9 Month Does Not Want Baby Food Anymore

Go ahead and feed small, soft pieces of table food. My daughter is almost 11 months and since about 9 months she hasn't wanted to eat anything that she can't put in her mouth herself. So bye bye baby food/cereal since that time. I usually try to make the pieces big enough that she can pick them up easily but small enough so that she doesn't choke on it.

Some ideas are:
noodles (smallish pieces)
small, tender pieces of meat
small pieces of strawberries and any other soft fruit
cheese
cereal
soft vegetables (cooked carrots, etc)

She pretty much eats some parts of whatever we are having for dinner at this point.

Good luck.

Does he have any teeth ? You can use a blender, or buy a little food grinder and grind up some meat with water to give him the same stuff you are having -- or if he has teeth, just cut it REALLY Small. You can also hand out cheerios, because it's fun -- they get to practice that neat little pincer grip, they get to eat themselves, and they basically gum the cereal to death anyway -- Real food tastes SO much better than baby food, that he'll have fun with it. Just try stuff, only make it small enough that he won't choke.

He's getting old enough to experiment some, and as long as he's having fun, and you're having fun, I would go for it.

Hi L., please understand you are not the only mother who goes through this. My son at 7 months old did not want the baby food anymore. So I asked his doctor and he said that as long as he was drinking the milk, he's ok but that I was able to give him foods like rice, noodles, mash potatoes, stuff in that nature. My son will be 3 next month and I tell you, he eats whatever is in front of his face, :) ... Good Luck...

L., You are not alone! My daughter wanted nothing to do with baby food. I tried it for a while, but she never came around. When she was about 7 months old she just wanted everything we were eating. She definitely showed an interest, so I would give her mashed up bananas, peaches, anything that was real food, but mashed up. The first "solid" thing I tried was gerber puffs, and she handled them well so I moved on to cheerios and such. I also bought one of theose mesh food holders with a handle and she really enjoyed that, but it was short lived because I just started to give her little pieces of things. She would eat cheese melted on bread, noodles, really everything we ate, but cut up into small pieces. I was concerned in the beginning and the nurse at her pediatrician told me that I was lucky to have a baby that wanted table food because most parents have to deal with getting their baby to wean from baby food to table food. There si no nutirtional benefit to baby food. You can make sure your son gets all he needs from real food. My daughter eats absolutely everythng now, I haven't found anything she dislikes. She's eating us out of house and home practically!

My daughter is almost 10 months old, and we're going through the exact same thing. I've been mixing it up between baby food and what we're eating. She'll eat some baby food at a sitting, but then want what we have. I make sure it's cut up really small for her. She loves it! She hates the Stage 3 food too, but I can't blame her. Oh, and she has no teeth either!

the jar foods do not taste so great. take what you are eating and put it in the blender for him. i made my son's food for him. noodles are good. you could also cook him carrots,sweet potatoes. they are sweet are most nutrious. give him yogurts also that is good for him. i would start him off with the yo baby yogurts. they are very reasonable at walmart. he is ready and it seems like you are doing well. just use your common sense.

Our daughter did that around 8-9 mos. and after taking her to the doctor to ensure that was all it was (I was worried it was an ear infection or something else), we just fed her what she wanted. She ate sausages, pizza, beans, chicken...whatever she could handle in really small pieces, and she loved it. It was weird though and our family still talks about her eating her sausage (and sometimes she'd put away a whole sausage in one sitting) with just 2-4 teeth! I would say, whatever you're having, just chop it up small, deskin anything like sausage, hot dog, grapes, and let him have it to try. Good luck.

thats good if he wants to eat normal food or regural food. othherwise
kids take lots of time in switching from babay food to regular. if he prefer regular food give him regular ,but give him small bites.. its totally normal..

Hi L. .
It has been 13 years since I did the Baby food thing but I think not much has changed. If your month old likes certain adult foodthen just give that.As long as there is no serious weight loss.We do everything by the book but each baby is different.I remember my son loved cous cous with alittle butter. Good luck.
L.

When my youngest was this age, I was so tired of the cost of baby food, I would just put whatever we were having for dinner in a mini chopper and blend until chunky. I would add a little water if it was too thick or for foods like beef, chicken, and pork. I would put some of the meat, veggies, starch in the chopper and he ate it happily. I would put enough aside to have a serving for lunch the next day, too. For snacks, I cut up bananas, very ripe pears, peaches for him to eat with his fingers or served unsweetened apple sauce. Yo Baby yogurts were great, too. Hope this helps.

L.,

There is no need to force him to stay on baby food if he is telling you it is not for him. We skipped babyfood all together and started offering table food at 6.5 months with my Dd. There is a whole school of thought called "baby led weaning" which, in a nutshell, believes that once a child has the skill set to self feed a food, they also have the skill set to take an appropriate bite and to chew and swallow the food safely.

We started with banana, avocado, and sweet potato and then moved through fruits and veg. Canned Veg, especially if you can find low sodium ones, are a great texture. Most veg and a lot of fruits can also be steamed to soften them. Dd really liked to have whole plums at that age. Bananas can be cut in half or thirds and then rolled in crushed cherrios or puffs to make them easier to handle.

Dd got her bottom 2 teeth in at about 7.5 months. Not long after that she managed to grab chicken off my plate and cram it in her mouth. After that, I started with small pieces of meat. A cup of soup is a great meal for a child that age. Just drain the broth and offer the chunks from the soup! I still do that for Dd sometimes and she's 18 months now.

Good Luck Mama!
S.

Have you tasted some of those baby foods??? Do you blame him for not wanting to eat them? give him the food you are eating. my son was 8 months old and was done eating baby food. as long as your family eats healthy there is no problem with eaying whay you eat. and it will save you tons of $$$$. good luck.

