Your baby changes and grows so much in this first year. Track your baby’s development month by month, encourage your baby’s learning with our suggested activities . Find practical information on health and safety. We can help you with tips on crying, sleeping or even what to look for when choosing a baby sitter. Have questions about basic care? We have the answers !
First finger foods
By around nine months of age, your baby can grasp food and get it to his mouth. He will be more successful feeding himself if you serve the right foods in the right sizes.
Serve finger foods as part of the main meal. For example, you may need to spoon feed cereal and peaches, but your baby can manage to feed himself small pieces of cracker.
Let your baby discover the tastes and textures of finger foods. Watch your baby carefully as you give him very small pieces of the following finger foods:
Cooked vegetables also make great finger foods. Offer small amounts of cooked squash, sweet potato, white potato, beans and carrots. Avoid raw vegetables now. Your baby doesn’t have enough teeth to chew hard food.
Learning to eat solid foods is a big task for an infant. Your baby has learned hunger can be satisfied with breast milk or infant formula. Now he has to learn that hunger can also be satisfied with solid foods. By nine months, your baby will probably enjoy three main meals a day with morning and afternoon snacks. His nutrition now comes more from solid food and less from breast milk or formula.
Continue to offer new foods. But include a variety of foods at every meal. Most of the foods you prepare for your family are fine for your baby. Chop food into small pieces. If your baby develops a rash, diarrhea or signs of upset stomach after eating a new food, stop serving it. Avoid salt, hot spices and added sugar. Avoid cow’s milk, honey until 12months of age
Don’t worry about your baby not getting enough to eat. You don’t need to coax and urge, “One more bite for daddy.” If you offer a variety of healthful foods, your baby will eat what he needs. Just don’t fill him up with cookies, sweet drinks or juices.
If your baby is hungry for a snack, try these foods:
Satisfy thirst with water.
Your baby may be eating many kinds of solid foods. But breast milk is still his main source of nutrition until your baby is older. You need to eat healthy foods to maintain your energy and milk supply. Your body may be making less milk now because your baby is nursing less. But if your baby wants to nurse more, your body will make more milk.
Help your baby learn about drinking from a cup. Many parents like using a cup with a lid and spout. This helps babies move from sucking to sipping. You might want to put breast milk in the cup. Offer it at meals. As your baby learns to drink, put more breast milk in the cup. Or put water in the cup.
Your baby is learning to feed himself. That means mealtimes may be messy and stressful. Avoid quarrels. Give your baby finger foods. Talk with him so he will learn that mealtime is a social time. Finish with a relaxed breastfeeding.
Sometimes your baby may want to play instead of nurse. When that happens, let him sit on your lap. Read a story or sing a song instead. He may not be hungry. Or he may be bored with the feeding. Remember, nursing satisfies both physical and emotional needs. Let your baby nurse whenever he needs a snack. Let him nurse when he needs to feel your loving arms.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy Start, Grow Smart, Your Nine-Month-Old, Washington, D.C., 2002.
Let your baby discover the tastes and textures of finger foods. Watch your baby carefully as you give him very small pieces of the following finger foods:
- Toasted bread crusts
- Crackers
- Zwieback toast
- Cheese cubes
- Cooked pasta
- Slices of ripe peach or pear
- Rice
Cooked vegetables also make great finger foods. Offer small amounts of cooked squash, sweet potato, white potato, beans and carrots. Avoid raw vegetables now. Your baby doesn’t have enough teeth to chew hard food.
Equipment for happy meals
- Highchair. If you have one, make sure it’s sturdy. It should have a big tray as well as a harness or safety belt (see highchair safety). Spread newspaper, towels or a plastic mat underneath at mealtime to make cleaning up easier.
- Bibs. Look for plastic bibs with a pocket designed to catch spills. We love the Baby Bjorn Soft Bib
- Dishes. Use a heavy plastic bowl that won’t slide around on the high chair tray table, or try a bowl with a suction cup at the bottom to keep the bowl in place - try Munchkin Stay Put Suction Bowl. You can serve most foods at room temperature or a little warmer.
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Cups. Serve liquids in a baby cup with two handles and a lid with a spout. This kind of cup makes learning to drink easier. Thinkbaby makes a great first cup for baby.
Solid Foods
Learning to eat solid foods is a big task for an infant. Your baby has learned hunger can be satisfied with breast milk or infant formula. Now he has to learn that hunger can also be satisfied with solid foods. By nine months, your baby will probably enjoy three main meals a day with morning and afternoon snacks. His nutrition now comes more from solid food and less from breast milk or formula.
Continue to offer new foods. But include a variety of foods at every meal. Most of the foods you prepare for your family are fine for your baby. Chop food into small pieces. If your baby develops a rash, diarrhea or signs of upset stomach after eating a new food, stop serving it. Avoid salt, hot spices and added sugar. Avoid cow’s milk, honey until 12months of age
Don’t worry about your baby not getting enough to eat. You don’t need to coax and urge, “One more bite for daddy.” If you offer a variety of healthful foods, your baby will eat what he needs. Just don’t fill him up with cookies, sweet drinks or juices.
If your baby is hungry for a snack, try these foods:
- Pieces of banana
- Thin slices of whole wheat bread and butter
- Plain yogurt mixed with mashed fruit
- Small, dry cereal pieces
- Cubes of soft cheese
Satisfy thirst with water.
Breastfeeding Tips
Your baby may be eating many kinds of solid foods. But breast milk is still his main source of nutrition until your baby is older. You need to eat healthy foods to maintain your energy and milk supply. Your body may be making less milk now because your baby is nursing less. But if your baby wants to nurse more, your body will make more milk.
Help your baby learn about drinking from a cup. Many parents like using a cup with a lid and spout. This helps babies move from sucking to sipping. You might want to put breast milk in the cup. Offer it at meals. As your baby learns to drink, put more breast milk in the cup. Or put water in the cup.
Your baby is learning to feed himself. That means mealtimes may be messy and stressful. Avoid quarrels. Give your baby finger foods. Talk with him so he will learn that mealtime is a social time. Finish with a relaxed breastfeeding.
Sometimes your baby may want to play instead of nurse. When that happens, let him sit on your lap. Read a story or sing a song instead. He may not be hungry. Or he may be bored with the feeding. Remember, nursing satisfies both physical and emotional needs. Let your baby nurse whenever he needs a snack. Let him nurse when he needs to feel your loving arms.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy Start, Grow Smart, Your Nine-Month-Old, Washington, D.C., 2002.
Related Tips
- First foods
- When and how do to approach first foods for your baby?
- more
Great cookbooks for babies and toddlers
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