As you have already started the solid foods for your 6 months baby. Now it’s time to explore new foods for your child. Baby Food chart helps you to get an idea of foods which you can introduce to your babyaccording to his month.
In the first year, breastmilk is the best food for your baby to meet all nutrient requirements.
Between 7 to 9 months, your baby will sprout his first tooth. A baby usually starts crawling by this time. Your baby is ready to enjoy more food options from simple purees to exciting foods.
If you have not read the 6 months baby food chart yet then read it.
As physical activities like rolling, crawling of your child increase, his appetite will also improve.
It is always advisable to discuss with your baby’s pediatrician regarding food plan before introducing any new food item to your baby.
Click Here to Know the Items You Need to Start Solid Foods
Growth milestones of 7 to 9 months baby
- Your baby can sit with minimal support or without support.
- It’s the crawling time for your child. Once the baby starts crawling, it’s time for your baby to explore. This is the time when you need to be more alert and active. Don’t leave your baby unattended even for a second.
- By the time your baby has completed his 8 months, he will start rolling in both directions.
- Your baby’s hand-eye coordination will improve. He can grasp and hold an object firmly.
- Your baby’s first teeth will emerge.
- Your baby will start communicating with you through facial expressions, sounds, and gestures. You will hear his first laugh or giggles soon.
- Your baby can show that he is full by turning his head away from food or by not opening his mouth.
Keep these in mind while introducing the Solid Foods
- You can offer the three times a day meal to your baby.
- Food should be well cooked, soft and easy to digest.
- Remember to follow the 3 days-wait-rule
- Solid intake will increase gradually. Once baby starts eating proper solid foods, his milk intake will reduce. Don’t expect your baby to intake the milk as before.
- Sometimes, yourbaby doesn’t like the new food. He may take few days to adapt the food changes.
- Your baby’s digestive system is still developing so sometimes, introducing the solid foods can disturb his bowel movements.
- Feed your baby when he is sitting in a proper position.
- Always refrain your baby from distractions like watching Tv, playing some rhymes or cartoon on mobilewhile feeding.
- The consistency of food should be little thick.
- Offer the finger foods to let your baby start eating by himself.
- Every child is different and every parent is unique so don’t compare your child’s food intake with other babies.
- Don’t feed forcefully. Your baby might refuse to eat food as he is busy in exploring his new world like crawling, opening the kitchen racks.
- Sometimes, ababy has disturbed bowel movement when you introduce the solid foods. Few babies have the loose motions while others have constipation problem. It’s normal, no need to be panic.
- Increase the liquid intake and high-fiber diet if your baby has a constipation problem.
- Give the water to your baby in a sipper that will help him to drink it by himself. Keep the track of water intake (Suggested quantity is 3 ounces a day).
- Consult the pediatrician if there are any symptoms of food allergies.
- As you introduce new foods to your baby, you can continue to breastfeed your baby.
- Always use stainless steel or glass cups and bowls for baby food. Avoid plastic material even it is of superior quality.
Baby Food Diet Chart (from 7 to 9 months)
I am sharing food options and ideas based on my experience of being a mom.
#1. Breastfeed or Formula Feed
- Continue to breastfeed or formula-feed to your baby as much as required.
#2. Grains, Millets, Cereals
- Rice
- Oats
- Amaranth (rajgira)
- Finger millet (ragi)
- Barley (jau)
- Semolina (suji)
- Wheat ( atta)
- Buckwheat (kuttu)
- Broken wheat (dalia)
- Yellow split gram (moong dal)
You can introduce Toor dal and Masoor dal, chickpeas when your baby has completed his 9 months.
#3. Fruits
- Apples
- Banana
- Pears
- Mango
- Plums
- Seedless Dates
- Papaya
- Avocado
- Grapes
- Kiwi
- Peaches
- Guava
- Litchi
- Chikoo
Howto feed
- You can mix the two or more fruits and make a smoothie.
- You can peel and cut afruit into small pieces and feed to your baby.
- You can boil the fruit like apple, pear and mash it before feeding.
- Make a puree of a fruit.
Don’t give the whole grapes to your baby. It’s a choking hazard fruit. Cut grapes into small pieces and give it to your baby.By the 12 months, You can introduce all fruits including citrus fruits as well.
#4. Vegetables
- Carrots
- Beans
- Broccoli
- Pumpkin
- Peas
- Sweet potatoes
- Bottle gourd
- Cauliflower
- Potato
- Tomato
- Spinach
Howto feed
- You can cook or steam the vegetables before offering to your baby.
