when to give them certain foods. I made all of his baby food through her guidance and it was so easy and much better for him! Good luck!

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Dairy usually begins around 12 months, especially if you or her dad have allergies.
As for solid food, I believe its all up to the child. My daughter was eating everything we were by 9 months, but she had started cereal at 3 months. She was ready and the doctor okayed it. If she was a premie, she may take longer. I suggest just trying things out, if it doesn't work, then give it a week or so and try again. They change so quick in their eating habits. My daughter also had no teeth until 10 months, it is amazing what they can gum. The gag reflex is also strong, so its harder than most moms think for them to choke. I would suggest going slow with any allergy foods if you guys have allergies. We don't and my daughter began peanut butter at 6 months. (I must admit by accident).

Hope that all helps a bit...

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If I recall you can give her pureed meats at 9 months....you can introduce most vegetables. Dairy is recommended to wait until after a year. You can give her adult food that is easy to eat, but I had always stuck with the jarred baby food so I really don't know what I would give her. Hotdogs should be waited on until after a year old....I would say maybe longer if she has that few of teeth. I would say maybe canned carrots....I say canned because they are much softer than fresh ones cooked. Its kind of hard to say with her having no teeth. however they do say that you really don't need teeth because the gums are so hard they act like teeth.

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I loved the website Wholesomebabyfood.com, which offers the time frame in which to offer various different foods to your baby at all stages. Check it out I think that you will get alot of your answers from this site.

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Hi S.,
It is so great that you continue to breastfeed, your milk is the perfect food and babies can thrive on breast milk alone until they are about 18 mos. old. Of course most babies want to eat something before then. I didn't introduce dairy products until my son was a year old and meat even later. Now experts are saying to wait until 3 years old to introduce peanuts/peanut butter. (they may not have an initial reaction but they are more likely to develop a peanut allergy later if they eat it at an earlier age)
I am pasting a link at the bottom to Mothering Magazine they have a great section on their website called "Ask the Experts", this may answer your question regarding introducing meat to a baby's diet, iron supplements, fluoride, burping and vitamins. The main website www.mothering.com has a great search engine that looks through all their past issues for your topic.
First "whole" foods that my son loved: avocado, bananas,
mashed potatoes, cooked peas, beans. You'll be able to tell what she can handle, but don't rush it (for one thing diapers get stinkier!)Most solid-ish foods I waited well over a year old to give him. And don't forget their little taste buds are changing rapidly, so something they may hate today may become a favorite later on. I read something about staying away from carrots until they are older, because they are naturally high in nitrates.

Here's the link I hope it helps!

http://www.mothering.com/sections/experts/palmer-archive....

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NO TEETH!! Is she teething at all? All kids are different but my daughter had 2 bottom teeth at 4 months old. I would wait on solids until she has some teeth, but the have stuff you can give her that disolve in her mouth, they have like veggie wheels and things like that. Maybe spagetti O's, something that you dont have to chew much. They say no dairy until a year old. Hope i helped.

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Hi S.!

I have two children. My son is 3 1/2 and didn't get any teeth until two weeks after his 1st birthday and my daughter is 13 months still with no teeth! I can tell you from experience, that YES they can eat regular meat without any teeth. The gums are very hard and are able to mash the meat. I just give a small piece, maybe the size of my pinky fingernail, or just a bit smaller to start. I have given them everything that I eat. I started my son at 4 months, recommended by the doctor as he was on baby cereal at 2 1/2 months and it wasn't enough for him! My daughter, I started giving her stuff at 6 months, just tiny pieces of whatever I am eating! Good Luck!

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Do not give Dairy until at least 1 yrs. old..if she has no teeth then she won't be able to chew meats. There are pureed meats available in the jar. She seems right on target eating the cheerios and fresh fruit. The gagging happened with my son when i gave him food that was too textured. I'm sure you can give your baby some table food, but mash well. As always recommended, check with her Pediatrition.

My son is now 18 mos. and I breastfed him until 16 mos! He is allergic to dairy and soy. He now drinks ricemilk. He didn't have a lot of teeth by 10 mos and was eating pureed stuff for a long time. He eats some meat throughout the week now. He has never had trouble gaining weight.

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S.,
first of all congratulations on breastfeeding your baby, it is the best food for them. I would not even try any solid foods until she has teeth. what you are feeding her now is sufficient for her nutrition. My son did not have any teeth until he was 11 months old and that's when I started giving him small bites of real food. I started with soft foods like peaches, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash etc. apples are too hard even in small bites. but applesauce is great. and when my kids were little the advice was to not give them dairy food until they are a year old. with a preemie though I might wait a bit longer.
Good luck and enjoy your baby. They grow up way too fast.

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Check out the book called "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, it is very informative and will answer all of your questions. on dairy; I have been giving yogurt to my daughter since she was 6 1/2 months and she loves it! (She is now 8 months, also breastfed). I buy organic plain whole milk yogurt and mix in pureed fruit. Good luck!
J.

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