Switching from Baby Food...

I started giving my daughter Gerber's Puffs at about 8 months. It helps them learn to pick up foods and put them in their mouth. She caught on to that quickly. She still loves the wagon wheels too.

I think her first table food was mashed potatoes. She likes the Country Crock side dishes garlic mashed potatoes! lol She also loves macaroni and cheese. She was eating these foods with only her 2 bottom teeth. She still only has half a top tooth.. haha

I think you can start giving just about any simple food, as long as it's mushy or smashed so that he doesn't have to chew much, or risk choking. Bananas, soft chopped carrots. Depending on how many teeth your son has, you may be able to give more.

When he gets used to chewing foods, Gerber's graduates Little Entrees or microwavable bowls are nice too.

My daughter is 10 months old now, but when she was about 8 months old we started giving her mashed potatoes. We'd also mash up beans, mac n' cheese, and even spaghetti so it'd be easier for her to chew.

You could also try the Gerber Graduates pick ups. They have carrots, green beans, apples, peaches, and pears. My daughter LOVES them. It helps with self feeding and learning to chew.

By 9 months your daughter should be able to eat most any soft food from the table. Fruits and veggies or pureed/super diced meats it's all good for them if you take it one at a time. My son's first "real" food was vegetarian refried beans he loved the stuff after suffering through my attempts at jarred baby food. I had no choice but to go with table food because he refused the jarred stuff. Now he is the rare not picky toddler, I believe the early introduction of table food helped build a strong foundation for his positive eating habits. You will find that you will eat healthier and she will eat more (varieties and quantities) if you sit down together and eat the same foods. There is no proper order for food introduction and answers are almost always cultural. As long as you keep the basic allergy foods from her until after one year your free to feed her just about anything! It is very liberating to be free of the bottle, so take your daughter out on a girl's date and have some baba ganoush or just some good old fashioned mashed potatoes! She will love and appreciate the addition of spices and more flavors in her food. :)

mashed sweet potato?

Our son never liked baby food=would not eat it. I started him on the bottom leftovers of a turkey- you know the bits that are on the bottom of the plate or container you keep it in, the stuffing, the tiny bits of meat etc. Ate it up... then when we made turkey soup he had the alphabet pasta.

We have never used baby food- we made homemade food for my daughter starting at 4 months. She is 10 months now, and eats just about anything. By this age, they can eat anything that can be mushed, including strained meats. In fact, is it good to get some protein into the diet now. Do not give your child peanuts or peanut butter, and only egg white until she is used to it. For treats, she eats Wagon Wheels, but I would avoid the Gerber puffs- the main ingredient in all of them is sugar. While the fruit puffs are easy, you might as well just give her real fruit. Also, my daughter eats Cheerios and tofu, both of which are great finger foods. Good luck!