Meals for Babies Learning to Eat Table Food

Helping your baby learn to eat table food is an exciting time. His face shows exactly what he thinks of each new taste and texture, from elation to disgust. After he's successfully moved from infant cereal to pureed baby food, the fun with finger food at the table can begin. For the most part, your baby can eat the same foods you fix for the rest of the family, but it must be soft and cut up into tiny pieces or mashed. Most babies are ready for finger foods at about 9 months old.

  1. Breakfast

    • Breakfast cereals that melt in your mouth without the need for much chewing make for a fast and often vitamin-packed breakfast idea. Mashing or cutting up bananas or other soft fruit adds some sweetness to the morning meal. Dicing up a hard-boiled egg gives him some extra protein, and you can cut waffles or toast into bite-sized pieces on the side. He's likely still on formula or breast milk so he might not need additional liquid, but you can serve small cups -- 2 to 6 ounces -- of water or 100-percent juice with no sugar added. A little bit of ground sausage should be fine, but stay away from bacon, which might be hard for him to chew.

    Lunch

    • Lunch can be sandwich components in tiny pieces, such as bread and cheese or chicken salad. The chicken should be cut up into tiny pieces, and make sure the salad doesn't include nuts, which he could choke on. He might also enjoy some veggies such as super-soft beans or cauliflower, diced well. Smooth soups such as tomato soup can help him learn more about using a spoon, and be prepared for a big -- but picture-worthy -- mess.

    Dinner

    • When you're preparing dinner, think about balanced meals like you already do for your family. Include carbohydrates, meats and vegetables, with some fruit for dessert, perhaps. You might need to cook everything a little longer for your baby. For example, if you're cooking spaghetti and meatballs, separate some pasta for him and cook it for an extra two minutes so he can gum it down. Cutting it up can help him chew it. Break the meatballs into small pieces for him, and cut up any large chunks of tomato or onion in the sauce. Vegetables such as mashed sweet potatoes work well with nearly any meat, but make sure the meat is cooked to well done and is chopped up into tiny pieces.

    Dangers

    • When he starts to feed himself, there's a chance he's going to put too much in his mouth and choke. Always watch your baby carefully while he's eating, and gauge what foods are easy for him to eat and which ones he's having trouble with -- you might need to put some on the back burner until he has more teeth. Stay away from choking dangers such as hot dogs, grapes, nuts, candy, popcorn and raw vegetables until the pediatrician gives you the OK. Peanut butter can also be a choking hazard, so hold off on that as well. It can also be an allergy trigger -- add new foods one at a time and monitor him afterward to determine whether your baby has any food allergies.

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