What does your 8 month old eat in a typical day?

[Gangle]

DS2 is just 8 months and usually has baby porridge made with breastmilk and toast fingers for breakfast, a homemade veggie puree/mash and yoghurt or fruit for lunch then protein for dinner, e.g. chicken casserole or fish cakes, mashed or pureed plus pieces of raw veg and fruit to chew. Just wondering if this is enough as he's still feeding several times in the night.

Hi, DD2 is just coming up to 8 months and probably eats just about the same as your DS. She always has cereal for breakfast - her favourite seems to be weetabix mixed with milk and an apple/prune puree I make up for her. She'll usually chew on a piece of toast while I am running round sorting everyone else out.

Depending on where we are, she will have a casserole or similar for lunch, although she is quite partial to Ella's fish pie too! And for dinner she'll maybe have pasta with roasted veg sauce. I always offer her yoghurt and fruit after each meal. She also has breadsticks and rice cakes for snacks.

She is still breastfed on demand - sometimes that can be once during the day, sometimes 3 or 4 times Oh and she wakes at least once during the night for milk too.

Rindercella, do you ever use cow's milk in the cereal? I'm in the US and don't like the look of any of their formulas here so have been expressing milk for DS2's cereal but sometimes don't have time so he just has to make do with mashed banana, poor boy! Wondered if I could use cow's milk instead. Also, does your prune and apple puree help with constipation? DS2 seems a bit blocked up and his poos look a bit dry. I offer cool boiled water at mealtimes but not otherwise.

Yes, the prune mix definitely helps with her constipation! Poor little thing was quite clogged up for a while, but the prunes eventually helped. She is a phenomenal eater and has pretty much maintained the 91st centile since birth.

I use either breast milk or formula in her cereal. Haven't used cows' milk for anything other than cooking yet.

Oooh, she sounds lovely! How do you make the apple and prune puree?

Of course you can use cow's milk. Full fat is better.......It's in yoghurt afterall.

Sounds like your DS is eating well :)

DS2 is 8 months and eats.

Breakfast: bit of baby muesli and often a couple of fingers of toast.

Lunch: snack like cheese sandwich, pasta or rice cakes and humous. Often a yoghurt and piece of fruit afterwards

Tea: meal like shepherds pie, fish pie, casserole, spaghetti bolognese type meal. He sometimes has rice pudding type thing for dessert, but sometimes not.

He often has snacks throughout day (more variable) ... raisins, fruit, breadsticks, rice cakes, baby biscuits ...

He still is BF - about 4-5 times a day and between 1 and 3 times a night .

My DS is 8 months and eats:

Breakfast - usually porridge (made with whole milk and regular rolled oats) and a pear and a banana. On weekends maybe American-style pancakes or a cheese omelette. If I don't have time for porridge then Greek yogurt and weetabix is also a hit.

Lunch - whatever I'm having - eg quesadillas, pitta and hummus (often add grated carrot to the hummus), quiche, egg and cress sandwich, tuna mayo melt, veggie fritters.

Dinner - whatever we're having - so tonight pork chops, potatoes and veg. But pasta - spag bol or pesto and veggies or lasagne (lasagne is easier to eat cold so makes a good leftover lunch) - is a staple. Curries (with sticky basmati rice) are popular as are stews. Salmon or fish in general is handy (so fast to cook) and prawn stir fry is also handy when time is limited.

Snacks are plain rice cakes or pieces of fruit (satsumas are handy for when we're out and about!).

He drinks plenty of water from a doidy cup or beaker and I've noticed that constipation is usually linked to a lack of water. He's had a couple of bouts of being constipated since we started weaning at 6 months but definitely poos less than he did when he was BF only...

We're doing BLW, so DS has never had a puree but eats plenty. He'll eat off a spoon if I pre-load it so when we're stuck it's things like full-fat Greek yogurt (or Philadelphia - like his dad he will eat cream cheese with anything!).

He's BF on demand but has dropped to 3-4 a day (and mostly none at night - he has literally just started sleeping through though but was down to about 1 feed a night, at 5am).

I actually stopped offering the boob at night a few weeks ago. Of course I'll feed him if he needs it but he was waking loads (4+ times a night) and didn't seem to be eating much and I needed to try something to get a bit more sleep!

Flip - can I ask a little more about you not offering the boob at night? As DS2 is still feeding between 1 (a good night!) and 4 times a night. He's also BLW and eating with gusto now. How did you get him off the night feeds? How long did he cry for? Did you cut out all at once or 1 feed every few days? I'm desperate for some sleep! Thanks

Sheep I still think of 1 wake a night as a good night since it's only in the last week and a half that he's started sleeping through more!

I started by realising that he wasn't really feeding until the early morning wake up (anywhere from 4.30am to 5.30am). So I gradually shortened "feeds" and, if he was still awake when I took the boob out, or he woke up, then I'd rock/shush him to sleep before putting him down in his cot. I didn't want to go cold-turkey since he'd spent his whole life getting the boob if he wanted it! After a while (maybe a week?) I just started patting/rocking/shushing before offering the boob and he'd go back to sleep pretty easily. If he didn't then it was boob time.

