Meal ideas for 8 month old

[Newmama29]

Hey everyone, I’m a FTM to an 8 month old boy. We’ve been doing a mixture of baby led weaning & purées since 6 months old but I’m slowly running out of ideas. He loves broccoli, sweet potato, Yorkshire puddings with mashed potato, but I would love some more recipes/ideas for us to try out.

I’m not an overly organised person or much of a cook but I want my LO to be healthy & work towards a healthy lifestyle for both of us. I would like some ideas that both of us could eat which saves me cooking 2 meals, but I’m also open to all suggestions

Thank you in advance!

Bump

Feed him what you are eating!

You need to watch salt levels in particular but at 8 months mash up/shred meat as required but mine are family meats most nights, even mild curries, chilli etc. Unless you are vegetarian, you should be looking at things like fish, chicken etc by now

Can you buy an Annabel karmel book to give you inspiration? You do need to adapt to younger babies by mashing or purée but often you'd be able to eat the same meal. Easy options we'd use at that age are

• fish pie
• mince with peas, small diced carrot and rice
• pasta (stellini to start as it's tiny then orzo or fusilli when they can munch more) and any homemade sauce (as store ones typically salty unless in the baby section) with cheese
• chicken curry done in a slow cooker with mild curry powder and then chopped small
• sweet corn and pea cheesy muffins
• fish fillet baked with peas and mash

Essentially the faster you can just feed them what you make minus salt or honey the better!

I used to keep back portions of whatever we had for dinner and serve it to the baby the following evening. That way if screaming hunger strikes earlier than expected, the little one's dinner just needs heating up. Obvs you need to watch salt etc, but that was what worked for me for both my babies (who are now both taller than me and eating, well, all the food in the house).

I used to make these falafel a lot and give them as a finger food to dc but serve them in a wrap with salad and humous for myself and DH www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning/recipes-and-meal-ideas/falafel/

Another easy meal idea is egg fried rice with spring onions, peas and perhaps leftover roast chicken or ham. Just serve your LO’s potion before you add the soy sauce.

These tuna burgers are good for mashing up for weaning www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tuna-sweetcorn-burgers Likewise for fish cakes www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/salmon-fish-cakes/

Strips of omelette make great finger food and risottos are good for spoon feeding

Thanks for all the ideas everyone! I don’t tend to eat my dinner until he’s in bed cause I normally just have chicken & rice or something quick & easy as I’m trying to lose the baby weight & my DP works away so only really cooking for myself.

I completely forgot I have the “what mummy makes” book so need to look that out & get some ideas!
Thank you again!

Try:
Poached eggs on toast

Stir fry of egg noodles, red peppers, thinly sliced carrot, peas and a dash of teriyaki sauce at the end.Add a piece of chicken or salmon fillet if you want protein

Mild chilli con carne with boiled rice

Mild vegetable and chicken curry with boiled rice

English muffin "pizzas"

Spaghetti with tomato and vegetable sauce

Turkey steaks, gravy, stuffing balls and veg

Cauliflower cheese

Macaroni cheese

Fish pie

Cottage pie

Shepherds pie

Beef or chicken casserole with dumplings

Jacket potatoes with cheese and baked beans

Smoked haddock, poached egg and mashed potato

Roast peppers stuffed with couscous and veg

@RainingZen

Try: Poached eggs on toast

Stir fry of egg noodles, red peppers, thinly sliced carrot, peas and a dash of teriyaki sauce at the end.Add a piece of chicken or salmon fillet if you want protein

Mild chilli con carne with boiled rice

Mild vegetable and chicken curry with boiled rice

English muffin "pizzas"

Spaghetti with tomato and vegetable sauce

Turkey steaks, gravy, stuffing balls and veg

Cauliflower cheese

Macaroni cheese

Fish pie

Cottage pie

Shepherds pie

Beef or chicken casserole with dumplings

Jacket potatoes with cheese and baked beans

Smoked haddock, poached egg and mashed potato

Roast peppers stuffed with couscous and veg

This is a great list! How do they eat a lot of it though? With their hands or do you feed them? I’m really struggling with the BLW stuff 🙈

With their hands or do you feed them?

