What does your 8 month old eat?

[LolaLollypop]

DS is 8 months and a bit of a fussy eater. We’re getting there - he loves Ella’s pouches and I have no problem getting those into him. I don’t mind if we’re out and about but at home I’d like him to eat some home cooked food. He’s never been a big fan of my own purées - he will eat them but I often have to disguise them with some Ella’s on top!
He also has a suspected dairy allergy so I’m using milk alternatives when cooking atm (BF otherwise).
He’s not great at finger foods although he does move the food to his mouth, have a few sucks then he seems to get bored so not much goes in! Looking for a bit of inspiration on what other 8 month olds are eating.

Hi OP,
DD has just turned 9 months but has been eating the same for a while
Breakfast - ReadyBrek with cows milk + pear/apple/mango purée stirred in.
Banana pancakes
Toast with peanut butter

Lunch - scrambled egg & spinach
A couple of cubes - eg pasta + sauce or veg cous cous & sauce.
Daal
Beans mixed with something

Dinner - similar to lunch really, maybe a bigger portion. A few peas/sweet corn to pick up & mess around with. Veg as finger food. Yoghurt & fruit if she still seems hungry.
I batch cook & freeze in flexible moulds then just microwave for 3 mins whatever combination I fancy.
Hope that helps :)

Hi,. I am following this with interest as I am so unsure and not confident in myself of what I should be doing.

My little boy loves his food so I offer what he wants.

Breakfast:
Half weetabix with fruit mixed in
Or
Porridge with fruit
(we use oat milk as he has CMPA)

Lunch/dinner:
Bolognese with beef or turkey mince and pasta
Veggie pasta/tuna pasta
Potatoes and veg
Lentils and potatoes
Cauliflower nd broccoli cheese

Followed by coconut based yogurt and fruit

Portion wise... I roughly use around 4 ice cubes (I batch cook a nd freeze)
Pudding is normally a dollop of yogurt and a cube of fruit, or I use maybe a third of a pouch.

Not really sure if the amounts I give are too much.

He has around 600ml formula and following a convo with a HV they have said he is having too much milk, needs more water and to introduce snacks.

Looking on the NHS Start for life page, it says no snacks until after 1.
I now feel even more confused then I was!

Hi @June628 sorry I didn’t realise you’d replied!

My little one seems to be a fussy eater and getting into bad habits. He seems to only really like the pouches! It’s hard as I want him to eat so I end up giving him a pouch when refuses what I’ve made him. This is what he’s had today:

Breakfast - one weetabix with oat milk. Nibbled on a piece of toast but didn’t eat much

Lunch - I’d made him a lentil, carrot and potato purée from the Annabel Karmel book. He almost refuses to open his mouth when the food is coming from a bowl and not a pouch. I sometimes pretend to get the food out of a pouch but still give him the fresh food and I usually manage to get something in.

He’s due his dinner soon and I just don’t know what to offer him! He won’t really self feed so when I’ve given him a sandwich he hardly eats anything. He doesn’t seem to like scrambled egg.

My husband doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him eating mainly pouches at this age. He says he’s still learning and as long as we can get an entire pouch into him he’s doing well.

I just wish DS would entertain fresh food a bit more!

@BrightStars1234 Do you offer all that food at one serving?! Or is that just a selection of the type of food you’ll cook?

Also @BrightStars1234 can you share your Cauliflower cheese recipe? DS also has a milk allergy so I’ve been avoiding cheese.

My 9 month old loves a crumpet or toast with dairy Lea but if you're avoiding dairy you can spread banana or jam on? He loves cut up banana as well.

You can buy reusable pouches that you fill yourself with home cooked food. Maybe that could work as a step to getting him eating more home cooked stuff. I think nutritionally bought pouches are probably fine. I would think about trying to vary the textures though.

He will have just one of those ideas. I tend to make a batch of stuff and then freeze it. He love fruit puree from pouches, rather than the ones I make typical!

