Food for 8 to 12 month old babies
By about 8 months old, your baby will be well established on solid foods. They will be enjoying 3 meals a day and even a small dessert as part of their baby feeding routine.
They will be eating a wider variety of baby food recipes including more textured food.
By about 9 months old, they may be eating morning and afternoon tea.
Your baby will enjoy having their own spoon to hold at mealtimes and experiencing finger foods.
Continue to increase the amount, variety and texture of foods guided by your baby’s cues. e.g. fork mashed foods and steamed vegetable pieces, soft fruit pieces, strips of soft meat.
As they grow, they are also likely to become more independent and will prefer to feed themselves, using their hands to explore tastes and textures. The amount of food your baby eats will depend on their appetite.
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Your baby may still wake at sunrise and have an early morning milk feed.
Breakfast solids and a milk feed.
Lunch solids and milk feed.
Dinner solids and a milk feed.
Your baby may need a milk feed overnight.
By 9 months old, you could introduce a morning or afternoon snack. They will be able to use their thumb and fingers to enjoy finger foods. You could give them fruit or veggies, or perhaps a rusk stick. Avoid anything that is highly processed.
By this age, your baby will give you very obvious messages about when they want more food or they're finished eating. They'll close their mouth, turn away and verbalise that they don't want any more food. They might even yell that they want to get out of the high chair.
Your baby may still wake at sunrise. Some babies still have an early morning milk feed, while others have discarded this feed (this is purely a personal choice).
Breakfast solids and a milk feed.
Morning tea
Lunch solids and milk feed.
Afternoon tea (perhaps fruit) and a drink of water.
Dinner solids and a milk feed.
Your baby may need a milk feed overnight.
Your baby may still wake at sunrise. Some babies still have an early morning milk feed, while others have discarded this feed (this is purely a personal choice).
Breakfast solids and a milk feed.
Morning tea
Lunch solids and milk feed.
Afternoon tea (perhaps fruit) and a drink of water.
Dinner solids and a milk feed.
Your baby may need a milk feed overnight.
When preparing foods, always makes sure you protect your baby and family from infections. Always wash your hands before you begin food preparation and use different coloured boards for chopping meats, fruits and vegetables.
If you’re using a microwave oven to heat your baby’s food, always stir food thoroughly before serving, and check the temperature.
Learning to eat can be a messy process! Try to be patient, though this can be difficult at times.
One way to manage this process is to give your baby a spoon to hold during feeding even though they will not be competent using the spoon until they are about 18 months.
If you are concerned your baby has had an allergic reaction to a particular food, call 000 immediately. Some allergies can be life threatening and can include breathing problems, wheezing, swelling of lips or throat, a severe red rash, diarrhoea or vomiting.
The most common food allergies for babies tend to be cow’s milk, eggs, soybeans, peanuts including cashews, almonds and brazil nuts, wheat, fish or shellfish.
Some babies have a food intolerance, which is different to a food allergy as it is generally a less severe reaction and is not caused by the immune system. Common food intolerances include dairy products, lactose, strawberries, tomatoes and citrus fruits.
They should be eating a wide variety of mashed and minced foods. This can include iron rich foods like meat, chicken, fish and eggs, fruit and vegetables, dairy foods like yoghurt and cheese, grains like pasta and bread. Increase texture of their food including mashed and pieces of food to encourage chewing and self-feeding. Find out more recipe ideas.
You should be guided by your baby. They will tell you when they're finished by shutting their mouth, turning away or demanding to leave the table.
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