Recipes for Babies 8 Months and Up

Starting 8 months, i got more adventurous in preparing baby's food. He started taking different types of meat and dairy products like yogurt and cheese. As much as possible, i don't give him infant cereals so he'll be more accustomed to the taste of real foods.

Just a note to breastfeeding moms, make sure your baby get his iron. My baby has recently been hospitalized and with a CBC (complete blood count), the pedia found out that he has low iron levels.  Iron prevents anemia and promotes baby's mental and physical development. Our pedia says low iron levels is common to breastfed babies beyond 6 months, so she recommended giving daily iron supplements.  I'm upping his diet and will prepare foods rich in iron. Good sources of iron are lean meats and fish and iron-fortified cereals.

Chicken, broccoli and carrots

[caption id="attachment_1259" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Carrot, broccoli and chicken. My son loved his mix.[/caption]

Meat,especially lean meat is a good source of protein. Protein is important to babies at this age since they need to build muscles. Choose breast parts, it has less bones in. It's softer too.

For this recipe, boil 1 piece chicken  breast and keep the broth. Drain the chicken and let cool for a while. Once cool enough to touch, shred the chicken into small manageable pieces. Set aside.

Wash and cut one medium sizes carrots into one inch cubes. Wash and slice a medium sized brocolli into small pieces. Reboil the broth then add the veggies. Add in shredded chicken. Simmer until veggies are fork-tender.

Let the mix cool until ready to blend. Put the mix in the blender. Add breast milk if desired. Start blending until desired consistency is a achieved. Below is the finished baby food:

[caption id="attachment_1260" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Store in individual serving amount to lessen waste.[/caption]

Yogurt, banana and pear 

[caption id="attachment_1258" align="aligncenter" width="300"] For this recipe, i used banana, pear and yogurt.[/caption]

Yogurt is good source of calcium and aids in digestion. Yogurt is a good base if you want to give baby a fruit smoothie.  Get a big container of plain yogurt, this can go along with almost all kinds of fruits.  My sons' favorite is banana in yogurt.

This recipe is fairly simple, no need for cooking at all. Just peel and slice fruit into small pieces. In a blender, add about half a cup of yogurt and the sliced fruit of your choice. Blend until smooth.

[caption id="attachment_1261" align="aligncenter" width="300"] You can add minced or chunks of soft ripe fruits like banana to train baby to gnaw or swallow.[/caption]

Here are some more notes in preparing food for your little one.  Here's my other post on feeding older babies.

• Instead of using broth or water, use breast milk to dilute his food. This way, he'll have less aversions with the new food since he can still get a hint of  the milk.


• Avoid adding salt or any artificial taste improvement like bulion cubes or seasoning. Baby's digestive is still developing and it will have a hard time processing these flavoring. Wouldn't it be best if he gets the natural taste of the foods he's been served?


• Choose in-season veggies and fruits to get the best tasting ones. In-season fruits are also cheaper.


• You don't need to buy customized baby food maker. Normal kitchen utensils will do. Make sure to be extra clean about the utensils though. Have a separate chopping board for all his food. Chopping boards usually carry bacteria from the rest of family foods like meats and spices. The blender will be a great help if you need to mix and mash veggies into a smoothie consistency.

Enjoy preparing baby's foods and happy feeding!!!

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