My baby is now eight months old and is ready for meat and finger foods.Where do I incorporate this?

Question

I have been giving him mixed cereal in the morning and evening and then a baby food jar for lunch.I give him all the formula he desires.I want to know where the cheese,pasta,meat,bread comes in.I am also supposed to feed him fork mashed fruits and veggies.From the sounds of things I will be feeding him when he wakes til he sleeps.I was wondering what other moms do?I really want to do a good job here.

Answer 1

pasta, meat, bread, now is ok, lunch or dinner prefferably AFTER a nap, but definately when he's not cranky or tired.

cheese, i'd wait until he's atleast a year before introducing too much of this too him, since it's dairy. if gerber (or other baby food providers) offers mac &cheese in stage 2 or 3 then that would be ok, but still not too much. dairy too early could cause a lactose intolerance or it may not, every baby is different, but i'd still wait. on the fork mashed fruits and veggies, these can be a substitute for store bought baby foods and are generally heathier. don't do too much seasoning like salt, just plain, boiled, mashed (or if he eats finger foods, small cubed) veggies and fruits. try half a banana or applesauce mixed with his cereal in the morning, and carrots or something with the cereal in the evening. with the formula, make sure he gets at least 24 ounces of formula in a bottle or sippy every day, any less than that isn't good for them. try not to go over 46 or so ounces so he doesn't get too much, cuz that could be bad too. try getting a food processer for him, they have small ones at wal-mart, and put the veggies through there. if you go canned veggies, make sure there is no added salt in them. fresh is best, but canned worked for my son, and the fresh was always going bad too early. i wouldn't try oranges for another few months, or anything else like that, grapefruit, tangerines, etc. because of the higher levels of acid in them. i know this is long, and i am sorry, i just know that if someone had've given me all this info in one "conversation" i would have not been so confused. soon my second son will be starting on solids, and i know that i'm pretty much ready for that. as always, watch for food allergies, and allow at least a week between each different food. they say 3-4 days, but always play it safe and give it a week. wait, you already know all this, he's 8 months....sorry, got way carried away there. i appologize big time. i guess i'll back off now. best of luck and whether he gets baby food, fresh fruits and veggies, or canned fruits and veggies, you will do a good job. just the fact that you are asking a bunch of strangers (lol) about all of this means you are willing to do anything for him.

Answer 2

I'm sure that you're doing a fantastic job as it is, so please, don't stress too much about this. Your baby can thrive on nothing but breastmilk or formula for a year (I had a friend that fed her son nothing but formula for a year because he had severe food allergies and they had the hardest time finding a formula he could tolerate, she didn't want to risk the good thing they had going by adding solids to the mix.) You can approach this as slowly as you want, it's not a race, so don't get too worked up about it.

Hopefully you're a little more calm now ;) You really don't need to give your baby cereal anymore, if you talk to a doctor, cereal is technically a grain, so you can substitute other grains and carbs, such as the pasta and the bread.
Make sure that you serve only a few bites of new food, baby's tummy is really small right now, and don't be frustrated if they don't eat all of it. Little plastic containers make it easy to store unused food in the fridge until baby is ready for it.

You don't have to wait until baby is over a year to introduce dairy PRODUCTS, you can give baby cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and ice cream before a year. Doctors say not to give dairy before a year because they're afraid some moms will switch baby to whole milk before a year, and it's not nutritionally adequate to sustain a baby under the age of 1. You can find mesh feeders in stores like Walmart so you can give baby pieces of fruit or vegetable and not worry about them choking on them.

Answer 3

just vary it they don't eat it all day every day. Also they start to eat less formula
My daughter get cearl mixed with fruit for breakfast about 2 ounzes of fruit and like a 1/4 cup of ceral and maybe two to four ounces of formula. i give the food first then give some formula with and after
snack about two hrs later some puffs, or toddler crakers,or teething cookie and four oz of juice/water
Lunch she has about six oz. Usually some veg about half a siz oz jar and some meat i use the jared kind with 4-6 oz of formula
sometimes has another snack same as the one before
Dinner 6 oz again somekind of finger food and the other half of veg from lunch with some formula
Then a six oz bottle before bed but most nights she does not need the last bottle

You can make subsitions. mashed fruit with breakfast or baby yougurt, etc

Answer 4

I have an 8 1/2 month old son..I feed him baby cereal and a fruit (like cut up banana) and his formula for breakfast...For lunch I give him some jarred baby food like mac-cheese and a veggie/fruit.and his formula.(Or he`ll get our food depending on what I`m eating). For dinner he has started to eat what we eat...Chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans,applesauce,pasta...just to name a few.and his formula.. I also give him a snack(like banana, or a bitter biscut) and juice during the day. Good luck..

Answer 5

i am a mother four. cheerios are a great finger food for a guick snack or a on the go food and they disolve in the mouth really fast so the baby dont chock. also look on the baby food aisle their are alot of toddler foods by gerber you can buy. a key to instroducing new foods is to first try to eat the food yourself by smooshing it with just your tongue and then decide if you think your child would be able to eat his food without chocking. no your child wont be eating all day. start by instroducing real food as a snack and then replace cereal at breakfast with some thing else i dont think your dr. wonts you to do all this at once. you will gradually do this over time. ex. try the cheerios or a teething cooking as a once aday snack and wait about a week and introduce him to something else and so fourth until he is off baby food. oh yea french fries bake with NO seasoning just till done NOT crispy are really easy for a baby to suck and smoosh without chocking.

Answer 6

you should still be giving a little of formula or breastmilk, whether in a bottle or cup. that will help with some feeding. but feed him like you eat. give him cereal in the morning , maybe some cheerios and like a piece of egg and cheese. for lunch try babyfood mac and cheese or other lunch time meals. for dinner mashed potatoes is good and give him some babyfood meat.

Answer 7

At 8 months, his primary source of nutrition should be formula/breastmilk. Introducing those items is great for learning, but does not need to be a whole meal. All of the things you mentioned can be cut into small pieces and given to him at the time of the meals you are feeding him. I would introduce them at the time you are doing the cereal (morning and evening).

Answer 8

Well I am not a mom yet but I do a lot of babysitting. Now, You feed your baby 24/7, huh? Well, You should give him daily meals. If you feed him breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and dessert you're doing great. Try to give him some snacks. I'm only 11, but take it from me.

Answer 9

as long as he is getting the 24 oz of formula he needs you can incorporate these finger foods anytime. you dont have to give him all these things everyday, switch it around. yes, i would still give him some mashed fruits and veggies. just give him a variety.
sounds like your already doing a good job! keep it up.
:-)

Answer 10

I have a 10 month old and she eats what we eat.. Here's what we do. Put her in her highchair and cut up little pieces of what you have. Like for breakfast she has french toast cut into little pieces and loves it.. She plays and chews on it. She probably only eats half of what i give her but shes learning. She has great cooridination and can pinch very small things. we usually skip lunch and for dinner she has whatever we eat just cute up small. We stopped giving baby food around 7-8 months and started on the table foods. She's still mainly breastfeed though. but she also won't eat from a spoon, she has to do it herself. to start we would give her small pieces of bread. and just let her play.. Everything that she plays with goes into her mouth anyway. then we went onto plain pasta and then with a little sauce and for the veggie just make sure that its soft enough that he can chew it.. it just depends on your guy. Does he have teeth? that'll make a difference on what he can eat. also be sure to be careful of high allergy foods and no honey or peanut butter.