Then we moved him into his own room (I had been reluctant to move him because of all the wakings - I was convinced co-sleeping was the only way I'd get any sleep!). He instantly dropped to two wakings and then one waking and has now slept through 8pm-7am for several nights. So very early days I know but I just wouldn't have believed this would happen if you'd told me 2 weeks ago!

We haven't really left him to cry...I fed him to sleep until 6.5 months when we started putting him down awake (but with lots of hand-holding/patting/picking up if necessary) so I think it was learning to fall asleep at the start of the night that's allowed us to get to where we are now...though I'm sure that when his next lot of teeth come through or he learns something new we'll be back to more wakings!

Flip - very happy for you, but also very .

We've gone down a different approach. Dh has been settling DS2 if he woke before midnight and got him back to sleep with cuddles, rocks, singing etc. He has cried quite a bit, but gradually it's now only for about 5 or 10 minutes.

I'm also trying to put him down awake at 7, but he is so tired by then (what with his crap daytime cat naps!), he zonks out very quickly.

I'll try your thing of reducing time spent feeding. I am starting to seriously, but very reluctantly consider cc , as we are all so tired and irritable and poor DS1 is getting the worst of both dh and i. Your post gives me hope!

Have another question about BLW. What do you do about the salt/sugar content of food if the baby is having the same meals as you? Most of what DH and I eat is seasoned and not really suitable for an 8 month old.

I just don't add any salt during cooking and avoid processed foods (most of the time ).

Sheep that's good that your DH settles before midnight - DS never really took to DH settling him once he woke (although DH does the bed/bath routine and he settles fine for him). Hope you get a turnaround soon. Though if cc is what you need to try then I wouldn't feel bad about it.

I meant to add that I'd recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution - we never actually did any of the sleep logs or anything but it definitely helped us (I remember one bit of advice in particular: never feed a sleeping baby...which I remember as offering boob at the slightest noise rather than once they actually wake up - something i was definitely doing!).

Gangle I also just don't add salt during cooking and season at the table. I'm a salt-a-holic and I'm managing fine (it was the thing I was least looking forward to about weaning ). I also keep an eye on salt in things like bread (can be v high in salt). I tend to view it as 7g a week rather than 1g of salt a day iykwim. As in, if we have a particularly salty meal (eg if we're eating lunch out or whatever) then I try to do the next meal with minimal salt...

On the sugar front, I just don't buy anything with added sugar (so plain yogurt instead of any of the ones branded as for children), figuring he gets natural sugars from fruit and veg. I also avoid the kiddie snacks with hidden sugar like rice cakes covered with fruit puree or biscuits.

But things like stock cubes aren't recommended for under 1s so do you not use stock? DH and I eat way too much salt, really need to wean ourselves off! And yes, salt in bread is a worry and in things like tinned tomatoes which we use as a staple. And Sheep, can you really give prawns to an 8 month year old? I am obviously way too cautious and reading too much Annabel Karmel!

Gangle I have some of these in the cupboard, bought in preparation for weaning, but don't think I've actually used them. I have made my own stock a couple of times (when we've roasted a whole chicken) but otherwise haven't really used stock. Thinking about it I tend to make curries (with tasty spices like cumin and ground coriander which mask the lack of salt) more than stews that may call for stock...

Gangle - I use Boots baby stock cubes, as they have little or no salt in them. I tend to put more herbs in / use paprika to spice up the food a bit. I get through loads of bay leaves! TBH, I've never used salt in cooking, DH just adds it in after I've cooked.

Bread and cheese are the two salty foods that DS2 does have, but then I think provided the meals are low in salt, then it's OK. So I cook fairly traditional meals as I say spag bol, casseroles, fish pie, grilled fish and veg etc. I wouldn't worry about tinned tomatoes, but maybe I should do .

I haven't given any shellfish to him though. I just try to exercise a little bit of common sense to be honest. I did AK with DS1, but I'm too lazy now to bother with purees! I'm quite used to cooking with no salt for DS1 (just turned 3), so it just works so much better for us.

I give prawns! Don't see why they should be a problem (but then I've not read any AK at all!). As I understand it the only things other than excessive salt and sugar to avoid are whole nuts and honey...

Flip, you're right ... from Food Standards Agency ...

"Children and babies
Don't give any fish or shellfish to babies younger than six months because these foods can trigger the development of a food allergy at this age.

Children should avoid eating any shark, swordfish or marlin. This is because the levels of mercury in these fish can affect the development of children's growing nervous systems.

You might also want to avoid giving raw shellfish to babies and children to reduce their risk of getting food poisoning. "

Sheep thanks for that - I now remember reading that about shark, swordfish and marlin but, er, I've never made them at home so just forgot it! One of the best things about waiting til 6 months to wean was that we didn't really have to think about what we could/couldn't give him...

Dammit! Now I'm going to have to eat that shark casserole all by myself. Ha, just kidding.

Just checked my tinned tomatoes and they don't have any salt in - just tomatoes, tomato juice and citric acid.

I love the idea that you might just give a baby a raw oyster without thinking about it... Nothing but the best eh?