How to Feed My 8 Month Old

Sounds like you are right on track. The baby food is mainly to get them used to eating at this point. They get the nutrition from the formula.

I had a son in March as well. My first child also so this is all new to me as well. In the morning he has a jar of fruit and some rice ceral, he has 3 bottles of formula during the day and a bottle of juice, and a jar of vegetables at lunch. Then he has 2 bottles of formula before bed and a 3rd jar of food usually a mix like chicken and apples, ham pinnaple and rice, chicken noodles (the 2nd foods). He doesn't always eat all the food in the jars. He then takes 2 bottle during the night, His bottles are 6 ounces. He is 20 pounds so he is a big boy and he eats alot. He also give him Baby MumMum's or Puffs for a snack. Best of luck are the babies fabulous at this age?

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Nutritionally speaking, breastmilk or formula is ALL he NEEDS for the first year. The jars are to introduce different tastes and textures to get him geared up fpr 'real' food. You can even give him your food to try if it is mushy enough, not too salty or spicy, and at the right temp. As long as he is getting MOSTLY formula (80% or more), you should be fine. They even make formula now that is especially formulated for older kids (up to 36 months) because they are realizing the need for it does not stop on their first birthday!

I to have an 8 month old girl.At her 4 month appt the dr asked me if I was ready to start feeding her cereal in the morning this was only a few tablespoons I always wait till they are 5 months old then intrduce foods 1 @ a time for a few days then move up from there.When she was 6 months old I was still breastfeeding her all the time because after trying the cereal & a few other kinds of food she didn't like it refused & cryed because she wanted mommys milk.I asked the dr for suggestions because we both agreed that @ this age she is needing more nutrition other than breastmilk.Also she was a great sleeper till around 5 months she wakes up 2-3 times a nite to eat because she is refusing solids during the day and for dinner.She loves feeding herself & really dislikes the baby food we are in stage 2 as long as baby can help feed themself there isn't anything wrong with letting them try finger foods I offer the Gerber line of foods they are great they melt in their mouth, Biter biscuts,yougurt melts, look in the baby isle there's great foods other than jar & if you want to you can also skip the pureed foods and get canned just cook as you normally would then dice them up put them on a plate & baby will have at it or you can feed them to baby.The store brands finger foods are great too.And now Gerber has yougurt that needs no refrigeration sold in a 4 pack plastic container and are wonderful my daughter loves them.

Susan,
At this stage in your babies life, the baby is getting most of what he needs from the formula. BUT, what you want to do now is to introduce foods to him in a way that will hopefully help him to develop a love for all kinds of foods. There are a lot of people in this world that have very small lists of food they like. Picky people have much larger lists of things they don't like. But half of what they say they don't like is something they just have never even tried. The beauty of an 8 month old is that they will open their mouths for you because they trust you and will give all foods a chance. So you want to give him foods that have been properly cooked and mashed or strained so that he can eat and digest them. But other than making sure he can't choke and avoiding peanuts and trying foods one at a time to identify allergies, it's time to have fun.

As you feed him more foods, you can give him a few less bottles. But if he is acting hungry please don't withhold the bottle from him. He is a growing boy and probably going to be very active now and for the next few years. Unless you are giving him too much sugar foods, cookies, and too many fatty foods, he won't become overweight.

at this age you should start introducing things like cheereos, puffs, wagon weels, and all those mush instantly baby snack/ foods. that is you you can see he is starting to chew. He will choke or gag a little bit the first few times because it is different from what he is use to. there should be more baby food as well. this is when you want to start getting a breakfast, lunch dinner thing going. you can aslo call you sons doctor for recomendations since they will know more about him.

I think you are doing an awesome job! Formula should be his main food source for his 1st year. As long as the bottles are about 8 oz. I would keep feeding him as you are.

God bless!

Hi Susan!
I didn't get to read your other responses (I'm sneaking this in at work!) but here is what my son's doc always told me: babies really only need breast milk/formula for the first year of their life. They get all the nutrition they need from that. Anything else is extra. Still feed him the same amount of BM/formula but add the fun stuff--jar food, table food, etc. At 8 months I think my son was taking about 5 or 6 8-oz bottles a day and he would have cereal and a jar of fruit in the morning, a jar of veggies and a jar of fruit for lunch, a jar of some sort of meal (like chicken & rice) for dinner and a jar of a veggie. At 9 months I brought in yogurt. At 10 months I started him on the finger foods (Gerber Graduates ravioli for example). Good luck!

Hello! My little guy is also 8 months old. I started him on baby food probably 3 1/2 months ago. He is already into stage 3 foods and table foods. I still do bottles of formula with his foods. He usually gets up around 6:30ish and he has a bottle with his cereal or oatmeal (banana's and cream, mixed w/2% milk). He usually takes around 7 oz at that time. Then he will eat again at 9:30, just a bottle of formula (8oz), then he eats lunch at 12:30, usually 3/4 jar of stage 3 baby food and 2 1/2 oz baby juice mixed w/ 2 1/2 oz water... i offer a sippy of water throughout the whole day... then, he will eat at 3:30 just a bottle (8oz), then i feed him at 5:30-6:00ish... this is his supper time, and he usually gets stage 3 foods and/or table foods from our supper if he can, smashed carrots/potatoes, green beans... whatever we are having, and usually 6 1/2 oz formula, then he gets cereal and a bottle at 8:00 every night. He gets 3/4 a jar of stage 3 baby cereal and a full 8 oz formula. Then he goes to bed. I know this seems very scheduled, but it really has worked for all of my kids (he is my 3rd)I try very hard to keep breakfast, lunch, dinner the same time as my other 2 children so that when he gets bigger, he is used to eating at those times. It takes the guess work out of meal time. Hope this helps! Have a happy thanksgiving!