Realistic Meal Ideas for 8, 9, and 10 Month Old Babies

What do you feed an 8-10 month old baby? Here are some realistic meal ideas and a sample 8 month meal plan to give you some ideas!

Hi friends! Today’s post is all about what to feed your eight to ten month old baby. This topic is fresh in my mind because at the time of writing Danny (my fifth) is just about to turn 10 months old so we’re right in the middle of this stage.

Meal ideas for an 8-month-old baby might seem like kind of a random (and highly specific) topic but babies’ needs change so fast and I thought this would be a helpful article to write for others whose babies are this age.

I find that even with my fifth baby I sometimes feel at loss for what to feed him if I haven’t planned ahead. I figured that if I feel that way sometimes others probably do too so that’s the reason for this post. 

6-7 Months Old – Starting Solids

Many babies have their first taste of baby food around six months old. Some of my children have taken to baby food right away at six months (usually a bit of infant cereal mixed with breast milk to start) but a few others haven’t really been interested until seven months. Either way, they typically only have puréed foods for that first month or two.

Of course, this is just how I chose to do things – I realize that some people prefer to skip the purees altogether and do baby-fed weaning. This post isn’t to tell you how to feed your baby, but rather to share what I’ve found works well for my babies.

When a baby is first starting out with some solid meals at six months or so the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to introduce new foods one at a time (and in small amounts) so that you can easily detect if your baby has any food allergies. If you’re introducing only one new food every few days you should be able to tell which food caused any possible allergic reactions.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t always been super strict about this but we’ve been blessed not to have any issues with food allergies up to this point.

8-10 Months Old – Exploring New Textures and Flavors

By eight months I’ve found that my babies are very used to purees as well as small pieces of soft foods that are easily dissolved (like puffs) and are ready for a little more.

They usually are starting to love eating little bits of table foods at this age and a lot more options open up.

Of course, some babies still may not have many teeth at eight, nine, or ten months old (Danny still only has two!) but they can still manage to eat quite a variety of foods.

Sample feeding schedule at 8 months

I thought it might be helpful to share what a typical feeding schedule looks like for us. I don’t keep my babies to a strict schedule by any means, so this is just to give you a basic idea.

Again, I’m not telling you how to do things because only you know what is best for your baby, but this is what a typical feeding schedule for an eight to ten month old looks for us. Exact meal times vary a bit.

• Breakfast – baby wakes and has some food with us between 7 and 8 am
• Mid morning – baby nurses before morning nap
• Lunch – baby eats with us or a bit before depending on when nap ended
• Early afternoon – baby nurses before afternoon nap
• Late afternoon – baby eats something after nap
• Dinner – baby eats again with us at dinner
• Early evening – baby nurses before bedtime around 7 pm
• Night – baby may wake at least once to nurse

Easy meal ideas for feeding an eight to ten month old

Here are some easy foods to try at this age:

• Small bites of cooked sweet potato or squash
• Mashed potato (like potatoes roasted in a bit of olive oil, etc.)
• Tiny soft pieces of meat like chicken or ground beef
• Bite size pieces of fresh fruit like blueberries, bits of kiwi, banana, mango, raspberries (basically any soft fruit)
• Bite size pieces of canned fruit like pears and peaches
• Applesauce or small pieces of cooked apple
• Cooked beans (black beans, pinto beans, etc.)
• Bits of cheese
• Bits of buttered bread or toast
• Cottage cheese
• Avocado
• Cooked egg yolk or scrambled eggs
• Oatmeal
• Yogurt (I prefer whole-milk yogurt, especially for a baby)
• Cooked rice
• Steamed carrots cut in small pieces
• Corn
• Peas
• Puffs or plain cheerios (Once baby has mastered eating puffs I then like to switch over to cheerios since they’re much more economical)
• Veggie straws (These make great finger foods for baby to gnaw on, though maybe not the most healthy snack.)
• Graham crackers (Another good finger food because of how quickly they get mushy and sort of dissolve in your mouth. However, still give them to your baby with supervision.)

There are also lots of easy recipes out there specifically for baby food but honestly I don’t think you need a specific baby food recipe – it’s really not that hard to take what you’re already cooking for yourself and mash or cut up a bit up for your baby. Just don’t go heavy on the salt!

Should babies be drinking anything other than breast milk or formula at this age? While they get the liquids they need from breast milk/formula, I do like to introduce a sippy cup with water just so they can get used to drinking from one. They usually enjoy it! I do not serve them cow’s milk yet at this age.

You may also be interested in: How to Save Money on Baby Food

Realistic meal plan for an eight month old (and older)

When I Googled “8 month meal plan” I found some very elaborate meal plans – so elaborate that I can’t imagine that you’d get much done besides cooking for your baby. So unless you have a personal chef some of those meal plans just aren’t realistic!

I am not a nutritionist and I’m certainly not saying that this is the perfect diet, but this is what a realistic meal plan looks like at our home for an eight, nine, or ten month old. I try to offer a variety of healthy foods from multiple categories (fruits, veggies, dairy, whole grains, and protein like meats, eggs, and beans) throughout the day but definitely not all in one meal.

Now, I don’t make an actual meal plan for my baby, but here are a few examples of what I might feed my baby in a day.

Sample 8 month meal plan:

• Breakfast – mashed banana, dry cheerios
• Mid morning – breast milk
• Lunch – black beans, small bites of cheese
• Early afternoon – breastmilk
• Late afternoon – baby food pouch 
• Dinner – mashed sweet potatoes, bites of buttered bread
• Early evening – breastmilk
• Night – breastmilk

• Breakfast – oatmeal
• Mid morning – breast milk
• Lunch – mashed potatoes and carrots (typically leftover from a dinner I made)
• Early afternoon – breastmilk
• Late afternoon – applesauce, veggie straws
• Dinner – small bites of whatever we’re having (for example, rice with chicken broth)
• Early evening – breastmilk
• Night – breastmilk

• Breakfast – small bites of scrambled egg
• Mid morning – breast milk
• Lunch – yogurt, cheerios
• Early afternoon – breastmilk
• Late afternoon – baby food pouch
• Dinner – peas, buttered bread
• Early evening – breastmilk
• Night – breastmilk

Remember, at this age your baby is still satisfying the majority of their nutritional needs with breast milk or infant formula, so while of course you want baby’s meals to be healthy there’s no need to stress out and hire a registered dietitian or anything haha. The goal right now is to help baby learn to enjoy different flavors and textures and just get used to eating. 

You may also be interested in: What to Feed an 18 Month Old + Sample Meal Plan