what to feed a 9 month old?!

[newmum202410]

I've scoured the Internet but there's no where that says - this is what they can have or how to cut it.

so far he is eating toast, wheatbix - we tryed smashed blueberries and he eats a banana.

but what food for lunch or dinner can he start having? wanna move away from mush and try him feeding himself.

thank yo u

Anything apart from nuts I believe
grapes cut in half

At that age me son had scrambled eggs, making sure they weren't overcooked, I stirred in some cream cheese (vegan as he has a dairy allergy) and mushed with a fork to make it softer. I can't remember much beyond that tbh, he's nearly 2 now so that feels like a decade ago 😅 they're still having plenty of milk at that age so I think food is still supplementary but obviously more than before so still in the exploring flavours and finding nutrition in it.

You can give them most things at that age just needs to be in a form that's safe to eat and of course no honey until a year old etc. I used to blend up a version of what we ate for my son, without salt and no strong spices if it had lots of herbs and spices in.

You might the Solid Starts app / website useful. It has a directory of lots of different food with suggestions for how to serve at different ages.

My son is a little bit younger and eating a mix of "mushy" food (like yoghurt with nut butters, mashed curries, porridge, overnight oats, rice mixed with avocado) and solid food he can pick up himself (chunks of soft fruit or steamed veg, omelette strips, cooked pasta, slow cooked meat, cucumber chunks, toast or crusty bits of bread).

I would really recommend the book Baby & Toddler Meal Planner by Annabel Karmel.

I tend to do toast, Cheerios, Weetabix, crumpets or fruit and yoghurt for breakfast. He'll often just feed himself the Weetabix (with a spoon or just scooping with his hand). For dinner Ibmake something like pancakes, fishcakes, croquettes etc, something I can add lots of fruit and veg to. For tea he has whatever we're having. If he has the pincer grasp you can cut things up into bite size, otherwise stick to finger sizes. I like the Annabel karmel app for my lunch time recipes

Once you start feeding him finger foods you'll just know how to serve it to baby, what he can handle etc. the solid starts app is quite good to help you too

I pretty much just gave both kids whatever I was having, with some variations on cuts/prep if needed (see Solid Starts) neither ever had any mush, just normal food. No whole nuts or honey, cut grapes in quarters lengthways, cut anything round into quarters (ie sausages) and let them figure it out.

Solid starts is brilliant, you can put in a good eg apples and it’ll tell you how to safely serve it at different ages.

Horrible name but the book What Mummy Makes is brilliant.

Anything except honey.
Cur round shapes (grapes/cherry tomatoes/sausages).
We did BLW and they ate what we ate from 6 months.

Have a look at the Caroline Walker Trust. They have an advice booklet for 1st year and then others. It was recommended to me by a consultant and nutritionist at our hospital.

Pretty much anything you are eating is the short answer. I found the easiest way to serve meat was the shred it with two forks. Watch the salt content especially hidden sources like stock cubes (buy low sodium ones, won’t hurt you) and most babies aren’t keen on super spicy but they certainly can eat mild to medium curries, chillies etc. Fish needs careful deboning. I wasn’t cooking separate meals by 9 months but I did save small portions of family favourites and freeze for any nights where the food really was unsuitable or palatable to them (eg salad heavy meals, eldest at 25 still not keen on salad!)

I had the Annabel’s Karmel book, nice to see it’s still being used, these are recipes suitable for you all, not baby specific but gives you ideas you may not realise are suitable.

my eldest’s favourite meal at that age were quesadillas cut into strips, guacamole, sour cream rice and refried beans, still a fan of Mexican cuisine now. The local Mexican restaurant owners wife introduced us to this as it’s what she weaned her kids on! (And she would never take money for us, sending me with lots of leftovers to freeze every time we went)

Omelette cut into strips was a favourite for my son

Anything you eat.

The problem with giving them strips is they can very easily bite off a chunk. And you’re not supposed to give them chunks as it is a choking risk.

Mash down whatever you’re having and over time, mash it a bit less!

No salt or honey. Nut butters fine but mix them into something as on their own they’re a choking risk. Remember bread and weetabix have salt in them.

Whatever you eat, but watch the salt levels.

Cut stuff into long thin strips so he can't choke on it, particularly things like sausages, grapes, apple etc.

Steamed veg makes great finger food.

Whatever you eat that isn’t whole nuts (until he can safely chew them) or honey (before 1). Not too salty or spicy.

My eldest’s first meal at 6 months was literally a roast - chicken, roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, roasted carrots and parsnips. They really can eat anything, or at least try, if given the chance.

At that age, meals were mostly leftovers from whatever Dh and I ate the night before. With extra things added in when some of it wasn’t easy to pick up, like she could have some beef from beef stew and a piece of broccoli, but I’d add in toast with hummus instead of rice or whatever. Something chunky she could pick up easily.

Yup, pretty much anything. We were definitely serving pasta with sauce (room temp as they tended to mush it around a lot), rice with sauces, meat in strips, mash potatoes etc. Both mine loved yoghurt and soft fruits. Also eggs.

thank you

I gave him omelette for lunch and he loved it!
I just get scaryed of him choking on things.
he is a very good eater!

Eggs are full of protein. Scrambled/beat up in a cup with butter/pancakes without sugar/eggy bread. Spag/bol no salt. Shepherds pie. Pasta with spinach. The list is endless. Just make sure cut small, no salt, no sugar, and never leave a toddler alone with food.

Read Baby Led Weaning.

Depending on how well baby is doing with eating, I did lots of fritters and pancakes. A veg or fruit with buckwheat flour and eggs. Felt like a good way to get lots of new fruits and veggies in - lots of them I grated so they were safe

I have an 8 month old and I give him anything I’m having (obviously baby sized) I’ve made little sandwiches, oat cakes with cheese, mini pancakes, avocado toast, pizza, curry, steak… basically if you eat it let them try best one cauliflower and broccoli cheese (small amounts of mild cheese!!) carrot and swede mashed with pork loin my baby loves it. I got a baby food maker which cuts the meat up a bit finer but will eat small pieces. Today we had scrambled egg and toast went down a treat!!

edited to add if you can smush it between your fingers it’s safe for baby he feeds himself sandwiches and oatcakes and toast and lil snacks of fruit and melty sticks I do a mix of blw and feeding

I used 2 fab books:
first - How to Wean your baby by Charlotte Stirling Reed. Though it has like a 30 day plan from 6 months so you might be beyond that. It does have good advice on how to serve meals.
then What Mummy Makes by Rebecca Wilson. Some favourites were courgette fritters, savoury flapjacks, pizza pinwheels but I still use some of the recipes for us all now little one is 2.
also the solid starts app is how I know how to cut things for certain age groups. You can kind of google solid starts - insert food here - and an image will come up!
the main thing is not to add salt and they can eat variations of what you are having.

Anything except nuts and honey.

just give what you are having.

My son was like your eldest, at six months he was reaching across the table to try to grab our food. We've always all eaten together so it was simple for him to eat the same as us, his favourite was pasta with meat or cheese sauce, which I made with almost no salt.
He really did eat virtually everything unless it was very spicy or salty. It's easy enough to chop up food with a sharp knife, it really doesn't need to be pureed into total mush.