Starting 9 Month Old on Finger Foods?

You've probably got all the answers you need, but I'll give you (what I hope is) a helpful one, since we have daughters the same age.

Mine is exclusively breastfed, but I started her on a small amount of solids between 3-4 months because she expends a crazy amount of energy and was still hungry even though I have too much milk (and this is not my opinion, it is a fact!)

Around six months, I started her on Baby Mum Mums and Gerber fruit/veggie puffs, and rice cakes...

around seven months, I started letting her have dry toast (cut up in pea size bites) and pieces of tuna sandwich (also cut in pea size bites, and on toast), cut green beans, black olives slices cut into quarters, banana chunks, apple chunks (all pea sized!!)...

and now that she's almost nine months, she eats all that, plus Cheerios, plus whatever I think she can manage.

Oh yes...she has no teeth. :)

(I waited to long and was too paranoid with my first one, so she was really a terrible eater for a long time...I learned my lesson, and this one is a great eater and not a bit overweight!)

Absolutely give her food if she wants it! At 9 months my daughter refused baby food and exclusively fed herself finger foods. She got plenty of nutrients and did just fine. My son was a bit slower and wasn't into finger foods until about 10-11 months. Start her out with easy things. Those puffs are great b/c they can pick them up and they melt really easily. Baby goldfish are also nice b/c they're tiny. If she will eat waffles, etc...go for it! GIve her any thing she will eat and trust me your life will become much easier if she's into finger feeding! It rocks!

My 17 month old is still on purees... STILL waiting for Doc to pull her finger out of her... and get us some referrals for specialists.

BUT I know that Annabel Karmel has some great ideas for finger foods... Google her, she's got loads of recipes on her website.

My daughter was eating finger foods at 7 months or so. I would cut them small obviously but she'd eat what we were eating. I think she was off bottles at 16ish months... from 10 months she only had them at night and during the day she had juice in them.

My 9 month old still gags on stage 3 baby foods and teething cookies, so I've stopped giving them to her for now. If your child isn't yet ready you'll know it real quick, just wait another month or so and try it again.

My DD is 10 months and about 9 months she decided she doesn't want baby food-she really wants to feed herself. So-I sneak in the baby fruits, but try to give her as much table food as she'll take and she can handle.

Spagetti noodles w/ sauce, boiled potatoes, crackers, waffles, french toast, eggs-soft bread, etc Even a little meat for protein if it's small enough.

I nursed my twins until they were 18 months old. I went back to work full time (I was working pt at night prior to that) when they were around 6-7 months. I also nursed exclusively and I did not do formula. I honestly do not remember how much they ate since I never really kept track of it since they primarily nursed and they always maintained their health.

Since your daughter only has 3 teeth she needs things that are very mushy. Bananas are good as are avacados, melon, and mango. If you do eggs do not do the whole egg yet. It is recommended to wait until babies are 1 year old before introducing egg whites, honey, and fish.

Another good thing is overcooked pasta. Pasta shells are fun. Of course Cheerios are the favorite of all little ones.

Good luck!

My second little girl is 8 1/2 months old and we started out with those puffs at six months....it took her a few weeks to master the puffs, then once she did, we started doing cooked peas and small carrots, cut up peaches and other soft fruits cut in small pieces (she loves blueberries and strawberries), breads, pasta - anything that can be "gummed" rather than chewed and cut into very small pieces. She also has three teeth.
She is also in day care and she takes about a 6 oz bottle - anything she doesn't drink we just dump down the drain. You may want to try more food and less bottles....or larger bottles, less often? Definitely ask your doctor as well. My daughter has four bottles a day, each about 6 oz. and eats about 3 jars of baby food a day plus some finger foods. My doc says at about 9 months is when the formula will lessen a bit and the amount of real food will increase. We go to North Scottsdale Pediatrics and I love them!