Finger Foods/table Foods for a 9 Month Old

My daughter is a little older, but eats a lot of solids. I give her sweet potato, butternut squash, peas, green beans, pasta, thoroughly cooked carrots (long, skinny pieces),beans, grapes, blueberries, etc. She is a good eater and very accepting of new foods, so I try to give her any veggies we eat or healthy foods I can find.

My son started feeding himself at 8 months. Gerber makes great self feeding foods, like carrots, apples, peaches, wienies that are formulated to be healthier for babies. You can always make a box of whole wheat pastas drain and then freeze in muffin tins. Then place the individual servings in a freezer bag for quick meals. Also my son's Dr said peanut butter was ok at 9 months, so easy snacks to take out were the packs of peanut buter on cheese crackers. Pretty much whatever I eat now, he does too.

We try to get our twin girls to eat all kinds of foods and generally stay with organic food and lots of fresh fruit. Avocado is a wonderful food for babies, as it is high in the healthy fat they need to support brain development. I mash it up and mix in some banana or apple baby food. Some babies love it plain! I also introduced tofu around 10-12 months, at first the soft/silken kind mixed into their jar of baby food, now that they eat "whole" foods, I stir fry firm tofu, eggplant, zuchinni, squash, peas, etc for then every night. They love it! I typically mix in a little pured carrots or sweet potatoes at the end of the stir fry. Also, you can make "smoothies" with plain whole milk yogurt pured with fresh fruit and a little wheat germ mixed in. My girls also like baked sweet potatoes, grilled cheese with pured butternut squash as the spread on the inside.... I just try to sneak in health options anytime I can! For toddlers, check out "weelicious.com" or the wholesome baby food site others mentioned. they are great!

As someone else said, I might stay away from raisins, they can be a big choking hazard, along with foods such as hot dogs and nuts. Best of luck!!! F.

http://tribalbaby.org/babyLedEating.html

This is an interesting site you may or may not be interested in, it is what we are doing with our girl who is 7 and a half months and we are about to start introducing foods. If you scroll down to "what we ate", it has some great ideas for food they can eat with their hands. Letting babies eat on their own terms is a great way for them to learn to only eat how much they need in their bodies, thus reducing the chance of obesity later on. We will begin foods with my daughter by allowing her to eat with her fingers and only what she wants and how much of it she wants. And of course, only healthy options.
more info on finger foods here:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/finger-foods.html

Hey I know what your going thru my son was the same. We would make tiny sandwhichs and he loved them. We also used the little puffs for the baby section. They also have little pieces of mean and things that are really easy for them to hold. But they really dont hasve much of a taste. V. Sauges work to and they like them.

Mac-n-chesse, cooked pasta noodles, cut up hot dog pieces, pankcakes (cut up), grilled cheese sandwiches cut up, cereal bars broken up, cooked carrots sliced, orange slices, chicken nuggets cut up...

Any kind of vegetable or fruit that is cut up will be good for him. Also, cooked whole grains are a great choice. My daughter was eating cooked black beans by nine months old. Any kind of cooked beans. If you make chili, as long as it isn't too spicy, will be good for him. You can pretty much give him whatever you eat. No eggs or peanut butter though as they can cause allergies in babies.

Sounds like a great start to me! Squash, sweet potato, etc. are all good choices. I also think you can find some great ideas from the book Super Baby Food: http://www.superbabyfood.com/

Hi V.,

I get the little tubs of food in the baby section - I forget who makes them, but they have Raviollis that was spinach and cheese, or tomato or chicken and carrot (there may be other flavors, I can't recall them) but my 10 month old LOVES them. I cut each ravilli into four peices and she feeds herself. I am also looking for some ideas. :-)

Good luck, this is the fun albeit MESSY time!

Have a great weekend,
D.

You've gotten some great ideas but you might want to reconsider the raisins. They can become a choking hazzard for babies untill they learn how to chew better and get those back teeth in.

S.

My son loved the Gerber puffs, and the Gerber graduates peaches, carrots, pears, and apples. I loved them because they were already cut up and quick. I've heard the graduates pasta pickups area also great. Another favorite of my son's is frozen blueberries, we don't fully defrost them and they are great for teething.

