What I Fed My 9 Month Old (Meal Ideas & Feeding Schedule)

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.

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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 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. If you have concerns about feeding your baby, always consult your pediatrician (I’m just a mom, not a doctor!).

Of course there are always circumstances 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. 

Breakfast Ideas

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

9 Month Old Lunch Ideas

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, pearled 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

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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

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