That is a wonderful problem!! No more spending money on jars when he can just mooch off of your plate. My son (currently 11 mos) was the same way. (So was my first). Take advantage of his wanting to try new things now while he's willing and you'll end up with a less picky eater in the future. Pretty much if the food is of a swallowable size, he can eat it. Most all veggies are great choices for foods...you can leave them to cook longer so they're more mushy if you like. I just cut everything to "pea" size and let him go at it. I would even take meat and put it in a small food processor (a great $20 investment if you don't have one). I just pulse it until it is about the consistency of tuna fish or chicken salad. You may need to add a little water. Other good things to give are toast (regular bread doesn't dissolve well and they end up choking), rice cakes, potatoes, canned fruit like peaches or pears, fresh bananas sliced then quartered. If you have any more questions I'd be glad to answer as both of my boys were the same way.

Dear L.,
If your baby has teeth, let him use them. I found my son to be a lot more adventureseome when it came to food. I will never forget when I had him in a snugglie and he wanted to eat a grape, even though he had no teeth yet. I peeled the skin of the grape and I let him "gum" the side of the grape....he really liked it.
When it comes to food, the pediatrician will make recommendations for food; but, in my days, everyone said to start the little ones on mashed (yellow ripe) bananas, because they tasted mostly like breast milk. Let the fun begin! Good luck!

Hi L., My girls are 3 and it seems 9 months was forever ago! BUT... I do remember them wanting to eat what we did. I think they actually ate more variety trying new foods then than they do now. We gave them very small tastes and if they could handle it we keep on giving it to them. They loved "goulash" Our version of elbow macaroni, ground burger and tomato sauce!!! My lil girls eventually broke into their own foods, peanut butter and jelly/ mac and cheese...no more goulash-EVER!!!! Remember baby food is very bland and may just want mo re flavor!~!!! Enjoy your journey!!

My boys were the same way, and I found that as soons as I cut food up into tiny pieces and let them feed themselves, they were eating in no time! Aside from a couple of allergy things you want to avoid still (honey, peanut butter) they should be able to eat most things that you do. You just want to make sure things are really cooked and soft.
The good news is, they can pretty much eat whatever you're having for dinner!

L., Hooray for him! My son is now 9 y/o and I still laugh that at 9 mths old he did NOT have teeeth,but loved to eat steak! We just cut everything up in tiny pieces so he didn't choke. The faces children make with new tastes and textures is priceless.You might want to check with our pediatrician, some like to add a multivitamin when children start table food just to ensure that they are getting enough vitamins and minerals. Today, there are so many fortified "toddler" foods that you can ue to supplement his table ood. Things such as Gerbers vegetable crackers and otherfinge foods. Just make sure h is receiving a variety of foods. Enjoy the fun of his new milestone!

Jar baby food is table food that is mushed up, so unless you're concerned about a choking hazzard, or if there's allergies that you know about, there isn't any reason for the child not to be eating what you eat. Be sure to limit salt, sugar, etc, when cooking. You can add extra seasoning to your own plate if needed.

This is the perfect age to give finger foods. Anything that they can pick up, mess or not, can be offered. Spoon feed some if you need to like mashed potatoes or soup or something. Try canned veggies, like mixed, because they are soft and easy to pick up. Add a bit of butter for flavor if you'd like. Fruit cocktail is going to be softer as well. Just drain the juice and put some on a tray to pick up. Pieces of breads, mini ravioli can work. Cut them in half if need be, and rinse them first to save a mess. If you can find micro ravioli those are great cuz you won't have to cut them up and are finger size. Try the pastas in the cooler section that is cheese filled and the pasta made of spinach. Another way to get a veggie is with veggie made pastas. I would just offer everything that he can pick up and let him go nuts!

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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L.,
This is not a problem but a celebration! You're baby is growing up and so are his tastebuds! Certainly, you can give him what you all are eating as long as its not spicy. You find out that once you start realizing that the baby will be eating what you eat, it helps you make healthier meals for everyone. I think your little one will enjoy seeing that he's eating what everyone else is having. A 9 month old can eat almost everything. Does he have teeth? If he has just a few teeth, try just cutting up with meat in very small pieces. With vegetables, just overcook them a bit so they're very soft. For breakfast you can start your baby on oatmeal, mashed banana with plain yogurt, soft scrambled eggs. You'll be experimenting a lot with your baby to see what he likes and doesn't. Remember, that what he doesn't like today, he may like tomorrow so offer him a variety of things each week. Have fun!

"Has anyone had this problem with there kids."
It's a problem? Heck I think it shows great initiative towards wanting to be more like mommy & daddy, more grown up and more mature... or maybe I'm wrong. :\
Just make sure he gets all the basic food groups, otherwise don't worry about it too much, experiment and have fun. :)

Hi L.-

This happened to both my girls (now 5 1/2 and 2). If he's refusing baby food, even stage 3 (which are kind of gross imho!) then it's ok- move him on to regular food. Good starts are soft things- my kids loved canned peaches and pears (cut up small), noodles (I used to give them just the noodles out of the noodle-os Campbell's soups- rinsed off because of the salt), steamed veggies (carrots, squash). I would sit there watching them like a hawk to make sure they didn't choke, but they were so happy to eat real food they did fine! Also, those soft star-shaped Gerber snacks and of course, cheerios, are great. Good luck! It was such a relieve to stop having to buy baby food and figure out what to do with all those jars!!

Hi L.,
My daughter was like that. I was afraid she just didn't want solid food. My pediatritian recommended a food processor. It worked great. I bought the kidco one from babies r us and gave her about everything we ate! She loved it. She is a very picky eater still, and likes fresh food. I can't say I blame her. Did you ever try that baby food? Good luck!
M.