I have a 9 month old little boy who is doing the same thing. I still buy some of the baby food like sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin/pears and of course the fruit too. Try hamburger if your going to make tacos brown the meat and then keep out some and feed him carrots or sweet potatoes with it. Bread and butter, grilled cheese, macaroni, spaghetti cut up small with just a little bit of sauce on it. My baby loves this. I've also tried some chicken in small pieces. Anything soft that they can pick up with there hands works. I know it's hard to think what to make for them. I still make him oatmeal cereal in the morning along with some fruit or toast. Yogurt is a good choice too. Hope this helps good luck.
R. SAHM mother of 3 Felicia 5, Sammy 3 and Layne 9 months

There is a great website www.wholesomebabyfood.com that gives a very complete list of what to introduce to baby at what time. It is worth a look!

I think at this age, my kids ate a lot of canned fruits and vegetables. They are generally very soft. My daughter was especially fond of green beans. She would even eat them as a snack--not even heated! My son liked those baby carrots in a silver can (can't remember the brand). They are small very soft baby carrots (not the round ones)--easy to pick up and eat. Sweet potatoes out of the can are also very soft. They also liked V. sausages. And of course, most any fruit--like pears & mandarin oranges.

Good luck!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ - There's enough there to keep you very, very busy.

I also liked the "Super Baby Food" book, but it's kinda hard to read. And the author is a little over-the-top for some people. But it says right on the cover "Super" baby food, not "good-enough" or "super-convenient" baby food, so she talks a lot about how to get your babies hooked on health food at an early age, and good "healthy extras" to mix in to your baby's yogurt or applesauce or mashed veggies. Like wheat germ, molasses, and DHA supplements (strawberry-flavored fish oil) in sweet foods, or brewer's yeast on savory foods like veggies.

Now my two-year-old INSISTS on putting wheat germ on his yogurt EVERY time and ADORES the way I make tofu!

I've always been a bit of a health nut myself, so I didn't get offended when she recommended not giving babies meat, for instance. It's a good book though, even if you do want your babies to eat some meat, and she does explain how to prepare meat safely.

sorry i didnt read all of the other responses so I don't know if you got this one...SOUP! if your into it, make your own! I'm not, so canned for my DD and she looves clam chowder and vegetable. i would also 'skin' a hotdog and cut it up amazingly small for her, or mac n'cheese and I didnt see veg's mentioned? green beans or peas were a fav and also broccoli. she was chewing pretty well by this time. yogurt was the only thing my dd would let me feed her.

As the previous post stated, squash and sweet potatoes are good. Also, green beans, peas, or any softer "bean" really(my daughter loves lima beans amd blackeye peas). Diced cooked carrots are great, too.

You could also try some wheat pasta as well and mashed potatoes. My doctor also recommended Yo Baby Yogurt (not any that is low fat). Good luck!

Your son has knows when he's hungry and when he's not. Let him be your guide. You always offer, but he'll let you know when he's not interested. It's good you are offering finger foods. He would prefer all the foods you mentioned choped into small pieces. Commonly, cheese and milk should not be offered before 1 year due to allergy concerns, but all the other foods you mention he would enjoy getting to experiment with himself. Also, don't worry if he only wants blueberries for 2 weeks straight.

From a nutritional standpoint, all babies really need before 1 year of age is their milk plus a source of extra iron (iron fortified grains or whole grains) and a source of extra vitamin c (vegetables and fruits).

Foods my baby likes to eat by herself: rice, beans, green beans, asparagus, barley, carrots, watermelon, blueberries.

I just gave my daughter whatever we were eating as long as it was soft enough and cut small enough. He will tell you what he will eat. Just remember that you may have to present some foods several times before he realizes that he should like them!

do you ming my asking what it is that you do from home? I am looking for a change in jobs and a way to spend more time at home with my kids.

L.

Hi V.,

I have a 9 mo old as well. She loves frozen waffles, you can get natural kind, pasta - elbow macaroni is great,spagettios (natural kind), lunch meat - turkey breast, pancakes, fruit - apples, watermelon, oranges.
Hope that helps.
Have fun!
K.

Hi V.

My children ate just about anything I ate at that point. They really enjoyed pasta. It was something they were able to hold as well. Eggs were another big hit then. I found the spork was a lot easier for them as they grew as well. Spoons were fine but the attraction of keeping the food on it over took hunger. Good luck!!