I use violife dairy free cheese, it's awful on its own but melted is good.
Oohh the recipe is from the nutramigen booklet. If u Google nutramigen weaning there is a recipe book with ideas for weaning for a child with CMPA. It has helped me a lot! But I absolutely do not use nutramigen in his food as it tastes disgusting. We use oat milk barista.

How do you get on with finger food?
I struggle with it.. I am terrified of choking!! He puts a whole melty puff in his mouth and looks terrified.

There are some really good Ella's pouches that don't have any nasties in they're great!

It's also so frustrating when they don't eat what you lovingly make!

If they don't like it, leave it for a few days and offer it again. Apparently it can take ten tries for them to like something!

I’ve been using Ella’s or other organic brands with just natural ingredients in them. I know they all eventually end up eating but it’s frustrating getting them there! I just feel a bit of a failure when my friends with similar DC say they’re self feeding grilled aubergine etc and there’s me opening another Ella’s Mexican chicken pouch

I’m going to try more toast/crumpet style self feeding as he does seem to like toast. I just feel not enough goes in to warrant a full tummy. He’s not sleeping through yet so I’m trying to keep him as full as possible!

I think I’ll try scrambled egg for dinner - I really want him to start enjoying eggs as they’re so easy and full of good stuff.

How much milk does he have out of interest?
My HV has mentioned snacks if they drop a bottle.. I haven't even considered snacks yet?! It's confused me to be honest.
If it makes you feel better, we are struggling with finger foods. There's no way he would eat enough, he gets frustrated if he can't eat it. So i end up giving him those melty puffs or a bit of banana, but because he shovels it in he ends up coughing, half choking and its horrible.
So he has lumpy food and I load the spoon and he brings it to his mouth.
I find weaning so confusing, I must be dim.

Did he eat eggs for dinner?
I've not tried scrambled eggs yet!!

@BrightStars1234 I’m still BF so he probably has about 4 feeds during the day - but still waking up for at least one at night which I’m trying to get him to drop!

He refused to open his mouth for the scrambled egg. I managed to get a bit in and he acted like I had just put acid in his mouth so I ended up getting his favourite fruit pouch (must have tasted weird!) and putting a bit on top of the egg. He finished it all! I even tried a few spoons of just egg and he didn’t really notice and carried on eating.

Then he had a biscotti as finger food. So he can feed himself, he’s just very picky about what goes in.

I’m going to try more finger food this week and hope he just gets used to eating that way.

Oh no! Why do they like to torment us so?!

Actually, there is a recipe I used for mini egg muffins. It is egg, banana and strawberries all mashed and then baked for about 15 mins. So simple and even I ate some. They are really soft and what he couldn't eat or get in his mouth I put into yogurt.

Maybe he has a sweet tooth ?! Have you tried sweet potato?

DD was quite tricky at that age. I tended to give her finger food first then give her some pouch after if need be. She has always almost any fruit and has been mad keen on various bread products in phases so a bit of fruit and toast/crumpet/pancake/pitta etc with something calorific on top like peanut butter or humous. Then pouch to top up if need be although quite often we went to straight to yoghurt pudding.

I gave up trying to get her to eat home cooked versions of pouches but she is much better with home cooking now she is older and eating 'proper' solids- just seemed my puree combos couldn't compete with Ella and co!

The other finger food that seems to work for most babies is pastry pinwheels if you look up flavour combos. My DD will always eat a tiny quiche too although I don't know how well they do for dairy free- I cut discs of pastry using a glass then press them into fairy cake bun tin and then add filling. One of them with some broccoli or green beans on the side is usually a winner and has been since she was 10 or 11 months old. Oh and she loves noodles. And omlet, but hates scrambled egg 🤷‍♀️

Mine is nearly 9 months and she has something like this each day.

Breakfast, ready break or half weetabix
Lunch, toast with avocado or those banana and egg pancakes or soup (blended)
Fruit purée or raspberries
Dinner Ella's pouch with veg like broccoli or carrot to pick up herself.

3 x 7oz bottles through the day.

She's a good eater, but tbh my oldest wasn't interested in food at all until she was about 10 months and has always been very fussy.