Inside: Let’s take a look at what I fed my 9 month old this week! This post shares easy meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a sample feeding schedule for a 9 month old baby.
Starting solids can be really stressful, right?
With so much info out there, it’s difficult to know whether to do purees or baby-led weaning, what first foods to start with, etc.
But in my experience with my 3 girls, I’ve found that once you hit 8-9 months, things become a lot less stressful, and a lot more fun!
At this stage, you may find that your baby (and you) are a lot more comfortable with feeding and your baby most likely has gotten better at manipulating foods.
Around 9-10 months, most babies will also start working on their pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger), think: picking up a puff or a bite-size food.
How many times a day should a 9 month old baby eat?
By 9 months, most babies will join in on family mealtime at breakfast, lunch and dinner! At this stage, your baby doesn’t need snacks as the bulk of their nutrition should come from breastmilk or formula.
If your baby is in daycare, they will most likely eat lunch there.
How much should a 9 month old eat?
It’s helpful to remember that at this stage, a lot of the food is “gummed” or sucked and then spit out. What you serve vs what they actually ingest will be very different, and that’s okay.
The goal is more so to allow them to get comfortable moving food around their mouth, spitting it out, gagging if necessary, and picking up more pieces and trying again!
Now, let’s take a look at what is considered a meal for a 9 month old.
The whole point of starting out with baby-led weaning (aside from baby learning to eat by feeding themselves) is so you’re not making them a separate meal.
However, whether you started with BLW or purees, these meal ideas work either way! By 9 months old babies should have moved on from purees in order to work on the fine motor skills associated with self-feeding.
Of course there are always circ*mstances where your baby may eat something different (for example: you’re cooking something too spicy or salty, or you have a hodge-podge of leftovers), but overall, the idea is to make your life easier by serving everyone the same thing.
Basic Meal for 9 Month Old Baby:
- Protein and/or Healthy Fat
- Carb
- Fruit or Veggie
Here’s how it looks:
- Eggs
- Toast
- Fruit
The pink plate was for my preschooler and the white plate for the baby.
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What I Fed My 9 Month Old This Week (Sample Weekly Menu)
Below you’ll find finger foods for 9 month olds, simple ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a sample feeding schedule.
Breakfasts
Pictured above: (left) scrambled eggs, shredded cheddar-jack cheese, English muffin sticks, avocado slices, (right) avocado toast, quartered hardboiled egg
Pictured above: (left) scrambled eggs, pita triangles, quartered strawberries, (right) breakfast quesadilla with scrambled eggs, avocado and shredded cheddar cheese, frozen strawberry in silicone feeder
Pictured above: (left) banana oat muffin, scrambled eggs with chopped tomatoes, whole milk yogurt with mashed blueberries, (right) waffle with lightly-spread almond butter and chopped hard-boiled egg
Lunches
Pictured above: (left) shredded cheddar-jack cheese, avocado wedges, cucumber wedges, chopped veggie burger (from Dr. Praeger), (right) cucumber wedges, smushed cooked black beans, chicken & sweet potato bites
Pictured above: orange bell pepper and cucumber wedges, avocado, flaked tuna (I like Wild Planet brand)
Pictured above: (left) diced cucumbers and flaked tuna, (right) chicken and sweet potato bites
Dinners
Pictured above: (left) shredded chicken, roasted broccoli, steamed carrots, cous cous, (right) chopped cucumber, bell pepper strip, ground turkey & black bean taco meat
Pictured above: (left) Smashed cooked chick peas, roasted broccoli, sauteed flounder (white fish), (right) pasta with pesto and sauteed flounder (I buy mine individually frozen at Costco and just quickly cook in butter or olive oil)
Pictured above: Baked salmon, sauteed spinach, roasted potato wedges (I don’t usually cook like this for the whole fam, but my hubby and I had a “date night” dinner and baby ate with us!)
Sample 9 Month Old Feeding Schedule
Please note: this is just a sample routine for a 9 month old. Adjust based on wake-times and naptimes.
7:00 AM – Wake Up + Breastmilk or Formula
8:00 AM –Breakfast
10:00 AM – Morning Nap
11:30 AM – Wake Up + Breastmilk or Formula
12:30 PM –Lunch
1:30 PM – Afternoon Nap
3:30 PM – Wake Up + Breastmilk or Formula
5:00 PM –Dinner
7:00 PM: Bedtime + Breastmilk or Formula
Shop my favorite mealtime products in my Amazon Storefront
- Time-Saving Toddler Meals
$10.00
- Feeding Toddlers Guide
$10.00
- Everyday Baby-Led Weaning
$10.00
Read Next…
- 8 Month Old Meal Ideas and Feeding Schedule
- Best Foods for Baby-Led Weaning
- Everyday Baby-Led Weaning Ebook
- Breakfast Ideas for Baby
- Mini Waffle Omelets for Babies
Follow Marla on Instagram for more baby meal ideas
