Finger Foods for a 9 Month Old - Newark,DE

My son loved black beans at that age too. I’d just dump them out of the can into a strainer, rinse them well and send him to school with about ¼ of the can in a take-and-toss container. He also loved scrambled egg yolks, shredded cheese, black olives (I would cut them in quarters) and frozen blueberries (defrosted overnight in the fridge, I’d cut them in half while they were still frozen).

I wouldn't worry too much about heating things up. Babies don't really care if there vegetables are warm... my daughter sometimes even asks for "cold peas."

Try some cooked spinach. Green Giant has a frozen box of whole leaf spinach in water that is really good. My daughter loved it at that age and its kind of naturally made for babies.

My son loved (still does) peas. I just pop a few in the microwave in a bowl of water, right out of the freezer bag. Then they can be refrigerated and eaten cold. Also, frozen fruit works great for babies because they tend to be softer once defrosted. I will take a few pieces out of bags of frozen fruit, cut them smaller while still frozen, defrost in the fridge and they are perfect. Mango works really well and was my son's favorite at that age. The other fruits and veggies you've had suggested are great. For apples at that age I would cut fresh apples up into small pieces and freeze them and do them the same as other fruit. They are really soft when defrosted. Yogurt is also great and healthy- protein, dairy, fruit all in one. I buy plain whole milk yogurt and add fresh or frozen fruit to it myself, no added sugar that way. Funny, I use kitchen scissors too, they are so much easier than chopping. I had to go buy a second pair to be able to use them twice a day.

For babies under one, it is just about trying new things, their primary and even total nutrition needs are met through breastmilk or formula. So don't worry about her 3 course meals yet. And for later, just so you don't get in a panic about whether she is getting the variety she needs, keep in mind that baby's nutrition intake is measured in terms of a full week, not a day. So if you were to take her into a doctor for some nutrition-related concern, they are going to ask you to keep a journal of what she eats all week. As long as all the requirements are met in a week, it doesn't matter if she will only eat grilled cheese one day and only eats applesauce the next. I try to balance things daily, but that is mostly to be able to keep track better, and also to keep mine regular. (Applesauce only for days will not make for a happy tummy.)

Here is a great website that has healthy balanced meals, and a lot of them are daycare lunchbox style. If you are on facebook, you can subscribe to her page and get daily meals in your newsfeed. It is a homemade baby food blog, basically. www.weelicious.com

Hope that helps!

you got some great ideas listed below -- here are some others that my daughter loved:

* tofu squares (just cut up a block of tofu, don't need to cook it)
* grape quarters
* black beans (my husband would cook them with a bit of onion and garlic)
* banana chunks
* avocado chunks

Once your daughter starts finger foods she can eat almost anything cut into small pieces (except for honey, peanut butter, nuts, etc.). Just make sure to still introduce new food a few days apart to check for allergies. Some of the first finger foods I started my daughter on were Cheerios, Kix, lunch meat (turkey, ham), American cheese, whole wheat bread, banana chunks, crackers (Goldfish, etc), ground turkey, meatballs, etc. I just make sure to cut everything up into little pieces. My daughter is a very picky eater, so we don't have a lot of variety in our house.

For day care, try sending something like deli meat, cheese, and bread. Or baby food and yogurt. Don't worry about her getting "3 courses" every meal. Babies and toddlers eat to live, they don't live to eat like many adults. Kids will eat as much as they need. Just make sure you're offering a good variety of different, healty foods to expose her to different tastes and textures.

A few of my girls' favorite finger foods were...

Avacados, hard boiled eggs, peas, bananas, cooked noodles (egg and regular), cheese (blue, feta, cheddar), pears, watermelon, beans (pinto, garbanzo, black), cooked potatoes...

Gosh, my youngest is two now and I can't really remember what they were eating at nine months. It seems like they were eating just about everything. Just start trying things out. Now is a GREAT time to give your daughter new things. She is more likely to try it now then when she is five!

She doesn't need a three course meal! Just a balanced small meal will work.

Just about any adult food cut into small cubes (the size of a pencil eraser) should be fine. I used to give my daughter left-overs from whatever we had for dinner but some other suggestions are:

blueberries (cut in half)
grapes (cut up into like 8ths)
turkey dogs
cheese
baked sweet pot. cubed
avocado
banana
cheerios

I also have a 9 month old who loves to feed himself! Here are some healthy things that my little boy loves (all can be served at room temp): black beans (beans are so good for babies, start her off with a little at a time to make sure she doesn't get gassy, my kid has never had a problem though), falafel patties cut up (easy to make, look for recipes online), chunks of avocado, cooked zucchini/squash, banana (roll around in rice cereal to make it easier to pick up), whole grain toast spread with some pureed food or yogurt, peas, shredded cheese, chunks of salmon and chicken, pear, kiwi, cubes of cooked sweet potato, carrot, and broccoli . Nutrition is really important to me, and there are so many fun foods out there! You'll be surprised what she will eat. No need for 3 courses, just be sure to vary what you're giving her (veggies for breakfast, fruit and beans for lunch, whole grains, veggies, and meat for dinner. Right now it's more about exploration than anything else; she should still be getting a lot of her nutrients from breast milk or formula. Good luck and have fun!

At 9 months my son was eating anything we were, just cut or ground up. (Except peanut butter, popcorn, shellfish, and honey). For lunch, he loved strips of organic turkey and cheese at that age along with the organic, no-sugar added applesauce. The organic string cheese (we get the Trader Joe') is great when they are that little-- just cut into discs and then cut in half again. Dr. Praeger makes these great spinach pancakes you can cut up into little bits.

In PA, daycares provide food, so I don't have much advice about breakfasts/lunches. Except to say that most kids don't really care what they eat. I'd maybe send baby food for a couple more months until she can handle a little more.

Great suggestions by everyone! I just wanted to add that I got a small thermos and if there is anything that i would like to be fed warm, I heat it up and stick it in the thermos. It's still nice and warm at lunchtime!

I use kitchen scissors to cut almost everything into very small pieces. You'd be surprised what they're able to eat. You can cut these items up, and she will eat it up!
Lightly grilled, grilled cheese
Blueberry Pancakes
Bananas, Pears
Watermelon
Cooked carrots and peas
Nutragrain bars (yes, just cut them up)
Graham cracker sticks
Plain Mini Ritz crackers (for after 1 year they have them with PB or cheese)
Southern style potatoes (in the freezer, they're tiny squares)