Bit of both.

I have vivid memories of mine shoving fistfuls of pasta in their mouth at that age. Grab a fishful, shove it in and spill a load of it while getting some of it in.

Simultaneously you have a spoon/fork to get a bit extra in.

The What Mummy Makes books are good. My dd had the beetroot fritters from there tonight.

It’s really a good idea to eat with him if you can at least on some of the evenings - really important to model those eating skills and will help with the BLW.

Some meals my little one has had recently -

• Spinach and cheese eggy bread (recipe in WMM makes book)
• Vegetable chilli and rice (I cooked some onion, peppers, celery and garlic with a bit of cumin and paprika, added butternut squash and sweet potato and a tin of tomatoes and tin of mixed beans)
• Vegetable frittata with steamed veg
• Baked salmon, sweet potato mash, steamed veg
• Creamy leek pasta - also in the WMM books, super quick and simple
• Pitta bread, homemade butterbean dip (butter beans whizzed up with Greek yoghurt, lemon and garlic), roasted veg, tiny bit of feta
• Tinned mackerel, new potatoes and green beans
• Butternut squash, sweet potato and red lentil soup - made it really thick and gave her some lightly toasted bread to dip in/ helped her a bit with a few spoons - made a right old mess but she loved it!
• lentil cottage pie
• scrambled egg and mashed avocado on toast fingers
• Cheesy pasta with broccoli and cauliflower (I use rigatoni as it’s easy for her to pick up)
• Lemon prawn orzo (she can handle a butterflied king prawn now but I used to just chop one or two up into tiny pieces and stir it through her portion of orzo).

Not saying there’s anything groundbreaking in there but just some ideas. She also likes the different fritters and savoury muffins in the WMM books - I’ve started varying what I put in them now just make it up really.

Thank you so much everyone! I do try to eat together when I make things for both of us like toad in the hole & spaghetti bolognase but I’m slightly fussy & want him to have a better varied diet than myself 🙈 I’m really struggling with the messiness of BLW & it gives me terrible anxiety but I’m slowly getting better, my biggest worry is that he drops most of it & isn’t getting enough food

I sometimes don't eat the same but at least try and eat with baby. We are obpy on breakfast and lunch as a little younger than your baby.

I try and have similar if not the same. Yesterday we had toasted sandwiches he had tuna mayo (I had mayo), I have cheese and marmite.

Or the other day we had jacket potato's. He had ratatouille I had beef ragu. (Freeze portions to make easy so I am not always cooking multiple meals)

@3cats4poniesandababy

I sometimes don't eat the same but at least try and eat with baby. We are obpy on breakfast and lunch as a little younger than your baby.

I try and have similar if not the same. Yesterday we had toasted sandwiches he had tuna mayo (I had mayo), I have cheese and marmite.

Or the other day we had jacket potato's. He had ratatouille I had beef ragu. (Freeze portions to make easy so I am not always cooking multiple meals)

I meant hate mayo

@3cats4poniesandababy I always have breakfast & lunch with him & try to have dinner all together when his dads not working away. I find it hard to prep dinner & deal with him cause he’s always a bit crankier in the evening 🙈

Do you just let him feed himself the jacket potato & toasted sandwiches? I’m really struggling with the BLW side as I’m not coping well with the mess 🤦🏼‍♀️😂

On a plus note, we went out for lunch today & he enjoyed eating something off of everyone’s plates - macaroni, sweet potato wedges, cod, garlic bread 😂 so I’ve got a few more ideas now! Thank you all for your help!

I think blw only really works if you eat together. Otherwise they don't see your eating and it's a lot of extra work.