9 Month-old Diet?

I had a food grinder called the Happy Baby Food Grinder (hand held, no electricity needed) that was wonderful. You can take whatever you have prepared for dinner, add a little liquid and grind it up for your baby. The grinder is nice because it is inexpensive, small enough to take outside the house and you can just use what you have. Good luck!

I don't think it's a problem at all - probably just her preference. I'm only a mother of one 21 month old boy, but I did not buy hardly any babyfood. I made my own. Perhaps try making your own, at first make it very smooth, then gradually make it a little chunkier, then more chunkier, & keep going. Use her favorite foods first so that she'll be more likely to want to try another bite. I used www.wholesomebabyfood.com for learning which foods to cook to soften them & how to cook them. I used a small food processor (basically a mini-blender) and would hold the button down for runnier consistency or just whizz it a couple times for chunkier consistency. I'd cook pear apple and strawberry in a pan with a little water and my boy loved it. Good luck! But no, I wouldn't worry at all.

It's not a problem all children go through a time were they refuse things.. You can still use like mash potatoes, mac & cheese (cook extra so kinda mushy.. Also you canbuy a food processor & mush everything up yourself so you can feed her regular food at a lower cost..

Puree your own baby food! (I assume you have a blender or food processor or some such type appliance in your kitchen. Even rotary beaters if that's all you have, should do the trick?)

It will take a few extra minutes (but save you a few extra dollars...) to take some of what your dinner is and puree it. For a few things you may want to add milk or something to thin/'creamy' it up to the proper consistency. You can experiment with the texture. With some soft mushy foods, you dont need to puree it quite as well, that way she'll slowly get used to the feeling of "lumps" in her food but since it is soft and mushy and dissolves when she presses on it in her mouth, it will help her get used to it and not object so much.

My son would NOT eat jarred baby food, so I always pureed ours and/or just gave him some things from our plates. Sometimes I pureed several servings and filled ice cube trays with the food, so when mealtime rolled around, it was simple to warm up a cube or two of the food.

This is definitely not a problem. My 18 mos old still eats some babyfood and only recently started eating more regular people food. My pediatrician said that he had a child (his own) who only ate babyfood until he was 2. He said as long as they are getting nutrition from somewhere, it's fine. My daughter also had a problem with chunky textures, until like last week! And around 1 year of age, their appetite drops off considerably, as their rate of growth decreases. Mine ate more at 9 mos old than she does now at 18 mos old. (all normal). Just find cheaper baby food and keep offering regular food. But its definitely not something to worry about at this age.

And I had the problem that mine refused anything homemade I offered to her. The texture just wasn't the same to her as the jarred stuff. But if she'll eat homemade, that is even better.

If she likes the pureed baby food keep on giving it to her. Still provide options but she will let you know when she wants the chunkier stuff. To save on baby food get a blender and puree foods at home instead. If you are having meatloaf take a chunk and puree it. This way she is getting use to the foods your family eats and you won't be breaking the bank.

I agree with the other answers, so to summarize:
Your girl should have milk (breastmilk or formula) as her #1 source of nutrition until 1 year old. So, start a meal with a full bottle and follow with a jar of food (or homemade). 1 serving of cereal plus 2-3 jars of food should cover the food for a day.

If you want to save money by making your own babyfood (I wanted to, but never had the time), you can puree whatever you're cooking for yourself (minus the salt). Feed it to baby when you are eating, or freeze (an ice cube tray was the best suggestion I found) it for future meals. 1 ice cube is approximately 1 oz of food. These can be heated up in the microwave (stir well and don't overheat) for a quick meal. If you do this a lot, you can dump the ice cubes of food into a freezer bag (label & date). I think they can store frozen for up to 3 months.

If you really want to try to get her to be more open to new foods, try introducing finger foods (cheerios, soft fruit, boiled-soft veggies, jello, etc). Maybe if she is able to feed herself, she'll be willing to try new things. Also, don't make a big deal about the new foods, just give them to her when she's sitting in her highchair waiting for lunch, or when she's on the floor playing, set a few cheerios by her. Let her play with them, taste them, and eventually she'll probably find something that she really likes!

Finally, what is your eating arrangement like? Do you sit in front of the tv with a plate in your lap for dinner? Do you go out for fast food and eat in the car? Or do you sit down at the table and eat as a family (even if it's just fast food or something quick--we're not talking 5-course meal)? If you are sitting together at the table, baby should be interested in what you are doing. If she sees you eating something, she might want to try it. Give her a spoon and let her try to feed herself (or just play with it), sometimes just the presence of something new is enough to get them interested.

Good luck!

Make your own and slowly add more chunks. There are a lot of great websites out there that make making baby food easy and it is cheep when you do it yourself. All you need is a blender, steamer and ice cube trays. Good luck! Feel free to contact me if you want more info. I am happy to help

I suggest making your own baby food! It's SO easy! Seriously! Just make extra vegetables for dinner and stick them in the blender with some water afterwards, then freeze in ice cube trays. Banana and other fruits like papaya can be pureed raw, and plain yogurt is also good. My baby didn't like to eat textured foods till well over a year, and I never had to buy baby food.

I don't think there is anything wrong with her not wanting to eat real or textured food. In fact the amount of jar food you mentioned is too much for a 9 month old in my opinion. For the first year, breast milk or formula should be their main source of nutrients. The more jar food you give, the less milk she'll be drinking. (not to mention the "breaking the bank" you spoke of.) She will probably put on a lot of weight but not be getting all the nutrients she really needs for her age. I would say you could slow down. Make sure and give plenty of formula or breast milk right before jar food feedings so that the jar food is a supplement to the milk and not the main sourse. I made baby food at home for my babies and it also helped them to transition easier to table food when they were ready.

I made the majority of my baby food. Just make a batch, freeze in ice cube trays, bag when frozen and heat when ready. Depending on the sale, I was feeding my baby for 9-11 cents per serving. You can make it as thick or as thin as you like. Also, when your girl is ready, you can add some texture.

I agree with making your own baby food. It is food you would actually eat yourself and you can control the 'chunks'. She is still young so give it time.

Just steam or boil the veggies and things you are eating and then puree them. My daughter loves eating what we eat still. Just avoid a lot of spices as it can upset babies tummys.

Good luck!