Feeding the 8 month old
Now that your baby is 8 months old and may have some teeth, you can give her some table foods that are mashed with a fork in addition to pureed foods. Mashed foods are a little thicker and coarser than pureed foods.
Mash a favorite vegetable or meat with a fork. Use a potato masher or blender for foods like bananas, cooked apples, winter squash, white or sweet potatoes, and carrots. Make sure the food has no big lumps, pieces of skin, seeds or strings.
Consider these baby food safety tips:
- Don't add salt, sugar or seasoning to baby foods. Foods that taste bland to an adult are new taste experiences to babies. And, there is enough natural sodium in foods to keep baby healthy.
- Don't give honey to a baby less than 1 year old. Honey may carry botulism spores that can make babies sick.
- Don't make baby foods out of leftovers--they may be contaminated with bacteria. Use only fresh or frozen food.
- Raw eggs and unpasteurized, raw milk or cheese are not safe for babies; they can cause food poisoning.
- Don't give baby chunky foods such as corn, nuts, popcorn and seeds, or coarse-textured foods such as crumbly cookies. These foods are hard for baby to eat and can cause choking. Grapes and round pieces of hot dog are especially dangerous.
- It's OK to serve foods cold. Most babies don't mind. If you want to warm baby food, do it just before serving. If you use a microwave oven, take care to stir the food after heating and check for hot spots that could burn baby.
- And never leave a baby alone while eating.