#5. Dairy
- Egg yolk
- Homemade Ghee
- Unsweetened yogurt from low-fat milk ( preferably home set)
- Small piece of tofu
- Small piece of Paneer (farmer cheese/cottage cheese)
- By the 9 months, you can introduce butter, pasteurized cheese
#6. Non-Vegetarian Foods
You can introduce fish (not shellfish) and chicken when your child completes his 8 months. But it is advisable to start with seafood (fish) first.
Few tips before introducing the non-vegetarian food to your baby
- Completely avoid the processed meats like sausages, salami, ham.
- Before cooking, wash thoroughly to remove all traces of impurities.
- Feed only home cooked non-vegetarian food to your baby.
- Non-vegetarian food should be cooked properly, try to cook it on thegas stove rather than amicrowave.
- Talk to pediatric before introducing non-vegetarian food to your baby.
#7. Spices
You can start introducing the spices to your baby food after completion of 8 months.Following are the spices which you can introduce in your baby’s food.
- Fennel seeds (saunf)
- Asafoetida (hing)
- Carom seeds (ajwain)
- Cumin seeds (jeera)
- Cinnamon ( dal chinni)
- Cardamom ( elaichi)
- Turmeric (haldi)
- Nutmeg (jaiphal)
- Black Cardamom ( kali elaichi)
How to Feed
- Don’t add too many spices in the beginning.
- Start introducing the spices in his diet one by one.
Food Chart for 7 Months Baby
By 7 months, your baby will start eating the 3 times meal in a day along with breastfeeding/formula milk. You can introduce more food variations to his diet as compared to the6th month ( first month of solid foods).
Food Chart for 8 Months Baby
It’s time to introduce the well cooked soft food instead of pureed or mashed food. By 8 months, Your baby has front teeth to grind the small chunks of food. Even if your baby doesn’t have the teeth till now, his gums are strong enough to chew the small-sized soft food. You can start offering one snack time during anevening. Now the baby food chart will have the
- 3 main meals in a day
- 1 snack time in the evening
Sample Food Chart for 9 Months Baby
In the 9th-month food schedule, your baby will have
- 3 main meals in a day
- 2 snack times (morning & evening snack)
It’s also the time to introduce the finger foods to your baby. You can start offering the small pieces of fruits, Steamed veggies as finger foods. Cut fruits and Veggies into long pieces and let the baby pick, mash, eat by himself. It will also improve your baby’s motor skills.
Sample Baby Food chart for introducing the Non-Vegetarian food to your baby’s diet.
What not to feed to your baby before 1 year of age
Following are the list of foods which you should not feed before one year of age as recommended by pediatrics & child care experts.
1. Cow Milk
You should always prefer the breastmilk or formula milk to your baby til one year of age. Cow’s milk contains proteins which are difficult to digest to your baby. Minerals available in cow’s milk can damage your baby’s still-developing kidneys.
2. Honey
Honey should be avoided till one year of age as it can cause infant botulism. You can use pureed fruit as a sweetener in a food.
3. Citrus Fruit and Berries
Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit are highly acidic foods which can cause diaper rash or upsetbowel movements to the infants. All kinds of berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries contain a protein which is hard to digest for infants.
4. Sugar & Salt
An infant doesn’t need the salt & sugar content in his diet explicitly. A baby just requires less than 1 gram in a day which he gets from breastmilk and formula milk. Too much sodium is difficult to digest for still-developing kidneys
5. No egg whites
Egg whites are high in allergies. Babies are sensitive to egg whites. Boil the eggs and peel away the whites before serving. Don’t offer egg white until one year of age.
6. High Mercury Fish
Swordfish, shark, tuna or mackerel are high in mercury. Even pregnant and nursing moms to avoid high mercury fish. You can start offering the low mercury fish to your baby like salmon, oysters, catfish in a pureed or mashed form.
7. Hard foods
Avoid foods like popcorn, nuts, candies. These kind of foods are choking hazards and difficult to eat for babies.
8. Peanuts
Peanuts are one of the highly allergenic food. You should avoid peanuts and peanut butter till 1 year of age.
9. Limited Juices
You can start introducing the fruits but in limited quantity. It is recommended to give juice less than 4 ounces per dayotherwise, it can cause diarrhea in babies.
10. Sticky foods
You must avoid the sticky foods like marshmallows, cheese which can cause the choking hazard to your baby
11. Whole Grapes
Avoid the whole grapes as it is one the common choking hazard fruit. Cut it into small pieces before feeding to your baby.
Disclaimer
Suggested baby food charts are the generalized charts for Indian babies. You can customizeit based on your baby’s likes/dislikes, appetite, allergies or intolerance.Purpose of this baby food chart is to suggest the balanced nutritious diet.
You can leave a comment if you have a question or query related this chart.
