What to Feed the Baby.

Whatever you're eating. If you have a healthy diet with lots of fruits, lean meats and veggies then just chop up whatever you're eating and give it to him as well. Saves you the trouble of making two meals and gets him used to eating table foods. No need to give him 'special baby foods'...spices (excluding salt) & varied foods are good for him! Bon Appetit!

My son gave up baby food at 10 mos and ate whatever we did, in very small soft portions. If we had chicken I shredded it and he loved it. If we had mashed potatoes he loved that! He ate corn in niblets off his high chair. Peas were a favorite too, I would microwave frozen ones just to get a little soft and put them on his high chair and he gobbled them up. If it is diced up, shredded or soft I wouldn't worry. Giving him a lot of different flavors and spices now is great to prevent him being a picky eater later.
Scrambled eggs with cheese was a huge hit, diced up tiny pieces of meat he always ate. Even homeade sweet potato fries as he could hold it like a stick and chewed it a little at a time. You need to be there close by but it is great he will eat new things and just serve whatever you do.
I even would give my son very tiny diced cubes of turkey and american cheese sandwiches. I could only put out on his plate a few at a time as he tended to stuff his face, hee hee. That is the big deal making sure they don't put too much in their mouth.

Babies learn to enjoy eating whole foods when they are given whole foods. Place small pieces of whole foods on his tray and let him experience the food. Don't worry about how much he's eating. Let him touch and even play with the food. Some ideas for first finger foods: banana, avocado, cooked yams, all cooked veggies (baby peas, carrots, green beans, ect). You'll want to check out http://www.BabyBites.info I write about transforming a picky eater and how to avoid a picky eater. The later is possible, when you begin with multi-sensory learning and whole foods.

At that age I had purchased a hand blender and let my son eat what ever we were eating. I think it gave him a taste for just about anything, including blue cheese. My husband is the one that was constantly worried about chokeing but using the hand blender to grind up the food worked like a charm. Then things like the Frozen peas and Carrots are small enough and I would cook them tender enough that he could chew them by himself.

At this age your bay should be eating table food, whatever you are eating is probably fine for him to eat too. As long as you supervise him while he eats (have family meals) he can handle all kinds of foods. Cut things up small and use your best judgement, but don't stress too much. If you have never taken an infant and child CPR course then I would reccomend that too, you will probably never need to use the techniques that you learn but it is good to know what to do in an emergency, it will give you greater confidence.

Don't worry! He will be fine with table food. My kids never went past eating the middle size jars of baby food. I am sure he is really bored. I would not get really advanced yet, but he will be fine with simple things. Just be careful of the known choking hazards for little kids. (Grapes, hotdogs) Sit there with him when he is eating. If it makes you feel better go and take a CPR class. Crackers, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, spaghetti, beans, etc. are all a good choice. Spaghetti is great because they love to make a mess with their food. Just try different things and see how he handles them.

Feed him whatever you eat as long as it is bite sized and soft. Why waste money of baby food?

My daughter didn't even get her first tooth until she was 10 months old but was eating plain Cherios and other small, solids like that (peas, overcooked & cubed carrots, steamed and cubed apples, etc). She just gummed them to "chew" them up. As long as what you are giving him are about that size and you are watching him eating making sure he puts only one in his mouth at a time he will be fine. He needs to learn to use those teeth.

Feed your baby what you eat, just make sure the dinner is chopped up like #3 baby food. I dont buy baby food as my children have alway ate what we eat, I just make sure its nice and runny and such. I must say what ever you do, dont waste your time trying to get a steak to chop up nicely it wont happen. What I did when I chopped up my kids dinner was put it in the blender, and put water or formula in there, chop and add more if needed. Your child will love you even more at dinner time for it.

I give my 10 month old avacados, cooked carrots, cooked beans, cooked potatoes (regular and sweet), grapes, soft peeches, soft apples, etc. Anything that can be cut into small bits and that is soft. Although it can be messy, she loved to feed herself. I also give her Cheerios, bits of crackers that easily disolve, bread, pancakes. I make sure that I am there with her and give her lots of water in a sippy. Good luck!

I have a 9 month old son, and I share the same worries about him choking. However, someone told me to make the pieces of food no bigger than the tip of his finger. Some good finger foods that I have given him are tiny pieces of ripe avocado, tiny pieces of cooked chicken,and tiny strips of string cheese. I have made a lot of my baby food in the past, and there are a few easy things that you could serve your son without worrying about choking. You could bake a sweet potato or a regular potato and mash it (just don't add salt). You could mash a piece of avocado or cook and mash a vegetable (like winter squash). Cottage cheese is also a good thing. I mash mine a little still because I also worry about choking, and my son only has 2 teeth. These have been helpful for me because my son gets bored with the choices of baby food in jars.

A little about me:

I am a SAH mom with a 9 month old son.

You've gotten some great advice already. I especially like Cindy's. My son loved small, round foods that he could easily pick up: cooked peas, beans, cheerios, etc. If it didn't come in that shape, I just cut it up to that size. It's good practice for his fine motor skills too. Don't worry about the choking. He'll be fine.

hi there - i have 3 kids...two of which are toddler/preschool age, so we aren't too far out of this stage, and will be back in it in a few months with #3!

some of the foods i love when they get to finger food stage are:
BEANS (black, pinto, great northern, etc.) - they are low allergen (if you have to worry about that), soft, flavorful, and packed with protein & good stuff. i usually use the canned & rinse them before using to get rid of excess salt. they are soft & small, so i've never had to worry about cutting them up. you may with a kidney bean, but these others are tiny. (these are especially helpful if your child doesn't like much meat)
PASTA - well cooked noodles like macaroni, penne, rotini (these are great to keep in a ziploc in your fridge & you can use them for a few days)
EGG YOLKS - the whites are where all the proteins are, so that's why yolks are typically what you start with. just hard boil an egg & break the yolk into small pieces.
OLIVES - cut into 3 or 4 pieces
OTHER FRUITS - grapes, cut into quarters, pears & peaches (at this age, i'd let my kids hold the whole ripe fruit & they would just knaw on it & if they got big pieces in their mouths, i was right there to grab it or tell them to spit it out...the little pieces are too slippery for them to pick up, unless they can use a fork)
GRAHAM CRACKERS - i let them hold a full quarter or half sheet, they get mushy quick!
PRETZELS - the little sticks, great for baby fingers!
CUCUMBERS - thin slices or long sticks
YOGURT & CHEESE - talk to your pediatrician, but babies can start on these earlier than regular milk & it's a great way to help them keep fat in their diet & they usually love them!
CHICKEN &/OR TURKEY - well cooked & cut into small pieces. my oldest wasn't hot on this, but our 2nd LOVED it, and continues to eat meat well

GOOD LUCK!!!!!! don't be afraid to try new things!