What to Feed 8 Month Old

This was our schedule at that age:
Breakfast-Bottle and cereal with baby fruit
Lunch-Bottle, fruit and vegetable
Dinner-Bottle, cereal, fruit and vegetable
Snack-Bottle

His bottles were only about 4 oz each and that was fine for him. The cereal gives a lot of nutrients. Maybe put less liquid in his cereal to make it thicker and see how he does with that. Is he doing stage 3 baby food? That might be another place to start just to get used to textures and moving food around in his mouth. Sounds like you're on the right track!

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I think my son's peditrician said that the pieces of food should be about the size of a pencil eraser.

Just a little on what worked for us. At that age I gave my baby girl the veggies in the baby food jars because they are so sweet and yummy, even the green peas. I can't remember if it was level 2 or 3, but they can do more than just the liquidy level 1. Mashed potatoes and baked potatoes are great. I think until he gets a few more teeth that potatoes, applesauce, bananas, and baby foods are your main staples. Also, egg yolks are wonderful. They say wait on the white until after they turn 1 year. Don't forget guacamole, too. He will want to try what everybody else is eating at the dinner table because it will smell and look so good, and if it's soft then spoon him a tiny bite.

We introduced our baby to everything we could as soon as she had enough teeth to support it, and now at 1-and-a-half she eats everything nearly, even broccoli and pork chops (cut into tiny fork pieces or thin strips for finger holding), for example. When she was nine months old, I have a picture of when she was getting fussy at Cheddar's and so we gave her a barbecued rib bone with very little meat left on it, and she just loved gnawing on that. That may sound like a little much to you, but she developed a taste for all the foods that the grownups are eating, which makes it easier for you later on. That way you don't have a baby who only wants chicken nuggets and french fries like you see so much of nowadays while you are fixing a nice dinner for the rest of the family.
Good luck! None of your questions were silly, don't think that! It was all a mystery to me, too, until after I went through it. :)

Are you using formula? Go to the website of your formula and check it out. They all have great information on how much and when - my ped even gave me a chart with what to add when and how much. The baby should definitely be getting a bottle, but I have noticed since we added meat the bottle consumption has gone down a little. My ped confirmed this was actually happening because once you add the meat, their little bodies ususally will take the fat from that and not need as much from the bottle.

The formula websites are really informative.

Every baby is different (as is the advice). My pedi had me start my daughter on cereal and baby food at 4 months. My friend was told to wait until 6 months and my cousin 1 year. Most research I did said that all babies really need for the first year is breast milk or formula. So, I guess I'm trying to say, go with what works. I'm pretty lazy about giving my daughter anything besides the breast. Some nights she eats food, other nights not. I'm not going to worry about when she eats big person food. I don't know of any adult that still eats baby food! :) Also, I think I've heard to give a child something five times(?)before determining if they like it or not. Good luck!

We skipped baby food and just fed my daughter some of what we ate. We always have veggies with our meals, so I would just pull out a few peas or avocado. My daughter preferred them not mushed, but every kid is different. Someone said kids don't need any food other then milk the first year and that is completely true. The only purpose of food at this age is to get them used to it. The reason we always gave our baby the same food we eat was to teach her early on that her only choices of food are what we have prepared. We wanted to avoid the common trap where kids only want chicken nuggets or junky and parents are pulling their hair out to get their kids to eat veggies. My daughter is now a little over 2 and people are always asking how I get her to eat brussel sprouts and beets! Good luck!

My son is 8 months and i had the same problem. He used to hate any chunkier meal no matter what it is. I been trying from chicken to veg. and fruit but he still won't eat it. My pedi told me that baby will learn to chew chunkier meal at 9 months but she encourage me to let him learn now to avoid "picky eater". So i change his feeding from stage 2 to stage 2 & 3 combo. Here is his feeding pattern that i try to follow as much as i can.

7am - 8 oz of formula
9:30am - 11/2 scoop of cereal with some formula OR 1 nos. of baby yogurt (it has yogurt, cereal & some fruits), also i put some cheerios for him to practice pick up & chewing.
12pm - 1 jar of stage 3 baby food with some juice in his sippy cup,
3pm - 8 oz of formula
5pm - 1/2 - 1 nos. of stage 2 baby veg. or fruit
7:30pm - 1/2 jar of stage 3 baby food with 6 oz of formula.

He sleeps at 8pm and wake up the next day at 7am. First couple of days he gag and trow up when eating cheerios and stage 3 baby food but now (5 days later), he have no problem eating cheerios or stage 3 food but of course he still prefer this bottle formula at any given day. Eventhough the guideline is that he need to be feed 24 oz to 32 oz formula but my pedi OK my new feeding plan as it provide him enough nutrition via combination of solid food & formula.

I'd start giving him food at every bottle (except the night time, right before bed one). Whatever you decide to feed him will probably be fine, the other mommies had some really good suggestions. As for how big of a bite to give him, just use the baby spoons (Take 'n Toss are inexpensive and a good size) and that should help. Good luck with your little man!

I'd feed him whatever I made for the rest of the family. Just cut it up into managable chunks. I wouldn't give him steak or anything like that, but he should be able to manage rice, cooked veggies, and pastas just fine. I would cut his food the the size of his little finger. That way he has to chew but it isn't going to be a battle for him.

