Eight Months

Eight Months

At this point your baby should be having three meals per day.  This was also the point where I started to structure meals, so that my son was getting the most out of foods.  I also cut back on breastfeeding and isolated feeding so that I was not trying to get him to eat solids and immediately breastfeed. 

Each day, my day loosely went as follows:

Morning: Wake and breastfeed (also, the sooner I breastfed, the sooner I could have coffee, if I am honest).  An hour or so later, my son would have cereal mixed in pureed fruit. 

Mid-day: His lunch would consist of a yogurt blend (more below), followed two hours later by breastfeeding. 

Evening: Vegetables with a cereal for iron, followed at bedtime by breast milk.

Some experts recommend some finger foods at this time, but my son was far from ready.  Watch your baby for his or her comfort level with thickness and chunkiness of foods and recognize he or she will progress at their own pace.

Purchase whole milk, plain yogurt in a
large container vs individual cups labeled
for babies to save. 

The most important food to enter baby’s world at this point is yogurt.  If you eat adult yogurt, your concept of yogurt is about to change, as baby’s first yogurt should be plain.  Baby or plain yogurt does not contain all of the sugar of regular yogurt and is generally made from whole milk, which contains the fats that infants need and will continue to need until about their first birthday or as advised by your pediatrician. 

Yogurt is one of my family’s organic items. Regardless of organic or conventional, choose a yogurt with simple ingredients that contains live and active cultures, which are essential for getting the full potential benefit of yogurt.   The cultures are what help to keep the good bacteria flourishing in your digestive system, which promotes good health, in babies and adults. 

Savings: ask your doctor or pharmacist if
you may use the adult probiotics vs children's
to save.

Much like the banana, it is also an essential tool for helping to stop diarrhea.  Even if your child will not eat yogurt, you can add pro-biotics in the form of a tasteless powder to any cool liquid or food to help restore the balance of the gut.  If dealing with digestive upset, make sure that the brand that you choose contains Lactobacillus. 

Eight-months-old in our house hit mid-summer and at the height of blueberry season, which is my favorite Super Food that is only worth eating in-season.  As blueberry is not a common allergen, I decided to let my son try it earlier than some of the experts suggest.  He loved it pureed in his cereals and I felt good about what he was eating.  I did make sure not to serve him the blueberry skin, as it would end up in hard-to-chew chunks, but they are easy to navigate around.  I tell this not to advocate flying in the face of experts, but as a reminder that sometimes it is worth deviating from the prescribed path.

At eight months, some experts suggest introducing wheat germ, which is an amazing food that I only learned of because of my son.  Wheat germ contains 23 nutrients, and has more nutrients per ounce than any other vegetable or grain.  It is also a great source of iron and folic acid.  Even more importantly for feeding a baby, it has a great toasted taste.

I also introduce flax seed oil around eight months, which is a great source of Omega-3, which many diets lack.  Flax comes in many different forms, but oil is the easiest for the body to absorb.  This is not an oil used for cooking (see label of bottle), so I used it in my son’s yogurt, as it has a nice light taste.  Only use the recommended amount on the bottle, as too much flax seed oil can produce loose stools.

Flax seed oil and wheat germ were as far as I delved in to new health foods, as I felt strongly that though I wanted my son to have a healthy diet and that trying new things is good for all of us, his diet had to be realistic and something that would prepare him to eat what the rest of us were having for a given meal.  If your family eats amazing and exotic foods, making their introduction imperative, I commend you, but if your family’s diet is basic, it does not make it any less healthy. 
 

Recipe: Baby Yogurt Lunch

1 small container baby yogurt

¼- ½ avocado

Fresh or frozen fruit to hunger and taste including banana, peaches, mango, or pears

1-2T wheat germ

1T flax seed oil

Blend in mini-chopper until smooth.  I would also suggest doubling the recipe, as it is a delicious and amazingly healthy lunch for adults, too.

Tip: quartering grapes is time-consuming.
Try placing whole grapes them between
two plates and running a sharp knife
between to halve. 

If your child has not had a reaction to gluten in oats, limited though it may be, and comes from contamination in manufacturing, and there is no family history of an allergy or Celiac Disease, you may choose to introduce wheat at this age, which will open up the door to many pastas and breads.  Other foods that are suggested for eight month-olds are kiwi, cranberry, cooked broccoli, watermelon, cantaloupe, peeled and quartered grapes, and light cheeses.  Chicken, turkey, and tofu, all great sources of protein can also be introduced at eight months, but be warned, consuming meats will produce stronger smelling diapers. 

I love cranberries, but like 99% of the population, I cannot eat a plain, fresh cranberry.  So to allow my son some of their nutritional value, though with some needed sugar, in this case, I would rehydrate cranraisins.   Finely chop them and add them to the water in which you are cooking sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.  Drain excess water and then puree them with the food.  Some tiny chunks may remain, so be on the lookout when serving.