9mo - am I giving her the right sort of food? What does yours eat?

[detachablehoof]

I find it really hard to know what to give my 9mo daughter to eat. I'd like to move away from "baby" food but I don't feel confident that she will get enough to eat if I don't spoon feed (and pouches are so jolly convenient!)

I have no worries about her growth (following her percentile line nicely and very active) and she's crawling etc so she's getting enough calories, but I do wonder if she needs more variety of food to get all the nutrients she needs?

A typical day looks like this:

Wake 9:30ish and have breakfast, usually baby porridge
5oz milk before her sleep at midday
Lunch at 13:30 - usually some cubes of cheddar and squares of buttered toast, or a baby food pouch. Then some fruit and maybe a yoghurt
Another 5oz bottle at 15:00 before her sleep
Dinner at 18:00 - usually a pouch or sometimes I'll give her bits of whatever we are having. Then a fruit pot or yoghurt for dessert
Another 5oz bottle at 20:00 followed by baby porridge and a banana
Bottle in bed at 21:30

I offer water with every meal. I don't offer snacks (guess at some point I'll be replacing her midday bottle with a snack)

I have looked online for ideas but everything seems a bit unrealistic / impractical (don't have much time to cook with a very busy gymnast underfoot 😅), so I'd love to know what 'real' mums are feeding their kids!

Also is 4 5oz bottles enough? She rarely finishes them. She used to have one in the night too but has just dropped that one.

From the NHS website:

'You can give your baby nuts and peanuts from around 6 months old, as long as they're crushed, ground or a smooth nut or peanut butter.'

And

'Babies can have eggs from around 6 months.'

That took me about 30 seconds to Google. Please don't post unsubstantiated or really out of date stuff on threads about babies.

I know lots of children that have had reactions to egg whites and peanut butter.

Each to their own, but i wouldn't personally chance it till baby was over a year

@OctoberLovers The NHS says peanut butter and egg whites are OK from six months:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/foods-to-avoid-giving-babies-and-young-children/

Current advice is to introduce allergens such as egg, fish, strawberries, etc, early and often.

One of the reasons it's suspected children have reactions is because parents avoid giving them allergens early enough 🤷‍♂️

@Celebelly

It took you 30 seconds to google.....

Maybe.... So the OP can google for herself then cant she

Iv seen lots and lots of kids with reactions to both of these items....

Do not tell me what to post with regards to babies, when i am eering on the side of caution.... As i said.... Each to their own!

The no peanut butter thing is just outdated advise, 10 ++ years ago they didn’t advise it for babies now they actually say the opposite and it should be given to babies unless there is family history of allergies.
Anyway.. what you are giving sounds great. I would cut out the baby porridge as it’s full of sugar. Weetabix or porridge oats are perfect for little ones and much healthier.

Of course each to their own, but telling the OP that peanut butter and egg whites aren’t recommended for babies is simply untrue. Fair enough that you wouldn’t give them, but the official recommendation is that they’re absolutely fine. In fact it’s advised that nuts (not whole nuts as they’re a choking hazard) are introduced from 6 months.

As i say.... Each to their own....
Im sure the OP will make her own mind up

As they don't technically need food before age 1 I'd use this time to introduce as many different foods as possible to figure out what they like. If you're giving a savoury pouch steam some veg to go alongside to explore etc

It also isn't true to say they don't technically need food until 1!

The food is for fun before one mantra was coined by one person and has been latched on to by the more extreme blw parents who use it to reassure themselves that their babies aren’t eating. However babies do need food from around 6 months onwards, particularly for iron which isn’t enough in milk. I’m sure the fun/one has been discredited by several prominent baby nutritionalists.

Yes I'm pretty sure my 9mo definitely needs food! Her milk intake is reducing by the week!

Tried her on bread and peanut butter today - went down a treat. Thanks for the ideas! Not had any success with veggies, spaghetti, egg or meat 🙄 weetabix is sometimes accepted and sometimes refused. Some days I can't be faffed with trying her to eat 20 different things only to pick them all up off the floor, so we do still use pouches sometimes!

She loves cheese and satsuma. Going to try her on strawberries and blueberries as well. Hopefully we can add some variety!

Just keep offering a variety of things. She is still having plenty of milk so if she doesnt eat a lot for one meal that's fine, she will probably just have more milk that day. I would start subbing out the baby food pouches (high in sugar, low in nutrients) for "proper" meals mashed up a bit - the Ella's kitchen weaning book is great.

I would also avoid giving fruit pot or yogurt more than once per day.