8 month old's feeding schedule please

[orangemnms]

I will be fostering an 8 month old for a few weeks. She is a voluntary placement, and her mom sent her along with two bags stuffed full of food. There must be 15 or so of those little Gerber "TV dinners," 3 bottles of juice , 2 cans of formula, several containers of wagon wheels/puffs/finger foods, and a box of cereal, no jarred baby food at all.

Baby has two teeth and there is NO WAY I am comfortable feeding her Gerber Graduates, which say right on the package they are "meals for toddlers."

I bought a case of Earth's Best baby food and I'm having trouble even getting her to eat that! I don't know how they get her to take those packaged meals, but while she is in my care, I feel like they are too much of a choking hazard lets not talk about the preservatives.)

I really feel her mom is trying hard to do well by her child, I think she is young and uneducated. (I should note that I did not know mom before I picked baby up Monday, and have no idea about continued contact after care.)

SO, if you have an 8 month old, can you please tell me what they would eat in a normal day, and how much table food (if any) I should be expecting her to eat? THANK YOU in advance!

[kattayanna_mom]

The Gerber puffs and wagon wheels melt in the mouth so don't pose much a choking hazard and the toddler meals are soft also.

lots of babies don't like the mushy jar food and never eat it.
also the amount of teeth mean pretty much nothing right now since babies don't use them to chew with.

[Janiceandscott]

Breakfast- yobaby yogurt or oatmeal with mashed bannana, avacado or earthsbest fruit jar

No solids for lunch here yet

Dinner might be a jar of food step 3 or it's a mashed up version of whatever we are eating.

Snacks I sometimes give gerber puffs.

[happymommyto2]

I don't remember DS's exact feeding schedule at 8 months. But I can say they do not need teeth to eat. He didn't get his first tooth until he was one and he ate all kinds of things.

DD is almost 8 months old. She has no teeth. She nurses at 5:30 am then back to bed til 7:30. She has oatmeal baby cereal mixed with fruit for breakfast. Sometimes she has toast too. She nurses at 8:45. She naps at 9:00. She has lunch around 11:30. She eats a jar of stage 3 dinner and a "real" veggie. (Green peas, diced carrots or green beans). She just started the whole veggies a few days ago and LOVES them. I found some little microwavable plastic cups of peas, carrots and green beans on the veggie aisle. They are perfect for her. It is just the veggies in a bit of water so they are nice and soft. She nurses at 12:30. She naps at 1:00. She sometimes nurses around 3:00 or 3:30. She eats dinner around 5:00. She eats rice cereal mixed with a veggie and another "real veggie". She nurses around 6:00. Then she is down for the night.
She also eats the gerber puffs and biter biscuits. I tried giving her the yobaby yogurt at breakfast but she didn't like it at all. She is doing so well with "real" food that I am going to continue introducing more. Hope this has been helpful.

ETA: Most people do nursing/bottle before solids. I don't because DD is ready to sleep after nursing. She empties the breast no matter when I feed her so I feed her the solids and then nurse her. I wouldn't do it this way if it caused her to not nurse good. I just didn't want anyone to think I am a dumb mama or not a good one.

[Janiceandscott]

Also, I'm sure you already know this but make sure you fill her up really well with her bottle before you give her solids.

[junejay4life]

my 10 month old JUST started on foods. She showed no interest until now. now she can't get enough!

This what see eats now.

(nurses usually 2-3 times a night)
wake up, nurse, eat some oatmeal (usually 2 tablespoons full)
nurse some more (whenever she wants)
no more food until dinner. She snacks on cheerios and takes a few bits of whatever the rest of us are eatting, then nurses to sleep and starts all over again. I don't plan on adding more food then this for another month or so.