Give him anything that you'd want him to eat - especially veggies - you want to start healthy habits now. My pedi told me that it can take something like 74 times presenting something to a child before they decide they like it. He might have just been reacting to the fact that it was a different taste than he was used to.
Here are some tips:
Keep the bites/portions small. Try to remember that a portion of cut, cooked carrots should be about the size of his little fist.

Try to get as close to what you and hubby are eating as possible, especially if you all sit together for meals. (pancakes are fine in small pieces, yogurt is good, cheese is good, meats are fine - just keep the pieces quite small). Peas are a good size, so don't feel like you have to cut them in half or mash them. In fact, it's good for him to practice picking some up, but don't expect him to be able to do it all by himself.

I would offer one "pick up" food while I spoon fed something else (like baby food, potatoes, yogurt, oatmeal, etc). That kept us both busy!

Every baby is different. My babies ate table food and bottle/breast exclusively by 10 months. They ditched the baby food once they had a taste of the "good" stuff. Some babies dig the jar stuff and go longer. Your little man will let you know.

Cut it too small and it's hard to pick up. Cut it too big and he'll have trouble swallowing it and could possibly choke.

He should eat something every 2/3 hours. So morning bottle, breakfast, mid-morning bottle, lunch, bottle or snack, dinner, bottle, bed.

This site has a lot of useful information. It is especially for those making homemade baby food, but even if you don't make it yourself, the information is great. I posted the link to go straight to the 8-10 month age range. If you scroll down the page a bit, there are charts that list all the foods for his age group. There is a printable version. I hope that helps.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solidfood8to10montholdba...

C.

I want to say I started my son on Peas..I would mash them a bit but so he could pop them in his mouth...I also did the French cut green beans and would cut those down to bitable sizes..The Gerber Carrots in the jar are good too because they are soft and easy to mash...I even boiled sweet potatoes for him - just loved it...

You can feed him almost everything except (eggs,chocolate, strawverry and citrus juices), for this specific stuff you need to wait until he is 1 year old (advice from my pediatrician).

A baby can start eating pieces of food at 8 months or stage 3 bottle food, but he needs to have teeth bottom and up, if not is better to keep giving him stage 2 bottle food such as gerber.

Do not worry a lot about how much and how often he eats, every human being is different, as long as his weight and height are normal, you should not worry.

PS: I am a mom of a 10 month old baby boy.

I would not worry. My daughter is 9 months old. After trying for 3 months and the dr. told us to lessen her milk intake, my daughter just decided she is hungry and wants to eat something besides her bottle.

The dr. told me that rice cereal is still the most important. So for each meal I give her a tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with some baby food. She only really likes simple vegetables and fruits. She really does not like any of the baby foods with meat.

Once she gets the rice cereal in her, if she is interested in eating the rest of her baby food I give it to her. Sometimes, she can put down a jar or two...sometimes, she is not interested.

At first when she was not interested, I started giving her the puffs. It took her a few time but she figured out how to get them in her mouth and chew. I was so scared that she was going to choke. After a week, I realized she knew what she was doing.

One night when we were out to eat, I gave her a little shredded piece of chicken. She loved it. So the next meal I cooked chicken and gave her some shredded pieces.

As for veggies, I tried cooking and giving them to her in small pieces. It has been a slow process but she is getting it. At the beginning, she pushes everything she does not recognize onto the floor. I do not react b/c I am learning that if it accidentally ends up in her mouth or she decides to try it she usually ends up liking it and she stops throwing it on the floor.

Now, the stars are only for snacks and not mealtime.

I have been nervous every time but I figure I am going to have to get over it. She will learn. I have also been thinking about taking a class on cpr and choking just in case.

A wonderful book is Super Baby Foods. Its a quick and easy guide that you can glance over in five mins and know what is to be expected for your baby at every month till he is one then it talks about toddler foods. My son also dosent like the puffs and is having a hard time with the chunkier foods. Pick one up. If you want me to I will send you what is written for this monts foods. But the book is nice to have on hand.

My son is 6 months and his schedule it: 6:00 breast, 7:30 cereal with fruit, 9:00 bottle, noon bottle and veggy, 3:00 bottle, 5:30 two veggies and cereal, 7:30 breast if he is hungry or just bed. He does wake up about midnight for breast. I am introducing a new baby food every week. He is starting to chew so in the next few weeks we will introduce solids he can pick up and eat.

Good luck.

They don't need teeth to "chew" so he can be gumming food just fine now. Anything soft. Avocados, cheese, cheerios- covered in yogurt is good because it makes the cheerios sticky and easier to pick up, peas, cooked carrots. Does seem that he should be eating more food, less bottle by now. My first was introduced to finger food at 6 months and by 8 months he would not eat anything that I fed him. He wanted to do it all by himself. My second wasn't much interested in finger foods and was happy to be fed baby food FOREVER...and she still has food texture issues and is still a picky eater. (And she just turned 13!) The third- who remember? She eats. And I guess the point of that is- don't stress too much over it. Just make sure the food is cheerio size or just a bit larger, can be mushed- but let him do it!- and keep trying new stuff. At first the finger foods will be more for play and learning than actual calorie enhancement- so keep giving baby food when you eat a meal-breakfast, lunch and dinner- see if that helps him keep up and stay full. Good luck-experiment! They are very resilient and you may be amazed at what he will (and can) eat. (And remember the basics- introduce one thing at a time at first to check for allergies, etc,etc...)