9-12 mo. Baby Food and Feeding

To teach her to feed herself, I feed Emma finger foods every lunch. That allows me time to wash dishes and pick up the kitchen, and then read her a story while she eats. For breakfast or dinner I may have foods she can feed herself, or may have to spoon feed her.


Hand foods
Scrambled eggs
Ramon noodles with or without seasoning
Cubed toast with or without butter
Cubed or torn cheese any type as long as it is pasteurized
Chicken pieces-dark meat has more nutrients and moisture than white meat
Cubes of ham
Ground Beef in larger chunks
Ground sausage in larger clumps
Oranges-sliced without the filament
Bananas-sliced (these can be too slippery to pick up if they are cut too small)
Blueberries
Peas
Green beans
Cubed mango
Cubed melon
Sliced avocado
Small cooked broccoli florets
Cut cooked carrots, sweet potato, or squash
Cubes baked potato
Cubed sandwiches-peanut butter and jelly or soft deli meats (I try to use wheat bread and natural whole meats like chicken, beef, or turkey-not bologna or salami)
Cubed home-made salmon cakes
Cubed Fish sticks


Spoon and Fork Foods
Pretty much I try to feed Emma the same foods we eat, but avoid spicy foods like Mexican and tough foods like Steak


Other good options:
Pot Pies-wonderful because the meat, veggies, and grain are all in one yummy dish
Mashed potatoes-any variety with or without butter
Yogurt with fruit and toasted oats
Baby foods mixed with mashed meat or rice cereal
Canned tuna


Snacks
Cheerios
Chex cereal
Teddy Grams
Graham crackers
Ritz or townhouse crackers (Can be purchased in wheat)
Watered down sugar-free juice in a sippy cup or training bottle (I usually use orange juice-it adds a little vitamin C to the diet and won't stain like grape juice) Apple juice is the least nutritional juice and I don't waste money on it. 



A note on Food Allergies:
It is a good idea to check with a doctor about allergies before feeding a baby dairy, tree nuts, peanut butter, strawberries, or fish. I would not feed a baby this age shellfish since that is the #1 food people are allergic too. However, other risky foods like peanut butter or strawberries I have introduced in tiny amounts a couple times to see if there is a reaction. If a baby is allergic to a food, nine months or twelve months isn't going to change that. I like to make sure my husband is home when I introduce risky foods-just in case we need to see a doctor. At this age, it is also a good idea to keep infant Benadryl on hand. The first signs of an allergy to food would be hives, swelling in the face or throat, vomiting, or trouble breathing. Usually those symptoms occur within the first minutes or up to two hours after eating a certain food. Sometimes there is an allergic reaction the first time the food is introduced, and sometimes it suddenly begins after years of eating a particular food.