Panicking - What should my nine month old be eating and drinking

[dondaW80]

Right now I have him having 4 bottles of milk throughout the day (plan to drop this to 3), baby porridge in the morning, baby pouch of meat/veg for lunch and baby pouch of fruit/veg/yoghurt for dinner. No finger foods (I fear him choking). My HV has said if he isn't eating textured foods he'll have delayed speech. I'm panicking, I have no idea what I'm doing.

He can't eat our meals because they're awful.. pizza, burgers etc. I don't know what to do. How much milk should he be having until 12 months? Should he be having finger foods? Should he be drinking out of a cup himself? He won't even attempt it, just pours it over himself. I'm awful at this and feel like I'm doing him such a disservice

You should try simple fingers foods like fingers of toast to start with.

I would improve your own diet so your baby can eat everything you do.

How about starting with scrambled egg, mashed banana, some peas and sweetcorn?

They do often gag but this is normal. I’d do a baby first aid course and lots of online reading to build your knowledge and skills, so you feel confident. It’s a v understandable worry.

You’re not too late for anything, so no need to panic or worry.

(Don’t add salt to anything).

Add in some fresh berries like raspberries and blueberries. Broccoli florets and carrots sticks cooked but still with a bite to them.

Don't over think it.

Give him some stuff like chopped up soft fruit and vegetables. Sliced toast and crumpets. I used to put out some dry cereal for them to try. Let him eat them with the soft food he's having just now. Just pop it on his tray in the high chair. If he has prepackaged baby food, move him onto the stuff that has bits in it (usually labelled about 10 months).

Same with the cup. I take it he has a sippy cup? I just put it on the table for them to have with their food. Mine tended to play with the solids and water and then eat what we spoon fed them.

At this age, both of mine were on three meals a day and would be having two 9 oz bottles (one in the morning and one before bed). I weaned early because of reflux so they were never big milk drinkers. But they ate loads (and still do!)

Toast, pasta, rice, potato wedges, banana, other soft fruits, etc are all finger foods. Nothing wrong with giving a bit of burger either if chopped into a size that's easier to handle. He should be having food with more texture than puree

My DS is 9 months old and I'm also a big worrier about BLW/choking. So I continue to break up his food into little pieces just big enough for him to chew and swallow. He chews his food very well. He's tried eating some things himself like the Ella carrot puffs and enjoyed it but again, the worry of him choking puts me off. Another month and I hope to begin handing him strips of food..

His timing is a little all over the place but currently he has-
9am 1 stick weetabix and water
11.30m 7oz milk before nap
1ish lunch half a sandwich or egg and toast and water (sandwich usually consists of mayo, cucumber, grated cheese or tuna/mayo).
3.30pm 7oz milk but drinks it over a couple of hours before nap
6pm dinner its usually what we eat if bland enough or a shop bought jar and something else.
7.30pm snack strawberries or banana. Maybe yogurt.
9pm a little bit of ready brek before bed and then about 3-4 oz of milk when falling asleep.

He has one 5oz bottle in the night, well around 5am. I could try stopping that but he drinks it and falls back asleep and then gets up at 8am. It's working for us currently in the holidays so I don't mind the night feed.

3pm

Agree with PP, you need to improve your own diet so that he can eat with you. Do you prepare any of his meals or is it all pouches?

Milk sounds fine to me, leave it as it is until he's eating more.

As for finger foods start with some basics - very soft carrot batons and pieces of broccoli. Grated Cheese, well cooked pasta or scrambled egg. These are the softest finger foods to try.

Weaning DD was a good opportunity to look at our own diet and make some changes so we could all eat together. We now generally all have the same thing every night, except for the odd nursery night when she's knackered and has beans on toast or something so we can get her into bed asap.

I'd recommend getting a recipe book or some apps (there's a good set of baby-led weaning apps that have all kinds of baby-friendly recipes that can also be eaten by adults) and think about what you can all have together. Makes life a lot easier when you just have to cook one meal!

If you have no clue what so ever turn buy the Annabel Karmel book, it spells it out for you and even has timetables. When you have the jang of it you can do your own thing.

**then not turn