[pumpkins_mom]

DD will be 8 mos next week. She LOVES eating, and lately is very into "Me do!" aka feeding herself. Most days she is at daycare and has a set schedule there:

7am Nurse
8am Breakfast - typically banana pieces and Cheerios
10am Bottle
NAP
12noon Lunch - oatmeal or rice cereal with fruit or veggie (I made my own or send organic Stage 2 jars)
2pm Bottle
NAP
5pm Bottle
6pm Dinner - Mainly veggies - mashed potatoes or homemade purees with a little oatmeal
7:30pm Nurse
BED

We have done the Gerber biter biscuits and fruity poofs with no problem. I actually prefer giving her low/no sugar cereal rather than the poofs (cheaper too). The biter biscuits are SOOOOO messy, we like Mum Mum crackers better - found in our Asian food aisle at the grocery store. They are for babies and DD seems to really like them. We're going to start giving her more finger foods like "real" veggies and fruits, once I have time to make them. I have tons of premade baby purees in my freezer right now to get through before she refuses to eat them!

Edited to Add:
I've read it depends on your baby's eating habits whether you offer formula/breastmilk before or after solid foods. See what works for you!

[Maple_Sugar_Designs]

DS will be 8 months next week. Here is our schedule.

6 to 7am Nurse
8:30am Breakfast: Cherios, pureed cantaloupe and pears mixed with rice or oatmeal cereal (sometimes toast)
9am Nurse and nap
12pm Lunch: Pureed beef, pasta and veggies. Teether cookie or arrowroot cookie and a sippy of water.
1pm Nurse and nap
4pm Nurse
5:30 Dinner Pureed chicken, brown rice and veggies. Pieces of avocado or banana and a sippy cup of water
7pm nurse and sleep.

DS does have a dairy sensitivity so he doesn't get any. He is also a good nurser that always empties my breast (if not both) so I feed him solids first.

[avidreader]

on the toddler type meals-- those just don't seem healthy enough to give an 8 month old IMO. I also don't do juice- I'd rather him get liquid from bm or formula and have fruit.
7am- nurses, then a small bowl of oatmeal cereal and slightly mushed organic blueberries (I buy frozen at Trader Joe's- they are cheaper there for us!)
10am nurses and then naps
12:30pm nurses a bit then has lunch- usually organic baby food jar (he doesn't like the straight purees anymore either and has no teeth yet so I will cook a veggie like green beans and then cut them in small bits and mix it in with the pureed foods or small bits of whole grain pasta), some mushed up mango (I microwave it a little and then slightly mush- he loves this!) or an organic apple cut in half, cored, with a bit of cinnamon and microwaved for a bit until mushy- he eats a whole apple!!!
anywhere from 3:00-4 ish pm nurses again then naps
up around 5pm but will eat with us around 6- usually another jar or mashed up sweet potato (mixed with some water) or a veggie, some cheerios (I'm not sure but I think the puff things have more sugar in them than cheerios? we stick to cheerios because they are cheaper)
8pm nurses again then down for bedtime

he basically nurses about 6x's a day and has 3 mini meals a day and it seems to be working well here. I wish you the best!

[swizzle]

Sounds like she is use to feeding herself and it might be hard to get her to eat smooth purees. Earth's Best has some jarred food that is chunkier. My girl will only eat from a spoon after she's had her fill of finger foods and only then if it's chunky. You can cut up soft cooked veggies and ripe fruits. Dust them with ground up cereal if they are hard for her to pick up. Make some whole grain cereals and add fruits and veggies to that.

Check this site out for ideas:
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/sol...ntholdbaby.htm

*edit to add our schedule*

She is 10 months old now, but it wasn't too different at 8 months. Just the types of food was different) She breastfeeds on demand through out the day. Every meal starts with Kamut puffs because she will throw a fit if she can't have them. heh.

Solids:
8:30 whole grain cereal (oatmeal, millet, barely etc) with two fruits
Snack: cereal puffs (kamut, rice, millet) and Perky O's (O shaped cereal)
Noonish: Soy yogurt (she can't have dairy) with chopped up fruit
Snack: fruit, veggie, and tofu finger food snacks
Dinner: These days it's more and more whatever we are eating. And/or whatever we grab out of the freezer. Usually a couple veggy cubes and fruit cubes (from homemade purees). Maybe more cereal or yogurt.