Foods for 8 month old

[Kat160417]

Hi,

DD is 8 months old and I'm just looking for different recipes that I can make for her.

Is it right that I can give her pretty much anything apart from strong cheeses??

I'm a first time mam and used the cow and gate weaning guide when I first started weaning her which was really helpful. She's now starting to pretty much enjoy anything we give her so I'm trying to branch out and not stick to just the recipes in the guide.

My friends and colleagues say to give her bits of my dinner as a way to find out what else she likes but I'm so worried of giving her foods that haven't come from a baby recipe! It sounds daft but obviously I've never done it before and worrying too much!

Any advice is appreciated

I always give my nearly 8 month old bits of my dinner she loves it she especially likes broccoli, asparagus, peas, mash and pasta. We just use less salt. What are you worried about?

@ifyouseeapolarbear I think I'm just worried in case she chokes (I know babies have good gag reflexs) or that I'll give her something that she isn't allowed to have and something will happen! Like I said I know it's daft but I'm a big worrier.

I haven't had any guidance with weaning either which hasn't helped. ALL if my friends that are also first time mams seem to have picked it up straight away so makes me think I'm eveeven more stupid!

I've just started weaning my 6 month old and I think you aren't supposed to give honey to under 1s and you can give peanut butter but not sure about other nuts. I think the NHS website has a list of foods to avoid with babies.

What’s the issue with cheeses? DS 8mo loves strong cheddar, halloumi, mozzarella, goats cheese and even liked blue cheese gnocchi last week (I was pretty surprised at that one).

He doesn’t eat much else, but cheese is always a hit.

I downloaded a weaning app 'made for mums' with SMA or something I think. Has loads of different recipes and ideas for meals which I found really useful

Mine had strong cheese at that age.
The only things I believe should be avoided are honey and whole nuts (ground, chopped etc are fine, it's about the shape, not that they are nuts, iyswim?).
Also, cut cherry tomatoes and grapes in half, again due to shape.

Otherwise, go for it. We cooked without added salt, and the kids just ate what we did.

I've read that they aren't allowed strong cheeses until after a year old, I think there's different information everywhere isn't There!

Thanks though everyone. I'll have a look at that app and obviously just need to stop being such a worry wort!!

Yesterday DD had:

Banana and toast for breakfast
Tomato pasta (fusilli I think) for lunch (cooked pasta mixed with tomato purée and a little bit of creme fraiche)
Fish fingers, boiled potatoes (chopped into slices) and peas.

Today she will probably have:

Toast and marmalade and a satsuma/banana
Boiled egg, cucumber and cherry tomatoes and a small cheese sandwich
Leftover shepherds pie from our supper last night with some peas

For snacks during the day she has something like:
Apple
Pear
Breadsticks
Satsuma
Rich tea biscuits

Like others have said it’s not so much what you give them but making sure it is in sizes/ shapes that they can pick up at the age that they are.

DD is 10 months now and what she is eating isn’t that different to when she was 8 months, what has changed is the amount she is eating and how much she is able to manage to do by herself.

Look up the NHS guidelines for weaning rather than baby sites.

The only 'rules' are no honey until 1, no whole nuts/grapes/cherry tomatoes, low salt (less than 1g a day) and you'd probably choose low/no sugar.

I completely understand worrying about choking and I always make sure the food is either really soft or broken up into small pieces for dd. She's getting better and better at eating and when she does get a bit of food a bit stuck she coughs and clears it really quickly so I haven't had to panic yet. We always supervise her eating so we can help her if she needs it. I recommend giving her a bit of pasta or similar from your plate to have a go at eating herself- you may be impressed and reassured at how well your DD does.

The advice is the same as for pregnant women, eg cook unpasteurised / mould-ripened cheese before eating it, make sure meat and fish have been well cooked, etc. Smooth nut butters are fine but honey isn't.

A great book on weaning is Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley, or you can get Annabel Karmel's family recipe books, she has great recipes that the whole family can enjoy.

Why not strong cheese?!

DD loved strong flavours right from the off (we BLWed). Parmesan, pesto, pheasant (!), olives, sticky toffee pudding.......

There are loads of good recipes on pinterest. There's a recipe on there for butternut squash mac n cheese which DS loved. I also make him sweet and savoury muffins for lunch, porridge fingers, sausage rolls, stuff like that.

Toast fingers are my go-to lunch for him. I top them with St Dalfour jam (no added sugar), peanut butter, almond butter, mashed avocado, mashed banana

Dd has had blue cheese/Brie since she was 6 months and medium rare lamb and beef since around 10 months. I just keep an eye on salt and sugar levels (she doesn’t have anything with refined sugar in) and chop potential choking hazards.

I’m hoping getting her to try a wide variety of foods now will set her up to not be fussy, but that could always fall down around my ears!

Just go with what you’re comfortable with, if you’re happier making baby recipes then do that. When you feel more confident then graduallly give the same as you either alongside the baby recipe or on its own. Foods like cottage pie, spaghetti bol (with cut up bits of spaghetti), chilli, roast dinner minus gravy, casseroles all purée or mash up well. This is what I did as I was similar and felt unsure. 8months is still early for baby to know what to do with finger foods (they’ll put in their mouth but not carefully) when they get to 9-10 Months DS began inspecting his food so knew if it was soft or crunchy etc. Fascinating to watch. I now only do a baby meal if we’re on a naughty night like pizza or sausages. I like the Ella’s kitchen book for recipes - there’s loads of good apps though too-
My lovely little lunchbox ... and baby led weaning are both good for finger foods. And the annabel karmel website has LOADS of purées or mashed foods for different ages.

I also felt really overwhelmed with people saying they eat what you eat and I remember thinking but we eat fajitas, pies, pasta and sauce surely not!! We’ve kind of adapted our foods to be more family friendly (not loads but things like making own pasta sauce rather than shop bought).

If you want any specific recipe ideas to get you started just say.