What Baby’s Eating: 8 months old
Baby with beets.
See Also: Â 5 to 6 months, 6 to 7 months, 7 to 8 months, and 8 months food ideas.
There have been a lot of changes in the way baby is eating this month including starting to drink from a sippy cup (this one has been a great starter cup) and the ability to pick up pieces of food with his fingers. It’s always nice when babies can start participating in feeding themselves. Â I find that this milestone makes meal time a little more enjoyable as it gives parents at least a few minutes in between bites to shovel some food into our own mouths! Some of our favorite starter finger foods include clumps of sticky rice, small pieces of watermelon or other soft fruits, and tiny fragments of bread. I also bought these organic vegetable puffs for both of my children and my son enjoys these rice milk snacks, which I bought because they had far less sugar than the yogurt drops my daughter loved as a baby. I know that the store bought baby snacks are ridiculously expensive, but they are so great for keeping baby occupied in restaurants and it’s easy to throw a container of them in the diaper bag.
At our pediatrician’s suggestion, I started introducing some protein into his homemade baby food this month. I started with white beans and chicken since both of those foods have a relatively mild flavor and make a fairly smooth puree. He loves the white beans but it took a few tries to get him used to the texture of chicken.
I’m also including a recipe for a puree made from beets, apples and blueberries, but I posted the picture at the top of this post as a warning: Â beets are very messy! Â My son seemed to enjoy a store bought puree made from beets so I decided to try a homemade version. I knew that homemade baby food is often much brighter in color than the store bought variety but wow, those beets were just about the reddest thing I’ve ever seen. So, as you can see in the picture, I had to strip the baby almost naked every time he had beets for lunch! Not the most practical baby food I’ve ever made, but he seemed to enjoy it and beets are a great source of many vitamins, especially folic acid. Plus, it made for some pretty cute photos!
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 medium beet, peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- Place the apple and beet in a steamer or baby food maker and steam for 30 to 40 minutes or until very soft when pierced with a fork. Add the blueberries and steam another 10 minutes. Using a food processor or baby food maker, blend everything together until smooth. Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Ingredients
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup cannellini or other white beans (either canned or cooked very soft)
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- In a baby food maker or steamer, steam the sweet potato for 30 to 45 minutes or until very soft. Place the cooked sweet potato, beans and orange juice in a baby food maker or food processor and blend until very smooth. Add extra juice or water as needed to reach a smooth consistency. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 months.
Ingredients
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half
- 1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 cups baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
- Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Carefully drop the chicken breast into the water and poach until completely cooked through with no pink remaining, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from water and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- In a steamer or baby food maker, steam the carrots for 30 minutes or until very soft. Add the spinach and continue to steam another 10 minutes.
- Once chicken has cooled, chop it very finely. Add the chicken and steamed veggies to a food processor or baby food maker along with 1/4 cup chicken broth. Blend until desired consistency is reached, adding more chicken broth if needed to thin and smooth the puree. Refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 months.
Great ideas this month! I really like the new layout of your blog. Thanks for posting!
Thank you! Ben did a whole big redesign of the blog recently. I wanted it to look a little cleaner and simpler with more space for the photos. Glad you like it!